Unbeaten Hoosiers Are Emphatic – This Is Not the Old Indiana
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Rankings don’t matter now, at the end of September, except they do when you haven’t been ranked in four years, when three consecutive losing records bring back the “same old Indiana” discussions that burn these Hoosiers because they are not, by any definition, what they were before -- not in roster and coaching staff makeup, not in performance.
As their 4-0 record attests, they are much, much better. They are four votes away from breaking into the Associated Press’s top-25 poll, just behind No. 25 Boise State and Washington State. In the coaches’ poll, they trail No. 25 Kansas State and Washington State.
A Saturday victory against Maryland (3-1) at Memorial Stadium could clinch a ranking.
Does this mean IU has something prove?
It depends on your perspective.
“We don’t have anything to prove,” receiver Myles Price says. “We look at it like, when we execute, we see what we can do.”
What the Hoosiers see is an offense that averages 50.5 points and a defense that allows just 9.2. Only Ohio State (52.3 and 6.7) is better in the Big Ten.
By comparison, Maryland averages 34.8 points and allows 16.8.
Receiver Ke’Shawn Williams is just as emphatic about IU’s strong early performance.
“We don’t have anything to prove to anybody but ourselves. We know what we’re capable of and what we can do, but we know it won’t come easy. Nobody will just roll over.”
Still, the Hoosiers are aware of the perception that the struggling Hoosiers will return against remaining Big Ten competition.
“A lot of people still view that this is the old IU,” Williams says. “This is a chance to prove them wrong, but we don’t worry about the outside noise. We worry about what’s in the house and our team. We focus on our standard and the stuff we know we have to do to be successful. That’s what’s important.”
Under head coach Curt Cignetti, Indiana has emerged as a tough-minded, hard-hitting team strong on execution and frugal with mistakes. Williams says the team ID is “relentless, effort, efficiency, and detail.”
“This is a hard-playing group of guys,” he adds.
Price, a transfer from Texas Tech, says the 4-0 start is attributable to IU’s ability to “stack days.”
“That's what it's about. It started back in January when I got here. You start stacking days, and when you stack days you stack weeks, you stack weeks you stack months and that leads on to stacking a year, and here we are now.”
Transformed play comes from a transformed roster boosted by productive college transfers at nearly every position. Price, for instance, totaled 2,521 all-purpose yards in 42 games at Texas Tech that included 1,751 as a receiver with 161 catches and 10 touchdowns.
Williams had 2,094 all-purpose yards at Wake Forest with 1,385 at receiver from 107 catches that included five touchdowns.
Such production helped produce victories at their former schools, a mindset Cignetti wanted given his own success at James Madison (52 victories in five seasons), Elon (14 wins in two years), and Indiana University Pennsylvania (53 in six seasons).
“We’re just a group of guys that believe,” Williams says. “Half our team is out of the portal, and when Cig recruited us, that’s exactly what he wanted to do and what his goals were.
“Clearly, he said enough to get us to come here. We have a lot of guys from schools that won games and understand a winning culture. We brought it over and it translated, and you can see us turning it into wins.”
Adds Price: “That mindset goes from Coach Cignetti to the position coaches to the position rooms to everybody.
“We have a lot of older guys, a lot of guys who have played a lot of football. You don’t have to worry about a lot of things that you would if you had a younger team.”
IU faces a formidable challenge in Maryland. Receiver Tai Felton leads the Big Ten in catches (41), receiving yards (604) and receiving touchdowns (five, tied with Washington’s Denzel Boston). Quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. leads the conference with 1,155 passing yards. The Terps lead the Big Ten in passing yards, with 1,235. Defensive back Dante Trader Jr. has 21 tackles and an interception.
The Hoosiers counter with one of the nation’s best red-zone attacks, one that has scored on 22-of-24 attempts inside the 20-yard line with 20 touchdowns. Receivers’ connection to quarterback Kurtis Rourke is a big reason for that success.
“Red zone scoring can be tough,” Williams says, “because the DBs don’t have to worry about deep balls, so they can play a more comfortable set. Our coaches draw up a great scheme, and we have a lot of players who can beat anything.”