'We Want More': After Winning Big Ten Title, Indiana Football Shifts Focus Forward

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Curt Cignetti’s Indiana football teams don’t just make history or break trends. They also beat human nature. The No. 1 Hoosiers will have to do it again in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.

Last season, each of the top four seeds lost their opening CFP game after an extended period between games. Three of the four teams were defeated by double digits, and two lost by three possessions.

Indiana, which went 13-0 across 15 weeks, won't play until Jan. 1, giving Cignetti's team a 25-day gap to rest, recover, game plan and practice — all with hopes of avoiding the same trouble endured by last year's top-ranked teams.

Moments after beating Ohio State, 13-10, to win the Big Ten Championship on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Cignetti, tongue-in-cheek, joked he’ll have to humble the Hoosiers over the next three-and-a-half weeks after their rapid rise to the top of the college football world.

But Cignetti, with a deadpan expression, said Sunday afternoon he has no worries about Indiana’s ability to handle the extended break.

"We have great character kids and leadership on this team," Cignetti said. "I have absolutely no question we'll be ready to play."

Indiana's staff gave two tentative calendars to its players prior to knowing its College Football Playoff fate Sunday afternoon. After securing the No. 1 seed and selecting a spot in the Rose Bowl, much of the Hoosiers' plan is finalized.

Cignetti said Indiana will hold a team meeting at 4 p.m. Monday but won't practice. The Hoosiers will be in "normal off-week mode," which features enough practice and weightlifting to stay sharp while emphasizing rest and recovery. Cignetti and his staff will also focus on recruiting, retention and other aspects of roster management.

Indiana learns its opponent Dec. 19, when No. 8 Oklahoma (10-2) hosts No. 9 Alabama (10-3) in Norman. The winner advances to the Rose Bowl. The Hoosiers will watch both teams in advance, but not in an intensive, game-planning fashion until their opponent is set.

"I'm sure we're going to get eyes on both opponents, but once we really find out who that opponent is going to be, that's when we're really going to hone in," Cignetti said.

For nearly two weeks, Indiana will be in game-plan mode both on the practice field and in meeting rooms. The Hoosiers will get one normal week of opponent preparation in Bloomington and close to another before departing for the Rose Bowl early in the week leading into New Year's Day, which falls on a Thursday.

Indiana's lone appearance in the Rose Bowl game came in 1968. Cignetti was 6 years old. He's only coached in the Tournament of Roses once, in 2010 as an assistant at Alabama, but carries considerable experience with how to handle lengthy breaks.

Cignetti doesn't need to pull up old files. Those experiences — no matter if they fostered success or letdowns — still live with him. Cignetti has his own philosophy, though he admitted he can't replicate Alabama's practice approach even if he wanted due to having less depth.

But there's no doubt in Cignetti's mind his team is built and wired correctly to handle such a break.

"We're going to use these next two weeks to our advantage," Cignetti said. "I 100% trust in our assistant coaches and our leadership and our players that we'll approach this the right way, and we'll be ready to play."

Indiana's win over Ohio State was perhaps the biggest in program history. The Hoosiers took another step forward as a program, Cignetti said, and the victory vaulted them atop the College Football Playoff rankings. They won the Big Ten championship game in their first appearance and now have the trophy, T-shirts and individual medal to prove their conference dominance.

Saturday was, Indiana center Pat Coogan said, a historic moment. But the Hoosiers want to make more history, celebrate more program firsts and keep filling up their close-to-vacant trophy case.

"We know (the Big Ten title) is not the end of the road for us," Coogan said Monday. "We know we have a ton left to play for, and really at the end of the day, all of our goals are still in front of us. That was a huge goal for us, and we accomplished that goal, being Big Ten champions, but we got another one ahead of us.

"And we got to take these next three and a half weeks and just find those inches of improvement, find those ways to improve and ultimately better our best. So come January 1st, we have the best ability to go out there and have success."

Indiana defensive tackle Tyrique Tucker said postgame the Hoosiers were going to enjoy the win — Cignetti extended his usual 24-hour celebration rule to 48 hours because of the time off — but remained focused, because they still have more to do, more to win.

Elijah Sarratt, the senior receiver who scored Indiana's lone touchdown against Ohio State, said the Hoosiers will get over the win starting Monday, when their 48-hour window ends. Then, he said, the practice field will deliver a requisite slice of humble pie.

"We understand we had a big win Saturday, Big Ten Championship, but we understand we want more than that," Sarratt said Monday. "Continuing to understand what our goal is, that's going to keep us humble. We're not going to be too cocky, because we just understand what our ultimate goal wants to be."

Cignetti often emphasizes having a short-term memory. Each play lasts six seconds, offering a new life and history of its own. He wants Indiana to win that play 150 times each game. There are no lapses, no self-inflicted wounds, only the persistent, unrelenting desire to win.

The Hoosiers won the top crown — thus far — Saturday in Indianapolis. Even while savoring the moment, Cignetti, his fame brimming with happiness, quipped about humility.

This Indiana team has already cemented itself as the best in program history and as a legitimate national championship contender. Human nature would suggest those thoughts, those accomplishments, would linger through the locker room and create what Cignetti refers to as the "warm fuzzies."

But such prestige hasn't yet infiltrated the Hoosiers' ecosystem, and aided by a group of seasoned leaders trying to end their college careers on a confetti-filled stage, they don't appear at risk of losing their latest bout to human nature — a challenge so fierce that none of last year's top four teams handled.

"We know what we can do," tight end Riley Nowakowski said, "but complacency kills."