LOS ANGELES – On September 9, 2024, Curt Cignetti previewed his team’s journey to the Rose Bowl. A then-unknown Indiana team would make the program’s first trip to Pasadena since the 1968 Rose Bowl Game to take on UCLA in a Big Ten conference game.
Wearing a black Indiana jersey and a fresh haircut was Cignetti himself, who spoke about treating his Big Ten debut as a business trip above all.
“Whether we’re playing in the Rose Bowl or in the parking lot, it’s all the same,” he said.
Indiana handled UCLA, winning 42-13 in front of a crowd below 50 percent capacity.
Sixteen months later, Cignetti, now wearing a black sport coat over a red shirt, spoke Tuesday morning prior to No. 1 Indiana’s New Year’s Day matinee with No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl game in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.
Perhaps you would expect Cignetti’s attitude to change in such a historic location; After all, who wouldn’t be excited to lead their program onto the field for the Grandfather of Them All?
Don’t think so.
When Cignetti asked almost the same questions as last year, he returned to his proven, process-oriented formulations. All about how to make every day the best on the way to game day.
“There’s a lot of excitement, but we’re here to play in the playoff game,” Cignetti said. “Our focus is 100 percent on the here and now.”
Cignetti’s businesslike approach to this game ensures consistency. No game is more important than the last and nothing guarantees the future.
Senior linebacker Aiden Fisher, who often serves as Cignetti’s prophet, delivered the same message as his head coach all season. Fisher spent many Tuesday nights of game weeks talking about the importance of the upcoming game because it is the next game.
While he was more open about the historic magnitude of the game against Alabama, Fisher focused this Tuesday on the same message he had emphasized all season: preparation.
He reiterated the importance of staying disciplined and ready, day after day, in the run-up to the match.
“We know what the significance of the Rose Bowl is, but at this point in the season it’s about playing football games and trying to survive and get ahead,” Fisher said. “So you have to take it game by game, training by training, with preparation.”
Ask any of the thousands of proud Indiana fans who travel from across the country, and they will undoubtedly point to Thursday afternoon as the biggest game in program history. It’s Indiana’s chance to prove national relevance against a historic Alabama program on the biggest stage.
Cignetti and Fisher would call these words “rat poison,” which could negatively impact the team’s mentality.
Believing that it is a privilege to play in the game, Fisher acknowledged that perspective while emphasizing the need to stay focused. It’s the lesson Indiana learned after falling to Notre Dame in the first round last season.
“For our program, for our fan base, it could definitely mean something more,” Fisher said. “We don’t want to get involved in that, because then you turn it into something that it isn’t.”
Dressed in all-white Adidas sweatsuits, Indiana players walked into the ballroom with stoic looks on their faces. Forty-seven players spoke to the media, all with the same mentality as their head coach.
Although it’s almost impossible to get them to admit it, Indiana players have a quiet expectation about playing on the biggest stage. Considering where their collegiate careers began, most never thought they would reach the Rose Bowl.
D’Angelo Ponds is one of those players. He started his career at James Madison and never thought he would get the opportunity to play in a New Year’s Six Bowl game, let alone the Rose Bowl.
Still, Ponds measured his enthusiasm. He’s been with Cignetti long enough to focus his attention on what matters most: moving Indiana forward.
“I never thought I would play in the Rose Bowl,” Ponds said. “I’m just blessed to be here, but at the same time we’re here to win a football game.”
Ever since the Crimson Tide’s win over Oklahoma, the stories have been about what a win would mean for Indiana — and how a loss could unravel everything Cignetti has built in two years.
That may have worked last year, but Fisher and the Hoosiers now look like a team ready to rise to the moment and focus on their main goal: winning a national championship.
“We are fighting for our lives to play more football.”
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
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