Coaches Show Recap: “It’s A Big Game Cause It’s The Next Game”

Written By: Ben Gillard (@benjgillard)

Head Coach Curt Cignetti sat down with “Voice of the Hoosiers” Don Fischer on Thursday for another 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 their marquee matchup against the Washington Huskies this weekend.

Coach Cignetti started the show by praising the crowd on Saturday, saying, “[it was] a sellout; all the rest of our home games are sold out. It was a great atmosphere and competitive game.”  

Cignetti then gave his thoughts on the Hoosiers 56-7 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers last Saturday, saying, “I mean, it was a good win…we finished the half real strong and had a nice lead. They got the ball and were marching down the field trying to make it a two-score game and Shawn Asbury got the big pick on third down and took it back about 60 or 70 [yards]. I think that kind of broke their will a little bit.”

Fischer then asked about starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who did not play the second half against Nebraska, to which Cignetti said, “He’s doing well; he’s doubtful to play this week. He’s day-to-day, but we’re optimistic about the short term future with him.” While losing Rourke is a huge blow to the Hoosiers short term, the news that he is day-to-day is welcome, especially as the Hoosiers begin to face the meat of their Big Ten schedule.

With Rourke unlikely to play against the Huskies, it will be Sophomore QB Tayven Jackson under center for the Hoosiers on Saturday. “We have total confidence in Tayven; I thought he played really well in the second half [against Nebraska] and [will be] leading us in this football game.” Cignetti said.

He then turned his to this Saturday’s matchup, saying, “Jedd Fisch is really a good football coach… and they’ve got two Hall of Fame coaches sons running the offense and defense, Belichick running the defense, and Brennan Carroll, Pete Carroll’s son, running the offense, and they’ve had a week off to prepare for us.” 

It’s clear that Coach Cignetti and the Hoosiers are not resting on the laurels of their 7-0 start, nor are they overlooking the 4-3 Huskies. “The team mindset is critical this time of year. The team that shows up ready to play is a team that has a great chance to win it. When you’ve had a lot of success like we’ve had, it’s easy to get the warm fuzzies and think that everything is going to be ok. Well, it's only ok if you make it happen and prepare right.” he explained.

Cignetti expanded on this saying, “If you think about it like it’s a machine, to run as well as it can, all the parts have to work together. Everybody’s got to be focused on the same thing. We have a philosophy on how we want to play the game and how we approach it: play in play out, one play at a time, six seconds a play; fast, physical, relentless; smart, disciplined, poised; not affected by success or failure.” 

It’s clear that this mindset has been critical to the success of the team this season, and that all stems from the head coach. There’s no better example of this than how Cignetti ended the show saying, “It’s a big game because it’s the next game, and we’ve got to play real well.”