The moment that Indiana University announced the hiring of Curt Cignetti as the program's next head football coach last winter, you could almost instantly feel the seismic shift in the team's trajectory.
IU has been absolutely horrendous on the gridiron in recent memory, owning a 9-27 record over the course of the past 3 seasons. For comparison, the new sideline skipper's former squad James Madison accumulated a 31-7 record in that same timeframe.
But even though Cignetti brought a track record of success to Bloomington, the media was still not ready to embrace the B-Town boys as anything above bottom dwellers. Earlier this week, USA Today ranked the Hoosiers as the 16th best team out 18 B1G schools in their perennial preseason conference rankings.
Leading up to the start of the season, it was crystal clear that coach Cig still had a lot of work to do in resurrecting this cream and crimson football club. Flash forward to the conclusion of the Saturday's walloping of FIU in the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium, and it is clear that this guy Cignetti is indeed THAT GUY.
The team's head coach has been brimming with confidence since the second he took over, and the team duplicated that swagger via their eye-opening drubbing of the Panthers.
The Hoosiers were clicking on all cylinders. Kurtis Rourke was steady controlling the offense (15/24 x 180 yards x 1 TD). Ty Shon Lawton, Justice Ellison and Elijah Green took turns slicing and dicing FIU's defense, and the Hoosiers totaled 234 rushing yards. The defense was absolutely dominant, allowing a mere 182 total yards while compiling 4 sacks and 1 interception.
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— Edward Koton ♥️🇮🇩 (@EdwardKoton15) July 25, 2024
Curt Cignetti has undoubtedly talked the talk since his arrival at Indiana, but it is not as if he has not showcased this type of confidence previously. He consistently walked the walk while running the show at James Madison. In the Hoosiers opening contest, his prior chatter was certainly supported. In order to fully stamp the validation of his words, he will need to continue orchestrating the type of energy that the Hoosiers showcased on Saturday. We believe that he can and will.
Keep going, Cig!