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Curt Cignetti insists Indiana will play with a ‘little chip’ next season
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Curt Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers shocked a lot of people last season.
The former James Madison head coach and Indiana jumped out to an 11-1 record last regular season, culminating with a trip to the College Football Playoff. The Hoosiers fell to Notre Dame in Round 1, but the fact they even made it there in the first place says a lot about where the Indiana football program is heading under Cignetti.
On Sunday, Cignetti spoke with Greg McElroy of Always College Football about Indiana Football’s mindset heading into next season. He insisted that the Hoosiers will play with a chip on their shoulder, perhaps stemming from some outside fans insisting Indiana benefiting from a weak schedule to reach the Playoff.
Hear what he had to say below:
Indiana lost to both ranked teams it played last season, but in fairness, so did everyone else. The Hoosiers’ only losses on the year came to the national champion and the national runner-up – the next best team Indiana faced all season was 8-5 Michigan, which it beat 20-15. How would the Hoosiers have fared against a team such as Tennessee, SMU, Alabama or even Boise State?
Indiana’s schedule looks to be a tad tougher this time around. The Hoosiers face Oregon, Penn State, Illinois and UCLA – 2 of which made it to the College Football Playoff, one of which is returning 18 starters after a 10-win season (Illinois) and finally the team that landed the No. 1 QB in the transfer portal (UCLA).
Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Tradition.