"Sick": Curt Cignetti Succumbs to "Taxing" Indiana Problem

Indiana won at Michigan for the first time since 1967, but Curt Cignetti spent the whole game feeling sick about it. He revealed this on his radio show on Thursday, admitting that playing nine straight games without a bye had become “taxing”. That’s an unusual complaint from a coach whose team is 7-1 and ranked No. 4, but Cignetti is clearly feeling the strain as Indiana prepares to host Minnesota on October 31.

“I had a sick feeling in my stomach the whole game because of the way that we had to play. I didn’t “like it, but I like the result at the end,” Cignetti said on “Inside IU Football”,according to an X post by Michael Niziolek. “Playing nine games in a row is taxing, but I don’t make the schedule or the rules.”

Indiana escaped Michigan Stadium with a 13-6 overtime win on October 24, but its offense struggled throughout the game. Josh Hoover, who has been dealing with a throwing-arm injury since the Ohio State game, completed just 8 of 18 passes for 81 yards and threw his first interception of the season. The Hoosiers managed only one offensive touchdown, and Cignetti said the passing game had looked as shaky in practice.

Cignetti mentioned that he thought Michigan would have a hard time scoring and Indiana would have a hard time moving the ball, so he did not want to give them anything easy. He was more concerned about the mistakes at the Michigan game than the 19-15 loss against Ohio State a week back.

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The schedule is another part that concerns him, as Indiana opened the season on September 5 and hasn’t had a week off since then, with Saturday being the ninth game in nine weeks.

“Everybody’s beat up, but that’s part of playing this game,” Cignetti said. “Quite frankly, in practice last week, the pass game wasn’t very good. I expect it to be better this week.”

Michigan freshman Tommy Carr, making his first start, got his team to the Indiana 3 in the final minute of regulation and took a fourth sack, so Michigan settled for a 26-yard field goal as time expired. In overtime, Hoover hit Brock Schott for 21 yards on the first snap and ran it in from four yards out.

Michigan got to Indiana at 13, and Carr’s pass fell incomplete just outside the end zone. At Nebraska, he said, Indiana “didn’t wake up until 11 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.”

“They’re a lot like us in that they’re not going to beat themselves,” Cignetti said on Minnesota. “They’re going to make you earn it.”

The Golden Gophers give up 165.1 passing yards a game, so Indiana has an opening if Hoover is healthy to play. Hoover wasn’t on the availability report because he practiced, and Cignetti stayed with him over Grant Wilson at Michigan. On the rest of the roster, he said, “We’re in good shape,” with maybe a player or two missing from last week.

Indiana has little time to recover before facing another tough opponent, with Minnesota coming off wins over Michigan, Iowa and Washington. Cignetti knows the Gophers will not give the Hoosiers easy chances, and after a taxing nine-game stretch, he will need a sharper performance from Hoover and the offense to keep Indiana moving forward.

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