Cignetti, IU football look to improve ahead of Week 2 matchup against Kennesaw State

IU football quarterback Fernando Mendoza hands off the ball.

Although the scoreboard didn’t reflect a dominant effort, Curt Cignetti was unapologetic — Indiana football’s 1-0 start was all that mattered.

While dissatisfied with the execution errors, Cignetti recognized in his Monday press conference that wins are difficult to come by.

“I’m never going to apologize for a win,” Cignetti said. “They’re too hard to get.”

In his postgame remarks, the Hoosier head coach expressed his eagerness to break down the film of the victory. Cignetti was looking for answers to find the why.

After watching the tape, Cignetti spoke more freely about his team’s effort in the season opener, specifically on offensive miscues.

The area Cignetti was most frustrated about was the red-zone offense, specifically inside the 10-yard line. Because of this, Cignetti couldn’t help but believe that it would have been a much more tolerable film session.

“We really dominated the game,” Cignetti said. “Not reflected in the score. I mean, we probably left 35 points out there on offense with six possessions inside the 10, primarily the goal line offense and the 5 in – dropped a touchdown pass, overthrew a touchdown pass, fumbled going in.”

The inefficient play in goal-to-go situations was a stark contrast to last year’s offense, which was dominant all season. However, as he constantly reminds everyone, Cignetti knows that every team is different and improvement is essential.

“Last year we led the country in red-area touchdown percentage,” Cignetti said. “But we’ve got to get better. Doesn’t matter what you did in the past, gotta get better now.”

After an in-depth breakdown of the regular season opener, Cignetti previewed the week ahead.

Similar to the month-long praise of Old Dominion, high praise was given to Indiana’s Week 2 opponent, Kennesaw State.
The Owls, led at quarterback by former IU signal caller Dexter Williams, had Wake Forest on the ropes on Friday night, but lost by a one point.

“They missed an extra point and field goal and lost 10-9,” Cignetti said. “So we’ve got to be ready to go.”

Cignetti’s first impressions of Kennesaw State mirrored his tropes about Old Dominion. A high-tempo offense with a mobile quarterback on a team that has a history of playing tough against power opponents.

Despite an offseason coaching change, Cignetti noted that Kennesaw State was the first team to defeat Liberty last season.

That said, there was high praise for KSU head coach Jerry Mack and the offense.

“The offense can go really, really fast at warp speed,” Cignetti said. “They’ll change the tempo, athletic quarterback that spent some time here.”

Even with the high praise, a clear difference in talent is evident between the two teams. Indiana opened as a 35.5-point favorite for the Week 2 affair.

There are more than a few things the Hoosiers must work out ahead of their Big Ten opener against Illinois. Both Kennesaw State and Indiana State will serve as get-right games.

Margin of victory doesn’t particularly move the needle for Cignetti. However, it is paramount that his team can breeze through the next two games against subpar opponents.

The Indiana coaching staff will be looking for improvement this week and Cignetti is confident they will see it.

“Gotta get better,” Cignetti said. And we should get much better this week… Looking for improvement.”

Saturday afternoon will offer a glimpse of how this year’s Indiana team can improve itself week by week. After last week’s vanilla playbook, it could be an opportunity for IU to flex its muscles on a weaker opponent.

Two injury updates

Cignetti announced two injury updates in his Monday press conference.

Redshirt senior safety Bryson Bonds will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Freshman defensive back Byron Baldwin is “day to day,” according to Cignetti.

See More: Football