Cignetti Shows His Displeasure with Officiating After Week 3 Matchup

Written By: Nick Gonzales (@nrgonzales_)

Indiana’s Week 3 matchup against the Bruins was a testament to a new era of IU Football. While the stats and score show the Hoosiers kept the Bruins under check, those who watched the game were especially irritated by the officiating crew. Hoosier fans around the country were constantly yelling at their screens every time a yellow flag flew onto the field.

Last Saturday, the Hoosiers were penalized 14 times for 127 yards and were still able to hold UCLA to 13 points. In comparison, Indiana was penalized twice in their week 2 matchup against Western Illinois. With 14 penalties called against you, you have to wonder what the officiating crew was seeing compared to the rest of the viewers. In Monday’s press conference, Cignetti displayed his displeasure about the targeting penalties called against them.

“I think there needs to be a balance there and common sense and intent… You know, the other ones (targeting calls) were kind of Mickey Mouse.” Cignetti replied when asked if there should be a balance of safety and fairness for targeting rules.

 The first of the two targeting calls was on defensive lineman CJ West. During the play, UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers fumbled the snap and as he was going to pick it up, West ran through the line and tried to recover the fumble. However, as West leaned down to grab the ball, Garbers was picking it up and West’s momentum carried his helmet into Garbers’ helmet. The second time the referees called targeting on the Hoosiers was when star defensive back D’Angelo Ponds hit UCLA receiver, J. Michael Sturdivant, in the head with his shoulder while he was catching a pass. These two calls led to the ejection of West and Ponds from the game, but since it was in the second half, their ejections carry over to the first half of play against Charlotte this Saturday. Fans were not happy about these calls which entailed many of them calling for an explanation from the Big Ten and Indiana appeal the calls.

“I don’t think there was anything dirty out there, that’s for sure.” Cignetti expressed in his press conference.

Cignetti wasn’t just disappointed in some of the penalties called on them, but the lack of penalties called against UCLA.

“Probably the hardest hits in the game was when Aiden Fisher intercepted the pass and got hit in the head, and there’s no call for that one.” Coach Cignetti said in his Monday press conference.

What stirred up a lot of people were the roughing the passer calls against the Hoosiers. The first one came on a third and seven play during a blitz by linebacker Jailin Walker where he rushed up the middle and put his left arm up with the hopes to interfere with Garbers’ pass attempt. He had a minor collision with the quarterbacks helmet which drew the flag and turned a fourth down play into a first down. The call that disturbed viewers the most was during a sack, that appeared to be clean, by Lanell Carr Jr.

https://x.com/Jared_Kelly7/status/1835696150151586036

“How do you make a good tackle?” Coach Cignetti said after the game.

Besides all the penalties, IU’s defense still managed to go out there and play hard and keep UCLA from scoring any touchdowns in the second half while they were down two players.

“We had some adversity, obviously, with the penalties on defense. There was no panic, frustration. Maybe there was frustration in terms of what was going down, but our guys kept their poise and responded. I thought that was great.” Cignetti stated Monday.

Indiana is preparing to face the 1-2 Charlotte 49ers in Bloomington this Saturday, while trying to move on from the events that unfolded in the Rose Bowl last week. Even while facing adversity, Cignetti says that his team will not be changing the way that they play and look to dominate another opponent.