Postgame Quotes: Indiana State
9/12/2025 10:00:00 PM | Football
Curt Cignetti | Indiana Head Coach
Opening Statement
CC: Okay, so the message today to the coaches and the team: Mental intensity and urgency equals energy. And we wanted to play one play at a time like it was a game on the line, regardless of the competitive circumstances. But urgency and mental intensity, and that it would come from the coaches. If it came from the coaches at all times, the players would feed off of it.
So, I think we got better week two. I think we got better week three. I don't think defense gave up a first down until four minutes to go in the second quarter, and then we pulled them pretty early in the third.
So, I thought Indiana State did come out early and played hard and flew around. We just had more bullets in our gun than they did. We emptied the bench and played a lot of guys.
Wasn't pleased with a lot of the penalties early. We did make a lot of explosive plays in the game.
On Omar Cooper's performance…
CC: What I was pleased most about was his production. And what was his production? Omar Cooper. Ten-for-207, four touchdowns. That's a pretty good days work.
I think they had a hard time out with him on the perimeter obviously, and we got him the ball. There was some space, and he took advantage of it.
On next week's matchup with Illinois…
CC: I'm sure it will be electric. I'll think about it. Tomorrow the coaches are off, players have trainer check-in. And we'll get back to it next week.
On senior defensive lineman Stephen Daley…
CC: Well, he's been improving and getting better every week. [We] Feel good about that. Him and Wyatt were big post-spring additions. They faked the punt because we jumped offsides the play before, on the punt block, which was an undisciplined penalty.
And he made a nice play on it. I can't tell you exactly what happened. I didn't have a great angle. But we got the ball back in plus territory.
On if the team made progress this week…
CC: I think I said that already. We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish tonight, and the defense last week was kind of a point of emphasis for me. And I expected us to have a dominant performance, and we did. We swarmed the ball.
I wasn't real pleased with the penalties on special teams, the penalties on offense with the ones. The quarterback was 19-of-20 for 270 but threw it out there a few times when he shouldn't have. But all in all, we took another big step forward, yeah.
On in-game interaction with redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza…
CC: He made a couple of poor decisions, consecutively. And I had just alluded to throwing the ball on the (run-pass option) when he should have given it, should have handed the ball to the back on that. [He] started to get off rhythm in the pass game a little bit. So, [it] was just trying to reel him back in a little bit. And then he made a really good play the next play.
On team's maturity…
CC: I think we've taken the steps we need to take. We've got a lot of guys that played a lot of football. I heard a stat that we're the most veteran team in the Big Ten in terms of career starts by far.
So, all the teams in the past, kind of like the new quarterbacks, have been able to build on their success and develop more confidence and cohesiveness and unity and develop positive intangibles which are important moving forward. But I want to put it all in perspective. I don't want to go sort of overboard on it.
But I thought we did tonight what we wanted to do, and I was pleased to see that. And I didn't see anybody relaxing at any point in the game, coaches or players.
And so, coaches could use a day off. They'll get one tomorrow. Players will get an extra day, and then we'll pick it up for the next one.
On defensive production…
CC: I'm sure we probably controlled it tonight, but I don't want to make statements without watching the tape. Coach [Bryant] Haines would have a better idea maybe of what was going on over there.
All I know is they didn't have a first down until four minutes to go in the second quarter, and if we wouldn't have pulled our defense, I don't know if they would have had 30 yards total offense. But I think this offense was a lot different than the first two offenses we saw structurally.
And the first two offenses we saw were really capable of putting you in conflict. And we saw it with ODU on the quarterback runs, and we saw it with Kennesaw, with the tempo and a lot of different formations and looks.
So, I sensed we had a good week of practice on defense and that this was a little bit more of a conventional offense, so to speak. I felt confident we'd get a really good performance, and that ought to give us confidence and belief moving forward.
Indiana Student-Athletes
Fernando Mendoza / QB / Jr.
On improvement curve from week one to week three…
FM: It is hard to say. I need to go back and watch the film. There are some opportunities that I did miss today, and we did have one field goal drive, which I didn't love. There are also some inefficient plays that I shouldn't have pulled, and let the running backs have their shine, and should eat. Those are all me, and I need to get better at those. However, I think today was a little bit more of a complete game on offense. Usually, the first two games had a little hiccup after we scored a touchdown or two, but it was really good to see us converting that third-and-11, where I threw a touchdown to Omar Cooper. And I think it was good to get over that hump and to keep the ball rolling, rather than getting started running, stopping a little bit, and having to start over again. So I think our offensive line played great, receivers, running backs, and tight ends. I think everyone played great today and made it really easy for myself.
On senior wide receiver Elijah Sarratt and redshirt junior Omar Cooper…
FM: It's a collection of them. Honestly, I just go through my reasons, through my progressions, and whatever the rules tell me to do is usually who I throw the ball to. However, when we have such prominent threats on the outside, like Elijah (Sarratt), like E.J. (Williams Jr.), like (Omar Cooper), I can go on and on about all the guys, but it draws a lot of attention. So when they're doubling Elijah, it gives (Cooper) the one-on-one, gives E.J. the one-on-one. So that just opens up the offense, and to have three targets like that, who I think are all NFL players, it's fantastic as a quarterback. It's such a privilege to have as a quarterback, especially such a great offensive line and such great receivers.
On feeling of new beginnings as conference play kicks off…
FM: Honestly, I just take each week at a time. There's a lot of stuff that I have to improve on, especially after this week. Although the score might not look like it, or the stat line might not look like it, there's a lot of things that internally I got to clean up. I need to have better footwork, I need to be a little bit smarter and more effective in my red zone decision-making. There is some other stuff that I won't get too deep in, and that I have to get better at. So, [I'm] really looking forward to it. Everyone says Big Ten, and I want to play in the Big Ten, and that's the reason why I came here, to play great opponents like Illinois. So, next week, I'll have to take a big step. Our offense needs to take another big step in order to be successful in the way we want to, because Illinois is a fantastic organization and team.
Omar Cooper Jr. | WR | R-So.
On self-evalution…
OC: First, I just want to give all glory and praise to God. I wouldn't have been able to have that without him. But I also just want to thank our O-line. (The) o-line did a great job today. Quarterback, receivers, and running backs, we all did (well) this whole week. With a short week, we were able to be consistent throughout practice, stay focused and just continue to get ready for our opponent. So, I would just say preparation and being ready helped a lot.
On senior wide receiver Elijah Sarratt's blocking…
OC: He set (the standard) really high. He shows us that we all can block when we want to. So, him doing that for us shows that we need to step up our game when it comes to blocking. So, I thank him because I sometimes struggle with that. So, we continue to learn off him and get better each week.
On preparing for Big Ten play…
OC: I feel like it's really important because it gives us the confidence to know that we are getting better each and every week. So, it's getting us prepared for the next big game, which is Illinois. So, I think that game will be really exciting for us.
Kellan Wyatt | DL | Sr.
On maintaining intensity on the sideline…
KW: It's all about the finish, right? So, I guess I want to say it's ingrained in us. We do this every day during practice. (Coach Cignetti) tells us every day and reminds us every day to finish, finish, finish and don't let off the gas. I think we show the purpose of not letting off the gas if our score is looking like that.
On defensive production, tackles for losses…
KW: It's the way we run our defense. I think it's the players we have, I think it's a mixture of both things.
On senior defensive lineman Stephen Daley…
KW: I knew (his big plays) were going to happen. He works hard throughout the week, plays like that. When you do your job, they come to you, and he ended up making a play, and we are all happy for him.
Tyrique Tucker | DL | R-So.
On his thoughts about how important games like this are to drill that mentality in…
TT: I think it is really important. We even got some young guys in, some of the young dogs played today. So, that's really good as a team bonding thing. You know, it really helps us as a team gel together to get ready for this next part of our schedule.
On his thoughts about the goal of tonight's game…
TT: I think we achieved that (our goal) for tonight, and now we have to get ready for Illinois next week. We really have to keep that momentum going that we've been building week by week, take that step forward that we need to take, and keep doing that every week, and we should be good.
On his thoughts about how excited he is for next week's game after seeing how the stadium got last year for some of the big games…
TT: [I'm] Looking forward to that. [I'm] Looking forward to it being packed, the Rock being packed again, y'all staying all four quarters. We are going to get it right.
Curt Mallory | Indiana State Head Coach
Opening Statement
CM: Well you know, it was a bad game. I thought we played hard, there was some good hitting, we had some opportunities. But, they're a good football team, we had them on third down, we had a ball on the ground, but we just couldn't stop them. They got it going. Give them credit. That's a good football team. But, we're a good football team, and we gotta comeback. We played a bad game, that's for sure. But we'll come back tomorrow, we'll stay together, and that's what this team's all about. I trust my eyes. Our team's a good team.
On if the team shut down after Indiana's fast start…
CM: I don't think we shut down. I think they're a good football team. They're gonna do that to a lot of people. They've done that to a lot of people. But we had some opportunities, they're very physical upfront. You know our defense was out there an awful lot. We weren't able to get first downs and sustain it. And when that happens you start to wear down a little bit, and that's a recipe for disaster. You don't get first downs, and the defense is out there a lot. But we'll bounce back. We'll bounce back.
On what defense can learn from going into next week…
CM: Well we played a lot of guys. We'll see how we came out of it. But, we're gonna watch this film, whether it's a win, loss or a tie. We're gonna learn from it, we're gonna get better and move forward.
Indiana State Student-Athletes
Jorge Valdes | DB | R-So.
On playing a Power Four opponent…
JV: It's great. I mean, we grow up going to these games. Growing up in the Hoosier State, your dream is to play in these stadiums. So, getting the opportunity to come here was great. Tough game, but we were playing a really good opponent.
On how playing a team of Indiana's caliber prepares them for conference play…
JV: It's good. You lift weights, you run sprints with weights, you want things to be harder than they actually are so then once you get to conference [games], you're used to the hard stuff. So, it gets better from there.
On bright spots and winning record…
JV: Going 2-0 was really good for the team, and then [you have] this tough loss. This next one's going to be about how we bounce back, how we rally as a team and how we stay together as a team. We'll build from that.
On playing with Carroll High School teammate, Indiana State redshirt sophomore kicker Sebastian Lopez…
It's great. I was talking to our special teams coach. I wanted to be on that kickoff so I could be on the field with him again like we did in high school. It's pretty fun having him out there with me. We like to talk about Fort Wayne, and how it is down there and how Carroll's doing.
Indiana State Student-Athletes
Rocco Ciocca | TE | R-Jr.
On playing a Power Four opponent..
RC: We didn't get the outcome we wanted, obviously. The score doesn't show what we did out there. But [we will] learn from it. [It was a] Great atmosphere to play in, something that we dreamt of as a kid. We're gonna watch film, get better and move on.
On how playing a team of Indiana's caliber prepares them for conference play…
RC: They're a great team, a ranked team. We play in a great conference, so our competition is great. We're just getting better week after week.
On bright spots and winning record…
RC: Obviously, we struggled getting the ball going, but there [were] a lot of missed opportunities, a lot of one block away plays. I had mistakes myself, so, yeah, it's get the film and move on.
Opening Statement
CC: Okay, so the message today to the coaches and the team: Mental intensity and urgency equals energy. And we wanted to play one play at a time like it was a game on the line, regardless of the competitive circumstances. But urgency and mental intensity, and that it would come from the coaches. If it came from the coaches at all times, the players would feed off of it.
So, I think we got better week two. I think we got better week three. I don't think defense gave up a first down until four minutes to go in the second quarter, and then we pulled them pretty early in the third.
So, I thought Indiana State did come out early and played hard and flew around. We just had more bullets in our gun than they did. We emptied the bench and played a lot of guys.
Wasn't pleased with a lot of the penalties early. We did make a lot of explosive plays in the game.
On Omar Cooper's performance…
CC: What I was pleased most about was his production. And what was his production? Omar Cooper. Ten-for-207, four touchdowns. That's a pretty good days work.
I think they had a hard time out with him on the perimeter obviously, and we got him the ball. There was some space, and he took advantage of it.
On next week's matchup with Illinois…
CC: I'm sure it will be electric. I'll think about it. Tomorrow the coaches are off, players have trainer check-in. And we'll get back to it next week.
On senior defensive lineman Stephen Daley…
CC: Well, he's been improving and getting better every week. [We] Feel good about that. Him and Wyatt were big post-spring additions. They faked the punt because we jumped offsides the play before, on the punt block, which was an undisciplined penalty.
And he made a nice play on it. I can't tell you exactly what happened. I didn't have a great angle. But we got the ball back in plus territory.
On if the team made progress this week…
CC: I think I said that already. We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish tonight, and the defense last week was kind of a point of emphasis for me. And I expected us to have a dominant performance, and we did. We swarmed the ball.
I wasn't real pleased with the penalties on special teams, the penalties on offense with the ones. The quarterback was 19-of-20 for 270 but threw it out there a few times when he shouldn't have. But all in all, we took another big step forward, yeah.
On in-game interaction with redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza…
CC: He made a couple of poor decisions, consecutively. And I had just alluded to throwing the ball on the (run-pass option) when he should have given it, should have handed the ball to the back on that. [He] started to get off rhythm in the pass game a little bit. So, [it] was just trying to reel him back in a little bit. And then he made a really good play the next play.
On team's maturity…
CC: I think we've taken the steps we need to take. We've got a lot of guys that played a lot of football. I heard a stat that we're the most veteran team in the Big Ten in terms of career starts by far.
So, all the teams in the past, kind of like the new quarterbacks, have been able to build on their success and develop more confidence and cohesiveness and unity and develop positive intangibles which are important moving forward. But I want to put it all in perspective. I don't want to go sort of overboard on it.
But I thought we did tonight what we wanted to do, and I was pleased to see that. And I didn't see anybody relaxing at any point in the game, coaches or players.
And so, coaches could use a day off. They'll get one tomorrow. Players will get an extra day, and then we'll pick it up for the next one.
On defensive production…
CC: I'm sure we probably controlled it tonight, but I don't want to make statements without watching the tape. Coach [Bryant] Haines would have a better idea maybe of what was going on over there.
All I know is they didn't have a first down until four minutes to go in the second quarter, and if we wouldn't have pulled our defense, I don't know if they would have had 30 yards total offense. But I think this offense was a lot different than the first two offenses we saw structurally.
And the first two offenses we saw were really capable of putting you in conflict. And we saw it with ODU on the quarterback runs, and we saw it with Kennesaw, with the tempo and a lot of different formations and looks.
So, I sensed we had a good week of practice on defense and that this was a little bit more of a conventional offense, so to speak. I felt confident we'd get a really good performance, and that ought to give us confidence and belief moving forward.
Indiana Student-Athletes
Fernando Mendoza / QB / Jr.
On improvement curve from week one to week three…
FM: It is hard to say. I need to go back and watch the film. There are some opportunities that I did miss today, and we did have one field goal drive, which I didn't love. There are also some inefficient plays that I shouldn't have pulled, and let the running backs have their shine, and should eat. Those are all me, and I need to get better at those. However, I think today was a little bit more of a complete game on offense. Usually, the first two games had a little hiccup after we scored a touchdown or two, but it was really good to see us converting that third-and-11, where I threw a touchdown to Omar Cooper. And I think it was good to get over that hump and to keep the ball rolling, rather than getting started running, stopping a little bit, and having to start over again. So I think our offensive line played great, receivers, running backs, and tight ends. I think everyone played great today and made it really easy for myself.
On senior wide receiver Elijah Sarratt and redshirt junior Omar Cooper…
FM: It's a collection of them. Honestly, I just go through my reasons, through my progressions, and whatever the rules tell me to do is usually who I throw the ball to. However, when we have such prominent threats on the outside, like Elijah (Sarratt), like E.J. (Williams Jr.), like (Omar Cooper), I can go on and on about all the guys, but it draws a lot of attention. So when they're doubling Elijah, it gives (Cooper) the one-on-one, gives E.J. the one-on-one. So that just opens up the offense, and to have three targets like that, who I think are all NFL players, it's fantastic as a quarterback. It's such a privilege to have as a quarterback, especially such a great offensive line and such great receivers.
On feeling of new beginnings as conference play kicks off…
FM: Honestly, I just take each week at a time. There's a lot of stuff that I have to improve on, especially after this week. Although the score might not look like it, or the stat line might not look like it, there's a lot of things that internally I got to clean up. I need to have better footwork, I need to be a little bit smarter and more effective in my red zone decision-making. There is some other stuff that I won't get too deep in, and that I have to get better at. So, [I'm] really looking forward to it. Everyone says Big Ten, and I want to play in the Big Ten, and that's the reason why I came here, to play great opponents like Illinois. So, next week, I'll have to take a big step. Our offense needs to take another big step in order to be successful in the way we want to, because Illinois is a fantastic organization and team.
Omar Cooper Jr. | WR | R-So.
On self-evalution…
OC: First, I just want to give all glory and praise to God. I wouldn't have been able to have that without him. But I also just want to thank our O-line. (The) o-line did a great job today. Quarterback, receivers, and running backs, we all did (well) this whole week. With a short week, we were able to be consistent throughout practice, stay focused and just continue to get ready for our opponent. So, I would just say preparation and being ready helped a lot.
On senior wide receiver Elijah Sarratt's blocking…
OC: He set (the standard) really high. He shows us that we all can block when we want to. So, him doing that for us shows that we need to step up our game when it comes to blocking. So, I thank him because I sometimes struggle with that. So, we continue to learn off him and get better each week.
On preparing for Big Ten play…
OC: I feel like it's really important because it gives us the confidence to know that we are getting better each and every week. So, it's getting us prepared for the next big game, which is Illinois. So, I think that game will be really exciting for us.
Kellan Wyatt | DL | Sr.
On maintaining intensity on the sideline…
KW: It's all about the finish, right? So, I guess I want to say it's ingrained in us. We do this every day during practice. (Coach Cignetti) tells us every day and reminds us every day to finish, finish, finish and don't let off the gas. I think we show the purpose of not letting off the gas if our score is looking like that.
On defensive production, tackles for losses…
KW: It's the way we run our defense. I think it's the players we have, I think it's a mixture of both things.
On senior defensive lineman Stephen Daley…
KW: I knew (his big plays) were going to happen. He works hard throughout the week, plays like that. When you do your job, they come to you, and he ended up making a play, and we are all happy for him.
Tyrique Tucker | DL | R-So.
On his thoughts about how important games like this are to drill that mentality in…
TT: I think it is really important. We even got some young guys in, some of the young dogs played today. So, that's really good as a team bonding thing. You know, it really helps us as a team gel together to get ready for this next part of our schedule.
On his thoughts about the goal of tonight's game…
TT: I think we achieved that (our goal) for tonight, and now we have to get ready for Illinois next week. We really have to keep that momentum going that we've been building week by week, take that step forward that we need to take, and keep doing that every week, and we should be good.
On his thoughts about how excited he is for next week's game after seeing how the stadium got last year for some of the big games…
TT: [I'm] Looking forward to that. [I'm] Looking forward to it being packed, the Rock being packed again, y'all staying all four quarters. We are going to get it right.
Curt Mallory | Indiana State Head Coach
Opening Statement
CM: Well you know, it was a bad game. I thought we played hard, there was some good hitting, we had some opportunities. But, they're a good football team, we had them on third down, we had a ball on the ground, but we just couldn't stop them. They got it going. Give them credit. That's a good football team. But, we're a good football team, and we gotta comeback. We played a bad game, that's for sure. But we'll come back tomorrow, we'll stay together, and that's what this team's all about. I trust my eyes. Our team's a good team.
On if the team shut down after Indiana's fast start…
CM: I don't think we shut down. I think they're a good football team. They're gonna do that to a lot of people. They've done that to a lot of people. But we had some opportunities, they're very physical upfront. You know our defense was out there an awful lot. We weren't able to get first downs and sustain it. And when that happens you start to wear down a little bit, and that's a recipe for disaster. You don't get first downs, and the defense is out there a lot. But we'll bounce back. We'll bounce back.
On what defense can learn from going into next week…
CM: Well we played a lot of guys. We'll see how we came out of it. But, we're gonna watch this film, whether it's a win, loss or a tie. We're gonna learn from it, we're gonna get better and move forward.
Indiana State Student-Athletes
Jorge Valdes | DB | R-So.
On playing a Power Four opponent…
JV: It's great. I mean, we grow up going to these games. Growing up in the Hoosier State, your dream is to play in these stadiums. So, getting the opportunity to come here was great. Tough game, but we were playing a really good opponent.
On how playing a team of Indiana's caliber prepares them for conference play…
JV: It's good. You lift weights, you run sprints with weights, you want things to be harder than they actually are so then once you get to conference [games], you're used to the hard stuff. So, it gets better from there.
On bright spots and winning record…
JV: Going 2-0 was really good for the team, and then [you have] this tough loss. This next one's going to be about how we bounce back, how we rally as a team and how we stay together as a team. We'll build from that.
On playing with Carroll High School teammate, Indiana State redshirt sophomore kicker Sebastian Lopez…
It's great. I was talking to our special teams coach. I wanted to be on that kickoff so I could be on the field with him again like we did in high school. It's pretty fun having him out there with me. We like to talk about Fort Wayne, and how it is down there and how Carroll's doing.
Indiana State Student-Athletes
Rocco Ciocca | TE | R-Jr.
On playing a Power Four opponent..
RC: We didn't get the outcome we wanted, obviously. The score doesn't show what we did out there. But [we will] learn from it. [It was a] Great atmosphere to play in, something that we dreamt of as a kid. We're gonna watch film, get better and move on.
On how playing a team of Indiana's caliber prepares them for conference play…
RC: They're a great team, a ranked team. We play in a great conference, so our competition is great. We're just getting better week after week.
On bright spots and winning record…
RC: Obviously, we struggled getting the ball going, but there [were] a lot of missed opportunities, a lot of one block away plays. I had mistakes myself, so, yeah, it's get the film and move on.
Players Mentioned
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