His frustration reached a boiling point. In the light of a two-score advantage, Cignetti ran the western sidelines with a strict look.
For him, a sloppy version full of miscues and errors. Despite the no. 20 Indiana’s 27-14 victory against Old Dominion to open the regular season on Saturday, Cignetti was far from excited.
After exchanging a handshake with the coach of Old Dominion, Ricky Rahne, Cignetti switched to the dressing room with a look of disgust. Although quieter, the second -year head coach was sober in his press conference after the game.
“I guarantee you, everyone in this organization realizes that we didn’t play as well as we wanted,” said Cignetti. “That’s just a downright fact.”
Anticipation for the season opener in Bloomington was at the highest in years. More than 47,000 fans packed Memorial Stadium, hopeful when Indiana played his first game since he reached the play -off of the University Football.
However, it did not go as planned.
From the first game, Indiana was underwhelming. Old Dominion Quarterback Joseph Colton took the opening of 75 Yards on an option game and forced the Hoosiers to play from behind 11 seconds.
Only in a week 10 visit to Michigan State last season, Indiana was at the back of a game.
The frustration continued to exist for Indiana, because the subsequent offensive property ended with a turnover on Downs in the one-year line of the monarchs.
Goal line crime on the first ride quickly became a trend. Indiana entered a goal situation six times on Saturday and found the end zone only twice in the must-score situations. There were 42 points available, but only 20 scored, and benefited from two field goals and two turnover on Downs.
Although it was too early for him to fully judge, Cignetti was not impressed by the game plan for the scenarios.
“I was really worried about the kick -off,” said Cignetti. “There was not much Go -line on tape because people scored explosive touchdowns. We certainly had those opportunities to do that and not – ended up on the goal line.”
The expectations of Saturday afternoon’s game were much higher than last year’s opener against Florida International. However, the two games had a striking similarity.
A faint Indiana team did not look inspiring in the first half last year and aroused the expectations. Although Indiana ran away with a 24-point victory against FIU, Cignetti did not sing the praise for his team at the time.
The only difference between the two games was the second half of both parties. This year Indiana could not get the entire game out of his own way.
Defensive Rug Amare Ferrell noticed on similarities between openers, and emphasized that just winning was not the ultimate goal for Indiana this season.
“There were definitely some similarities,” Ferrell said. “It was a victory, but it wasn’t the way we wanted it.”
Even as it seemed that the Hoisiers had taken over full control over the game in the second half, a bad performance kept the old Dominion within reach.
After another attacking ride was eliminated at the goal line, the defense gave up a 78-Yard Touchdown run by Joseph.
Touchdown runs from a combined 153 Yards overshadowed the exceptional game of the Indiana defense. Old Dominion did not run any piece in the field of Indiana on Saturday afternoon. The only time that the princes were in midfield pushed a false start punishment back to their own territory.
Indiana earned a few first downs on its last possession, pulled the clock and sealed his first victory.
Cignetti was satisfied with the outcome, but dissatisfied with how it happened, hoping that his team would learn from mistakes.
“I am not happy with the way we played,” said Cignetti. “There will be much to learn in this tape and we must get better.”
As last season showed, a shaky week 1 does not exclude a special season. Still, when dominant victories become the standard, an overwhelming opener can raise questions.
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