Indiana Coach Curt Cignetti Says On Radio Show That CJ West Had His Targeting Suspension Rescinded

Defensive tackle CJ West was called for targeting after making helmet-to-helmet contact on a fumble by UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers.

Todd Golden | Sep 19, 2024

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti reacts in the first half against the UCLA Bruins at Rose Bowl. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Indiana Hoosiers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti had a surprise for Hoosiers football fans on Thursday during his Inside Indiana Radio Show, which took place at Hoosier Hank’s restaurant in Bloomington.

Cignetti revealed that the Big Ten reviewed the targeting penalty on defensive tackle CJ West from Saturday’s 42-13 victory at UCLA.

With targeting, West was ejected from the remainder of the game and would have had to have sat out the first half of Indiana’s game against Charlotte this Saturday.

However, West will now be able to play from the beginning of the game against the 49ers. He revealed the news to show host Don Fischer.

“CJ was called for targeting on the first play of the second half, I think,” Cignetti said. “And, you know, Big 10 sent it through review, and he'll play Saturday to start the game and won't have to sit down.”

West’s targeting penalty was controversial. It occurred when UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers fumbled a snap on the first play from scrimmage in the second half.

With the ball on the ground, and with West having beaten his man on the UCLA offensive line, he dove to try to recover the fumble. Garbers had picked up the ball by then, and was bent over, but West had already committed to his dive and he made helmet-to-helmet contact.

In general, Cignetti has been pleased with West’s production so far this season. He and Marcus Burris Jr. have shared time in the center of the defensive line. James Carpenter has logged 105 snaps at the other starting spot. Tyrique Tucker has also been able to get playing time.

“We got a nice rotation going on in there. Every week he'll get better and better, but you know him and Carpenter and Tucker and Burris, you know, that's a nice rotation,” Cignetti said.

Indiana’s other targeting penalty – called on cornerback D’Angelo Ponds for a shoulder-to-helmet hit in the fourth quarter – was not mentioned. Ponds, a starter, will sit out Saturday’s first half.

Other things Cignetti had to say from his radio show:

On Indiana’s offensive performance at UCLA …

Cignetti: That was good by the offense in the second half. I didn't really like the way we played in the second half. We had some unfortunate penalties, but we were physical and got after them, which we wanted to do the whole game. And every time UCLA kicked the field goal, the offense would respond. We had drives of 90, 87, two 75s, 9 of 12 on third down, 5 of 5 touchdowns in the red area. Defense held them to under 250 yards and has really played well all year long. So it's nice to go out there to Rose Bowl, granddaddy of them all. I guess we avenged that (1967 Rose Bowl) loss.

On Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke …

Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke (9) throws the ball in the first half against the UCLA Bruins at Rose Bowl. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Cignetti: He was outstanding. He did some good things in the opener. We got off to a good start. I really didn't like the way we played offensively the last quarter and a half (against Florida International), and lot of that was protection and penalties, where we were just so far behind the chains.

Even though we didn't play a great team the second game, we played well. And I think that was a good game for everybody on that side of the ball, him also. He was outstanding. He played like a grizzly old vet out there that, you know, those NFL veterans were, nothing's too big for him. And he's like that collegiately. I mean, he's started a lot of football games and thrown for a lot of yards. It’s just his poise, his command, his eye control and eye discipline. His accuracy was outstanding. We made some great catches. We did great job protecting them, no sacks and really made some tough catches out there at receiver too. So he was outstanding.

On being asked about UCLA …

Cignetti: (addressing Fischer) That's for you guys, you and the newspaper guys and the TV guys. All right, I've already played them. I don't need to worry about UCLA. Okay, I got to worry about Charlotte.

On Charlotte …

Cignetti: I know everybody just thinks we're going to roll all over Charlotte. They're going to come in here and this is going to be their Super Bowl. This team has played up to the competition level, and they've proven it. They got a lot of transfers, and they got some athletes and some dudes, okay, especially on the D line. They're two-deep in dudes on the D-line. And they got some guys on offense, okay, and at all the other positions. So you see them against Gardner-Webb, right? And they weren't ready to play. But they're going to be ready to play Saturday, I can promise you, they're going to be ready to play. So we got to come out ready to play.

On his sense of being “half asleep” …

Cignetti: You know hopefully this little thing that I've sensed that we're half asleep sometimes is just an illusion I have in my own head and not a reality.

On Charlotte quarterback Trexler Ivey …

Cignetti: He alternated as the first-teamer last year with another guy. He's a senior, he's an older guy, and I think he threw two touchdown passes last year the whole season. Well, he threw two or three in the fourth quarter and one quarter last week. He knows how to play quarterback and the offense flows when he's in there. But they've got some weapons and they got they got a huge offensive line, you know, transfers from A&M and couple nice tight ends. Receiving corps is good. So it will be interesting.

On the approach to Saturday's game …

Cignetti: We got to keep the pedal of the metal go out there with a nasty edge one play at a time. Make a statement. But just don't be shocked. They come out here and you see them on the hoof and you're like, ooh, good looking team.

On whether most of the offense has been incorporated …

Indiana Hoosiers tight end Zach Horton (44) carries the ball against the UCLA Bruins in the second half at Rose Bowl. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Cignetti: We have a base offense, and sometimes, like, I can't tell you what next week's offense is going to look like. Today's (practice) is red area day. And you know, we're always evolving and you're always seeing new things from us. They’re new, they're things that we've studied in the off season and may apply to a certain team we're playing, right?

And we throw them in there. And we did a lot of that against UCLA down in the red area last week. Everybody on defense will fit into probably three categories, front coverage, how much they blitz, so maybe 70% of your concepts carry over, you may present them a little different, but then you get some game plan specific or personnel specific things.

Mike (Shanahan, co-offensive coordinator, a later guest on the show) coming up here, you know, he'll tell you. ‘Mike, has our offense evolved a little bit over the last nine years?’ So I'm not going to give any secrets away by what we plan on doing against Charlotte, I just hope we can score more points than Charlotte.

On holding his coaching staff to a high standard …

Cignetti: You know they're accountable. We want to hold the players to high standards. You’ve got to hold the coaches to high standards. You can't ever let your standards slip. And so, like, the lesson now is, you've won a couple games, right? You’re on the watch out for, like, complacency, the warm fuzzies. Everything's all right. Everything's great. No, I can't be that way when you're preparing to go into battle, you know. And you got a limited amount of time to put the very best plan in and prepare these guys for this game. You got to have an edge. But I'd rather be in that position than learning every week from failure, that's for darn sure.

On the potential of starting 4-0 …

Cignetti: I'm just going to sidetrack here. On my way over here, I happened to see an article. Do you know if we win (Saturday)? I'm the first coach ever to start 4-0 at Indiana?

(Cignetti joked that he was trying to catch Fischer out with something he didn't know. To which Fischer dead-panned, “I’ve been here a while.”)

On being efficient …

Cignetti: When you’re organized and efficient? You get a lot done in an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes. We get as much done in an hour and 40 minutes, as most people do in two hours and 15 minutes. We’re organized, efficient and always moving.

I just think it's important, first of all, the way technology has changed. You know, a guy gets a bump or a bruise, he gets an X-ray the same day and MRI the same day and you got to keep you guys healthy. But I've always been a big believer in keeping them mentally and physically fresh too. If they're mentally and physically fresh, they're going to play their best on Saturday.

One thing I always hated growing up is when people waste my time. I like to be doing things and trying to improve. So I try to make sure that we're not wasting the coaches time or the players time. If we get the meeting done in 45 minutes instead of an hour and a half, that's what we're going to do. Today, we were on the practice field for an hour and a half. I've been places where this practice was 2:20 or two and a half hours. I guarantee we got as much or more done today so and I think the players appreciate that, because, you know, they have lot things on their plate. They got academics and this and that and what have you. And they want to want to feel good.

So to me it's all about efficiency. Reaching maximum potential. So that physically, they're at their very, very best. A lot of different things going to that, and then having them prepared in the best position against what they're going to see to put them at a premium to be successful. That's it.

On the Indiana fan turnout at the Rose Bowl …

To the winner goes the spoils. pic.twitter.com/UlBmgdAOCc
— Todd Aaron Golden (@ToddAaronGolden) September 15, 2024

Cignetti: Yeah, I saw a lot of red in the stands. Walking off the field at the end of the game, they were very, very loud, and I was proud for them, the program, the state. Hey, people are taking notice right now. We have a tremendous opportunity and that's why it's so important that we keep capitalizing between the white lines because we've got a lot of momentum. That’s why every day is so important. To see all the red out there, that was a great thing.

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