Cignetti Discusses History with Alabama, Upcoming Matchup
Cignetti Discusses History with Alabama, Upcoming Playoff Matchup
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.–The Indiana Hoosier football team is getting ready to face a football program their head coach, Curt Cignetti, knows all too well…the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Cignetti was an assistant coach at Alabama from 2007 through 2011 and learned a lot from Nick Saban. Cignetti and his #1 ranked Hoosiers (13-0) play Alabama (11-3) on New Year’s Day at the Rose Bowl in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal round.
“I probably think about it every single day to be quite honest with you because it had such an impact in my growth and development. Philosophically, the program that we run here (at Indiana) is probably more the same than different from Alabama,” said Cignetti in a Monday Rose Bowl Zoom call.
Cignetti said he watched their victory over Oklahoma, but that’s not the only time he’s seen this year’s Alabama team play.
“I actually did get to watch some of them earlier in the year. I’m a film junkie and I’ve always enjoyed studying Coach (Kalen) DeBoer’s offenses from the time he was at Washington,” said Cignetti.
Cignetti says Alabama is a “great opponent” with a history of success. Alabama claims to have won 18 national championships, but the NCAA recognizes 16 of their championships. Even with 16, Alabama has won more titles than all but one program in college football (Yale).
“The Rose Bowl is a great venue. We played out there against UCLA so we’ve been there once before. It ought to be a tremendous environment,” said Cignetti.
Indiana’s last game was their Big Ten Championship Game victory over Ohio State December 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis. That means they have had a longer than usual layoff.
“Would I prefer to play earlier? I probably would to be quite honest with you, but that’s not the case. We’re excited about playing. We’re off to a good start. It will be a tremendous challenge,” said Cignetti.
Hoosier defensive lineman Stephen Daley was injured after the Big Ten title game. Cignetti was asked during Monday’s Zoom call how the team will handle that injury.
“I guess we’ll see when we play the game what we decide to do, right?”, said Cignetti.
Kickoff on New Year’s Day is set for 4 pm EST between Indiana and Alabama.
