Curt Cignetti was everyone’s favorite underdog last year. This kind of perception is no longer the case this season. Any kind of outburst outside of the norm will be used as fodder by analysts to point out flaws in his system. Yesterday’s clash with the Wildcats had one such incident right at the beginning.
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Indiana barely had time to settle in before the flags started flying. Turbo Richard returned the opening kickoff to the 32, and instead of running a play, Indiana immediately went backward. Bray Lynch was flagged for back-to-back false starts, turning first-and-10 into first-and-20 before Josh Hoover’s offense had even managed a proper snap. Not exactly the clean opening you expect from the defending national champions.
That second flag was what set Cignetti off. He was trying to call timeout before the snap, but the officials failed to give it to him, resulting in Indiana getting penalized again. Cignetti immediately turned toward the officials and unloaded his anger at the unfair treatment, while also appearing to be angry about Northwestern potentially simulating the snap count.
Mike Katic noticed it right away. The former Indiana offensive lineman did not bother dressing it up. “This is the most undisciplined Indiana team I’ve seen since Cig took over,” he posted on X. And the problems did not completely disappear.
With 13:57 left in the fourth quarter, Indiana was flagged for another false start on third-and-14, pushing the Hoosiers into third-and-19 deep in their own territory. Northwestern later bailed them out with a facemask penalty, and Lee Beebe Jr. eventually finished the drive with a four-yard touchdown that pushed Indiana ahead 22-13 with 9:39 remaining.
The frustrating part for Cignetti was that the Hoosiers were still controlling the game statistically. Josh Hoover had more than 200 passing yards, Lee Beebe Jr. had already crossed 100 on the ground, and Indiana held a sizable edge in total offense. Yet Northwestern was still hanging around deep into the fourth quarter because Indiana kept giving away opportunities with self-inflicted mistakes.
But giving up over 325 yards does point out significant issues on the defensive side of the ball. To be fair, this Northwestern team did drop more than 40 points on Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes last week. But this kind of offensive numbers should be unacceptable when playing against a defense coached by the best defensive coordinator in the game in Bryant Haines.
Aidan Chiles had close to 300 passing yards against the Hoosiers along with a couple of touchdowns. This isn’t Julian Sayin or Arch Manning we are talking about. If Cignetti wants his Hoosiers to reach the postseason, he cannot be having such close games with programs like Northwestern. The Wildcats may have lost. But they did play their hearts out and gave the defending champs a run for their money.
Cignetti’s reaction was hardly surprising given how much he has emphasized playing clean football. Even after Indiana committed only two penalties against Howard earlier this season, he still said, “It’s a point of emphasis, and the players buy in. We’ve been successful in doing that in games. I’m not happy with the two penalties.” He even added, “You like to get out of a game with zero. That’s hard to do, but that was minimal.”
That is what makes Katic’s criticism sting a little more. This is the same Cignetti who took over a program coming off three straight losing seasons and, within two years, led Indiana to its first outright Big Ten title since 1945 before going on to win the national championship. His teams have built their identity around preparation, detail, and avoiding the kind of mistakes that other programs usually take for granted. Back-to-back false starts before the first offensive play does not exactly fit that reputation.
The expectations around Bloomington have changed with him, too. A week earlier, some fans were already restless after Indiana led Western Kentucky by only 14-0 at halftime despite eventually winning 38-0. Cignetti pushed back hard, asking, “What are we, 29-2?” before telling fans not to complain about a 38-point shutout. Against Northwestern, though, the concern was harder to brush aside because those sloppy moments were showing up against Big Ten competition which kept the game uncomfortably close.
Indiana will not have much time to clean this up, either. The Hoosiers now head on the road for back-to-back Big Ten games against Rutgers on October 3 and Nebraska on October 10 before returning home to host Ohio State on October 17. With conference play only getting tougher, the margin for giving away free yards with false starts and other self-inflicted mistakes is about to get much smaller.