What Curt Cignetti Said After Indiana Football's 56-3 Win vs Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti met with the media after the No. 2 Hoosiers' 56-3 win over Purdue on Friday night at Ross-Ade Stadium in Wes Lafayette.

Here's what Cignetti said during his 10-and-a-half-minute postgame press conference.

OPENING STATEMENT: "All right, good team win tonight. We challenged the team to improve, even though we've won the last two games. I didn't feel like we had improved those two weeks. And we asked our guys to do more. 'Do we still have the killer instinct to put a team away? Can we get everybody to play for the team and eliminate all selfishness?' And then at halftime, when we're up 28-3, we challenged the team to play the best third quarter of the season, which I think they responded and tried to do that.

"So obviously, first team in Indiana history to go 12-0 in the regular season. And that's absolute, and regardless of what happens from here on out, this team will always be the first team in Indiana history to go undefeated in the regular season, so it's a great job by the players. We've got a lot of good players that have high character, a lot of leadership. It's a great job by the assistant coaches, support staff, Derek Owings and his staff.

"And I'm extremely appreciative of President Pam Whitten and Scott Dolson for their leadership and support in making this possible. Because it takes a commitment to make this possible. So we followed up an 11-1 with a 12-0, it's not a bad start. And I'm sure I'll get that question, 'Did I ever think that was possible?'

"But I'll be honest with you, that was so fast, I was just trying to figure out what I was gonna pack and bring to Bloomington, and here we are. So, but I think everybody in the organization understands there's work to be done and what lies ahead, and we're excited for the future. Questions?"

Q: Curt, I guess in that vein, you said a couple weeks ago after Wisconsin, you said it's hard for you to sort of take that step back. But on a night when you do something that, as you say, is kind of final and forever, do you encourage your team to have a moment where they just sort of soak in and appreciate this has never happened before? Whatever you accomplish from here, you've done something historic.

CIGNETTI: "Well, believe it or not, I don't control every thought and action and habit of our team or coaches. There's a lot of celebrating going on in that locker room right now. There's a lot of cigars being smoked. And they're having a good old time, but they also understand that they get to enjoy it for 24 hours. And it's a great night for Indiana, for our fan base, our alums, our loyal supporters, everybody that cares about Indiana.

"This is something that a lot of people probably thought couldn't happen. And it just goes to show you, when you have a commitment and a plan and you have the right people in place, anything's possible. So here we are, but more work to be done."

Q: What's it been like, though? I mean, Aiden Fisher, first thing he does, he gets the bucket and runs with a team that runs over to you. I know the JMU guys have had a lot of these moments. I mean, does that make you emotional that these guys followed you, came with you, entrusted you, and that they've risen to these heights now two years later?

CIGNETTI: "I guess it could if I dwelt on it. I don't have time, really. There's so many things that I'm involved with when the game ends. I did happen to notice that and had a special moment with Tyrique Tucker, who is somebody that I've known for a long time. And so they've had a lot of great seasons. They have, and we have together. But it's our first undefeated regular season. We've had a lot of one-loss seasons.

"So, but this is a team, everybody that contributed to this, from the president to the athletic director and his staff, the assistant coaches, all the support staff and the players, their hard work, players who graduated last year and played a role to make this happen, to carry that kind of momentum and credibility forward. It's something that everybody played a part in, and certainly our tremendous fans."

Q: Coach, again, run game, just keep wearing them down, wearing them down. Eventually the dam breaks, you break their will. Passing game was maybe not as sharp early on. Just your thoughts on that, on the O-line and the run game, especially with some moving parts there on the O-line to go out there, 355 yards rushing.

CIGNETTI: "Well, when you play in these kind of conditions, it sure helps if you can run the football, right? And people talk about defense travels, run game travels too, especially in these kind of conditions. And the pass game took a while and really never quite was on point. But the run game sure was good, a lot of explosive plays. And the defense got some turnovers for us, and Purdue couldn't find the end zone. And special teams were solid, so it was a good all-around team win."

Q: Just the performance of Stephen Daley, he was dominant, especially early on.

CIGNETTI: "Yeah, Daley's a guy that just keeps getting better and better and better. And there's another guy, known to him for a long time, was in our camp at JMU. Ran sub-4.4, low 4-4, 40-yard dash in camp, 232 pounds, about 6% body fat at the time. He was a sub-10, 800-meter guy in high school. And he played a really small high school, and then he went to Kent State. And so, he came here this summer, he committed to us a few months before that, like he hadn't done anything.

"He came in out of shape, but he's got the type of body in two, three weeks, he was back in pretty good shape. But he's getting the kind of development now through nutrition, strength and conditioning, coaching, that kind of thing. Where you're really seeing him start to blossom. I wish we had him for another year or two, but we don't. And he's a key player for us right now."

Q: Coach, what is it about this group that made them capable of 12-0 doing this?

"I don't know, I'm not sure I have the answer to that. There's a lot of multiples and dynamics that go into that. I think the Illinois game was a big game for us. We had our eyes on them. We were kind of lurking in the weeds, so to speak, after last year.

"We've gotten hammered so badly because of how we played against Ohio State and Notre Dame. We didn't talk about it, but it was there. It was there every day, every hour, every minute. And Illinois was coming to town, and they were getting hyped up. And they were number nine in the country. And then from then on, we found a way.

"When the games got tight at the end, we found a way to win it. Quarterback made the plays, receivers made the plays, the defense made the plays. So, we are where we are, and there's some tough challenges ahead. But this is a team definitely capable."

Q: Curt, you alluded to it at the beginning of whether it'd be possible to go 12-0 at Indiana, I'm assuming. But as you look around the landscape, there's not very many 12-0 teams. How difficult is it, period, to go 12-0 in college football today, much less in the big things?

"Really hard, especially at the P4 level. Man, I think there's only about five Big Ten teams that have gone undefeated in regular season since 2000. It's 26 years, 25, 26 years. Ohio State a couple times, Michigan once, Oregon once. Other than that, that's it. Indiana now. (wink)."

I think from last year and now, you guys have outscored them 122-3. Do you take pride in that? Just how do you feel about that?

CIGNETTI: "No, I mean, it's a rival game that's important. First of all, it's a game on our schedule, and every game's important. It's a rival game that means a lot to our alums. So the water cooler on Monday, so to speak, right? The fact that we've outscored them like we have, it's just a fact of where we're at and where they're at right now. They're going to get better, there's no doubt in my mind, they're going to get better. Coach is going to do a great job of improving that roster and coaching that football team. And they just sort of hit rock bottom. It timed up with my arrival, and we've had two nice nights against them."

Q: Coach, you talked about not seeing the improvement you wanted to from Penn State to Wisconsin, how much of tonight was solely focused on seeing that improvement that you didn't see?

CIGNETTI: "That was the entire message today to the staff and the team, is, 'Do we still have a killer instinct? Can we play for one another as a team?' We don't have a lot of selfishness on this team, but any time you have 105 players or so, right, 'Can we leave that in the locker room?' It doesn't show up on the field, can we get receivers blocking downfield play in, play out, and can we get our safeties lining up with a sense of urgency? They're busting their butt on special teams, and I'm sure it wasn't perfect. I know it wasn't perfect, but it was a good night. The whole deal was we wanted to walk out of this game with an exclamation point and not a question mark."

Q: Coach, another first time ever is going to be the Big Ten Championship game. You said you were going to get the team there. It's a year later, and you've done it. How does that feel?

CIGNETTI: "We're a year late (wink). It'll be a great game."