From the moment he arrived in Bloomington, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti oozed with confidence.
“I win,” he said, “Google me.”
After eight months of talking, Saturday marked Cignetti’s first opportunity to back it up. He paced from east to west in front of the Hoosiers inside the new Memorial Stadium tunnel at 3:34 p.m. One minute later, he charged toward Indiana’s sideline.
At 3:40 p.m., four minutes after Cignetti put his headset on, the Hoosiers’ season-opener against Florida International University kicked off.
While Indiana’s offense went three-and-out in its first series, junior linebacker Aiden Fisher announced his arrival. During FIU’s initial drive, Fisher racked up a tackle for loss and a sack, giving the 44,150 Hoosier fans in attendance something to cheer for.
And in Indiana’s next three offensive possessions, the fans were fixated on a new and improved offense –– an aspect of the program that struggled over the past three seasons. But that was in the past with former head coach Tom Allen. This is now.
With sixth-year senior quarterback Kurtis Rourke under center, Indiana rattled off three straight touchdown drives. Whether it was on the ground or through the air, the Hoosiers controlled the Panthers defense with seventh-year senior running back Ty Son Lawton’s two rushing touchdowns and Rourke’s passing touchdown to senior tight end Zach Horton.
The fans were on their feet cheering, something they’ve rarely been able to do over the last three seasons with the Hoosiers’ 9-27 combined record.
As the student section was nearly full, the Hoosiers went into halftime with a 21-7 lead.
Despite leading, Cignetti wasn’t pleased during his halftime interview. He felt his team played “sloppy” in the final seven minutes of the first half.
“We’ve got to learn to play when we’re a little bit fatigued, and learn to play with a lead,” Cignetti said.
After a six minute, 24 second drive that resulted in a field goal by redshirt freshman kicker Nicolas Radicic, the Hoosiers looked like a different team.
Gone were the touchdown drives and gaping holes produced by the offensive line.
Gone too were the fans.
“So, there's a lot of things we're trying to change here,” Cignetti said. “Another thing we're trying to change in tradition is we gotta keep the people in the seats after halftime. We need to create a power-four environment in the stadium.”
Lawton echoed Cignetti’s thoughts about the environment inside the stadium.
“It was good till halftime,” Lawton said. “Everybody left.”
With substantially fewer fans in the seats, the Hoosiers’ offense struggled. The defense didn’t, however. It pitched a second-half shutout after allowing an FIU touchdown with just under a minute left in the first half.
“Too many penalties (on the offense),” Cignetti said. “There were quite a few penalties in scrimmages. It was a focus to eliminate the penalties.”
While Hoosier fans grew accustomed to seeing Tom Allen-led squads hold themselves back, Cignetti ensured over the offseason he’s eliminating self-imposed limitations.
Although Indiana finished Saturday with nine penalties for 80 yards, Cignetti explained it’s the norm around college football during opening weekend.
“It's almost like they're teachable moments and they learn from it the next game,” Cignetti said. “I'm not making an excuse by any means because we didn't want to have any. I am pleased that we didn't have turnovers because I was worried about penalties and turnovers.”
Even though the Hoosiers’ offense didn’t play its best in the second half, Indiana still emerged with a 31-7 victory.
While Lawton is experienced under Cignetti after following him from James Madison University, he noticed a difference in the environment ahead of the game.
“Even The Walk, the tailgating –– I have never seen that before,” Lawton said. “I came from Stony Brook. We didn’t have a lot of fans like that. JMU –– it was good, but here is just different.”
Horton explained it’s something new to see the stadium packed and that he liked how the fans showed up, yet echoed Cignetti and Lawson in noticing the fans leaving early.
“Hopefully we can keep it where the fans can stay and keep them in the seats,” he said.
Even though it was a tale of two halves Saturday and there’s plenty for the Hoosiers to correct ahead of their matchup with Western Illinois University on Sept. 6, there’s also plenty for Indiana fans to be encouraged about.
After all, it’ll take time for the new regime to show its full capabilities. Indiana football has the most losses in Football Bowl Subdivision history with 713, but Cignetti and company can only shift the narrative one game at a time, one season at a time.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and columnist Jhett Garrett (@jhettgarrett) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
