Everything Curt Cignetti Said After Blowing Out Alabama in Rose Bowl

No. 1 Indiana football annihilated No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl on Thursday afternoon, winning by a final score of 38-3 in Pasadena to end the Crimson Tide's 2025-26 season. The Hoosiers remained undefeated (14-0) and sealed their spot in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.

Second-year Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti, who has changed the fortunes of the Hoosiers program since his arrival, fielded questions from reporters after the contest. Indiana is now one win away from playing for a national title. Thursday's game was only the second trip the Hoosiers had ever made to the Rose Bowl. A full transcript of Cignetti's postgame comments is below.

Transcripts are courtesy of ASAP Sports.

Q. You had mentioned yesterday that you felt like the preparation was really going that great or you were -- it would probably bring up concern for people in that situation. What changed from that point to now, to where it didn't look like there was really much of a layoff that you guys were on?

COACH CIGNETTI: Sometimes my messaging is intended for the players to hear to further reinforce my message to them, because preparation's hard to gauge. Alabama had to do the same thing we did, come out on a Wednesday and then have their first practice on site, and I mean, there is disruption there compared to your normal routine, which we're all creatures of a routine. So I think our guys -- we had a great walk-through yesterday. We went to SoFi for that, and that was great for our players, I think, to get there. I thought our mindset was really good. I liked our prep, for the most part, once we knew who the opponent was. It was a hard-fought game early in the game. Alabama made some plays, they had us off balance offensively, they had a new all-up blitz.

But we were able to kind of make the plays when we needed to and take it over in the second half. And you know it's a great win for our football program. I'm proud of our players, our coaches, and everyone. Again, a big win against a team that's got great tradition like that and history, a lot of good players, and great head football coach.

Q. Felt like another kind of one of those games you've had this season where your run game just kind of grounded them down. As the game wore on and you popped explosives in the second half. What does it say about the offense and maybe specifically that ground game, the way it can lean on an opponent as a game wears on and maybe really tire a defense out?

COACH CIGNETTI: I think that's what you would always love to see as the head coach, things we used to preach when I was at Alabama, about changing the way they think, breaking their will, and that's the best way to do it, running the football.

It takes a while. It doesn't happen in the first quarter, the second quarter, it happens in the second half at some point, hopefully, when you're able to achieve that goal.

And I thought our line did a nice job. I thought our backs really ran hard, and I'm sure there were some nice blocks downfield too, but the backs, I was really impressed with how hard they ran.

Q. When your offensive lineman wins the MVP and your Heisman quarterback is grinning from ear to ear, what does that mean to you, and how does that describe the chemistry on this team?

COACH CIGNETTI: Yeah, I think you hit it right on the head. I'm, at this point, probably used to it. Fernando's a very special guy. He's very unique. He's selfless. He's the ultimate team guy. And then we've got some other guys, like [Pat] Coogan, who is really the same way; he's the ultimate team guy.

We've got a lot of other guys on the team that played last year, like Fisher, Carter Smith, just to name two. I could name a lot more that are ultimate team guys. I think that's one of the reasons that we're so consistent and efficient. We are efficient, is how I would label us, is because we have good players with very high character. They're great team guys and really good leaders, and they listen and they buy in.

Q. Bryant Haines talks about how you've always been the same guy in the way you run your program, the way you operate. What does it mean to you to take the system that you started at the D-II level to this level of college football and have success like you did at that lower level?

You know, I learned from my mistakes, one thing about it was I did make a lot of mistakes year one, and then the second time through, you always get a little better, and every year you do. So I can't say that I'm the same coach I was year one, because I'm not. You're always looking to improve because you get better or worse; you never stay the same.

The things they've talked about, the constant striving for improvement, I mean, I do try to live that way. You're either getting better or worse; you're separating or somebody is gaining on you.

My journey has been kind of surreal, but I think every move kind of prepared me for this challenge at this time with the changing dynamic of college football.

Q. You've been in big games this season. How do you temper a win like this? And what does a win like this teach these young men for life after football?

Well, I'm not going to assume anything like we bounce back from a number of big wins and we'll be fine, because it's a process. So we'll have a very big challenge ahead of us next week. It's very hard to beat a really good football team twice. There's no doubt about that. What was the last part of your question?

Q. What's a win like this teach these young men about football and about life?

That's the great thing about football, I think. It's a great vehicle that helps people, used properly, become more successful in their life's work later on and raising a family. A lot of great lessons there about teamwork, leadership, overcoming adversity, meeting challenges, preparation, commitment, discipline, work ethic, toughness. We've got a lot of the guys that have the right stuff, and I'm proud of them.

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