What Curt Cignetti Said After Indiana Football's Upset Win at Oregon

EUGENE, Ore. — Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti spoke with reporters after No. 7 Indiana football's 30-20 victory over No. 3 Oregon on Saturday.

Cignetti discussed the significance behind the Hoosiers' victory, the message it sends to doubters and plenty more in his eight-minute press conference.

Here's the transcript ...

Opening statement...

CIGNETTI: “I'm really proud of the team, proud of the coaches. I feel really great for our fans and supporters. The number one largest alumni base in America with over 800,000. And it's a great road win.”

You shared a moment with Mikail Kamara. The JMU guys that followed you, what’s it like in this moment?

“Well, you've got guys like Kamara and Fisher and others that were at JMU. A lot of the staff that's been together all along. They can relate to this game. You talk about great wins on the road; I've had three or four of them at my prior places. I'm talking this magnitude of relevant level. Then you go play App State, first year in the Sun Belt, they'd just beat A&M.

"And early in the year, you're down 28-3 in the second quarter. You talk about being resilient and having the indomitable will that can’t be subdued or defeated. Same thing at Elon in the second year. You go play JMU, No. 1 in the country. They've outscored their first three opponents 180-6.

"You ask the same thing of your guys. You overcome big-time adversity in the first half. Then, at the end of the game, win with 30 seconds to go. This one, really proud of the guys. We hung in there. We couldn't stay onsides for a while. Then for a while, we had a bunch of guys laying on the ground. And I was like, ‘What's going on here?’ Then they had to return a play or two later.

"I thought they were starting to get some good run chunks. We weren't getting rhythm on offense. I thought Franke's field goal was really big, just like last week against Iowa. That end of the half score gave us momentum going into the locker room. Our defense was tremendous in the second half. Our kicking game was really good all day.

"The offense made plays when they had to. Mendoza extended plays, made plays with his legs. The play to Sarratt obviously was huge. Huge. That's a one-on-one ball. Third and long. Inside the 10; those are hard to convert. I'm just really proud of everybody.”

Big-picture, this is another first-ever. How significant is this for taking the program to the top level.

“It depends on what we do with it from here. It's a great win against the No. 2 ranked team in the country on the road who had an 18-game home winning streak. It puts us in a position, if we can continue to be successful. Which means we have to show up to work on Monday, as a team, humble and hungry and ready to go against Michigan State. You know the challenges that this team's going to have this week. But it's a great win.”

What was the difference in the fourth quarter?

“I thought our defense really took it to them in the second half. Won the line of scrimmage. Run game and pass game. Put pressure on the quarterback. The offense made the plays when they needed to. They had us off balance. They have a good defense. The false starts obviously were an issue. But we just took it to them in the second half. Our guys played one play at a time, like we asked them to, and then next play. Our guys wanted it. Showed it on the field they wanted it. Did the things they had to do to be successful.”

Curt, I know you ignore all the outside noise and don't pay attention to what the actual people say. But I know you actually see it. What does a win like this do to those doubters? There’s nothing that can be said about this team of not being capable of playing with the best in the country.

“You can still say something about the team. Last year, I was the way I was because I thought I needed to be taking over this program. Kind of lead the charge the way I was out there a little bit. I knew that early on in December. I thought we established credibility last season. And I didn't need to be that way and I could focus on what I do best: coach this football team.

"We got to understand some people are always going to be for you, some people are always going to be against you because they need to be. And then there's a group in the middle. We played Illinois, who was ninth in the country. We played Oregon, who was second in the country. We won at Iowa, which is a really hard place to play, which a lot of people would have called it a “trap” game. Now the key is how we respond to Michigan State.”

What was the confidence level here? What areas did you think you could exploit?

“I really felt like our team was in a good place. The most important thing to me was our mindset going into this game. That we believed, expected, prepared to make it happen, and could handle the ups and downs of the game without flinching, showing frustration and anxiety. That was the only thing you don't know until you play the game. We passed that test.

"I think every game you try to put your best game plan together, our defense really got after them, I think, that second half. Many times in the first half, too. Offense made enough plays. So, I have a lot of respect for this team that we beat. I have a lot of respect for Dan Lanning. It's a great win for our program.”

Fernando's thrown a fourth-quarter interception and immediately responded with a fourth-quarter game-winning touchdown. What does that say about him?

“That's resiliency right there. That's like being a rubber ball, right? If you're not resilient, you don't want to be like the crystal chandelier. When you drop it, it breaks into a million pieces. You want to be like a rubber ball. It bounces it right back into your hand. That's what he did after he threw the interception on 3rd and 2. Now, the receiver could have flattened that thing a little better. The guy had undercut it.

"But he came right back and made the plays and wasn't affected by the previous play. In this game, if you want to play the best you can be, you've got to always play like this. Never too high, never too low. Not affected by success, not affected by failure during the course of the game.”

Coach, the noise we can hear outside, what does that mean to you to get this win done here in front of these people?

“I'm really happy for our fans and our supporters. We have great supporters, and I'm looking forward to doing something once I'm done with all my media stuff. And enjoying it a little bit."

On the differences between this year's Indiana team and last ...

“I really just don't want to compare teams. I don't think. I don't want to go down that road. Ohio State won the national championship. Notre Dame was second in the country. There’s a lot of football left to be played. A lot. How are we going to respond to this game? How’s Oregon going to respond to this game?”