A Look at Curt Cignetti's Teams Results After a Bye Week

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Written by: Nate Comp (@NathanComp1)

You often hear in football that certain coaches are just harder to go up against after they have had a bye week. Whether it is getting their guys extra rest, having more time to scout the opponent, or adding new tricks to their own playbook, some coaches just seem to have an advantage when given extra time to prepare. Nick Saban was a common example of this theory; back in the BCS days, when given so much time to prepare between the conference championship and national championship games, he simply was more difficult to go up against after all the extra time to prepare.

Because we have seen the fruits of this theory play out once with Cignetti during his time with Indiana (a dominant 56-7 victory after a bye week against Nebraska), I wanted to look at how Cignetti has performed historically when given more than a week between games. Let’s take a look back at his time with Elon and JMU.

Elon - 2017

  • The 2017 Elon Phoenix team went on the road after their bye week and defeated Rhode Island in a close one, 35-34.

Average Points Per Game: 35

Record: 1-0

Elon - 2018

  • The 2018 Elon Phoenix saw Rhode Island come to Elon after the bye week, and once again won in a close one, 24-21.

Average Points Per Game: 24

Record: 1-0

James Madison – 2019

  • The Dukes had their first bye week after nine weeks of play and in his first season with JMU, had a record of 8-1. Their next game was against 23rd ranked New Hampshire of the FCS – Cignetti had his team ready, winning 54-16.

  • They next had an extra week to prepare before starting the FCS Playoffs – in the first round, they faced 14th ranked Monmouth. They won 66-21.

  • Their final week off came the week before the FCS National Championship game. They faced number one ranked North Dakota State, but this time fell 28-20.

Average Points Per Game: 49.33

Record: 2-1

James Madison – 2020

  • The COVID year significantly changed the 2020 FCS football season (it was played in the spring and games were still consistently being cancelled), but Cignetti continued his success after weeks off that season. After their bye week, they defeated William & Mary on the road, 38-10.

Average Points Per Game: 38

Record: 1-0

James Madison – 2021

  • After their first week off, they went on the road at 25th ranked New Hampshire and defeated the Wildcats, 23-21.

  • They then had an additional week off before the second round of the FCS Playoffs, which they proceeded to defeat Southeastern Louisiana, 59-20.

Average Points Per Game: 41

Record: 2-0

James Madison – 2022

  • The 2022 season saw the Dukes elevated from the FCS to the FBS. After their first bye week, they went on the road at Appalachian State and won, 32-28.

  • Their next bye week came before they played ACC opponent Louisville. They were overmatched and defeated in this one, 34-10.

Average Points Per Game: 21

Record: 1-1

James Madison – 2023

  • JMU had one bye week last season before facing Georgia southern. The Dukes dominated the Eagles at home, 41-13.

Average Points Per Game: 41

Record: 1-0

Indiana - 2024

  • The Hoosiers had Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff on campus for what was thought to be the Hoosiers’ biggest test of the season. As we all remember, Indiana easily handled this one on homecoming weekend, defeating the Cornhuskers 56-7.

Average Points Per Game: 56

Record: 1-0

In Summary

The Hoosiers have a bye week this weekend, but that does not mean Curt Cignetti will be at home resting. Since taking the head coaching job at Elon in 2017, Cignetti is 10-2 after a bye week and is averaging 38.83 points per game.

Ohio State will easily be the hardest game on the regular season schedule for the Hoosiers, but don’t expect for Cignetti’s team to come out flat after the extra time to prepare.