Video, Quotes: Curt Cignetti reviews Howard win, previews Western Kentucky matchup

IU football rolled to a 55-0 win against Howard on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

At his weekly press conference on Monday, Curt Cignetti reviewed the win against the Bison and looked ahead to Saturday’s matchup against Western Kentucky in Bloomington.

Watch the full Q&A with Cignetti below:

Here’s a full transcript of Cignetti’s comments, via ASAP Sports:

CURT CIGNETTI: All right. Thought it was a good day Saturday. Walked out feeling a lot better about things. Thought defense took a major step forward, flew around, swarmed the ball, dominated the line of scrimmage. Got the shutout, scored the touchdown. Didn’t let the opponent cross the 50. Eight three-and-outs and a four-and-out. Just flew around and played a lot better.

Offense scored a lot of points. Emptied the bench. Four different receivers catch touchdown passes, two backs over a hundred. Scored seven out of our eight possessions, touchdowns, till the end when we were trying to sort of shorten the game a little bit.

But we still have nine or 10 plays ODK as a team that are negatives, negative plays, that we need to eliminate before we start Big Ten play and beginning with this week against Western Kentucky.

Q. Games like Western Kentucky would be where you tinker with freshmen, four-game rule, give them some snaps in a game like that. What has changed about the way you approach those guys now that it’s the five-and-five situation?

CURT CIGNETTI: I mean, they can play and not lose eligibility. We dress X amount of guys, guys that know what’s going on on offense and defense, at least the base offense and defense. Hopefully get to the point where you can empty the bench.

We played three quarterbacks and all the running backs. Exhausted most of the guys that dressed.

Q. Which position group do you feel made the most strides week one to week two?

CURT CIGNETTI: I thought the defense in general did. They got us on a naked bootleg and an RPO earlier in the game. But then once the game became a box game, we stuffed the run, harassed the quarterback. Had 12 TFLs and five sacks. Deflected a pass, ran back for a touchdown. I think the defense in general, the D-line, the linebackers, and the DBs all took a major step forward.

Q. The ability to play a clean game in terms of penalties, I think you had five the first, two the second. Every coach in America would love to minimize the penalties. How have you been able to do that consistently?

CURT CIGNETTI: I mean, it’s a point of emphasis and the players buy in. I’m not happy with the two penalties. We had a false start inside the 10, then we had a hold that negated a touchdown run. Lead BBs had two touchdown runs called back because of a hold. You’d like to get out with zero. That’s hard to do. But that was minimal.

The turnover thing, wasn’t pleased with the two muffed punts. We lost one. That was I believe the only time that Howard got the ball across the 50 yard line. Did a nice job on defense there.

It’s a point of emphasis. We’ve been successful in doing it in the games throughout the entire season.

Q. Western Kentucky this week, historically been pretty good offensively. Offensive head coach. Got off to a rough start. What have you seen from them on film?

CURT CIGNETTI: Got off to a rough start against Nevada, then had to go down to Georgia. Quarterback returns. The wide receivers early in the game against Georgia did a nice job of separating.

But they’ve struggled obviously in their first two games. The goal is to continue to make ’em struggle defensively. Have given up some points. 280 yards rushing a game.

It’s always about preparation for the opponent. It’s still this week more about us and tightening some things up, and in some ways we’re learning still about what we can do best before we go to Big Ten play.

Q. With the two muffed punts, did you talk to Tyler or Coach Cain about what happened that caused those?

CURT CIGNETTI: Well, I had a brief conversation with them. You can see on tape during the game what happened. We kind of misjudged the ball. One hit his shoulder, the other one was up high, too. Fair caught both of them. Got to catch the ball.

Q. With the young tight ends, looked like you were still rotating them on Saturday. What are you looking for from those young guys?

CURT CIGNETTI: Number one, tight ends got to be able to block. He’s a big part of the run game. I think Barker has made some progress there. Gibbs is getting close to ready to play. Was doing well in camp. It’s a position that’s got to continue to develop.

Q. You mentioned some of the penalties, holding, false starts. What improvements have you seen from the offensive line so far? How far do you think that group can go in Big 10 play?

CURT CIGNETTI: I mean, I thought we played fairly well against North Texas. I though the rushing stats weren’t great. They were kind of loaded up on us. We had a long run called back. The pass protection was good against them.

There were a couple times Josh dropped back to throw and had a little bit of pressure Saturday. We want to clean that up, always have a clean pocket.

The line’s in good hands with Coach Bostad.

Q. Josh has been nearly perfect, at least statistically, in the first two games. You obviously bring him in here with the high praise. What are you impressed with about his approach to this system, the offense? I know he hasn’t played a full game in these first two weeks, but where is his ceiling?

CURT CIGNETTI: Somebody told me they saw a statistic where the last five home games or something, more touchdown passes than incompletions or something like that. We’re five since last season, including last season.

We did a nice job of separating outside. Obviously a lot of guys got to score. Charlie had three. But I think he’d be the first to tell you wasn’t his best game. There were three or four reads that ought to be pretty basic that we didn’t make that we can make. He made some really good plays, too.

Q. With Jamari Sharpe, A.J. Harris and Blake Smythe, an update to their status and potential availability for this week?

CURT CIGNETTI: They’re day to day, but we’re optimistic on Jamari. See how he’s doing. Blake Smythe, as well.

Q. Jacob Savage at linebacker has played a bunch. Is he a guy that you think can make a jump as the season progresses?

CURT CIGNETTI: Yeah, we like him. He’s instinctive. It means a lot to him. He’s a play-maker over there. We’ll just see how it all unfolds.

Q. You mentioned the DBs taking a step forward. What did you say from Jaylen Bell and Ryland Gandy? What is your confidence level in them stepping up?

CURT CIGNETTI: I thought they both took steps forward the last two weeks. I thought Jaylen Bell has been pretty consistent. Thought he played well against North Texas.

Ryland had a couple mistakes, but he’s certainly improved and played a lot of football. I have a lot of confidence in both of them.

Sometimes the best ability is availability. So we do expect Sharpe back. We’re ready to roll.

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