Around CFB: Confident Curt Cignetti's Hoosiers remain unbeaten
Indiana is winning.
The Hoosiers face Maryland on Saturday with a chance to start 5-0. That’s no small accomplishment in Bloomington. Indiana hasn’t won its first five games since 1967.
But there are two reasons why Hoosiers’ fast start should not come as a surprise.
The first reason is Curt Cignetti.
If you don’t know — and we’re talking Indiana football, so you probably don’t — Cignetti is the Hoosiers’ ultra-confident first-year coach.
At his introductory press conference last December, Cignetti was asked how he could coax high school prospects and transfers to Indiana.
“I win,” he said brashly. “Google me.”
We did.
The 63-year-old Cignetti was wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator on Nick Saban’s original staff at Alabama.
He coached there from 2007 to 2010. Cignetti left Tuscaloosa in 2011 to take a head coaching position at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (yes, that’s a real place).
There, Cignetti’s teams were 53-17 and became a fixture in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
“I bet on myself. I was tired of being an assistant coach. I took a big pay cut, and it worked out,” Cignetti told IUHoosiers.com.
Next, he went to Elon, where his teams were 14-9 and made the playoffs in his two seasons there.
That led to Cignetti’s hiring at James Madison in 2019. In five seasons under Cignetti, the Dukes went 52-9. That included an 11-1 record last season — James Madison’s second at the FBS level.
So, when Indiana needed a replacement for the fired Tom Allen, Cignetti seemed like an easy choice.
He went to Bloomington with an overload of confidence and 13 transfers from James Madison. He brought in 31 transfers overall.
“We have a lot of experience,” Cignetti said to IUHoosers.com. “We have a lot of guys who have played winning football and have good career production numbers over multiple years. We've got a good core group of guys that are accustomed to winning and are used to winning.”
Cignetti is indeed winning. Just like he said he would.
The Hoosiers are fifth in the nation in scoring. They’re seventh in points allowed. They’re third in total defense and 11th in total offense.
But, as previously mentioned, there is a second reason for their uncharacteristic success.
The Hoosiers have played a less-than-challenging schedule thus far.
Their first four opponents — FIU, Western Illinois, UCLA and Charlotte — are just a combined 3-11.
We googled it.
Heisman Watch (If my ballot was due today)
1. Cam Ward, Miami, QB: The Hurricanes’ passer had his most productive outing of the season in a 50-15 victory over South Florida. Ward completed 24-of-34 passes for a season-high 404 yards and three touchdowns. That increased his season passing totals to 1,439 yards and 14 touchdowns.
2. Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss, QB: True, the level of competition has been suspect, but Dart has taken advantage to lead the nation in passing. He’s completing nearly 80 percent of his attempts for 1,554 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has also rushed for 90 yards and three scores. Last week, Dart passed for 382 yards and four touchdowns in a 52-13 win over Georgia Southern.
3. Ashton Jeanty, Boise State, RB: He no longer leads the nation in rushing yardage. That distinction goes to Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, who has 685 yards. But Johnson has accumulated that total in four games. Jeanty has amassed 586 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in two-and-a-half games. He did not play the second half in the Broncos’ 56-14 victory over Portland State last week. He finished with 127 yards on 11 carries. He’s now averaging 10.4 yards per carry and 195.3 yards per game. He has four runs that have covered 68 yards or more.
4. Quinn Ewers, Texas, QB: Sitting out games — even for injury — means dropping in the rankings. If not sidelined by an abdominal injury, Ewers, who has passed for 691 yards and eight touchdowns, could have padded his stats in the Longhorns’ 51-3 thrashing of ULM. He’ll get that opportunity this week against Mississippi State if he plays. If not, he’ll have to drop further.
5. Dillon Gabriel, Oregon, QB: The Ducks were idle last week. In his most recent outing, Gabriel completed 20-of-24 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-14 victory over Oregon State. Through three games, Gabriel has the nation’s highest completion percentage at 84 percent. He has passed for 914 yards and six touchdowns.
Games to Watch
No. 2 Georgia at No. 4 Alabama: Could this be the first of three games matching these teams this season? Georgia's stingy defense vs. Alabama’s high-scoring offense is a classic matchup.
No. 19 Illinois at No. 9 Penn State: The Illini turned heads with a victory over Nebraska. They’ll be looked upon as legitimate playoff contenders if they win at Happy Valley.
No. 15 Louisville at No. 16 Notre Dame: The Cardinals aim to repeat last year’s emphatic victory over Notre Dame, but they’ll have to do it in South Bend.
Washington State at No. 25 Boise State: The Cougars are undefeated, but they’re also ranked 84th in run defense. That could be a problem vs. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty.
Colorado at UCF: Colorado coach Deion Sanders returns to his home state to face unbeaten UCF. He may need more than magic and miracles to win in Orlando.
