What Curt Cignetti Said After Indiana's 42-28 Win Over Maryland

Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti spoke to the media after the Hoosiers improved to 2-0 in the Big Ten with a win against Maryland.

Todd Golden | Sep 28, 2024

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti after a game against the Maryland Terrapins at Memorial Stadium. / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Here's everything Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti had to say during his postgame press conference after the Hoosiers defeated Maryland 42-28 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Indiana is 5-0 for the first time since 1967 and the Hoosiers are 2-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since 2020.

Opening statement ...

Cignetti: Okay, good win. Far from perfect, trust me. 4-0 in the turnover ratio against us, had not turned it over going into the game one time and still won by two scores. But defense really responded to every one of those turnovers.

There's a lot of corrections to make, but it was a good effort, a gutty effort.

You could feel the fans out there. I'm glad that they keep improving in the attendance area. I thought that was a good turnout, and good is the enemy of great, so let's have a great turnout. Let's sell it out next week or next time we're at home and figure out how to make it even louder because that's what we want to do; we want to be the best in everything we do.

Even when we're good, even when we perform good, we're not satisfied. But it was a good turnout.

We're 5-0. But this isn't the end for us. I'm proud of the team and everything they've accomplished.

I felt like we've made good progress in the off-season, in the winter, spring, summer, but we had to put it on film. We can play better than we played today.

On responding to adversity ...

Cignetti: Yeah, there were a lot of good responses in that game. The defense responded to offensive turnovers. The offense responded to touchdowns given up by the defense. We responded more than they did.

So there was really a lot that went on in that game. There's no doubt about it. Winning is good because it deepens belief in confidence and success, which leads to confidence and belief, which leads to success. You've still got to put the work in, but strengthens that confidence and belief.

On Indiana's energy throughout the game ...

Cignetti: Well, that's us. We want to play every play like it's 0-0. Never too high, never too low. Something bad happens, okay, we're going to play this play. You get 11 guys playing that way consistently, then you've got a chance.

On the defensive line and the pressure it applied ...

Cignetti: Yeah, I don't know how many sacks we had total. Five? Okay. He seemed like he was on the ground on awful lot early in the game, which is what we wanted to do.

We just have to - when we have a chance to kind of go for the jugular, we've got to get a little better at that. But they've got some playmakers. They've got some guys that get on top of you. They got us in a defense we didn't want to be in on the long run.

But that's where it all starts, up front. We're experienced up front. We think it's one of our strengths, and it was definitely one of the areas that they weren't feeling too great about coming into the game, and we needed a big win there, and I think we got it.

On getting a late-game blocked punt ...

Cignetti: Yeah, that was awesome. I have no idea what happened. I was taking my headset off and giving it to somebody behind me and I completely missed it. I just wish we would have picked it up and scored.

On limiting the effectiveness of receiver Tai Felton ...

Cignetti: Well, I think he went out, didn't he? And didn't return, right? It's hard for him to have a big day when he's not on the field.

Follow-up question noting that Felton went out in the third quarter ...

Cignetti: What did he have? He had five for 38, yeah. But Hemby made some.

We did a pretty good job, and it started up front with the pressure. They got on top of us a couple times, though.

On how Kurtis Rourke responded to his own adversity ...

Cignetti: Yeah, I mean, he responded like I kind of felt like he would. I didn't think he'd be flustered by the two interceptions, and he wasn't.

When we had our one-on-one opportunities, we were winning, and we played well when we played with tempo, the two-minute drive and some of the other times. He's a grizzly old vet. He's got to hold on to that ball a little better in the pocket when he runs it.

Indiana's Elijah Sarratt (13) celebrates his touchdown during the Indiana versus Maryland football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On wide receivers Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt ...

Cignetti: Yeah. They were winning their one-on-ones when it was press coverage, and we were getting them the ball, and I was glad to see Donaven won his one-on-one in the red area. That was a play we were hoping to be able to get called against zero blitz coverage.

We felt like that was a match-up that was in our favor going into the game, and it turned out to be that way.

On the impact of the fans ...

Cignetti: Oh, it's extremely valuable. Players feed off of that energy. Look, it's all about energy, right? You've got to have energy to do anything, and the fans are supplying the energy and the players are feeding off of that energy.

I don't know how many points it's worth, but it's really important, and I think we got everything moving in the right direction here.

On what the Hoosiers learned about themselves ...

Cignetti: Well, I think you learn about your team every week. You play 12 regular season games, you learn about them in the off week, too. I thought this was a good challenge for us, and we outlasted them. We did a lot of good things. But there's a lot of things we can do better.

On a "new" Indiana this season ...

Cignetti: Well, I don't know what the old Indiana was other than what I watched on tape or maybe looked in a record book.

We are what we are, and we have a blueprint and a plan and a philosophy how to play the game. It's all about people and processes. I think we've got a chance to be a good football team. Todd Blackledge said at the end of the UCLA game that this is a good football team, Indiana. You've got to prove it every day, every play.

On tight end Zach Horton and his impact ...

Cignetti: Yeah, well, I'm glad other coaches point that out, too, when they watch us on tape or scout us, how valuable he is. It's not all about his touches. He does a lot of great things for us offensively. He's really a blood-and-guts hard-nosed tough guy with talent.

He's a tremendous football player.

On the versatility of the running game ...

Cignetti: We play those three backs every game, and they've been really consistent. If we didn't turn it over four times, maybe we would have had 200.

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