Cignetti Discusses IU’s Upcoming Game vs Maryland
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.–The #2 and 8-0 Indiana Hoosier football team will face the 4-3 Maryland Terrapins this Saturday. Indiana’s Head Football Coach Curt Cignetti said Monday that a lot of things impress him about Maryland.
“Their offense is only giving up two sacks. And they’re outscoring people the first three quarters, 175-50. Got an excellent punter, excellent field goal kicker, short snapper, long snapper. And they’re doing a lot of good things. A freshman quarterback, 6’5″, 230 pounds. Really has a strong arm and can run. And wide receivers are very talented, so is the tight end. The line’s huge. Good running backs that also catch the ball out of the backfield,” said Cignetti.
When discussing the defense, Cignetti said you’ll see the Maryland defense fly around to make plays.
“They create turnovers. They sack the quarterback. And offensively they’re protecting the quarterback, protecting the ball, making explosive plays and have a good kicking game,” said Cignetti.
Indiana knocked off Maryland in 2024 by a score of 42-28, but Cignetti said so much has changed in over a year.
“I’ve not gone back and looked at that tape because it’s a completely different scheme this year. So, look, no matter who you play, you’ve got to win the line of scrimmage. You’ve got to be able to run the ball, stop the run, put pressure on the quarterback. You’ve got to win the turnover ratio. Turnover ratio equals points,” said Cignetti.
After intercepting a pass from UCLA’s quarterback Nico Iamaleava and running it back 25 yards for a touchdown, Hoosier linebacker Aiden Fisher got banged up in the game and spent the rest of the game on the sideline. Cignetti called Fisher being out “precautionary” after the win.
“I would list Aiden Fisher as probable,” said Cignetti on Monday.
One of Indiana’s kickers, Brendan Franke, fell down on the opening kickoff and didn’t kick the rest of the game against UCLA. Cignetti called him questionable for Saturday’s game against Maryland.
Indiana is scoring 45 points per game offensively while only allowing 11 points per game to the opposition.
“Our guys play with a lot of pride. There’s a tradition on that side of the ball. They’ve got a great leader. The other assistant coaches do a tremendous job as well. We’ve got a lot of veterans back there that play a lot of football. Offensively, we try not to put them in a bad spot. That’s one thing about me still being involved offensively is it’s not about scoring points, it’s about winning the game. So, I make sure that we don’t put the defense in a bad position where we’re turning the ball over in minus territory. And when people have moved the ball a little bit against our defense, we’ve done a good job to holding them to field goals,” said Cignetti.
Indiana’s game against Maryland kicks off at 3:30 pm EST Saturday November 1.
