Cignetti, IU football put “final nail in the coffin” of doubters, top Ohio State in Big Ten championship
- Josh Pos
- 10h ago
INDIANAPOLIS – Curt Cignetti took off his headset. Two seconds on the game clock, history just one snap away.
His final instruction was to push players and coaches back from the sideline to avoid a bench penalty.
As a gang of Indiana defenders wrestled down Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith at the 39-yard line, the Hoosiers had done it. They sealed a 13-10 victory against No. 1 Ohio State in Saturday night’s Big Ten championship game — their first outright conference title since 1945 and first title since 1967.
Cignetti’s look? Stoic. Like it was just another game. He shook hands with Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day at midfield.
Then, on a moment’s notice, his demeanor changed. For the first time all night, Cignetti wore a radiant smile as he and his team stood on the stage to receive the trophy.
It was a moment the 64-year-old coach had long been waiting for — a win for the program he rebuilt from the ashes in less than two seasons, the kind that proved every naysayer wrong.
“I think this kind of was the final nail in the coffin for any of the Indiana doubters and Curt Cignetti doubters,” linebacker Isaiah Jones said postgame. “This was the last thing that needed to be proved. And I think we did it.”
From the moment he stepped off the plane in Bloomington on the final day of November 2023, Cignetti set his eyes on changing how people perceived Indiana University football.
The 11-2 record in 2024 was a remarkable feat for Indiana’s standards. Yet, critics framed Cignetti as the coach who couldn’t win the big game. He had the wins against eight other Big Ten teams last season, but he wasn’t able to beat Ohio State.
Indiana was outplayed in every facet of the 2024 game in Columbus, sparking months of debate over whether the Hoosiers were pretenders rather than contenders.
That narrative began to shift this season as Cignetti led his program to thrilling victories on the road at three of the Big Ten’s toughest places to play: Iowa, Oregon and Penn State. Victories aside, the Hoosiers developed a clear grasp of how to win close games.
That experience culminated in Saturday’s thriller. Indiana’s late-game expertise was on full display against an Ohio State team that hadn’t played a tight contest since Week 1.
“As that clock started to tick down into the fourth quarter, and it was game on the line, probably at some point, I felt like, wow, we’ve been here, and we’ve won, and they’ve never been here,” Cignetti said. “When you’ve been through something one time, you’re a lot better the second time.”
The Indiana team that once played with its tail between its legs in big moments became the aggressor in the waning minutes. Instead of playing not to lose and running the ball on a late third down, Cignetti put the ball in Fernando Mendoza’s hands.
“We were playing to win,” Cignetti said. “I wasn’t going to punt the ball back to them with two minutes to go and no timeouts. We had to give our guys an opportunity to make plays.”
And they did.
Mendoza fired a 33-yard strike to Charlie Becker for a first down, ultimately sealing the program-defining victory — one that solidified the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff and delivered the first No. 1 ranking in school history.
“A lot of people probably thought [No. 1 seed in College Football Playoff] wasn’t possible,” Cignetti said. “But when you get the right people, and you have a plan, and they love one another and play for one another, and they commit, anything’s possible.”
At the heart of Indiana’s transformation is Curt Cignetti’s unwavering focus on process and intention. Every decision, practice and play carries purpose and that discipline has created a culture where players constantly push to become the best versions of themselves.
Senior Aiden Fisher has thrived under that structure, compiling a 43–6 record with Cignetti over the last four seasons.
“There’s something about Coach Cig that just makes you want to play your heart out for him,” Fisher said. “And he does a great job getting the best out of everybody.”
Indiana’s climb to the top of the Big Ten reads like a story Hollywood would reject for being too far-fetched.
Free from the weight of the past, Cignetti rebuilt a program long treated as a scheduled victory into one suddenly synonymous with success. The coach who once sought the spotlight now commands it, with a national title just three wins away.
Indiana had waited generations for a moment like Saturday night. Cignetti made it happen. Soon, a Google search won’t suffice. You’ll have to turn to the history books.
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