Curt Cignetti Has Unfinished Business with Ohio State

Written by Alec Keezer

On September 13, 2003 NC State rolled into the Horseshoe with a young Curt Cignetti on staff.

The Wolfpack, led by Phillip Rivers, fell “about six inches short of the goaline”.

It’s funny that you can still hear the slight sting in Coach Cig’s voice when he talked about that game. Over 21 years later and he still carries that experience with him.

On Monday Coach Cignetti was asked if there was anything he’s learned throughout the course of his career that he could take into a big road environment. 

Great question. 

The answer, obviously yes, came with that natural Cignetti confidence and detail we’ve come accustomed to. The best part about Cig’s explanations is that they always come with a “why”. 

“I was 23 full-time in the Southwest Conference playing Texas, Texas A&M, out of conference, LSU…”

Yes, three current members of the ever daunted Soft Eastern Conference; Cig has seen the nastiest crowds they have to offer.

“Last time I was in this particular stadium [the Horseshoe] would have been NC State, triple overtime. We fell about six inches short of the goal line… Had a good football team, they had a good football team.”

That NC State team was good. They had Rivers, Jerricho Cotchery, and future NFL Draft number one overall pick Mario Williams.

Ohio State was the defending National Champions.

NC State went down 14 points early. They trailed 24-7 in the fourth quarter.

The game went to three overtimes.

These are just experiences Cignetti has had as an assistant.

He was quick to remind the room Monday, “we’ve got a group of guys and coaches that have won 24 out of their last 25 games… we don’t have a confidence problem.”

And that wasn’t even the answer to the question.

“I look at maybe one time at Elon we had a really good football team… went to JMU, they had won about 25 in a row at home. Somehow we’re 38-point underdogs - I have no idea how - and we walked out of there with a win.”

The Indiana Hoosiers certainly aren’t 38 point underdogs this weekend when they visit Ohio State for what will be the biggest football game in program history, but the line is creeping higher and higher. 

It opened around Indiana +11.5, it’s now +13.5. That’s cool.

I have people shaking their heads when I tell them our matchup for this weekend, telling me we have no chance. That’s cool.

You have real life analysts like Joey Galloway suggesting IU should bench their Heisman Trophy candidate Quarterback in a game that (on paper) is the most competitive match of his lifetime. That’s cool.

You have national voices like Ryen Russilo acting like they know anything about this Indiana Football team and the way the public should perceive them when everyone listening and watching knows Russilo hasn’t watched a snap of IU football this season. Cool cool cool.

Truth is nobody knows how to act when the balance of power gets shaken up. 

It’s funny because Indiana has traditionally been in this situation, just not quite the same scenario; a road matchup with a top 5 opponent where the outcome is largely irrelevant for their season. The Indiana Hoosiers are a playoff team. As much as the SEC is going to try and cry its way into the top 12, Indiana is not the team that’s going to be supplanted. I do think this may have been what Joey Galloway was ultimately referring to when he said what he said.

The Galloway comment was so frustrating because of the importance of this game. 

I would argue that if you polled Indiana Football fans, the majority would rather beat Ohio State than even make the College Football Playoff.

Indiana has not beaten Ohio State since 1988. The games have only been competitive a handful of times since that last Indiana victory.

The fact of the matter is Indiana is bringing the best team in program history into Columbus this weekend.

Kurtis Rourke is confident (yeah, the same guy Galloway is suggesting we benched), he said this of Ohio State’s defense:

“...they’ve got some good players. They run a good scheme, They’re well coached. Got a good amount of talent, but, excited to get after them, and it’ll be a good game.”

I’m not sure this Ohio State team is better than last year’s Ohio State team who struggled mightily against Tom Allen’s LEO Hoosiers. Time will tell.

I keep hearing the question “do you really think they can win?”

Yes. With every fiber of my being I fully believe this team has the ability to execute at a high level and impose Indiana Hoosier Football on the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Fast. Physical. Relentless. Smart. Disciplined. Poised.

There’s obviously a lot of hype coming into this matchup. That comes naturally with any Top 5 matchup. You start adding gasoline to the fire when you start talking about how much Buckeye fans care about their team. Cignetti at a microphone may as well be a forest fire to that gasoline. 

Point being there’s a lot of attention on this game.

There’s going to be a lot of people with incredibly strong opinions and preconceived notions about Indiana Football tuning in to watch them for the first time all season. 

They’re going to be stunned.

Yes, that NC State team that fell six inches short of quadruple overtime with the defending National Champions.

This Indiana team is better.

Elon rode into James Madison as 38-point underdogs. 38. 3. 8.

The talent gap between Elon and JMU was significantly wider than the gap between Indiana and Ohio State.

That’s not to say Indiana isn’t “out-gunned” on paper. If you were to SEC your way around deciding who wins football games, one look at the star ratings of each roster and/or the blue chip ratio of both teams would tell you everything you need to know.

It’s why this game matters.

A win over Ohio State eliminates any of the doubt that we are indeed in new era under Curt Cignetti.

At the end of the day Cig put it best:

“It’s a football game. One play at a time, got to execute. Whoever plays the best wins.”

Curt Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers are bringing Indiana Football to Columbus.

Ready or not, here they come.