INDIANA UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 31, 2024

Curt Cignetti

Press Conference

FIU 7 - Indiana 31

CURT CIGNETTI: Okay. I thought it was a really crisp start. Jumped up 21-nothing. Had it clicking in all three phases and then from the middle of the second quarter to halftime, really sloppy ball on both sides. Defense's credit. We shut them out in the second half, held them under 200 yards, thought that was good, teams were solid.

But offense, just too many opportunities squandered. And then protection, and just gotta get better there. Gotta learn to play the lead. Gotta learn to play the lead. Jump up to 21-nothing, man, gotta keep the edge.

So there's a lot of things we're trying to change here. Another thing we're trying to change in tradition is we gotta keep the people in the seats after halftime. We need to create a power four environment in the stadium. But we gotta play better, too. Questions.

Q. (Inaudible).

CURT CIGNETTI: At the end of the game I made my statement, and we have to play better. I was disappointed the way we played when we jumped up 21-nothing. But I did think defensively other than one drive, we played well.

Q. (Inaudible).

CURT CIGNETTI: We were swarming the football, doing a nice job of -- in the pass game for the most part, putting pressure on the quarterback, created a turnover or two. And so, again, other than the one drive, I thought I saw pretty significant improvement and the team had a chance.

Q. I guess just following up on that, I think eight tackles for loss, four sacks. How encouraged were you with seeing the disruption you were getting at the line of scrimmage in particular?

CURT CIGNETTI: Yeah. Those TFLs and sacks are great. I didn't know the numbers. But we've always been high in TFLs and sacks, and we have guys that have the ability to do that, too. So I think it's something to build on.

Q. For his first game in uniform, how do you access the way Kurtis Rourke played today?

CURT CIGNETTI: I thought he made some plays, scrambled out of the pocket, made a couple of plays, and then the protection broke down a little bit on him. He missed two to four reads, which is going to happen in a football game, and familiarity with scheme and things like that, just playing more snaps. We left at least ten plays out there offensively, but not the quarterback. Not the quarterback. So, yeah, I like the way he moved around because he hadn't been hit and made some nice throws.

Q. (Inaudible)?

CURT CIGNETTI: We had some real nice chunks in the run game, and most of the pressure I saw was coming off the edge in the pass game. So, you know, we would get the run game going in the second half in chunks, chunks, chunks, kind of breaking their will. Then we'd throw it, you know, and go backwards. Those guys are capable. We're going to be okay there. Yeah.

Q. (Inaudible).

CURT CIGNETTI: The offense changes week to week based on the opposition. You know, we threw a couple of surprise type plays at them early in the game, and they worked, and had one again there early in the second half that should have worked for a touchdown. And as the game was going on, I was wishing that we had a few more, to be honest with you. We didn't have that many to make. Want to see us play offense like we started those first three out of four series.

Q. Coach, Andrew Turvy came up with a tackle for loss. What did he show you in fall camp to earn that playing time in a close game in the second half?

CURT CIGNETTI: Yeah. Walk-on, and plays really hard, and he's smart. He does what he's supposed to do because our defense is pretty heavy. You know, there's a lot of adjustments, and there's some read and react after the ball's been snapped based on how linemen play. And he's a real dependable guy. And that's all we needed was somebody over there at that particular time to sort of do what he was supposed to do because there were plays to be made.

Q. Coach, transfer has accounted for 360 of the 414 yards of offense today. What does that say about your staff, your guys' ability to bring in the right guys?

CURT CIGNETTI: Most of those guys are proven guys. You know what I mean? So we made some plays out there. We're capable of making more.

Q. We didn't see Donaven McCulley out there for a lot of the game. What's he been dealing with and do you know how long he might be out?

CURT CIGNETTI: He was getting involved early and got hit and went back in there for a little bit, and then that was it for him. So we'll see what happens. He wasn't medically cleared to go back in.

Q. You all ran I want to say averaged a little under six yards a carry. How would you evaluate the way the rushing attack kind of played today?

CURT CIGNETTI: Yeah. There was some nice creases and some nice cuts, nice chunks, and now we gotta take the next step and with a little bit better down-field blocking or breaking a tackle here and there, those 12- and 13-yard gains become 25 and 30 and 40. I was really impressed with Elijah Green that last play. I mean, he broke through with a 2-0 line and showed speed and burst, and they couldn't catch him.

Q. A lot of rushing yards today, and I know that penalties are something that drives you insane. Eight penalties on the offense today. Was that just due to it being the first game, a little bit of fatigue coming in? Eight of the nine penalties were on the offense.

CURT CIGNETTI: Yeah. Good job, defense. Too many penalties. There were quite a few penalties in scrimmages. It was a focus to eliminate the penalties. But I think when you look around college football, you're seeing that in the openers right now. It's almost like they're teachable moments and they learn from it the next game. I'm not making an excuse by any means because we didn't want to have any. I am pleased that we didn't have turnovers because I was worried about penalties and turnovers. So we don't have to teach that, which was good. But we gotta do better in that area.

Q. You talked a lot about fall camp in the spring, just about the depth at receiver, rotating those guys. Who kind of dictates when those guys come in and out, and how happy were you with kind of the depth you showed there?

CURT CIGNETTI: I thought early on they made some plays, and Cross made a really nice catch. We just wanted them to play fast; and if they played four, five, six plays in a row and all of a sudden they run a deep route, we try to get a new group in there. And sometimes we'll sub out a whole three-wide group for another three-wide group. We have a lot of capable guys. Thank you.