Coaches Show Recap: “Our 100% Focus Has to Be on Purdue”

Written By: Ben Gillard (@benjgillard)

Head Coach Curt Cignetti sat down with “Voice of the Hoosiers” Don Fischer on Thursday for the Thanksgiving episode of “Inside IU Football.” Over the course of the hour-long show, Coach Cig spoke on how he feels the Hoosiers are playing and what he wants to see from the team heading into the Old Oaken Bucket Game against Purdue this weekend.

Cignetti opened by giving his thoughts on Indiana’s disappointing 38-15 loss to Ohio State, “Not the result we wanted… I wasn’t pleased with that last drive of the game where they scored, cause prior to that, if we hold them like we should…we hold them under 300 yards, which is a pretty good day’s work.” Cignetti continued saying, “All in all, I thought we did a good job against the run. I know they completed some passes, but I thought overall defensively our guys gave us a chance.” 

When asked how the Hoosiers deal with the disappointment of losing their first game of the season, Cignetti said, “A famous old coach, Tom Landry, used to say, ‘When you win you don’t say a whole lot, but when you lose you say less.’ I told them that that was a good football team out there; we made some mistakes that cost us. I’m proud of them, and now we’ve got to regroup and get ready for Purdue.”  

While the loss to OSU was disappointing, the Hoosiers still have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. IU is 10-1 heading into the Bucket game for the first time ever. When asked about the Purdue game, Cignetti said, “Big rivalry game; haven’t beaten them since ‘19…they’ve won at least four straight; this is a big game because it’s the next game. We gotta have a great week of prep and be ready to go Saturday night [at] 7 o'clock.”

Cignetti continued by highlighting one of the biggest keys to a Hoosiers victory on Saturday saying, “We need to get this stadium packed, we need to get these students back, we need to get people in the stands to be a winning edge and cheer this team on Saturday night [in a rivalry game].” Here’s hoping that the fans end their holiday early and continue to Pack The Rock as they’ve done all season long.

Cignetti ended the show by talking about how the Hoosiers need to block out the noise surrounding the playoffs and postseason uncertainty, saying, “At this level…especially in a rivalry game, throw the records out. Our 100% total focus has to be on our preparation for Purdue and nothing else because we’re going to have to play our best game on Saturday night.”