Shawn Asbury: 'Indiana Is Something You Want To Be A Part Of'

Written By: Ben Gillard (@benjgillard)

In Coach Cignetti’s own words, Defensive Back Shawn Asbury had “the play of the game” on Saturday against Nebraska. With 7:47 left in the third quarter, Asbury picked off Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola at the goal line and returned it 78 yards to the Nebraska 19. This play completely shifted the momentum of the game and helped the Hoosiers hold the Cornhuskers’ offense to just 7 points in the game.

When asked about the interception on Monday, Asbury said, “So I kind of wanted to bait the quarterback a little bit, so that’s why I slid left first. But when I noticed that he wasn’t even looking at me, he was just looking at the receiver the whole time; I just ran and played the ball.” While this was a huge play, Asbury isn’t quite satisfied with it. When asked if he wished that he had scored, he joked, “I definitely do want that back. I definitely want that back.”

Even though he wasn’t able to reach the endzone on the play, he was still able to go viral thanks to an energetic call by Fox’s Gus Johnson. When asked if he had seen the clip online, Asbury said, “Yeah, that was crazy. I actually didn’t see it at first, but a lot of people sent it to me, and I watched it a couple times, probably five, six times. I didn’t really know what to think honestly, but yeah, it was cool.”

Asbury attributes the success that the Hoosiers have had this season to first-year head coach Curt Cignetti, saying, “Cig kind of instilled in us that we can go out there and beat anyone. When you have someone like that leading the program, it’s easy to just follow him. and you know when you start seeing results, it’s easy to just keep going with it. Cig is one of those guys who demands perfection, and that’s something you want to be a part of.”

It seems as though the players aren’t the only ones who want to be a part of this winning culture, as Memorial Stadium has become increasingly packed as the season has gone on, with the remaining home games being sold out. When asked about the transformation of the crowd over the course of the season, Asbury said, “It’s been crazy; I mean, we love it, and we hope it will keep going. The crowd really transformed a lot; obviously, the first couple games they weren’t really staying long; they probably didn’t really know what to expect; they were probably expecting the same thing as every year, but now that things have changed, the crowd is definitely going to be packed a lot more.”

Here’s hoping Asbury can finally get his pix-sick in front of a sold out crowd when the Hoosiers take on the Washington Huskies at 12 p.m. this Saturday.