Everything Curt Cignetti Said After No. 5 Indiana's 38-15 Loss At No. 2 Ohio State

Curt Cignetti spoke to the Indiana media after the Hoosiers suffered their first loss of the season.

Todd Golden | Nov 24, 2024

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti runs with his team before the game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium. / Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

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Curt Cignetti spoke to the Indiana media after the No. 5 Hoosiers lost 38-15 to No. 2 Ohio State at Ohio Stadium on Saturday.

Here's everything Cignetti had to say after the game:

Opening statement ...

Cignetti: Well in life, all good things come to an end eventually. I give Ohio State a lot of credit. They dominated the football game.

I thought we got off to a good start and a good football game for a while at 7-7. We came up with a turnover on defense (Jailin Walker interception) and a fourth down stop (at the goal line when Indiana led 7-0) and then we got a first down on offense at 7-7 and then we come up 3rd-and-1 and by all indications, they jumped offsides, which would have given us a first down. But we got called for the penalty (a false start officially credited to Bray Lynch) ... I'm not sure they made the correct call. We came up 3rd-and-6 and we got sacked. From that point on, and really, I'm not saying the game would've been different on that call - that's not what I'm saying at all - that's where the game changed. It was around that point.

We couldn't protect the quarterback. We had communication errors in pass pro. Every time we dropped back to pass something bad happened. It seemed like we were in that end zone to our left for nine years. It was like a nightmare. We dropped a punt back there. Really, we were fortunate to go into halftime only seven points down. And they've been a great third quarter team, Ohio State. We couldn't get anything going still on offense. They had a big punt return. I was proud of the way we fought back and got within two scores there, 31-15, but I didn't like the fact we gave up the run (a 39-yard run by TreVeyon Henderson to the Indiana 1-yard line in the final minute) and the touchdown at the end. They won, they deserve to win. They're a terrific football team and coupled with the noise it made it a very challenging day for us. And I give them nothing but credit.

On struggling with pass protection ...

Cignetti: Nothing we hadn't seen on tape and we practiced all week. I think you couple it with the noise and having to go to a silent count, the center couldn't hear. And the speed of which they do it at, compared to our scout team, the pressure of the moment, our guys just didn't respond very well. Sometimes we had missed assignments, sometimes we had communication errors, sometimes we got physically beat, but it wasn't very pretty.

On whether the Hoosiers had trouble putting negative plays behind them when the game started going Ohio State's way in the second quarter and whether the team was deflated at halftime ...

Cignetti: No. I felt good at halftime. Here's how I felt. We were down 14-7 and fortunate to be only seven, that's how I felt. All we had to do was get our feet back on the ground and kind of settle the game down a little bit. That the longer the game went the pressure would then shift to them if it would stay within striking distance, but then they had those scores. We just couldn't respond. We did start to get a little ground game going, but we called pass, get sacked, and played behind the chains. I was proud that we scored that last touchdown and made the two-point conversion (to make it) 31-15. You're kicking an onside kick, now. Who knows? But (they scored another touchdown) and that's that.

On special teams problems ...

Cignetti: We went into the game plus-10 in turnover ratio and those (fumbled punt snaps) are like turnovers, right? Ohio State was plus-4 going in. The dropped punt is definitely like a touchdown and the punt return, there may have been a couple of (penalties) in the back that weren't called, but still. Yeah, it's not good. It's not good football.

On Indiana's schedule, the playoffs, and what Indiana showed on Saturday ...

Cignetti: You know, we didn't handle the noise very well. We just didn't. They're an excellent football team. And I didn't think we played our best game today. But I think a big part of that was because of them.

(Follow up question on whether Indiana deserves to be in the playoff ...)

Cignetti: I don't make those decisions. I think it's probably more important now that I focus on our next game. A big in-state rival against Purdue that Indiana hasn't beaten in how many years? Since 2019. I think that needs to be everybody's focus.

On Ohio State's last touchdown ...

Cignetti: No. He has to do what he has to do for his team.

What changed for the Indiana offense after its first series ...

Cignetti: Good question and it's hard for me to recall series two and three and what happened through that. I think we had some opportunities. We got down in that end zone, it seemed like we were down there for a quarter and a half. And they were just teeing off on us. I don't know if it was the silent count and the trigger by the guard. They were able to time up some blitzes. We couldn't protect the quarterback. We were probably throwing the ball a little bit more, we didn't try to run the ball. We didn't get anything going on offense that's really what happened. We got five or six series where we got nothing done on offense.

On Kurtis Rourke's day and what caused problems ...

Cignetti: It becomes a combination of things. It kind of snowballs on you. One time it's this thing, the next time it's that thing.

On Indiana's defense playing well and what can be taken away from it ...

Cignetti: I thought so too. I know there were a few moments the defensive coaches weren't really pleased. They have some guys, now, on offense that can make plays. If you take out that last long run, when it was 31-15, basically they were running four-minute offense right there. They were running a wedge play and the guys spits it for 39 yards down to about the 1. You take that run out of there and they're under 300 yards total offense. Not bad, but offense and special teams has to carry their share. But I think our defense played hard and they've been pretty darn consistent all year long ... as our football team has too. But we're talking about today.

On whether pass protection problems started to wear on the players ...

Cignetti: No, maybe pressure of the moment was the wrong term. Maybe it was the ability of the opponent. That's a good football team that went to Oregon and lost the last drive of the game at Oregon with a controversial offensive PI call. This team is loaded. Loaded.

On whether he was surprised the Hoosiers didn't handle the noise well ...

Cignetti: I thought we'd be able to handle it with our normal cadence based on the reports that we had gotten. Some of the lineman could hear, but the center couldn't. We had to go silent. It wasn't a problem. We had the ball snapped.

On whether Indiana should be one of the 12 teams in the playoff based on body of work ...

Cignetti: Is that a serious question? I'm not even going to answer that. The answer is so obvious.

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