IU football coach Curt Cignetti credits his time working under Nick Saban at Alabama as highly instrumental in his career development.
Cignetti credits to Saban much of the day-to-day process that has allowed him to go 79-11 over the last seven years despite in that span taking one program through a transition from FCS to FBS, and then taking over the FBS program with the most losses ever.
But the first time he got a chance to coach against the Crimson Tide, Cignetti coached like he had vengeance on his mind.
Perhaps he believes he should have been promoted to a coordinator position in Tuscaloosa? That certainly would have been an easier path to be coming a Power 4 head coach than taking the opening at Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania like he did in 2011.
Or maybe he just saw a weakness in 2025 Alabama led by Saban’s replacement, Kalen DeBoer?
Whatever the case, Cignetti was ready for war and looking to humiliate Alabama in the hours leading up to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
“In the game day meeting at the hotel, he was like, I don’t want to do any trick plays, weird stuff,” then IU strength coach Derek Owings told Stewart Mandel for the Athletic. “I want to line up and beat the s—t out of them. In the second half, we started bullying those guys, and when Bama had given up, it was, I don’t really want to pass anymore. I want to run it down their throat and make a statement.”
And run it down Alabama’s throat Indiana did.
Before adjusting for sack yards, IU ran for 237 yards and 5.0 yards per carry. Kaelon Black had 15 carries for 99 yards and a score, while Roman Hemby posted 18 carries for 89 yards and a score. The Hoosiers were able to stay ahead of the chains and that helped lead to nine conversions on 14 third down attempts. They had a nine minute edge in time of possession, and 22 first downs.
The running game was so good the offensive line was collectively named the players of the game.
Interestingly enough, it was Alabama that had to resort to trickery as their offense began to sputter.
Early in the second quarter, with the score still 3-0, Indiana showed how prepared it was for this game.
Alabama lined up in a wildcat formation on fourth-and-1 at its own 34-yard line, prompting a timeout from IU. The Crimson Tide came back in a punt formation, with quarterback Ty Simpson curiously lined up as a blocker. They shifted mid-play and brought Simpson under center, trying to draw the Hoosiers offside. But they weren’t fooled, and Alabama burned a timeout.
After all of that, the Tide went back to the wildcat, and ran a jet sweep pitch play to Germie Bernard. It didn’t work; Indiana’s defense swarmed to the ball and made the stop. That gave IU’s offense great field position, which eventually led to a Charlie Becker touchdown.
In the end, Indiana completed the task just as Cignetti hoped — beating the s–t out of Alabama, 38-3.
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