Cignetti seeks ‘clean game’ for IU football ahead of final non-conference clash

Photos of IU football vs. Kennesaw State at Memorial Stadium.

No matter the outcome, there is nothing entirely satisfactory to Curt Cignetti.

The second-year Indiana coach spent his Monday afternoon news conference sharing his take on the film from the 56-7 win against Kennesaw State.

Although the game eventually became a rout, Cignetti saw things that must be fixed.

“You come out of this game, and you can say, okay, offense improved in certain areas, teams were still very consistently good, and defense gave up too many chunk plays,” Cignetti said. “Communication has got to be cleaner.”

Indiana racked up 596 yards to KSU’s 271, but Cignetti’s standard stretches far beyond what’s reflected on the stat sheet.

Execution continues to be a point of contention for Cignetti in the first two weeks of the season. In the wake of a dominant 49-point victory, he still sees room to grow.

“Saturday definitely took a step forward, but it was far from clean – still a lot of areas of improvement. You always have to improve,” Cignetti said. “I don’t think the players want to look at the score and feel like, yeah, okay, we’re there, because we’re definitely not.”

Since he stepped on campus in December of 2024, Cignetti has preached a never-satisfied approach. After last year’s 77-3 thrashing of FCS Western Illinois, he nitpicked plays and stats that he deemed needed improvement. It was a testament to his commitment to raising the standard of the program.

With Indiana State visiting Friday night, Cignetti’s team gets one final tune-up before the start of Big Ten play.

The Sycamores, led by Curt Mallory — son of former IU coach Bill Mallory — enter the game 2-0. They’ve recorded dominant wins over McKendree (Ill.) and Eastern Illinois.

The discrepancy of talent will be similar to the Western Illinois game last year, but Cignetti hopes there will be a focus on the task at hand.

“I’m sure they’re going to come in excited to play,” Cignetti said.

Like Indiana’s lone FCS matchup last season, this week’s game will be played under the Friday night lights. It marks the second time in two seasons the Hoosiers have taken the field on a short week.

The shorter turnaround presents a challenge, but under Cignetti, the approach remains simple: treat it like a Saturday game, with only minor adjustments to the weekly schedule.

“We’ll keep Monday Monday, Tuesday Tuesday, Wednesday Wednesday. Thursday will be a little shorter,” Cignetti said. “Then we’ll have a meeting with the players on Friday late morning, get them back to the hotel and play the game.”

In an effort to maintain focus throughout the week, regardless of the opponent, Cignetti said the team’s regimen will remain essentially unchanged.

“We don’t alter our routine a ton,” he said. “I may cut some reps during the week in practice.”

While betting lines have yet to be released, the expectation is that Indiana will handle Indiana State with ease.

Still, Cignetti hopes his team will set the tone ahead of its highly anticipated primetime bout with Illinois next weekend.

“I want to see us play a clean game.”

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