Indiana’s late September 2024 home win against Maryland seems like a long time ago. Over two years, in fact.
Running for the Terps that day, Roman Hemby broke loose for 165 total yards and two scores, and Maryland linebacker Kellan Wyatt had five tackles and a sack. You might have heard of them.
It was also the game when coach Curt Cignetti implored the students to come to the game, stay at the game and study later.
The Hoosiers pulled away in the second half and won 42-28. It was the last time IU didn’t sell out a Big Ten game.
It was also the last time the Hoosiers committed more turnovers than their opponent. The turnover margin was 4-0 that day. And that was 28 games ago.
According to OptaStats, it is the longest such streak by any FBS team over the last 30 seasons.
It’s a good idea to win the turnover margin against Cignetti. He’s 23-0 at IU when the Hoosiers have a positive margin.
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano seems keenly aware of his team’s need to end that run on Saturday evening in New Jersey. And he’s a tad envious of the IU streak without a negative turnover margin.
“They do what I cherish, and that’s they take care of the football and they take it away,” Schiano said. “They’ve won or tied the net turnover margin 28 straight weeks, which is a modern-day record.”
HERE’S EVERYTHING SCHIANO SAID ABOUT THE HOOSIERS
“We certainly have a lot of great opportunities in front of us with the defending national champions coming to town. My hat is off to Coach Cignetti and their entire program for what they have been able to do here in the last few years. It is a great testament to what fine coaches they are, and it has been fun to watch from a distance. Now we get a chance to play them, so I am excited about that.
“When you look at their team, their front seven on defense is as good as there is in America. You look at the job that Bryant Haines has done as a defensive coordinator; he has just done a remarkable job. When you look at those guys up front—Daley, Tucker, Landino, Osunsanmi, and then the two linebackers, Hardy and Jones—that really is a stacked group. It makes it very tough sledding. Their secondary is really sound, and they play very good defensive football.
“Then you flip over to the offensive side, and Mike Shanahan does an incredible job with their offense. With the new quarterback, Hoover, coming in, they haven’t missed a beat.
“On the running back situation, I know they have some injuries there, but Lee Beebe stepped in and did a great job. Richard, if he plays, is a dynamic back we looked at last year.
“Charlie Becker has really emerged as a top receiver in the country, and Nick Marsh coming over from Michigan State is someone we have seen a lot of.
“It is a dynamic offensive football team with a great offensive line. Bob Bostad, who was our offensive line coach when we were down in Tampa, does a tremendous job with those guys and he has really good players. My hat is off to them.
“Special teams coach Grant Cain does a great job too. He has been doing this a long time and makes sure the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed. He does an exceptional job.
“There is no weakness in this team, which is why they have won 20 straight. They do what I cherish: they take care of the football and they take it away. They have won or tied the net turnover margin 28 straight weeks, which is a modern-day record that goes a long with many of their other accomplishments. It is certainly a tall task, but one that we are very excited about. It is a great opportunity with homecoming and a blackout, so it is going to be a great environment. I am looking forward to it.
How do you feel like they reflect Curt Cignetti as a coach? What about this Indiana team is a Curt Cignetti team?
“I think he does a great job of evaluating, recruiting, development, and coaching. He believes in the same principles: take care of the football, run the football, be physical and violent, and play sound defense. But to believe it and do it are two different things. He has done a great job everywhere he has been in his career. Obviously, Frank (Cignetti) was here with us during the first go-round, and Coach Cignetti has done a great job. Every place he has been, he has won. He has a formula that he believes in and he executes that formula.”
You touched on how different Indiana is as a program from the last time you played them in 23 to now. Has that made your job and other coaches in the Big Ten harder just because of how quickly they went to national champions?
“When you look from 2023 to today, it is amazing how much college football has changed. Again, it is a tribute to the job Coach Cignetti has done and that Indiana has done, but it is certainly a different look than it was just three years ago.”
You mentioned Nick Marsh and Charlie Becker, two of the top guys down the field in terms of the passing game. What is your confidence level in the defensive backs on this team in terms of matching up against them?“I have a great deal of confidence in our secondary. Our guys will challenge them; they don’t back down to anybody. When you watch them, Becker does a tremendous job on the back-shoulder fade. They did it when they had their quarterback last year, and they do it now. It really is something to watch—as a coach, it is poetry in motion the way they can do it. Then, if you start playing for that, they beat you over the top. They also do a really good job of running the football out of the RPO and off the run. Straight up, that is why they have won 20 straight games and why they are the defending national champions.”
Beebe and Richard combined for over 200 rushing yards against Northwestern. Where is the confidence right now in the defensive front to slow that down?
“I have a lot of confidence. Our guys will play really hard. Like I said, though, Bob Bostad is a great offensive line coach. They have a very good offensive line, very good running backs, and a passing game that you have to respect. You have to pick your poison at times. The big thing is going to be to limit explosive plays and hopefully take the ball away. They haven’t given it away much, so that is going to be a challenge.”
You mentioned Osunsanmi before. He is a player you went up against in the bowl game two years ago at Kansas State. Any memories of him from there, and what have you seen from him on tape?
“I have memories from there, and then memories of pursuing him in the transfer portal. I really liked him as a player. We didn’t get a ton of traction with him there, but I really liked his game. They had a couple of kids on that team that I really liked, but he ended up at Indiana, so now we will play against him. But he is a really fine player. He is explosive and twitchy. Yeah, he’s a really good player.”
I don’t know if you caught them against Northwestern, but what did Northwestern do that you can replicate to try and slow down a team like Indiana?
“I certainly watched them several times. You have to do it within the realm of your schemes and your personnel. There are certain things you look at and you say, ‘Okay, we might be able to do some of that.’ But with that kind of stuff, you better tackle well against this outfit because those running backs run as hard as anybody in the country. I am not just talking about one of them; any of them run really, really hard. They have a great tool in their stiff-arm. They do an elite job with it. It reminds me of Ray (Rice). When Ray used to put that thing out there, it was a weapon.”
You mentioned Charlie Becker before. What about him jumps off the tape? Obviously, him and KJ (Duff) are two of the best in the country. How do they compare?
“They are both technically very sound players with very good hand-eye coordination. They run really good routes. You can tell they have worked very, very hard at it. They are masterful at their craft.”
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