BLOOMINGTON, IN – I’m not sure Curt Cignetti believed it. Glassy eyes, wayward stare. Couldn’t even get the words out before mumbling something about getting ready for Michigan.
This is what Indiana blowing a statement game looks like.
Losing for the first time since the 2024 season. Losing a 22-game winning streak
. Losing in front of an electric environment in the biggest home game in program history.Losing it all when your wide receiver can’t get a foot down in the end zone on a potential game-winning throw against Ohio State, and it’s all over just like that — and for the first time in a long time, the coach who had the answers to everything in this historic
Indiana awakening, couldn’t even think straight.
“It was there for the taking,” Cignetti eventually forced out. “You’ve got to be able to take that thing.”
Know this about Indiana’s 19-15 loss to Ohio State on Saturday: I’m buying the Hoosiers. Give me all that candy stripe and more, people.
Don’t care about quarterback Josh Hoover’s first turnover of the season, or that he missed a number of easy throws that could have the Hoosiers sitting on 23 in a row. Don’t care about a short field goal that doinked off the upright, or the 55-yarder that wasn’t even close.
Don’t care about allowing Ohio State star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith to outmuscle a double team in the end zone for the eventual game-winning score, or all of those dumb penalties. Don’t care about any of it.
Because Indiana has one nasty defense.
Indiana has a Georgia 2021-22 level defense — not with the same NFL talent, but with the same devastating impact. With the same undeniable ability to not only dictate tempo in games, but force teams out of their comfort zone.
That Ohio State used Smith as a decoy for the first quarter was strange enough. That he finished with four catches for 68 yards — 38 coming on that 50-50 jump ball touchdown — should explain everything about the Indiana defense.
The Freak looked more like The Forgotten.
It’s not so much the pass coverage as it is the pass rush. The unrelenting pressure from all angles, and constant conflict created by the quarterback not knowing where it's coming — and more damaging, not knowing where to go with the ball when it arrives.
It’s no coincidence that Ohio Sate quarterback Julian Sayin’s two worst games in two seasons as the starter both came against Indiana. Only this time, he left the game in the fourth quarter with what looked like an elbow or shoulder injury after a nasty hit from defensive lineman Mario Landino.
That’s a 290-pound defensive tackle who can move outside and rush off the edge. He and nose guard Tyrique Tucker and edges Stephen Daley, Kellan Wyatt and Tobi Osunsanmi are a handful on any given play.
Every time the Indiana offense put the defense in poor position, the defense responded. But for a single freakish play from Smith, Indiana would’ve won despite playing its worst game under Cignetti.
“We had it,” CIgnetti said. “We just had too many missed opportunities on offense.”
Those words should be a soothing salve for IU. Because if anyone can fix the offense, it’s the guy who built it and has thrived with it despite a new quarterback every season (at every school) since 2019.
If you’re a quarterback in Cignetti’s pass-friendly system, you simply can’t miss two open receivers for a touchdown on the same play — and instead throw low and behind a third who would’ve had a critical first down inside the Ohio State 5. A play later, the field goal was doinked, and yet another score opportunity was lost.
You can’t sail throws on any number of third-and-make-a-play situations, and can’t miss obvious reads. And you can’t let one bad game dictate a season.
Indiana could likely lose again and still reach the CFP, so there’s still plenty of runway ahead. The Hoosiers could roll through the remainder of the schedule to the postseason, but these issues on offense aren’t going away.
It’s the same issues Hoover had in three seasons at TCU: He shrunk in the big games.
Cignetti promised prior to the season a running game and a great defense would be Hoover’s best friends. The run game is solid, the defense is everything he thought it would be — and much more.
“Still a lot of ahead of us,” Cignetti said. “We can accomplish anything we want.”
Forget statement games. The statement season is still out there.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB. Listen to him daily, from 12-2 p.m., on 1010XL-Jacksonville.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Indiana blew it against Ohio State. That’s exactly why I’m buying Curt Cignetti | Opinion
