What Coach Curt Cignetti Said After Indiana's 47-10 Win At Michigan State

Following the Hoosiers' 47-10 win over Michigan State in East Lansing, here's what Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said in his postgame press conference.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti talks with Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith at Spartan Stadium. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

No. 13 Indiana improved to 9-0, a program record for the best start to a season, with a 47-10 win over Michigan State at Spartan Stadium on Saturday in East Lansing, Mich.

The Hoosiers trailed 10-0 after the first quarter, then scored 47 unanswered points in the following three quarters. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke returned from a thumb injury and completed 19 of 29 passes for 263 yards, four touchdowns and no turnovers.

Here's what Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said in his postgame press conference.

Opening statement

Cignetti: “Good road win. Well, you know, now we can’t say we’re a team that never trailed before because we got down 10-0. Now we all know how we’re gonna respond when we’re down. Probably won’t get that question Thursday night. Michigan State came out and really made some impressive plays on offense, throwing, catching. We responded with a nice touchdown drive, and we got a couple turnovers on defense, which were huge. And we were making plays on offense, timely plays. And then our kicking game was really starting to contribute. Our punt return game, we had a couple nice returns and then we blocked a punt and put a lot of pressure, they muffed a punt, which led to points. It was a pretty dominant win, really, 47 straight points on the road against, I think, a good football team. And we took the crowd out of the game, certainly, and you know, it’s a good win. We’ll enjoy it for 24, the staff will get to enjoy it for about 12, and it’ll be a nice trip home.”

On how the team is able to stay focused as success continues…

Cignetti: “Well, I think we’re all on the same page. I think they’re buying into the main thing, how we approach the main thing, what’s important to us and how we want to play. They’re older. They got good character. There’s good leadership on this team. They’re hungry for success. A lot of these guys came from G5 level, even the nose guard [CJ West] came from Kent [State]. Got some guys that came from P5, Wake Forest, Texas Tech, Wisconsin. We got a good leader at quarterback. We got a lot of guys that can be good leaders. We’re balanced on offense. We spread the ball around, got a lot of guys that can make plays. And defensively, we create havoc up front. We swarm the ball. They got a little edge about them. The whole team’s got a little edge, they’re relentless. So they continue to play very consistently, never perfect, and they’re never satisfied, never satisfied.”

On Kurtis Rourke dealing with a thumb injury…

Cignetti: “Well, I think I knew early Monday, maybe Tuesday, that he’d be able to start. Every day got better than the previous day, in terms of his execution, zip and accuracy. You know, was there some curiosity as to how effective, I think human nature – but then I decided at some point to just believe in our team, right, which is what you gotta do as a head coach and a leader, you gotta believe in your team, attack, attack, attack, and they’ll feed off that. And I thought he played great.”

On what he saw from the team responding to adversity…

Cignetti: “Well, I don’t talk so much about wanting to see it, you guys did, okay. I knew at some point we’d be behind. And I knew we’d be fine, we’d be fine. Okay, but so now we’ve been behind and we responded.”

On how the defense embodied being relentless…

Cignetti: “Yeah, 15 tackles for loss, seven sacks. See, I don’t have a full composite in front of me, but like, that’s really impressive. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen those kind of numbers on a team that I’ve coached. That’s a great credit to our defensive players, staff, and they got after them up front. You gotta win up front. That’s the first thing you gotta do to win games, win up front on both sides of the ball. I know we did knock the quarterback out at one point. But wow, yeah, I mean it was pretty dominant. It got pretty dominant there at one point.”

On what changed after trailing in the first quarter…

Cignetti: “I think we just started to make some plays. We left some plays out there, like early in the game we should have converted that third down on our bench to Miles Cross. He had a huge cushion and the throw was a little off, it’s a ball he normally catches. That’s a first down conversion. We didn’t make a play. And then, first play of the game we had a good gain, then we threw play action and I thought there was a hold we maybe could have got away with, maybe, but you know. I mean, they made some great plays. A couple of plays they made on their sideline were great throws and catches. Then we just started executed, settled down, started executing and we took control up front on defense, got the turnovers, started scoring points. They couldn’t punch back.”

On D’Angelo Ponds and other players on special teams having success…

Cignetti: “Yeah, it’s awesome. And that’s why he’s there, because we think he can do that. Because we don’t call that a lot, that block, and we thought it was a good time. They were on the second long snapper and their operation was a little slow. That’s who [Ponds] is. He’s 100% all the time.”

On what the story should be about Indiana’s 9-0 start…

Cignetti: “That’s for you guys to determine. You have a job, I have a job, right. And my job is to make them the best they can be, and we’ll fly home and they’ll get to enjoy it, right. And tomorrow will be with the staff. I’ll be there early in the morning, and we’ll start the process all over again. When it’s all said and done, then, you know, you guys can put your wrap on it, and I’ll have some time to reflect, which I haven’t had a lot of time to do. In this business, you can’t, because the next challenge is always coming up.”

On his message during Indiana’s timeout after Michigan State’s touchdown…

Cignetti: “I had challenged the review, and he was in bounds. You could see it. But at the time, I couldn’t see it. And somebody up top said, boy, I don’t know. And I thought that would be a good time to use a challenge.”

On what Indiana’s response after a rough start says about Indiana’s coaching staff…

Cignetti: “I think it talks more about our team, than about us as a staff. It’s all about the team, right. We are a team that, historically, has won close games. Now, not this particular team, because we hadn’t been in very many, right. But the way we play the game should lead to that when we are in one. So I think it says a lot more about the players and the way we run the program and the way they respond.”

On if he thought Mikail Kamara could be this dominant…

Cignetti: “Kamara? Yeah, I saw it all spring long and all fall camp. I mean, yeah, he’s got twitch, explosion and he’s got a lot of talent.”

Related stories on Indiana football

• LIVE BLOG: No. 13 Indiana tries for its first 9-0 record in school history as the Hoosiers take on the Spartans with the Old Brass Spittoon also on the line. CLICK HERE

• WATCH PONDS' BLOCKED PUNT: Indiana cornerback D'Angelo Ponds started off the second half strong by blocking a Michigan State punt, which was batted out of the end zone for a safety. CLICK HERE

• WATCH SARRATT'S TOUCHDOWN: Indiana has scored 21 points in the second quarter at Michigan State, including a four-yard touchdown pass from Kurtis Rourke to Elijah Sarratt. CLICK HERE