Indiana University Athletics
Media Monday: Ohio State
12/1/2025 1:00:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– After the 56-3 win at Purdue in Week 14, Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti addressed the media inside the Don Croftcheck Football Team Room on Monday (December 1) ahead of the 8 p.m. kickoff on Saturday (December 6) against Ohio State for the Big Ten Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Below is a full transcript of the press conference, while video of the media session can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Curt Cignetti | Head Coach
Opening Statement
CC: Okay. Turn the page from the last game to the upcoming opponent. Like I said yesterday, excited about this week. Need to have a great day of prep today and stack days, meetings, practices and give ourselves the best chance Saturday. So, play 1 to 150, we can play our best.
Playing a great football team. A lot of great players across the board, dominant. Really haven't been challenged this year. I guess you could say Texas, who scored a touchdown with three minutes to go to make it 14-7, and Michigan got off to a good start, but then Ohio State took control.
Other than the Texas game, they've got three 18-point wins their closest games, but in all those other games, they were in complete control.
On Ohio State's defense being a little different from last year…
CC: Still kind of learning them as we speak. More looks in the secondary for sure, more coverages, a few more different kinds of pressures. It's a different defense.
They're good. That's why they're No. 1 in the country. Least amount of points, least amount of yards, red area defense, great on third down, fourth down, 30 sacks, give up 70 yards rushing a game, 130 passing.
And they're dominant on offense obviously. The quarterback's playing great. They've got big time weapons on the outside, and the tight end too, (Max) Klare, is a weapon. The running backs have gotten better every week and had big days last week against Michigan.
Special teams are really good. If you all remember, the special teams was a big part of our downfall last year in that game. So, our special teams, aside from that game, were excellent last year, and they've been very good this year. So, they're going to need to be real good Saturday.
On Fernando's Mendoza's postgame comments about the team having a lot of "misfits" on the roster…
CC: I think maybe to some degree that was the case last year, where you had a number of guys that followed me that had something to prove and a number of other transfers that had joined someone from the G-5 level. That was, I think, Pat Coogan's angle to kind of get everybody fired up.
I don't view our team as a bunch of misfits at all. We've got a lot of good football players that have proven themselves collegiately. They have high character, high intelligence, work hard, and there's a lot of people in the country that would love to have a lot of our guys, I promise you that.
But I do give Pat credit for finding an angle to kind of get everybody juiced. Pat's probably got a little Notre Dame in him still, so maybe from his perspective, we are misfits. That's a joke.
(Laughter).
No, Pat Coogan has been a key addition to the team. He's one of our great leaders.
We recognize the challenge. We respect Ohio State. Not pleased with really the way we played last year. We went there, our first real big test on a national level. We've talked through that yesterday, the things that happened in that game. But this is a different team.
On why the Indiana defense has been so successful…
CC: The only way I can really answer that question, to be quite honest with you, is since our first year at JMU in '19, where philosophically we want to create TFL (tackles for loss), sacks and be great against the run and create havoc, that we have played great defense every year since '19, and there's a pride and tradition about playing defense here that we carried over to Indiana.
It's all about people. It's the program philosophy, but then you got to look at the leader of the defense, Bryant Haines, who I think is an excellent football coach, tactician, linebacker coach, game day coach. Then you've got to look at the guys playing defense for us, the (Aiden) Fishers, the (D'Angelo) Ponds, (Isaiah) Bones Jones, (Rolijah) Hardy, (Tyrique) Tucker, (Stephen) Daley, guys that are playing really, really well. Our safeties are playing well.
There's room for improvement, trust me, but there's a pride about playing defense, and those guys carry it onto the field.
On preparing for the unknown with Ohio State's offense and in-game adjustments…
CC: Well, I think at this point of the year you've seen almost everything. There's a lot of plays out there that we could run that we haven't run and I'm sure they could run that they haven't run, but we've got 12 games on them, they've got 12 games on us.
We know their personnel pretty well, and they know our personnel pretty well. So we've got an idea how we think they'll attack us. I'm sure they have an idea how they think we'll attack them. You put your best plan together to put your guys in position to make plays and then got to execute it.
The thing about college football today with the pads on the sideline, you can see exactly what went on the series before. There's no gray area. In the old days you used to get communication from guys on the bench and then come in Sunday and half of it was wrong. There is no gray area anymore. So, you can make quicker adjustments now than you could in the past, and it's made the game better.
On how Julian Sayin has stood out with being so young…
CC: Yeah, he plays with a lot of poise. He doesn't look like a guy that's in his first year as a starter. He looks like he sees the field very well, throws the ball on rhythm. He can really rip it. He's got a tight release, a lot of velocity on the ball, very accurate. They've done a nice job protecting him, and obviously he's got great weapons to throw to.
I think a little bit like us they don't put the ball in his hands and say, win the game. They're balanced. They want to run the football and throw the football both, as do we, and that takes some pressure off the quarterback. Whereas some teams are a little bit more into points, stats, whatever, want to throw the ball more. Neither of these two teams do that.
On rising to the moment this Saturday and the growth in reaching those moments since last year's game…
CC: Well, my comment was looking back a year ago, objectively speaking, you would have to say that it became too big for us at some point in the second quarter and into the third. And we're going to find out Saturday how ready we are.
What I can tell you about this football team is we've met every challenge up to this point because we prepare consistently the way you need to prepare and put it on the field, and all three phases have been very consistent. That's what it's going to take this week, detailed preparation, commit to the preparation, eliminate the noise and the clutter, put yourself in the best position to play your best on Saturday individually and collectively.
It's my job to make sure that happens and the assistant coaches. With that done five days from now, our guys will walk on the field with confidence that they will get the job done.
On the difference in the depth in the trenches between the two teams compared to last year…
CC: And some of the issues with front line players too, not just depth, but depth helps because now you can rest your front-line players. We're probably a little deeper on the offensive line than we were last year. I can't say the same thing about our defensive line in terms of our depth. We had pretty good depth last year on our defensive line, but we're getting good production from the guys that are playing.
I think, when we went to Oregon, what we were able to do up front defensively was vital to us being successful in winning that football game, especially in the second. We dominated up front on defense. We're going to need an outstanding game from our guys this Saturday.
On how this game has the power to be a showcase for the program, especially when often recruiting against Ohio State…
CC: From our perspective, we're just getting ready to play a football game. So I don't think about it like that, but I will answer your question. I'd like to think we're at the level of Ohio State in terms of recruiting, but we're not right now. Ohio State's in a league of their own for a lot of different reasons. And a big part of it is their tradition, their winning history, and all the National Championships that they've won, and the money that they've put into the program over a long, extended period of time.
Are we closing that gap? Yeah, I think we're closing that gap. What would a successful performance do on Saturday? Well, it would do a lot, a whole lot. There's a lot of talk about the college football calendar right now.
Well, we're getting ready to play the Big Ten Championship game. Wednesday is the early signing period for the high school guys. Fortunately, they're all committed, and our recruiting department can handle most of that. Coaches can focus on their preparation. I won't even get into the portal part of it.
But there's no question there will be a lot of eyes on this game. It's a great matchup. I'm confident that we'll respond the right way.
On his program's emphasis on player development and the role that has played these last two years…
CC: Yeah, it's huge. Building a program and being successful used to be all about recruiting and development. Now you add retention to the mix, but development is what it's all about because there's a lot of good football players out there. There aren't many great unusual players out there. Ohio State's got a few of those, and we've got some really good players.
But the development piece, and what you do with them in the weight room in the off-season program, both in the winter and the summer, your philosophy -- offense, defense, special teams -- the intangibles you create on your football team, the things you put in their head, the messaging, how you practice? Can you keep them healthy? Do you have a good culture? I mean, do they like it here? Do they like each other? Do you have good leadership?
That's all part of development, and I think we've excelled in those areas. When I first took over as a head coach, I was fortunate that -- I mean, we turned the program around right away, but I was able to make some mistakes at that level -- year 1, year 2, year 3 -- and learn from them so that by year 6, year 5, it was kind of like I'd hit my stride.
We're always looking to improve what we do organizationally, and I think the organizational discipline that we have is really important here. Everybody's on the same page. Everybody's thinking alike. That's what it takes when you're the CEO of a program, a football program, P-4.
The bottom line is you've got to change the way people think. As the leader, you've got to get everybody to think alike and buy into the team vision and sacrifice personal goals sort of aside for the betterment of the team because, when the team's successful, everybody benefits -- more All-Conference, more All-American, more NFL draft choices, et cetera.
So, development is huge, and I give our assistant coaches a ton of credit for that. Coach Haines, Coach (Mike) Shanahan, Grant Cain, Coach (Bob) Bostad, Derek Owings, every single position coach. We've got great people upstairs, and we have great people in that locker room.
On how Ohio State hasn't been challenged much this season and the close games IU has had…
CC: We've been in some close games and down to the wire games. When you're successful in those kinds of situations, it can only add to your confidence and belief that the next time you're in one, you're going to make it happen because you have in the past.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Below is a full transcript of the press conference, while video of the media session can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Curt Cignetti | Head Coach
Opening Statement
CC: Okay. Turn the page from the last game to the upcoming opponent. Like I said yesterday, excited about this week. Need to have a great day of prep today and stack days, meetings, practices and give ourselves the best chance Saturday. So, play 1 to 150, we can play our best.
Playing a great football team. A lot of great players across the board, dominant. Really haven't been challenged this year. I guess you could say Texas, who scored a touchdown with three minutes to go to make it 14-7, and Michigan got off to a good start, but then Ohio State took control.
Other than the Texas game, they've got three 18-point wins their closest games, but in all those other games, they were in complete control.
On Ohio State's defense being a little different from last year…
CC: Still kind of learning them as we speak. More looks in the secondary for sure, more coverages, a few more different kinds of pressures. It's a different defense.
They're good. That's why they're No. 1 in the country. Least amount of points, least amount of yards, red area defense, great on third down, fourth down, 30 sacks, give up 70 yards rushing a game, 130 passing.
And they're dominant on offense obviously. The quarterback's playing great. They've got big time weapons on the outside, and the tight end too, (Max) Klare, is a weapon. The running backs have gotten better every week and had big days last week against Michigan.
Special teams are really good. If you all remember, the special teams was a big part of our downfall last year in that game. So, our special teams, aside from that game, were excellent last year, and they've been very good this year. So, they're going to need to be real good Saturday.
On Fernando's Mendoza's postgame comments about the team having a lot of "misfits" on the roster…
CC: I think maybe to some degree that was the case last year, where you had a number of guys that followed me that had something to prove and a number of other transfers that had joined someone from the G-5 level. That was, I think, Pat Coogan's angle to kind of get everybody fired up.
I don't view our team as a bunch of misfits at all. We've got a lot of good football players that have proven themselves collegiately. They have high character, high intelligence, work hard, and there's a lot of people in the country that would love to have a lot of our guys, I promise you that.
But I do give Pat credit for finding an angle to kind of get everybody juiced. Pat's probably got a little Notre Dame in him still, so maybe from his perspective, we are misfits. That's a joke.
(Laughter).
No, Pat Coogan has been a key addition to the team. He's one of our great leaders.
We recognize the challenge. We respect Ohio State. Not pleased with really the way we played last year. We went there, our first real big test on a national level. We've talked through that yesterday, the things that happened in that game. But this is a different team.
On why the Indiana defense has been so successful…
CC: The only way I can really answer that question, to be quite honest with you, is since our first year at JMU in '19, where philosophically we want to create TFL (tackles for loss), sacks and be great against the run and create havoc, that we have played great defense every year since '19, and there's a pride and tradition about playing defense here that we carried over to Indiana.
It's all about people. It's the program philosophy, but then you got to look at the leader of the defense, Bryant Haines, who I think is an excellent football coach, tactician, linebacker coach, game day coach. Then you've got to look at the guys playing defense for us, the (Aiden) Fishers, the (D'Angelo) Ponds, (Isaiah) Bones Jones, (Rolijah) Hardy, (Tyrique) Tucker, (Stephen) Daley, guys that are playing really, really well. Our safeties are playing well.
There's room for improvement, trust me, but there's a pride about playing defense, and those guys carry it onto the field.
On preparing for the unknown with Ohio State's offense and in-game adjustments…
CC: Well, I think at this point of the year you've seen almost everything. There's a lot of plays out there that we could run that we haven't run and I'm sure they could run that they haven't run, but we've got 12 games on them, they've got 12 games on us.
We know their personnel pretty well, and they know our personnel pretty well. So we've got an idea how we think they'll attack us. I'm sure they have an idea how they think we'll attack them. You put your best plan together to put your guys in position to make plays and then got to execute it.
The thing about college football today with the pads on the sideline, you can see exactly what went on the series before. There's no gray area. In the old days you used to get communication from guys on the bench and then come in Sunday and half of it was wrong. There is no gray area anymore. So, you can make quicker adjustments now than you could in the past, and it's made the game better.
On how Julian Sayin has stood out with being so young…
CC: Yeah, he plays with a lot of poise. He doesn't look like a guy that's in his first year as a starter. He looks like he sees the field very well, throws the ball on rhythm. He can really rip it. He's got a tight release, a lot of velocity on the ball, very accurate. They've done a nice job protecting him, and obviously he's got great weapons to throw to.
I think a little bit like us they don't put the ball in his hands and say, win the game. They're balanced. They want to run the football and throw the football both, as do we, and that takes some pressure off the quarterback. Whereas some teams are a little bit more into points, stats, whatever, want to throw the ball more. Neither of these two teams do that.
On rising to the moment this Saturday and the growth in reaching those moments since last year's game…
CC: Well, my comment was looking back a year ago, objectively speaking, you would have to say that it became too big for us at some point in the second quarter and into the third. And we're going to find out Saturday how ready we are.
What I can tell you about this football team is we've met every challenge up to this point because we prepare consistently the way you need to prepare and put it on the field, and all three phases have been very consistent. That's what it's going to take this week, detailed preparation, commit to the preparation, eliminate the noise and the clutter, put yourself in the best position to play your best on Saturday individually and collectively.
It's my job to make sure that happens and the assistant coaches. With that done five days from now, our guys will walk on the field with confidence that they will get the job done.
On the difference in the depth in the trenches between the two teams compared to last year…
CC: And some of the issues with front line players too, not just depth, but depth helps because now you can rest your front-line players. We're probably a little deeper on the offensive line than we were last year. I can't say the same thing about our defensive line in terms of our depth. We had pretty good depth last year on our defensive line, but we're getting good production from the guys that are playing.
I think, when we went to Oregon, what we were able to do up front defensively was vital to us being successful in winning that football game, especially in the second. We dominated up front on defense. We're going to need an outstanding game from our guys this Saturday.
On how this game has the power to be a showcase for the program, especially when often recruiting against Ohio State…
CC: From our perspective, we're just getting ready to play a football game. So I don't think about it like that, but I will answer your question. I'd like to think we're at the level of Ohio State in terms of recruiting, but we're not right now. Ohio State's in a league of their own for a lot of different reasons. And a big part of it is their tradition, their winning history, and all the National Championships that they've won, and the money that they've put into the program over a long, extended period of time.
Are we closing that gap? Yeah, I think we're closing that gap. What would a successful performance do on Saturday? Well, it would do a lot, a whole lot. There's a lot of talk about the college football calendar right now.
Well, we're getting ready to play the Big Ten Championship game. Wednesday is the early signing period for the high school guys. Fortunately, they're all committed, and our recruiting department can handle most of that. Coaches can focus on their preparation. I won't even get into the portal part of it.
But there's no question there will be a lot of eyes on this game. It's a great matchup. I'm confident that we'll respond the right way.
On his program's emphasis on player development and the role that has played these last two years…
CC: Yeah, it's huge. Building a program and being successful used to be all about recruiting and development. Now you add retention to the mix, but development is what it's all about because there's a lot of good football players out there. There aren't many great unusual players out there. Ohio State's got a few of those, and we've got some really good players.
But the development piece, and what you do with them in the weight room in the off-season program, both in the winter and the summer, your philosophy -- offense, defense, special teams -- the intangibles you create on your football team, the things you put in their head, the messaging, how you practice? Can you keep them healthy? Do you have a good culture? I mean, do they like it here? Do they like each other? Do you have good leadership?
That's all part of development, and I think we've excelled in those areas. When I first took over as a head coach, I was fortunate that -- I mean, we turned the program around right away, but I was able to make some mistakes at that level -- year 1, year 2, year 3 -- and learn from them so that by year 6, year 5, it was kind of like I'd hit my stride.
We're always looking to improve what we do organizationally, and I think the organizational discipline that we have is really important here. Everybody's on the same page. Everybody's thinking alike. That's what it takes when you're the CEO of a program, a football program, P-4.
The bottom line is you've got to change the way people think. As the leader, you've got to get everybody to think alike and buy into the team vision and sacrifice personal goals sort of aside for the betterment of the team because, when the team's successful, everybody benefits -- more All-Conference, more All-American, more NFL draft choices, et cetera.
So, development is huge, and I give our assistant coaches a ton of credit for that. Coach Haines, Coach (Mike) Shanahan, Grant Cain, Coach (Bob) Bostad, Derek Owings, every single position coach. We've got great people upstairs, and we have great people in that locker room.
On how Ohio State hasn't been challenged much this season and the close games IU has had…
CC: We've been in some close games and down to the wire games. When you're successful in those kinds of situations, it can only add to your confidence and belief that the next time you're in one, you're going to make it happen because you have in the past.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
#NeverDaunted
Players Mentioned
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