After winning a huge game at Oregon, Indiana football has moved on quickly.
There’s no other choice, with the way college football moves along. And head coach Curt Cignetti has always preached the importance of strong mentality, not getting too high when things are good and not getting too low when things are bad.
This week’s game against Michigan State could be the biggest test that message faces.
“Total focus on Michigan State. I think the key now is our response coming off of this game. But that’s always the key,” Cignetti said Monday. “And this team has met every challenge up to this point, because they’ve been hungry and humble, prepared properly and put it on the field, which requires commitment, discipline, sacrifice, you know, eliminating the noise and clutter, controlling the controllables, and putting themselves in the best position for success, because when you prepare properly, it breeds confidence and brings out your best.”
The Hoosiers will take on the Spartans at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET, streaming on Peacock.
MSU (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten) has plenty of reasons to be particularly fired up for this game. Indiana (6-0, 3-0) is the toughest opponent on its schedule this season, and Jonathan Smith’s group will be looking to make a statement and shock the nation. There’s the trophy up for grabs, the Old Brass Spittoon, which the Hoosiers haven’t won in consecutive years since 1967-69. But perhaps most significantly, the Spartans are coming off a 38-13 home loss to UCLA, when they entered as favorites. That disappointing performance could turn into motivation to make things right this week.
But Cignetti’s philosophies remain the same. He’ll push the same messages to his team that he does every week.
“You got a certain blueprint and a plan, things you preach, things that you feel are important and it’s my job to communicate those and the assistants’,” Cignetti said. “And to like kind of live that and walk that. And then, you know, the team, right? They got to get the message. But they aren’t words. They’re actions.”
Cignetti, nearly every week, utters phrases like, ‘One play at a time. 60 seconds a play. Every play has a life of its own.’ Essentially telling his players to focus hard on every single play, give full effort at all times, but once that play ends, don’t dwell on it — move on to the next thing. That broadens from individual plays, to full drives, to quarters, and full games.
His message has resonated so strongly, that he and his staff heard IU players actually saying those things out loud on the field at Oregon. That’s the amount of buy-in he’s gotten from his team.
“I’m proud of the way that they went out to Oregon, got the message. A couple of the coaches said you could hear them on the field through their chatter some of the stuff — ‘One play at a time, play the next play,’ whatever it is. But we got good players that prepare and like to play football, and they’re smart and they made good choices and decisions on the field.”
Hemby giving IU good juice
Running back Roman Hemby was one of Indiana’s biggest transfer portal additions for this year.
With three productive years at Maryland, he not only brought a lot of experience to the transfer portal, but Big Ten-specific experience. The Hoosiers — or any conference team, for that matter, couldn’t ask for much more in that department than they found in Hemby. He led the Terps in rushing yards in each of the previous three seasons.
Still, that background only meant so much for Cignetti.
“When you take anyone out of the portal that you don’t have a history with, you can research the production, you can watch the tape, you can talk to people, but you really don’t know them,” Cignetti said, “until they’re here a while and see how they respond to different situations and how consistent they are day in, day out.”
The addition has paid dividends this season.
Through six games, Hemby ranks seventh in the Big Ten with 421 rushing yards on 84 carries. He’s scored two touchdowns, both of which came on Saturday against Oregon. The redshirt senior has also caught seven passes for 101 yards, and he’s chipped in on kickoff returns.
Hemby has displayed impressive speed and burst, but also a lot of strength and power-running ability. He’s been a good complement to Kaelon Black, and should continue being a vital part of IU’s offense in the second half of the season.
“Roman Hemby is a warrior,” Cignetti said. “That guy gives 100 percent every day, every play, physical runner, fast, smart, great hands, great out of the back field. And you know, he’s a guy that wants the ball, that you can give the ball to and that he’s been durable.”
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