Curt Cignetti Notebook | Post-Notre Dame
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti spoke following Friday's loss to Notre Dame.
On the loss:
”All good things come to an end. When you're my age, you've seen it all. I have a lot of guys hurting in there but a part of life is learning how to deal with disappointment the proper way and come back a stronger person because of the experience. You never get everything you want in life. That's how life is.
“But it doesn't diminish what these guys accomplished, for sure this season which everyone in this room can detail out what this team's accomplished. A lot of firsts. So proud of them. It's easy to say we didn't play our best game, but a lot of that was probably because of who we played. I thought Riley Leonard was excellent handling the pressure, getting rid of the ball.
“Defensively they pretty much suffocated our offense until the last minute and a half of the game. And their skill guys made good plays. They played well. And they beat us (indiscernible).
“I am happy that our guys didn't give up and pounded those two scores in on two-minute drives at the end. You just never know. You make that two-point play and you recover one more kick, it's just a crazy game, right? I mean, the way it was going, you're looking at the game saying to yourself, well, this is probably going to end up about 40-3 or something like that. I'm not saying that, but you're probably thinking that.
“Here you are scoring, 27-17, with an opportunity to make a two-point conversion, kick another onside kick to tie the game. So, Notre Dame is a good football team. Wish them the best of luck moving forward. And I'm proud of our guys.”
On if he felt Indiana’s offense never got off their heels:
“Absolutely, we completed that long pass to Sarratt early in the game. Got down there and threw that interception on a tempo play. They came out, a 98-yard, guy in the wrong gap. You know what I mean? We can't catch them -- bigger, stronger, faster. It was tough sledding.”
On missed tackles:
”When you play good people who move faster, quicker change of direction, they're harder to tackle. I think that was the case tonight a lot of times.”
On Notre Dame’s third down success in the first half:
”Well, I can't remember every single play off the top of my head, to be honest with you. I do remember Riley Leonard, us having Riley Leonard in our grasp and him still being able to complete the throw with the receiver making a nice catch to extend drives. I think they made a number of nice catches that I can recall -- low, here, there.
“There was a point in the game it appeared we were starting to put some pressure on Riley Leonard, near the end of the first half, we were getting closer and closer. But, again, I give him a lot of credit. He's a really good athlete with a quick release that played a lot of football. He's got body quickness and twitch. And he's able to get rid of that ball and throw the check-down to the running back and get a positive play. Not everybody who plays that position can make that play.
“I'm not sure that really answers your question, but they made plays and we didn't.”
On how this team should be remembered:
”You are what your record says you are. So, 11-2. Tied for second in the Big Ten. Made the College Football Playoff. And packed the stadium. Made a lot of people proud. And had a historic season. So set the foundation for hopefully what's to come.”
On where the biggest difference is between Indiana and Notre Dame:
”They've probably got more depth than we do. They probably have some front-line guys that are just a little bit bigger, stronger, faster than our guys.:
On punting early in the fourth quarter down 23:
”I didn't want to punt, but I didn't want to go fourth-and-10. It's like you're wishing and hoping. You have nothing to base it on that you can convert fourth-and-10 at that point. And there's still time to punt if you win the game.
“So that was the reason why. I didn't want to do it. But I felt like it was the best move.”
On Indiana’s biggest issues on offense:
”I think they played well. There were probably some pretty ordinary things that we normally would execute that we didn't get done very well.
“I can remember Miles Cross coming wide open on a corner route. We overthrow them. There were things like that. But they put the pressure on us. They have good players. And they won the line of scrimmage. They won the one-on-one match-ups on the perimeter. They affected the quarterback and they swarmed to the ball.”
On setting the stage for the future:
”This team earned it -- the right to be here. I'm not sure we proved tonight to a lot of people. Everything is about recruitment and development and now retention. Every year you've got to start over now in college football. It's not quite the NFL but it's getting close.
“So you can change a lot of things in a year. Now, the one thing about the way the calendar is set right now if you do make the College Football Playoff, you're kind of penalized in the portal recruiting area because, like, we didn't have official visits this week because I wanted 100 percent focus in preparation for Notre Dame.
‘So that's time that last year we were spending on the portal. But we've got a good nucleus coming back, and we'll be okay.”
On his plan for the next week:
”We'll get back at 3:50 in the morning. We have seven recruits on campus tomorrow morning on official visits. And Saturday and Sunday we can have them on. Monday is dead; it's a dead period, all the way until January the 5th.
“And then we have one week we can bring portal guys in for official visits from the 6th to the 12th of January. But understand that probably 80 percent of the portal guys that are good players have made their decisions already. That's just where we're at.”
Want the latest scoop on the Fighting Irish? Sign up for our newsletter and become an ISD Premium Subscriber: Sign Up for ISD
Under Armour Gray Notre Dame Fighting Irish T2 Green Bridge Stripe Polo
