Curt Cignetti’s performance at Indiana should give even more hope to schools like Maryland.
Of course, it might also ramp up the pressure.
Cignetti takes the second-ranked Hoosiers on the road Saturday to
face the Terrapins. Indiana is unbeaten. Maryland was unbeaten at the end of September but hasn't won since.
For a while the Terps (4-3, 1-3 Big Ten) looked like they might be ahead of schedule with a freshman starting at quarterback, but now this season is following a familiar pattern under coach Mike Locksley — excellent against nonconference opponents, but struggling within the league.
Meanwhile, Indiana (8-0, 5-0) exists as proof that a team can go from a Big Ten afterthought to a national title contender pretty quickly. So in that sense, Cignetti is not doing his fellow coaches any favors — although he's earned plenty of admiration from Locksley.
“Everywhere he’s been, he’s won," Locksley said. "He’s built it the right way. Got a lot of respect for him. Extremely good in all three phases.”
Roman Hemby grew up in Maryland feeling overlooked. He was a three-star recruit coming out of high school and played just one game as a senior because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At Maryland, he needed a redshirt year before he could crack the starting lineup. By 2024, Hemby still hadn't earned all-conference recognition.
During the offseason, Hemby transferred to Indiana where he's not only become a key cog in the Hoosiers' charge toward a second straight playoff berth, he's also emerged quickly as one of Cignetti's favorite players.
“Roman Hemby is a warrior. That guy gives 100% every day, every play,” Cignetti said recently. "Physical runner, fast, smart, great hands, great out of the backfield. And you know, he’s a guy that wants the ball, that you can give the ball to and he’s durable.”
Maryland wasn’t far from a much sunnier outlook. The Terps have lost their last three games — to Washington, Nebraska and UCLA — by a combined 10 points. They were outscored 44-7 in the fourth quarter of those games.
“Sometimes the fourth quarter comes out to really just effort,” Maryland quarterback Malik Washington said. “Both teams have schemed each other out, you get late into the game, you see what the other team is going to bring. Sometimes it just comes down to being able to find that extra fight and finish.”
The first two seasons of Cignetti's tenure have been unlike anything Hoosiers fans experienced previously. They're two wins away from the second double-digit victory total in school history, have won all 14 home games, a school record, and have reached a school-record No. 2 in The Associated Press Top 25.
And along the way, Indiana has dominated in conference play like never before. The Hoosiers are 13-1 against league teams, the only loss coming last year at national champion Ohio State, and 11 of the 13 wins have been by double digits, including last year's 42-28 victory over Maryland.
“I think at home our fans are the best, and playing at home is a huge advantage for us. Once they get going, I mean, it’s just so loud and crazy, and our players feed off of that,” Cignetti said. “On the road, we’ve been successful as well, and the thing we ask our guys to do is play every play like it’s 0-0, game on the line and from beginning to end, regardless of the competitive circumstances.”
Indiana's Fernando Mendoza is a Heisman Trophy candidate, having completed 73% of his passes, with 24 touchdown throws and three interceptions. But Washington has been productive as well.
Through his first seven games, Washington has thrown for 1,716 yards. Among true freshmen in a power conference since 2018, only Texas Tech’s Alan Bowman (2,411 yards in 2018) and North Carolina’s Sam Howell (1,892 in 2019) had more through seven games.
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AP Sports Writer Michael Marot contributed to this report.
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