Curt Cignetti has brought Indiana to its only 6-0 start other than 1967.
Curt Cignetti came to Bloomington, assessed the roster, established a culture, and held players accountable to it. Some stayed, some were replaced by those familiar with Cignetti’s brand of accountability, and the tide turned.
First came easy wins against FIU and Western Illinois, then a road win against conference rival UCLA, and people started to believe that Cignetti was capable of walking the walk as well as he talked the talk.
The “I win – google me!” became the toast of Bloomington after his Hoosiers beat Maryland to give IU its first 5-0 start since the Lyndon Johnson administration.
And now homecoming against Nebraska is next as 6-0 IU is ranked #18 in this weeks AP poll. There was a time when programs like Nebraska invited Indiana to visit for their homecomings. Now the shoe is on the other foot.
After fits of excitement with Corso, Wyche, Mallory, Cameron, DiNardo, Hoeppner, Lynch, Wilson, and Allen, it seems like the excitement brought by Cignetti is justified and sustainable.
To be perfectly honest, I don’t know how to be a fan of Indiana Football if the Hoosiers are going to play like this. Arrogance, or even confidence, feels foreign as we look ahead to watching the games on the back half of the schedule.
The hysterical celebrations following every opponent punt are gone – replaced by stern instruction because improvement is more important than happiness driven by fleeting moments of competence.
No sane person believes IU is going to run the table, especially with a trip to Columbus coming in a month and a half, but on a week-to-week basis who’s to say the Hoosiers aren’t for real enough to earn a spot in the CFP? (Did I really just write that?)
Sometime soon the conversation will turn to how IU AD Scott Dolson can compel Cignetti to tell Florida where they can stuff their $10M per year offer, but for today let’s relish this window of high quality, sound fundamental football driven by an adult head coach who accepts no less than excellence in effort and execution!