Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti addressed the media on Monday afternoon following this past weekend's road win at Michigan and ahead of this Saturday's homecoming matchup against Minnesota in Bloomington.
He was asked about several topics including quarterback Josh Hoover's health, Tobi Osunsanmi's play so far, Rolijah Hardy's role on defense and more.
Here's everything he said, courtesy of ASAPSports .
CIGNETTI:All right, great bounceback win last week up at the big house. Tough, gritty, hard-fought game. Tremendous job by our defense. Came up time and time again with key, you know, plays at the right time. Just can't say enough about them.
Special teams, punter Billy Gowers I thought was tremendous. Nico was two field goals, and offense came alive in overtime and got it in in two plays.
So it was a tough game, a hard-fought game, and it's a great bounceback win. To put together that kind of winning streak, national championship, lose to Ohio State at the end like we did, and all of a sudden go back up to Michigan and get back on track.
So this week got another really tough game, Minnesota; 5-2. I heard PJ say after — I would like to watch the games on TV of the opponent, learn a little bit about them. They beat three teams that were ranked at the time they played.
So they've beaten three ranked teams. Washington was ranked, Michigan was ranked, Iowa was ranked.
So they're a lot like us in that they're not going to beat themselves. They're going to make you earn it. They're fundamental. He does a tremendous job. They're a good football team, so going to have to play well, and we have areas we got to get better at.
Q: With Josh, did the injury impact him more than you anticipated, and what's his status for starting this week against Minnesota? Any doubts about that?
CIGNETTI:I expect him to be fine and better this week.
Q: As you kind of watched film maybe of this group of games, Nebraska, Ohio State, Michigan, are there consistent themes in the run game that are maybe popping to you in terms of whether it's from blocking to reads, whatever just isn't kind of springing the way you guys need it to?
CIGNETTI:I thought we ran the ball fairly well in that they pretty much knew we were going to run the ball, you know what I'm saying?
We didn't separate at receiver in this game, and, you know, we obviously didn't throw the ball very well or very often, and a lot of that was because of type of game it became.
And quite frankly, in practice last week the pass game wasn't very good. I expect it to be better this week.
Q: Tobi Osunsanmi had I think it was eight and a half sacks in three years at K-State; he's got nine in eight games for you guys. What has led to the increase in production, and what are the thoughts on how disruptive he is?
CIGNETTI:He's playing tremendous, great football. He's also a really good leader. He's got a voice. I credit the defensive staff of Bryant Haines, Buddha Williams, Pat Kuntz for finding his niche and developing him from a technique standpoint where he can make explosive plays on defense.
He's a really twitched up guy. You could see that on the Kansas State tape. Our defense is all about wreaking havoc and creating TFLs and sacks and making everything happen on their side, line of scrimmage, and he's really good at that.
Q: You guys have moved Rolijah Hardy around on defense into different areas of the field. How much does his versatility unlock some things on defense that allows you to stop opponents more effectively?
CIGNETTI:Yeah, he's a key guy. Not only is a talented and a really instinctive player and a good player, he's a really smart player, so he can handle a lot. I would say that about both those linebackers.
Hardy had some real key plays in that game, as did Tobi in terms of sacks and TFLs and a forced fumble.
I thought both those guys were tremendous.
Q: Amari had three interceptions in the last two games; I think 11 for his career. What attributes allow him to do that? How much of it his attributes, how much is scheme, putting him in good position?
CIGNETTI:Yeah, he's got really good ball skills. He's the next punt returner back there right now because he catches the ball really well.
This one in the last game was zone coverage, deflect high deflection, and he did a really good job running the ball down and making the play. Made a great catch against Ohio State on his second interception.
So great to see him come on like that. He's a really smart player, too. Very instinctive. Those turnovers equal points. Not enough points last week, but they equal points..
Q: Coach, you talked a little bit about Minnesota. Defensively they don't give up a lot of passing yards. I think they are one of the top teams in the league as far as that goes. Doesn't seem to give up a lot of explosive plays. What do they liked to defensively and anybody they kind of remind you of with how they play?
CIGNETTI:Yeah, they've got a really good package, experienced players. They're in the right place. They do a great job of coaching. They're very aggressive. They get to the ball. They can play man. They can play zone. They can load the box on you if they have to. They've got, you know, five-man pressures and six-man pressures. That's where they try to keep you off balance, is the mix of those things.
They came out a lot different verse Iowa schematically than they were the previous week or really even early on in the season. You know, a lot of man coverage and against Iowa a lot of zone. So they're really good and you got to earn every yard and you got to earn every score.
Q: You had that strange start to the season with both starting cornerbacks going down in the first quarter. Have you seen that group find its footing and improve its play over the last few weeks?
CIGNETTI:Yeah, I think the last two weeks with AJ Harris getting back on the field – got to keep him on the field – been able to put Sharpe back at field corner, which is his natural position, and I think you've seen things just sort of uptick since then.
Q: You guys have used more three linebacker sets as of late. How much of that is due to increased confidence in Jacob Savage, and what have you seen from him progressing in his increased role that past couple week?
CIGNETTI:Yeah, a lot of that is against 12 personnel, but we been doing that for couple years now, few years. You know, we got 12 personnel, that's the first thing we're going to go to. We did a little bit of it against 11 personnel at the end of last season. Not as much this year; but certainly can.
But Jacob Savage is another guy that loves ball, very instinctive. Plays well. We have confidence in him which says a lot about him being a true freshman. It tells you a lot about his commitment and his dedication and his approach to the game.
Q: Coach, despite how many weeks in row you've played and how many physical games in a row, the availability report was clean going into Michigan. It's been relatively clean all season. What has contributed to keeping your guys healthy throughout the year?
CIGNETTI:Well, you know, you try to control what you can control, and there are some things outside of your control, like losing those two corners in the first quarter of the opener, and Khobie Martin.
But we try to keep them healthy in practice and still prepare them, which I think we do a good job of. We've just had some good fortune.
Look, this is our ninth game in a row, is it? So everybody that has played significant snaps is hurting somewhere, but they're all able to play.
Q.: Coach, Davion Chandler didn't play against Michigan. You've mentioned looking for one of either Davion, Tyler Morris, or Shazz Preston to emerge as the third receiver. Have you seen either rise above the rest?
CIGNETTI:Still kind of waiting for one guy to separate themselves.
Q. Curt, with the red zone defense the last three or four games has really taken a step. I think only three touchdowns in 11 trips. What's been the key to that success and when you have a strong red zone defense, what do you see as the difference maker? How does it elevate; like that?
CIGNETTI:Timely plays and getting 11 guys to do their job. Just like the sack that Tobi made on the naked bootleg. So many times through the years you've seen that end kind of bite on the fake and that quarterback comes out Scot free.
But he had the patience and the technique and he hit him right down the middle. It was just perfectly executed. We got good players. We are good up front. Our front seven, eight, we're hard to run against.
We got all 11 doing their job it's pretty tough. The goal is always to hold them to a field goal which or defense did a tremendous job.
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