Indiana is coming off their first loss since 2024 and Curt Cignetti met with the media to preview his team's trip to face the Michigan Wolverines.
In this story:
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti met with the media after his team's first loss since 2024. Here are the main takeaways from Cignetti before heading to play Michigan, where IU has not won since 1967.
Offense Needs More Exploisive Runs
After starting the Big Ten season with great rushing performances, the Indiana offense has run into a brick wall the last two games. The Hoosiers ran for just 78 yards against Ohio State on Sunday, which put them in some difficult positions. Cignetti almost made a solution sound as simple as getting more explosive runs.
"Teams like Ohio State, Michigan, they don't give up much rushing yardage. We did have some positive runs. We got into kind of a throw mode. I they we called 46 passes and 26 runs, which is very uncharacteristic of us," Cignetti said. "It all starts up front. We all want more consistent production, explosive plays. Haven't got any explosive plays the last two weeks in the run game."
Indiana still ranks second in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game with 200.14, but have been well below average the last two games.
Michigan May Use Both Quarterbacks, but Not How You'd Think
The Hoosiers' next opponent, the Michigan Wolverines, finally benched Bryce Underwood in favor of freshman Tommy Carr. However, that does not mean Indiana thinks it'll just be Carr on the field.
Cignetti knows that Kyle Whittingham has a tendency to put two quarterbacks on the field at times. Michigan's offense is struggling in 2026, and that may be a spark that it needs to be ignited.
"I would assume it would be (Carr). Could be two quarterbacks on the field at the same time. That would not surprise me. They did a lot of that at Utah,," Cignetti said. "And the other guy can make plays. So schematically they didn't change a whole lot in the second half."
Carr helped Michigan beat Penn State 21-18 last week.
Indiana Lost the Game Before They Could Win It
One of Curt Cignetti's favorite sayings is that you have to not lose the game before you can win it. Indiana did not make the winning plays necessary to beat a top-five opponent on Saturday.
"Basically, we lost the game. Like, before you win it you can't lose it. You look at the second quarter. We had momentum; we're taking control. We go down there and score, we'd be up 11. We don't execute something that's like day one in terms of level of execution required," Cignetti said.
IU made a handful of critical mistakes, including going 0-2 on field goal attempts, losing two fumbles and going 0-2 on fourth down before the most glaring mistake on the Hoosiers' final play.
"Those are the kind of mistakes. And then the last play of the game that we normally don't make, that we make," Cignetti added. "I think we were all feeling pretty bad after the game that night, I'm sure. I woke up, you know, with kind of a new perspective: That we proved that we're capable. Just got to clean up a couple things and get a little better in certain areas".
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Published
Sammy, a native of New York City, is a 2009 graduate from Indiana University with a degree from the School of HPER (Public Health) in Sports Communication and Broadcasting. He started Hoosier Huddle in July of 2013 and has been the statistician for Indiana Football radio broadcasts since 2019. He also has a Masters Degree in Physical Education from Canisius College in Buffalo, NY. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and a voter for the Outland Trophy, Ray Guy Award, Lou Groza Award, Eddie Robinson Award and the FWAA All-American Team.