What Curt Cignetti Said After Indiana's 77-3 Win Over Western Illinois

Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti met the media after the Hoosiers' record victory on Friday.

Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti talks with an referee before the start of the Indiana versus Western Illinois football game at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Here are Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti’s comments after Indiana defeated Western Illinois 77-3 to take its record to 2-0 on Friday at Memorial Stadium.

Opening statement ...

Cignetti: It was a good night. I was pleased that our team played with an edge and an attitude and at a high standard. The ones that I'm talking about didn't play down to the competition.

We emptied the bench pretty much and got a lot of people up on the field, and I was happy for them too because we had a lot of young people make plays, create some turnovers defensively.

So it was a good night.

On playing with an edge and the importance of maintaining consistency ...

Cignetti: I think it was equally important for the defensive stop because offense, defense, special teams. About 40 percent of your plays are on offense, 40 percent on defense, and 20 percent on special teams, and you need all three phases to do really well.

The defense was doing their job too. The only thing I wasn't pleased with was the end of the half because they kicked a field goal.

It was good. There were plays out there. We threw and caught the ball well and protected well. That's part of what we want to clean those penalties up and protect the quarterback better than we did last week.

Then I thought the second half we really established even more dominance, and they got people involved, and they made plays.

Did the message of fighting human nature to let up in a blowout game get through to the team ...

Cignetti: Yeah, I did. I thought every day built on the last. Tuesday wasn't a great day. I talked to the team afterwards about it. I don't talk to the team after every practice. Most of them I do.

I had some things to say, and I had a captive audience. They applied it the next day, and we had a really good day the day before the game. We went out in shoulder pads and helmets and practiced the day before the game.

Then they were charged up in the locker room before the game and came out and played pretty well.

On the development of defensive lineman Tyrique Tucker ...

Cignetti: I'm really proud of him. His brother played for me. He was an All-American linebacker, 5'8-1/2" linebacker, finished his career at Texas.

Tyrique has really improved every year. He's a great guy. He's overcome a lot in his life and really does great in classrooms. He's a great teammate. He's really improved every single year as a player. So I'm really proud of him and happy for his success.

Generating turnovers and the importance of keeping that trend going ...

Cignetti: That would be nice. That's momentum and points, so it was good to see.

On Indiana's two-minute defense ...

Cignetti: There were probably a couple mistakes in there. I think we had subbed a little bit at certain positions also. I don't want to speak on it too much without watching the tape.

You've got to finish the half well. You've got to start the third quarter well. We've been starting the third quarter well, but we haven't finished the half well. We've been starting the game well and finishing the game well too.

There's a lot more positives, but just like 98 percent of the teams in the country, we have a couple things to work on and improve on.

On having a few games to build confidence before going to UCLA ...

Cignetti: We just play them. They choose the schedule, and I get them ready to play and put them in the best positions, me and the staff. We play as well as we can on game day.

We develop this team every single day with the intangibles. We develop the culture and mindset, the identity, and how they think, which is critical in how we play.

The schedule is what it is. We'll enjoy this one and think about the next one tomorrow or Sunday.

On the performance of linebacker Rolijah Hardy, who had an interception and forced fumble ...

Cignetti: I think he's got a real chance. We like him. He really started to take some steps forward at the end of fall camp, moving to that Number 2 linebacker spot behind Fisher although Isaiah Jones is kind of a swing guy there too.

Good athlete, comes from a great high school program, Lakeland. Family of athletes, have had good success collegiately. He looked really good when he caught that ball, showed good natural hands, good movement getting in there.

The other young guy got involved tonight too, Charlie Becker. Really brought up this week and had a nice week of practice. So good to see those young guys making some plays early in their career.

How important is it the offensive line continue to sustain the running game ...

Cignetti: Some of it's relative to who you play too. I hope we create those kind of numbers later in the season, and then we'll be a hot item on the clinic circuit.

So we're just doing the best we can every single game, and we'll put the best plan together for next week. Thanks.

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