Indiana coach Curt Cignetti spoke to the media during his weekly press conference on Monday afternoon in Bloomington.
Cignetti briefly spoke about Saturday’s victory against Illinois and looked ahead to Saturday’s matchup against Iowa in Kinnick Stadium.
View the full press conference below:
A complete transcript is available below, via ASAP Sports:
Curt Cignetti: Regardless of the final score, there are always things that appear on tape that must be corrected. Believe me, there is enough there.
So really more interested in our next opponent, which will be a real challenge at Iowa. I have a lot of respect for coach Ferentz, everything he has achieved during his career as a head coach and also as an assistant.
He was a great line coach before he became head coach. And he graduated from Pitt in 1980. I graduated from Pitt in ’83 and ’84. Every now and then he came to the offices. Had the chance to meet him a few times. I got to know him during the Big ten meetings. A few weeks ago, congratulate him with the big win to make him the winning coach in the Big.
And Iowa, it’s a difficult place to play, Kinnick Stadium. They are sold out almost every Saturday. It’s loud. So we will have to play well. This will be a challenge, a more difficult challenge than the latter, for sure. And the sooner our boys realize that, the better.
V. You talk about your history with coach Ferentz, but I am curious if you have history with Kinnick. It is clearly a place that is very difficult to go, one of the more difficult environments in the conference and, I think, especially for kind of teams that, while talking about it, are quickly focusing after a big win.
Curt Cignetti: Yes, I don’t do that.
V. Bryant Haines seems to really confuse his staff with the front seven. Do you have the feeling that you are versatile this year? And seemed to make a difference in terms of Illinois on Saturday did not know what you were doing, things could not diagnose – –
Curt Cignetti: Bryant always combines things pretty well, thinks ways to come to the Quarterback, to make TFLs. I don’t think something has changed in that respect. That was probably more about the one-on-one match-ups.
But look, we have a number of serious errors at the back, especially with safety. We have about five in that game. And we were only exposed once because of them. If we don’t clean it up, we will be broken. And you can’t put that stuff on tape.
V. Two questions, one with, I think his name is Wetjen, the returner, I think he has an average of 35 a kick -off, 33 for point return, how big is he?
Curt Cignetti: A great returner, great returner. And they have always done a good job at the Kickoff -Terugkeer. And he took the first swing against Rutgers, he was about five meters deep and was really untouched. He is an excellent point -backer.
He was returned in the 1930s. So we have to do a great job there, be prepared and put a lot of effort and tackle in space, beat blocks.
V. What do you get from Amare? And what do you need to get from him, Ferrell, Amare Ferrell?
Curt Cignetti: Yes, all three boys, we just need them to do what they should do consistently – prepare a little better, see what is going on, make the right adjustments, communicate faster and be where they should be.
You cannot play Tampa 2 cover with a safety that should be on the right and he is left and nobody is number 2 in the field. That is not necessarily for him, okay? So all three boys are older boys. They are all able to play great football, and they have splashes, but we need more consistency.
V. By the end of last year you clearly had some problems on the road and dealt with the loud environments with the silent counts. How much time do you spend in the low season to solve those problems, and what did that process look like?
Curt Cignetti: Last year we went to something else in the play -off of the University Football. We have not used silent. We had no problem to hear. In the low season you spend time on it, and it will clearly be a big point of emphasis this week in practice. I’m not going to tell you what we are going to do.
V. Isaiah Jones has a really strong year. Where did you see him evolve a bit from last year to the present and what did it play at that higher level more often this year?
Curt Cignetti: I think what you see there is only a year of maturity. He was in the team before I was hired. Had a back problem, so a lot of season missed. I play quite a bit last year. And he is simply, the natural progress of repetitions collecting, bigger, stronger, faster, parent, wiser, things like that.
V. Iowa brought a man from the portal, a quarterback from South Dakota, Gronowski. He struggled early, but it seems that he is a pretty good athlete, can play with his legs and arms. What did you see from him, especially he played better against Rutgers?
Curt Cignetti: Yes, many football matches won, who has guy. He is a great competitor. He is a big guy. He has good mobility. They will run him, design runs. And then there is somewhere where he could give it or run. And they have a good play-action, out-of-pocket game. And he can make the throws in the bag. He has a strong arm. They built the attack around the Quarterback. There is a new design there.
One thing I am going to say about Iowa, and you all know that it has been in the big one for a while, I mean, in principle they have had the same defense for a long time. Now there are tweaks. And they have always played great defense and they have great special teams.
They have always been able to run the ball very well. And this quarterback has been a man who finds a way to get it done. But the thing about Iowa in general, they won’t beat themselves. You will have to beat them. They are not going to beat themselves and they play very well at home.
V. You spoke about the secondary. I’m curious, you called him daily a few weeks ago, where is Byron Baldwin in his return schedule for you?
Curt Cignetti: I will know more today.
V. on the subject of the fact that you are just starting the right start, you started a considerable start last week. How do you go to that good start to silence that crowd?
Curt Cignetti: Well, that always helps, but you have to play the first game for the last game. I was proud of the way we approached every game last week, the mental intensity and the urgency we had, regardless of the score.
Traditionally we went in good start. You are never really 100 percent. So it’s a reflection of preparation, I think. And hopefully you will go well with a good start and then play well and end well. That is always the goal.
V. the recipients and game makers, especially against Illinois, got the ball from Fernando and moved it in large chunks after the catch. How useful is it not only to get the 10, 15, 20 extra meters after the catch?
Curt Cignetti: It’s huge. And many of them were on RPOs where he doesn’t hold the ball for very long. And you only throw it if you get the right look. And those guys broke tackles. They had one or two injury. They had ejected one man and had an injury. Our boys did well there.
Now I would also like to see them block every game, because we played the second half. And our HS, I don’t think they have blocked someone the entire second half.
V. On Saturday you had written on your left. There was “attack” in green and then three names in red What is the meaning of it?
Curt Cignetti: It’s a secret.
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