IU football coach Curt Cignetti doesn’t have any media availabilities during the bye week, but he did appear on his weekly radio show with Don Fischer on Wednesday evening.
Fischer asked Cignetti what he thought about the first College Football Playoff rankings, and the media reaction.
“These people, and there are a whole bunch of them, they march out of the tent, and they’re given instructions on what to say, and they follow the company line,” Cignetti said. “And I don’t need to go any further.
“I think it’s gonna all play out on the field. A lot of these teams have to play each other yet. It’ll be earned not given, but there will always be controversy somewhere whether it’s 12, 24, six or four (teams in the CFP).
“There’s always gonna be somebody that feels left out, and deservedly so probably could build a case to be in.
“You’ve got two of the top three are undefeated. You’ve got Georgia. Kirby’s a great coach, Georgia’s a great program. The SEC gets a lot of love from ESPN and all their writers that they don’t technically pay, but march to their drum.
“That’s why you see all those SEC teams up there, and some good two-loss teams from the Big Ten not quite as high. Like I said, it’s all gonna be played out on the field, so it really doesn’t matter right now.
“One other thing I’d like to say because a lot of people are bashing our rating, we lost to Ohio State, but people fail to mention that they were at full strength, we knocked the quarterback out, and we missed a layup at the end of the game by four inches.
“And what was that game, 2 vs. 3 at the time? But that’s all right.”
Cignetti also posted this on X Wednesday evening pertaining to wins over teams with a .500 record:
Facts are stubborn things.
#GOIU https://t.co/bz8GryQ9AW— Curt Cignetti (@CCignettiIU) November 5, 2026
CIGNETTI ON JOSH HOOVER AND GRANT WILSON
Cignetti made a quarterback change at halftime of Indiana’s win over Minnesota, replacing starter Josh Hoover with Grant Wilson.
Fischer also asked the head coach about the two quarterbacks.
Cignetti’s responses didn’t clarify who will start when IU takes on USC on Nov. 14.
“He (Hoover) got dinged up against Ohio State, everybody saw that. And it’s been a struggle,” Cignetti said. “It’s been a little bit of a struggle offensively too. Made a change at halftime and our last three possessions we scored.
“Josh is on the mend. It’s a good time to have an off week. He should only get better, right now he’s resting.”
And what about Wilson?
Cignetti called Wilson a big strong guy who is mobile and can throw it down the field.
“I had total confidence he would come in and get the job done in the second half,” Cignetti said. “There wasn’t a doubt in my mind. Almost put him in against Michigan. Because Josh has been dinged up and struggling, and it’s all about production.”
Cignetti gave a blunt assessment of his team’s offense — a unit the head coach is heavily involved with from day-to-day.
“Offensively, we are not producing like we have the last two years,” Cignetti said. “Our consistency is not there right now.”
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