Curt Cignetti Says Indiana ‘Broke’ Oregon’s Will in Latest Win

No. 7 Indiana (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) went to Eugene on Saturday for a colossal Big Ten top-10 matchup against No. 3 Oregon (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten). Few expected the Hoosiers to win the contest, with most unsure of their ability to even compete.

Last year, both of their road outings against ranked teams resulted in lopsided losses. They may have earned a College Football Playoff berth in 2024, but, in the eyes of most, they still hadn’t actually proven themselves.

Notre Dame beat Indiana 27-17 in South Bend last season – and the score was hardly an accurate representation of the Fighting Irish’s dominance in that outing – while Ohio State blasted Curt Cignetti’s club 38-15.

Both of those teams then went on to meet in the national championship. Indiana’s only two losses in 2024 came against the top two teams in the country. But, the Hoosiers’ best win was Michigan – a team that went just 5-4 in Big Ten play.

Indiana is breaking the will of every opponent on its 2025 slate

Illinois' Head Coach Bret Bielema and Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti meet after the game during the Indiana versus Illinois football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In 2025, Indiana cruised through its non-Big Ten schedule, before arriving at the date circled on everyone’s calendar: a September 20th matchup with then-No. 9 Illinois.

And what did Indiana do in that contest? Well, it’s best summed up by Cignetti himself:

“We broke their will,” said Cignetti, following the Hoosiers’ 63-10 blasting of the Illini.

But, the usual caveats applied, per the college football world. They said Illinois was “overrated” and "fraudulent", so Indiana’s win didn’t really count. Then, it went and sputtered to a 20-15 win at Iowa.

So could Indiana actually beat Oregon at Autzen Stadium, let alone compete with the Ducks?

The answer to that question wound up being a resounding yes. When the final buzzer hit double zeroes in Eugene, the scoreboard showed 30-20 in the visitors’ favor.

Since the score rarely tells the entire story, we’ll once again let Cignetti tell the tale:

“A great job of pressuring the quarterback, [we] harassed the quarterback all day long… Great in the second half. They couldn’t really get much done at all. It was almost like we had broken their will a little bit on that side of the ball,” said Cignetti in the postgame, referencing the measly 64 total yards of offense Oregon managed in the second half. (Just 41 yards before the Ducks added 23 when the game was essentially over.)

"They couldn't really get much done at all. It was almost like we had broken their will a little bit on that side of the ball."

-- @IndianaFootball's Curt Cignetti after taking down No. 3 Oregon pic.twitter.com/yCilS41POp
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) October 11, 2025

Another opponent, another will broken.

Indiana just continues to wear down on opponents on both sides of the field. At a certain point, teams reach their breaking point. Oregon's appeared to be when Moore threw his first pick – which Indiana parlayed into a 10-point lead it never gave up.

Aside from a meeting at Penn State in November – which now seems like quite the manageable task considering Northwestern just went to Happy Valley and took down the Nittany Lions – Indiana may not be challenged again during its regular season slate.

That means you can expect Cignetti and his squad to be breaking a lot of wills in the coming weeks. And unfortunately for Michigan State, it’s up next.