What Curt Cignetti Said After Indiana Defeated Florida International 31-7

Postgame remarks from the Indiana head coach after the Hoosiers’ season-opening victory.

Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti looks up at the scoreboard after the second half of the Indiana versus Florida International football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Here are Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti’s comments after Indiana defeated Florida International 31-7 in its season opener on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Opening remarks …

Cignetti: Okay. I thought it was a really crisp start. Jumped up 21-nothing. Had it clicking in all three phases and then from the middle of the second quarter to halftime, really sloppy ball on both sides. Defense's credit. We shut them out in the second half, held them under 200 yards, thought that was good, teams were solid.

But offense, just too many opportunities squandered. And then protection, and just gotta get better there. Gotta learn to play the lead. Gotta learn to play the lead. Jump up to 21-nothing, man, gotta keep the edge.

So there's a lot of things we're trying to change here. Another thing we're trying to change in tradition is we gotta keep the people in the seats after halftime. We need to create a power four environment in the stadium. But we gotta play better, too.

Cignetti is asked for more opinion on the crowd …

Cignetti: At the end of the game I made my statement, and we have to play better. I was disappointed the way we played when we jumped up 21-nothing. But I did think defensively other than one drive, we played well.

On the play of Indiana’s defense …

Cignetti: We were swarming the football, doing a nice job of - in the pass game for the most part, putting pressure on the quarterback, created a turnover or two. And so, again, other than the one drive, I thought I saw pretty significant improvement and the team had a chance.

On disruption by the defensive line at the line of scrimmage …

Cignetti: Yeah. Those TFLs (tackles for loss) and sacks are great. I didn't know the numbers. But we've always been high in TFLs and sacks, and we have guys that have the ability to do that, too. So I think it's something to build on.

On the play of quarterback Kurtis Rourke …

Cignetti: I thought he made some plays, scrambled out of the pocket, made a couple of plays, and then the protection broke down a little bit on him. He missed two to four reads, which is going to happen in a football game, and familiarity with scheme and things like that, just playing more snaps. We left at least ten plays out there offensively, but not the quarterback. Not the quarterback. So, yeah, I like the way he moved around because he hadn't been hit and made some nice throws.

On first impression of how the new members of the offensive line did …

Cignetti: We had some real nice chunks in the run game, and most of the pressure I saw was coming off the edge in the pass game. So, you know, we would get the run game going in the second half in chunks, chunks, chunks, kind of breaking their will. Then we'd throw it, you know, and go backwards. Those guys are capable. We're going to be okay there. Yeah.

On how he likes to work his offense …

Cignetti: The offense changes week to week based on the opposition. You know, we threw a couple of surprise type plays at them early in the game, and they worked, and had one again there early in the second half that should have worked for a touchdown. And as the game was going on, I was wishing that we had a few more, to be honest with you. We didn't have that many to make. Want to see us play offense like we started those first three out of four series.

On defensive lineman Andrew Turvy …

Cignetti: Yeah. Walk-on, and plays really hard, and he's smart. He does what he's supposed to do because our defense is pretty heavy. You know, there's a lot of adjustments, and there's some read and react after the ball's been snapped based on how linemen play. And he's a real dependable guy. And that's all we needed was somebody over there at that particular time to sort of do what he was supposed to do because there were plays to be made.

On the ability to identify quality transfers …

Cignetti: Most of those guys are proven guys. You know what I mean? So we made some plays out there. We're capable of making more.

On the status of wide receiver Donaven McCulley …

Cignetti: He was getting involved early and got hit and went back in there for a little bit, and then that was it for him. So we'll see what happens. He wasn't medically cleared to go back in.

Evaluating Indiana’s rushing success …

Cignetti: Yeah. There was some nice creases and some nice cuts, nice chunks, and now we gotta take the next step and with a little bit better down-field blocking or breaking a tackle here and there, those 12- and 13-yard gains become 25 and 30 and 40. I was really impressed with Elijah Green that last play. I mean, he broke through with a 2-0 line and showed speed and burst, and they couldn't catch him.

On penalties Indiana had, all by the offense …

Cignetti: Yeah. Good job, defense. Too many penalties. There were quite a few penalties in scrimmages. It was a focus to eliminate the penalties. But I think when you look around college football, you're seeing that in the openers right now. It's almost like they're teachable moments and they learn from it the next game. I'm not making an excuse by any means because we didn't want to have any. I am pleased that we didn't have turnovers because I was worried about penalties and turnovers. So we don't have to teach that, which was good. But we gotta do better in that area.

On what dictates when receivers come into and out of the game …

Cignetti: I thought early on they made some plays, and (Miles) Cross made a really nice catch. We just wanted them to play fast; and if they played four, five, six plays in a row and all of a sudden they run a deep route, we try to get a new group in there. And sometimes we'll sub out a whole three-wide group for another three-wide group. We have a lot of capable guys.

Related stories on Indiana football

• LIVE GAME BLOG: Read about how the Indiana-Florida International football game played out as it happened on Saturday. CLICK HERE.

• AMAZING CATCH: Indiana wide receiver Miles Cross makes a circus catch during the first half of Indiana's game against Florida International. CLICK HERE.