PASADENA, Calif. — “Let’s go Hoosiers,” the sea of crimson in the southeast corner of the Rose Bowl Stadium chanted.
Indiana University president Pamela Whitten clapped to the Hoosier faithful’s beat, uttering the same words.
Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson stood to Whitten’s right, with his hands in the pockets of his gray slacks.
It was 7:48 p.m. PST and Indiana football just completed its 42-13 beatdown of UCLA inside the famed stadium.
Just one minute later, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti walked toward the southeast tunnel with both arms above his head and both index fingers pointed to the sky.
On Nov. 26, 2023, Dolson announced he determined the program had lost momentum and needed a change in leadership. So he, alongside Whitten, went and hired Cignetti four days later.
“We wanted a winner,” Dolson said at Cignetti’s introductory press conference Dec. 1, 2023. “We wanted someone with some swagger, with some confidence that can really bring that to our program and help establish the identity of IU football.”
So, on Saturday, after the Hoosiers dominated on national television, it was like a scene out of a movie — Hoosier nation revering Cignetti for the new-look Indiana he’s established.
After three games at the helm, Dolson’s want of a “winner” is looking to have come to fruition. The Hoosiers are now 3-0, dominating their opponents by a combined margin of 150-23.
But for Cignetti, no matter the opponent and no matter the location, all victories count the same.
“It will open some eyes,” Cignetti said postgame. “Because it was on national TV, and that’s it. It’s one game. We came out here, got done what we wanted to get done.”
Cignetti preached the trek to the Rose Bowl was more of a “business trip.”
That’s all. He said it didn’t matter if they played the game in the Rose Bowl or in the parking lot.
The players viewed it the same way.
“We came in, knew what we had to do: take care of business,” sophomore rover Amare Ferrell said postgame. “It was a business trip, and we just came and did that.”
Indiana football hasn’t always taken care of business. At least not like it did Saturday.
Hoosier teams of old may have been distracted by the venue and perhaps unfocused on the task.
And in turn, Indiana football fans have come to expect their squad to struggle in moments like Saturday.
But what the Hoosiers did on the field was the polar opposite.
Sixth-year senior quarterback Kurtis Rourke delivered time and again.
First, he tossed a 3-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Miles Cross in the back of the endzone to take a 7-0 lead. Second, he found fifth-year senior wide receiver Ke’Shawn Williams on a screen pass that resulted in a 13-yard touchdown.
Now the Hoosiers led 14-0, but they weren’t done.
Fifth-year senior running back Justice Ellison powered into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown to give Indiana a 21-0 lead.
UCLA looked to have a chance. It scored a touchdown just before halftime and nailed a 28-yard field goal to begin the second half.
But that’s when the Hoosiers began to put the game away. On their next three possessions, they scored three touchdowns and led 42-13.
Indiana football officially introduced itself on national television like Cignetti said, but the Hoosiers view it as just another win.
“As long as we win, that’s all that matters,” Cross said.
While the Hoosiers won, another focal point of Cignetti’s vision when he arrived at Indiana was stalking complacency.
He doesn’t want any of it.
It may be Indiana’s first signature victory under Cignetti, but he wants the Hoosiers to face forward.
“They got 24 hours to enjoy it, and we’re back at the next opponent,” Cignetti said. “Can’t let complacency sneak in and all those good things. This one’s over.”
Indiana now looks ahead to its fourth game of the season, hosting the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on Sept. 21. It’ll look to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2020.
For now, it may be just one win through Cignetti’s and the players’ eyes. But perhaps it’s a win that could change the trajectory of Indiana football.
That’s why Dolson and Whitten hired Cignetti: to establish an identity and win games.
And according to Cignetti, nobody in the locker room is surprised they’re doing just that.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and columnist Jhett Garrett (@jhettgarrett) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
