By: Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Now that college’s football playoff has arrived, and Indiana with it, one thing looms large:
The Hoosiers are thinking national championship.
“You win or go home,” head coach Curt Cignetti says, “and we’re in it to win it.”
That means four postseason victories, starting Dec. 20 when No. 10-seed IU (11-1) plays at No. 7-seed Notre Dame (11-1).
Linebacker Aiden Fisher can’t wait.
“We’ve gotten a lot of criticism for our schedule and things like that, so it just gives us more of an edge. It’s something that we look forward to.
“It’s a blessing to be in the position we’re in, but we’ve earned it, we’ve worked for it, and this is the standard for Indiana football to be in this position year in and year out now.”
IU’s unprecedented regular season success hasn’t diminished the overlook-us-at-your-own-risk motivation that helped produce it.
“We’ve had that chip all year,” quarterback Kurtis Rourke says. “The regular season is something we’re very prideful of in knowing that we were able to go out and achieve pretty much every goal that we set.
“Now, it’s resetting and knowing that the new season starts. We’ve got to be on our ‘A’ game. We’ve got to take everything we learned through the regular season and apply it to this game because it’s a one-and-done kind of thing.”
Fisher and Rourke highlight the difference-making transfer group that made this success possible, most coming from smaller programs rarely making the national spotlight. Fisher transferred from James Madison. Rourke played at Ohio University.
“Every week I want to prove myself, and going back to high school, going back to when I was in the transfer portal, none of these (playoff) schools called me,” Fisher says. “None of these schools wanted me to come play for them. I carry that every Saturday, and next Saturday is no different. That will be with me.”
It’s certainly with Cignetti, who remembers last summer when IU was picked to finish 17th in the 18-team Big Ten.
“Our odds of making the College Football Playoff at the beginning of the season were pretty darn low, I’m sure,” he says. “Our odds of winning the next four games are probably (better) than they were in making the playoffs in the first place. So, we’ve climbed that mountain.”
IU was one of four Big Ten squads to make the 12-team playoff field. The others were top-seed Oregon (13-0), No. 6-seed Penn State (11-2), and No. 8 seed Ohio State (10-2).
The Hoosiers have played Notre Dame 28 times, winning five. Their last meeting came in 1991, a 49-27 IU loss. That was first time they’d played since 1958, an 18-0 loss. Their last win over the Irish came by a 20-7 score in 1950. Their last win at Notre Dame came 12-0 in 1906.
If Indiana wins on Dec. 20, it will advance to play No. 2-seed Georgia (11-2) in the quarterfinals in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. The semifinals are set for Jan. 9 and 10. The title game is Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
That’s for later. For now, Cignetti says, it’s all about this:
“What are you going to do now?”
Notre Dame has won 10 straight since a 16-14 home loss to Northern Illinois. Most have been blowout victories, including 52-3 over Florida State, 49-14 over top-25 Army, 66-7 over Purdue, 51-14 over Navy, and 35-14 over Virginia.
Quarterback Riley Leonard is a dual-threat factor. He completes 66.2 percent of his passes for 2,092 yards, 16 touchdowns, and five interceptions. He’s also the Irish’s second-leading rusher with 721 yards and 14 touchdowns. He averages 5.8 yards a carry.
Tailback Jeremiyah Love leads the rushing attack with 949 yards and 15 touchdowns. He averages 7.1 yards a carry. Jadarian Price adds 651 yards and seven touchdowns. He averages 7.3 yards a carry.
Nine players have caught at least one touchdown pass. Four have at least 22 catches, led by Beaux Collins’ 34 catches for 427 yards and two TDs.
Defensively, Xavier Watts has five interceptions. The Irish have 17 total interceptions and have returned five for touchdowns.
“They’re obviously a very good team,” Cignetti says. “Coach (Marcus) Freeman has done a tremendous job. They’re very disciplined and very well coached. They execute at a high level.
“We’re going to have to be able to stop the run. Notre Dame’s got an excellent running game, and the quarterback alone has rushed for about 750 yards.
“When you look at their scores, they haven’t played in very many close games. I’m sure they’ll be quite the challenge, but we’re looking forward to it. We’re a good team.”
Sunday’s playoff selection show included some criticism of IU’s 11-1 resume, specifically its strength of schedule. Cignetti ignored it to focus on Notre Dame as well as continuing to work on evaluating and preparing to sign a second-straight difference-making group of college transfers.
“Our eyes are forward on what we’ve got to get done in terms of preparation for the next opponent and also handling the other things that coaches have to handle nowadays in December.
“This team’s accomplished a lot. I’m proud of what they’ve accomplished. I think the coaches have done a great job, the players have done a great job. But in saying that, no one’s satisfied. The players are hungry for more, the coaches are hungry for more.”
Overcoming crowd noise is a big priority. The Hoosiers struggled against an Ohio State crowd that topped 106,000 when the teams met last month, a 38-15 Hoosier loss. While Notre Dame Stadium’s seating capacity isn’t as big at 77,635, the crowd will generate major noise IU must overcome. Cignetti says his team will be ready.
“Having been in that environment and coming out individually and collectively, you benefit from the notes taken. I think where it affected us most was offensively, having to go to a silent cadence the third play of the game.
“It didn’t affect us the first series, but once Ohio State had a chance to get their guys on the sideline and talk about that this is what (Indiana is) doing, they started to tee off on us pretty good. There are some things we can do and incorporate, which we’ve already begun to do.
“Then, we did some uncharacteristic things in that game. We dropped a punt snap. We had poor location on a punt that resulted in a punt return for a touchdown, although we’ve still got to get the (punt returner) on the field. We had some communication errors on pass protection and a couple critical missed assignments.
“I think we’re going to be a lot better the next time we’re in that environment.”
IU defensive coordinator Bryant Haines is a semifinalist for the Broyles Award, which goes annually to the nation’s best assistant coach. He directs a defense that ranks among the national leaders in multiple categories, including points allowed (14.7), rushing yards allowed (70.8), and total yards allowed (244.8).
“Bryant’s done a tremendous job as a coordinator and has every year since he’s been a coordinator,” Cignetti says.
“We play with that edge — fast, physical, tough, run to the ball, swarm the ball, pressure the quarterback. Just like every defense I’ve had since I went to (James Madison) in ’19, and that’s when that philosophy of being disruptive up front was put in place and a premium put on those front guys and linebackers.
“Things have been tweaked through the years. We play more zone now than we used to play, but our guys really play hard, play in, play out. It’s not always perfect, but we play with a nasty edge. We get a lot of hats to the ball.”
Besides getting a contract extension and raise that will pay him $8 million a year, plus another $1 million annual retention bonus, Cignetti also was able to get raises for his staff. All will return except for quarterbacks coach/co-offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri, who has accepted the offensive coordinator job at UCLA. He will coach the Hoosiers throughout their playoff run.
Cignetti thanked IU president Pam Whitten and athletic director Scott Dolson for providing the resources and commitment to get that done.
“I can’t say enough about how appreciative I am,” he says. “I think it’s a statement, major statement, in a sport where you really need to be successful at this level, for a lot of reasons.
“Once they came to me and we redid my contract — and I love it here, like it here a lot, love Bloomington — then the next order of business was locking in the staff. When you win like we do, guys have opportunities. That took about 10 to 14 days. I was really happy that we were able to get done what we got done.”
As far as Sunseri, Cignetti adds, “I’m happy for Tino. He’s done a great job as the quarterback coach. I’ve known Tino a long time and known his family for a long time, and I’ll miss him being around.”
Cignetti says his approach has always been that when you lose a coach, “hire a better one.” Cignetti has a track record of producing successful quarterbacks and expects that to continue.
“While Tino has done a great job, we won’t miss a step, and he’ll do a great job preparing the quarterbacks during the playoffs.”
