INDIANA UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 19, 2024

Curt Cignetti

Press Conference

Indiana 56, Nebraska 7

CURT CIGNETTI: Great win. Featured game. Proud of the way we approached this week and our effort today. Big game because it was this game. Dominant win.

I know people are going to ask me about Kurtis Rourke. Thought he played really well in the first half. He had a thumb on a helmet, nail kind of came off. We'll know more tomorrow. But optimistic.

And let me say this. Shawn Asbury's play was probably the big play in the game. There was a lot of big plays in that game, but that was a real momentum-turning play.

Thought our offensive line did a great job. We dropped our first ball of the year at receiver at the end of the game. The defense kind of got to a point there where it made it really hard on Nebraska.

Good win against a team that's got a good tradition and history that a lot of people thought was a good football team.

Q. Between the bye week, national television, the pregame show, whatever else, I imagine this could have been the sort of week where distractions became and issue, yet you outwardly played as well as you have all year. What does it say about this team that it can sort of face a moment like that and meet it so emphatically?

CURT CIGNETTI: It's a veteran team with the right kind of guys. Got a good staff. It all starts at the top. I'm not going to let them get complacent, or the coaches either. I was a maniac in the fourth quarter of this game, a maniac. But we responded.

It was a tight game like I said, then we broke it open with some key plays. Back-shoulder catches got us going, hit a couple runs. They couldn't answer. They took it down the field, had a chance to really make it a game. Asbury made that big play. I think it was fourth and eight when he made that big play. Says a lot about the character on this football team.

Got a lot of experience on this football team. Enjoy tonight. We're the same guys that we were this morning when we woke up, right? We just kind of overcame another challenge.

Q. Talk about the physicality of your O-line and the way your backs took advantage of those opportunities.

CURT CIGNETTI: We got some real blue-collar guys up front coached by a blue-collar guy. Coach Bostad is an old-school line coach. Put a good day's work in. Never coached for a guy like me that gets them off the field like I do (smiling).

Those guys are tight, they're tough guys. Those backs we got, they're all about the same. They're good players. Perimeter blocking is important, too. Explosive plays happen with great downfield blocking, so...

Q. With Tayven coming in, you mentioned your assessment of him was that you would see wild plays in practice, but consistency might have been an issue. Did he turn a corner in the last two months? What did you see in him that he was ready for this moment?

CURT CIGNETTI: I mean, he's always been the backup quarterback. I thought he played well his first opportunity at home. Second opportunity at home okay. Guy still has to practice better. It's hard to be the second-string quarterback because you don't get many reps. We put a lot of new stuff in in the pass game week to week. You look at the variables in terms of their coverages and defenses, right?

But I thought he went in there and did a good job. I had confidence. Team had confidence. I was proud of him.

Q. Terry Jones and Bryson Bonds both got a chance to play a little bit more than we'd seen them before. They both played well. What was the rationale on having them play? How happy were you with their performance?

CURT CIGNETTI: Yeah, Terry Jones started and played most of the game. Ferrell started at strong safety this week. Bryson Bonds went in when Shawn Asbury started cramping after the interception.

Terry Jones got a lot of reps at rover today. We'll see what the tape looks like.

Q. You've obviously since the beginning of the season been working to build up the atmosphere in the stadium for games. How much boost did the crowd give you today? What was it like seeing an atmosphere like this today?

CURT CIGNETTI: I notice 'em. It was great because it was sold out. Michigan is sold out. Got to get Washington sold out still.

There's a lot of excitement a lot of places, which is awesome. I could tell they were really loud. We did have some people leave, which I understand, as the game waned on. We had a pretty big lead. Always on Scott and his crew about in-game entertainment, music selection in the second half.

Keep winning, people are going to come. I felt confident it could happen here like that, too, because I'd done it at one other place that was very similar to this going in.

Q. Raoila came into the game, had three interceptions all year, had three picks today. What kind of things did you do to throw him off and get him unsettled?

CURT CIGNETTI: They threw the ball a lot more than they had. Then they got behind, they had to throw the ball more. So he's under pressure. Then he's in some tough down and distance situations. Maybe he's forcing the ball. He's young. Very talented guy, but he's young. We made some nice plays out there.

Q. I know you don't like to look at the outside noise. To go and do what you did offensively against a team that was ranked as one of the better defenses in the conference coming in, what does that say about your offense?

CURT CIGNETTI: I think this says a lot about our team. I know there was a national perception that Nebraska had a pretty legit defense on a national scale. So that will open their eyes, okay?

I think this is a great team win.

Q. Your offense plays with a real poise and confidence. Is that something that was developed over the season or something that you saw in training camp?

CURT CIGNETTI: No, I think with success comes belief, which comes confidence, which comes success, right? It's that cycle. I think you saw that really kind of start against Western Illinois. Wasn't a great team, but we played well. We went to UCLA and you just have seen it build off every other week.

Q. What do you feel like with the way they ran helped them play the way they did?

CURT CIGNETTI: They probably had some nice holes. The box count was probably in our favor, which tells me they were probably overplaying the RPOs. We were handing the ball off and gaining yards.

Q. Your team has been a team that everyone is overlooking or not believing so far up to now. It seems like it's about to change. There's going to be a bullseye on your back at some point. What do you think this team needs to do to be able to withstand that?

CURT CIGNETTI: Yeah, you guys make that stuff up, right?

Look, this is the here and now. This is where my feet are, right? I have to be focused, locked in, learning and have a great attitude rub off on other people positively as a teammate, okay? An hour from now is a concept. Tomorrow is a concept. All there is is the here and now.

You want to improve as much as you can on a daily basis. We have a process. If there was a better way to handle it, you know what I mean, we'd have been doing that a long time ago (smiling). This is the way, right?

You go on the field, and the margin for error is like that, right? The guy catches the ball for a touchdown. That much more the DB would have tipped it away. That's athletics.

We got to put ourselves in the best position. If you prepare properly, anything's possible.

Q. Kurtis said after the Northwestern game he wanted to get off to a better start. You scored four touchdowns on the first five drives. Before he left with an injury, what allowed him to be successful?

CURT CIGNETTI: I thought he played really well. Made plays. Ran a little bit, too. The wideouts made some catches. He threw some nice balls on those back shoulders, and those wideouts made some real nice catches.

Thank you.