Curt Cignetti Has New Perspective On Indiana After Ohio State Loss: 'We Certainly Proved We're Capable.'

Curt Cignetti didn't mince words Monday when assessing Indiana's performance in Saturday's heartbreaking loss to Ohio State.

"We fell short, plain and simple," Cignetti said Monday during his weekly press conference.

Two missed field goals, two turnovers and costly penalties left the Hoosiers lamenting their own mistakes as much as anything the Buckeyes did to beat them.

But when Cignetti woke up Sunday morning, he had a different perspective on his team. One shaped less by the final score and more by what Indiana had proven in defeat.

Cignetti didn't wake up Sunday dwelling on how close Indiana came to winning Saturday's top-five showdown. Instead, he emerged from the loss with a greater belief in what his team is capable of accomplishing.

"I think we certainly proved we're capable," Cignetti said.

Indiana was quite literally a foot away from beating the now-No. 3 team in the country. Had Josh Hoover's final pass been placed slightly further inside, or had Nick Marsh managed to get a foot down inbounds, the conversation surrounding the Hoosiers would be considerably different.

But Cignetti didn't need a victory to recognize what Saturday revealed.

Indiana missed opportunities to put points on the board, struggled to establish its running game and committed the kind of mistakes that have rarely characterized Cignetti's teams. Yet the Hoosiers still found themselves one play away from knocking off one of the nation's elite.

That's what made Saturday's performance both frustrating and encouraging. Indiana didn't play its cleanest football, but it didn't need to be perfect to give Ohio State everything it could handle.

"Just got to clean up a couple things and get a little better in certain areas," Cignetti said.

There's a difference between believing a team belongs among the nation's best and seeing it demonstrate as much on the field. For Cignetti, Saturday offered evidence of the latter, even if the result didn't reflect it.

If there was one area of Saturday's performance that reinforced Cignetti's confidence, it was Indiana's defense.

"The defense rose to the occasion," Cignetti said. "We were really good up front, and the coverage was tight. Really proud of the way we played [defensively]."

Ohio State entered Bloomington averaging more than 40 points per game. The Buckeyes left with just 19, while Indiana held their prolific passing attack to 235 yards and intercepted Julian Sayin twice.

One of those interceptions directly set up Indiana's first touchdown, providing the kind of momentum-changing play the Hoosiers needed against an opponent of Ohio State's caliber.

And that's what makes Cignetti's renewed perspective significant. Indiana didn't leave Saturday with the result it wanted, but it left with a clearer understanding of what it can be.

The Hoosiers have already shown they can compete with the best. Now comes the harder part: eliminating the mistakes that kept them from beating the best.

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