Indiana University Athletics
Media Monday: Howard
9/7/2026 1:00:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– After the 52-16 win over North Texas in Week 1, Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti addressed the media inside the Don Croftcheck Football Team Room on Monday (September 7) ahead of the noon kickoff on Saturday (September 12) against Howard on Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium.
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: Game one in the books. Some good. A lot of improvements to be made. But did some good things in this game. Started fast. Won the first quarter, 14-0. Won the fourth quarter, 21-0. So offense scored seven out of eight possessions. Six touchdowns, 4-for-4 in the red area.
Defense had a hard time getting off the field. And the opponent had the ball 37 minutes, a combination of some critical missed assignments, poor tackling. So gotta get better there.
Obviously, it was hot. I was told they measured it at 152 on the turf.
Made some big things happen on special teams. Opening kickoff return, another long return, a really good punt return. Field goal, PAT was really good. Won the turnover battle, 1-0, which resulted in seven points.
Improvements to be made and looking forward to making those this week.
On if anything stood out after watching the film…
CC: I think some critical MAs (missed assignments), more on the bench than to the field, but there were some to the field. I think the heat got to a couple of the guys, maybe. Obviously, both corners went down in the first quarter.
A.J. (Harris) went down play eight and Jamari Sharpe, last play of the first quarter. Jaylen Bell played extensively to the field and I thought did a nice job. And Ryland Gandy played on the bench. And got a tackle a little better in space, the missed assignments.
We weren't real disruptive up front, but it was a little bit of a space game, too. So, you go out in the first game, you're not exactly sure what the opponent's going to do. They gave us a lot of different looks, to their credit, but we overcame it.
On injury status of those who were hurt Saturday…
CC: I think the corners are day to day right now. I talked to our trainer yesterday. I have not spoken with him yet today. Khobie Martin will be out for a little bit. And expect him back sometime around midseason.
On Joe Brunner playing guard and Adedamola Ajani playing tackle…
CC: Yeah, well that's the way we're committed to heading right now. And Bob felt near the end of the camp, you know, that would be our best unit. So, we've got about a week in before the first game, a little bit more than in a week doing that.
On his assessment of Josh Hoover's play…
CC: Yeah, I thought obviously it was a good start. Four touchdown passes, great catch by (Nick) Marsh on the first one. He made some nice throws, some good decisions.
He got away with one that he's not gonna get away with in Big Ten play. And the one long touchdown to Charlie, he's got to step into that throw better and get it out there and get it up and down.
The one he got his helmet ripped off, he flipped the protection and really shouldn't have. So, he became unprotected to the side of the blitz.
But then he responded and threw a touchdown pass shortly thereafter. But even then, a hair late and made a little tougher catch for Charlie (Becker) than it needed to be. Great catch by Charlie.
He played well. There's no question about it. It was a good start.
On the young tight ends and what he saw from them…
CC: Yeah, and we need to continue to develop there and get better. We're not where we need to be yet. And (Trevor) Gibbs was out, not available. He might return this week. We're going to take it slow. We need him long term, but he's close to returning, as is Blake Smythe, who wasn't available for the game on Saturday.
On his scouting report of Howard and their quarterback…
CC: He's their leading rusher, and obviously the quarterback, too. He's a really good athlete. They've got good team speed. I mean, they've got skill. Even on defense, they've got quickness and speed. So the quarterback, he's played a lot for them and he's a dual guy.
On Josh's numbers being sharper in Week 1 than past quarterbacks…
CC: I think we won our one-on-one match-ups. They had a hard time covering us. They were committed to trying to stop the run best they could. Came out in five down linemen. That was their goal coming in. They were going to try to do as good as they could against the run and take their chances against the pass, and we won our one-on-ones.
On his thoughts on the run game…
CC: I think based on the way we were being played, I mean, it was fine. I mean, there were some little things up front that have got to be improved. But the call on Bray (Lynch) on the long touchdown run, you know, they called it. I thought the guy kind of tripped. So, it is what it is. And we'll be fine.
On what stood out about Cam McHaney…
CC: He was the fourth guy in that inside rotation with Blake Smythe not available. Blake's been pretty impactful for a freshman. And there was some good and some bad with him. But he's going to be a good player.
On Isaiah Jones becoming a leader…
CC: Yeah, there's no question he's a leader on defense and kind of taking Aiden Fisher's role over and just an instinctive player, good player, had a good game, had a couple snafus, but he's always around the ball.
On Isaiah holding the guys in the locker room accountable and how he discussed Saturday not being good enough…
CC: Yeah, I think all the ones that have been here on that side of the ball felt that way during the game and after the game. And it's got to get better. There's things we have to do better. And I'm sure it will.
But yeah, we've got good leadership, and there's no doubt he's number one over there.
On Nick Marsh showing up blocking…
CC: Well, there's a big point of emphasis going into the game. I didn't think we blocked very well at receiver the first two openers here. You know, explosive runs become touchdown runs with great downfield block, and so it was a point of emphasis, and I thought all the receivers responded.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
#NeverDaunted
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: Game one in the books. Some good. A lot of improvements to be made. But did some good things in this game. Started fast. Won the first quarter, 14-0. Won the fourth quarter, 21-0. So offense scored seven out of eight possessions. Six touchdowns, 4-for-4 in the red area.
Defense had a hard time getting off the field. And the opponent had the ball 37 minutes, a combination of some critical missed assignments, poor tackling. So gotta get better there.
Obviously, it was hot. I was told they measured it at 152 on the turf.
Made some big things happen on special teams. Opening kickoff return, another long return, a really good punt return. Field goal, PAT was really good. Won the turnover battle, 1-0, which resulted in seven points.
Improvements to be made and looking forward to making those this week.
On if anything stood out after watching the film…
CC: I think some critical MAs (missed assignments), more on the bench than to the field, but there were some to the field. I think the heat got to a couple of the guys, maybe. Obviously, both corners went down in the first quarter.
A.J. (Harris) went down play eight and Jamari Sharpe, last play of the first quarter. Jaylen Bell played extensively to the field and I thought did a nice job. And Ryland Gandy played on the bench. And got a tackle a little better in space, the missed assignments.
We weren't real disruptive up front, but it was a little bit of a space game, too. So, you go out in the first game, you're not exactly sure what the opponent's going to do. They gave us a lot of different looks, to their credit, but we overcame it.
On injury status of those who were hurt Saturday…
CC: I think the corners are day to day right now. I talked to our trainer yesterday. I have not spoken with him yet today. Khobie Martin will be out for a little bit. And expect him back sometime around midseason.
On Joe Brunner playing guard and Adedamola Ajani playing tackle…
CC: Yeah, well that's the way we're committed to heading right now. And Bob felt near the end of the camp, you know, that would be our best unit. So, we've got about a week in before the first game, a little bit more than in a week doing that.
On his assessment of Josh Hoover's play…
CC: Yeah, I thought obviously it was a good start. Four touchdown passes, great catch by (Nick) Marsh on the first one. He made some nice throws, some good decisions.
He got away with one that he's not gonna get away with in Big Ten play. And the one long touchdown to Charlie, he's got to step into that throw better and get it out there and get it up and down.
The one he got his helmet ripped off, he flipped the protection and really shouldn't have. So, he became unprotected to the side of the blitz.
But then he responded and threw a touchdown pass shortly thereafter. But even then, a hair late and made a little tougher catch for Charlie (Becker) than it needed to be. Great catch by Charlie.
He played well. There's no question about it. It was a good start.
On the young tight ends and what he saw from them…
CC: Yeah, and we need to continue to develop there and get better. We're not where we need to be yet. And (Trevor) Gibbs was out, not available. He might return this week. We're going to take it slow. We need him long term, but he's close to returning, as is Blake Smythe, who wasn't available for the game on Saturday.
On his scouting report of Howard and their quarterback…
CC: He's their leading rusher, and obviously the quarterback, too. He's a really good athlete. They've got good team speed. I mean, they've got skill. Even on defense, they've got quickness and speed. So the quarterback, he's played a lot for them and he's a dual guy.
On Josh's numbers being sharper in Week 1 than past quarterbacks…
CC: I think we won our one-on-one match-ups. They had a hard time covering us. They were committed to trying to stop the run best they could. Came out in five down linemen. That was their goal coming in. They were going to try to do as good as they could against the run and take their chances against the pass, and we won our one-on-ones.
On his thoughts on the run game…
CC: I think based on the way we were being played, I mean, it was fine. I mean, there were some little things up front that have got to be improved. But the call on Bray (Lynch) on the long touchdown run, you know, they called it. I thought the guy kind of tripped. So, it is what it is. And we'll be fine.
On what stood out about Cam McHaney…
CC: He was the fourth guy in that inside rotation with Blake Smythe not available. Blake's been pretty impactful for a freshman. And there was some good and some bad with him. But he's going to be a good player.
On Isaiah Jones becoming a leader…
CC: Yeah, there's no question he's a leader on defense and kind of taking Aiden Fisher's role over and just an instinctive player, good player, had a good game, had a couple snafus, but he's always around the ball.
On Isaiah holding the guys in the locker room accountable and how he discussed Saturday not being good enough…
CC: Yeah, I think all the ones that have been here on that side of the ball felt that way during the game and after the game. And it's got to get better. There's things we have to do better. And I'm sure it will.
But yeah, we've got good leadership, and there's no doubt he's number one over there.
On Nick Marsh showing up blocking…
CC: Well, there's a big point of emphasis going into the game. I didn't think we blocked very well at receiver the first two openers here. You know, explosive runs become touchdown runs with great downfield block, and so it was a point of emphasis, and I thought all the receivers responded.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
#NeverDaunted
Players Mentioned
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/ FootballMonday, September 07
Saturday, September 05
Saturday, September 05
Saturday, September 05