What Curt Cignetti Said In His Pre-Michigan Press Conference

Everything Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti had to say in his weekly Monday press conference as the No. 8 Hoosiers prepare to play Michigan Saturday.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti talks to the media during a recent press conference. / Hoosiers On SI | Todd Golden

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti had his weekly Monday press conference at Memorial Stadium.

The focus for No. 8 Indiana turns to Michigan. The defending national champion Wolverines have slipped in 2024 as they are three games behind Indiana in the Big Ten race.

Here’s everything Curt Cignetti had to say to the media on Monday:

Opening statement …

Cignetti: Good road win up at Michigan State. I like the way we responded when we were down 10-0 in the first quarter. Guys kept their poise, kept playing, no frustration and picked up a couple of turnovers there defensively in the second quarter, which were key.

Scored 47 straight points, and really dominated the line of scrimmage up front on defense, seven sacks, 15 tackles for loss. Made some big plays in the punt return game. Blocked the punt. Forced a muff which also led to a touchdown. Had a couple of big returns and also got a deflection at the end of the game on a punt.

Offensively, made timely plays. Six of seven touchdowns in the red area. No sacks. And I thought Curtis really played well, and it was good to get a lot of guys involved.

So all eyes on Michigan. Really tough opponent. Obviously won the national championship last season. Wasn't much of a game between the two teams last year. And a lot of good players, really stout defense, really good special teams.

They run the ball well. Good tight end, running backs. Offensive line functions well. Settled in on a quarterback. He can spin it. And the receivers are more than capable. So we'll have to have a great week of preparation and play our best to have a shot.

On how curious Cignetti is about the College Football Playoff rankings …

Cignetti: I'll see the rankings, but the only thing that really matters is you get the result when you play, and to do that you've got to keep the main thing the main thing and eliminate the noise and the clutter and stay focused on what's going to help you play your best on Saturday to give you the best chance to get the result.

So today we've got to have a great meeting, a great walk-through and stack days, moments, hours, to put ourselves in a position to do that and not get sidetracked by all the other stuff.

Every week presents its own new set of circumstances and so there's a lot of that going on this week. I'm aware of it. But to get kind of caught up on that and lose your focus would be the kiss of death.

On how Cignetti the good and the bad of Michigan’s season …

Cignetti: I look at them and I see a really good defense, really good special teams. And offensively, they haven't scored points. They're not in the 40s and 50s. But they can run the ball from 11, 12 and 13 personnel.

They've got weapons. They've got good backs. They've got good players, and they're a good football team coming in here with a lot of tradition, a lot of history, a lot of pride, and it's part of the reason it's on national TV at 3:30.

To meet that challenge, we've got to have a great week of preparation.

On Michigan tight end Colston Loveland and how you defend teams that have a good tight end …

Cignetti: Well, you've got to be aware of him, for sure, down the field and on screens, various things, because when you've got size and speed like that, you can create personnel mismatch. So he's an excellent football player. They've got a lot of really good football players.

On Michigan’s blitzes and how the Indiana offense takes it into account …

Cignetti: Well, you know, we're still fairly early in our preparation, but, you know, at this point in the season you've seen most of what you're going to see. They do present a lot of looks, and they do a great job. He does a great job. He's an excellent coordinator. He coordinated in the NFL a long time. And when you put the tape on, you see a defense that's very multiple and tries to create problems for offenses and good players that fly around, play hard. It all starts up front with them. They're good inside and good on the edge. And they're an aggressive defense.

We'll have a good plan to be balanced on offense and protect the quarterback and free guys up in the pass game and hopefully good in critical situations, and then we've got to go out and execute it.

On why Cignetti stands where he does on the sideline during games …

Cignetti: I like to stay on top of what's going on in the game, see what's going on front in coverage defensively and also game situations, always be thinking a play or two ahead. If it's third down, our defense is on the field, on the phone with Grant, "Grant, what are you thinking, are we going to return this or go for the block?" I think we ought to go for the return here, those kind of things.

I'm on with the offense. Then I flip over with the defense, just to hear what's going on. So I'm trying to manage the game, be on top of the game, and stay out of the way, too, so to speak. But I've learned through the years game management is a critical component of being successful, whether to go for it on fourth, two-minute situations, when to call the timeouts. Two minutes before the half whether to push it down the field or not.

To do the best job I can, that's where I feel like I'm the best, is a little bit removed, let the coaches coach. Every once in a while, if I've got something to say, I brought the offense up when we were down 10-0 and said, look, a lot of game left here, one play at a time, okay, nobody has to do anything special. And that's the way I operate.

On tackle Trey Wedig and defensive tackle Tyrique Tucker …

Cignetti: Trey Wedig, older guy, played a lot of football in his career, from Wisconsin. Coach Bostad coached him at Wisconsin, knew him. He's been really solid for us at right tackle.

That whole group has been really solid, and he gives you a great day of work every day at practice and on Saturday in the games. He doesn't talk a lot, but really in that group aside from Katic and Carter Smith, the other ones are pretty quiet. Playing good football for us.

Tyrique Tucker also is in that rotation. We rotate four guys inside. He made some really good plays developing as a football player. He's gotten better every year. I'm really proud of him. I've seen where he's come from, where he's at today.

He was instrumental in Ponds' pick-6 two weeks ago when he deflected the pass or hit the quarterback's arm as he was throwing it.

So that's a position inside where we are able to rotate guys, keep him fresh, and he's played really well.

On Indiana’s turnaround in turnover margin …

Cignetti: We're normally pretty high in that turnover ratio. We started out the season fairly well. Then we had a little spell there where we got a little bit behind. But they were critical in this pass game between the takeaways on defense and the blocked punts, which I consider a turnover and the muffed punts led to at least 16 points and in the Nebraska game it was 28 points.

We're doing a good job of protecting the ball on offense, which is where it all starts. Quarterbacks making good decisions in the pass game and the ball carriers, receivers are tucking it away nicely, and on defense we're swarming the football.

And our pass coverage has been tight. The first interception Aiden Fisher was really good in underneath coverage, deflected the pass and Ferrell made the interception, and on the second interception Ferrell made a really nice break on the ball and a nice catch for the interception.

When you fly around, good things happen on defense. And we're flying around and a lot of good things are happening. TFL, sacks, and takeaways.

On wearing opponents down as the game progresses …

Cignetti: That's what we preach. Never being satisfied. They've responded. They've been able to kind of compartmentalize and have an edge, good competitive edge going into the game; and regardless of what the score is, you know, the standard is the standard. We're doing a pretty good job of that first play to last play.

On Indiana’s defensive front and their quality of play …

Cignetti: Well, defensively that's where it always begins is up front. Being able to win the line of scrimmage both sides of the ball you've got to win the line of scrimmage.

Our defense has always been about creating havoc and disruption up front, TFLs and sacks. That hasn't changed. We play a little more zone coverage now than we used to play. And the linebackers, we put a lot on those guys, and they're run-and-hit guys, and involved in the blitzes quite a bit as well. We brought a lot of five-man pressure in this last game.

So you win championships by having a great defense. And we certainly have played good defense here the last few weeks and all season long been pretty consistent.

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