Indiana Targets Big Win in Week 1 Over North Texas
Coach Curt Cignetti recalls last year's tight opener, aiming for a strong start as he leads Indiana past North Texas. Does Indiana come out strong to start?
Video Transcript
As far as Indiana and Ohio State here, Dave, I'll give you dealer's choice.
Which of these two games or teams is a little bit more interesting to you here week one?
I think it's Indiana simply because i- if you go back and listen to a lot of the quotes that our, our, our favorite Kirk Cignetti has said when he, you know, has those little one-liners.
If you pay attention, one of the things he said w- that bothered him last year, a year that they went undefeated and won the national championship, he's still angry about the week one close game versus Old Dominion.
Still angry about it.
They went 14 and 0 and won the national title, and he's still angry about being a close game versus Old Dominion.
So I think this Indiana team goes out there and crushes North Texas because I don't think they make the same mistake.
I think they go out there and say, "Hey, Old Dominion was close.
Let's go out there, not mess around."
And I, I, I like this game more than I like the Ohio State narrative, and I think that, you know, Cignetti seems to be one of those mind game guys who can just control his own narrative with his team.
Doesn't wanna make the same mistake because that Old Dominion game made people wonder, "Is Indiana really that good?"
Well, you know, they went undefeated and won the national title.
What else is there to prove?
The only thing he has to prove is he can win a week one game by a lot.
So I think they go out there and kick the crap out of North Texas.
So I, I'm actually on the other side and I, I find myself, I find myself wondering a little bit if Cignetti likes the week one game to be somewhat closer than it's supposed to be.
Because you, you know, you have to find your motivation, in spots because it wasn't just last year's closer game against ODU.
You know, you go back to year one, they played FIU and they only won by tw- I think it was 31-7, final score, so they only win the game by 24, right?
So on average we're, you know, we're winning by 20 instead of winning by 40.
The other piece of it is, you know, it's so funny, you get into these spots and, Georgia, Tennessee State, right?
It's like, ah, listen, I'm not particularly worried about Tennessee State.
Even if you go to Ohio State, Ball State, you're like, "Ah, listen, this, this isn't about Ball State."
I'm actually betting on North Texas because I am betting on Neil Brown.
You know, I was pretty positive, Dave, that I was gonna be the first person to mention Deshaun Watson, on this sh- show today.
But, you know, you, you mentioned him earlier when we talked about the Clemson dynasty.
Well, the Deshaun Watson team that lost once and won a national championship beating Nick Saban in the championship game, played a Neil Brown Troy team, and the final score was 30 to 24.
He's been in spots before at lower level schools.
This is a guy with a ton of head coach.
I mean, you're talking about like a, a, a decade between Troy and West Virginia.
Was the Texas assistant coach last year, head coach last year.
I understand that the whole roster plays for Oklahoma State.
I, I get that.
I think it's given us a, a delightful number because people actually know, oh, wait a minute, North Texas aren't gonna be-- Moore Mestemaker, you know, i- is, is a Cowboy now.
I'm buying this big, big number here with North Texas.
The quick thing I will bring up, you talk about narratives.
It's not what I was expecting to be available, Dave, but I truly do think Jeremiah Smith sees the Malachi Tony box score and tells Sayin, "Hey, listen, brother, it's gotta be 100 and a score.
Any- anything less is unacceptable here against Ball State."
And I think that's gonna be a fascinating thing to watch all year because even though the Heisman looks like it's a quarterback award, between Jaylen Smith and Malachi Tony, they'll be like, "Hey, don't forget about us.
We're gonna throw a couple of 200 yards and three touchdowns."
And yes, he's gonna go out there and name his yardage today in the huddle.
And he's gonna go out there and say, "Throw me the damn ball," to borrow from Keyshawn, because I think that's what he's gonna need to do.
So yeah, playing some of his props might be the way to go in that-
