Indiana University Athletics
11/9/2026 1:00:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– Following the bye week, Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti addressed the media inside the Don Croftcheck Football Team room on Monday (November 9) ahead of the 3:30 p.m. kickoff against USC on Saturday (November 14) on Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium.
Below is a full transcript of the press conference, while video of the media session can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Curt Cignetti | Head Coach
Opening Statement
CC: How we doing? Feels like it's been a while.
Great to have a week off, players and coaches. I think everybody will be refreshed, ready to go. Big challenge this week, USC. Really good football team. 7-2 coming off an impressive win at home against Ohio State. A lot of good players. Coach Riley obviously has done a tremendous job throughout his entire career. They're very talented. Couple freshmen Mosley and Bowman, tight end and receiver, really making an impact on offense; quarterback is sensational. Offensive design is always good.
They're playing good defense right now, rolling a lot of guys up front, a lot disruptive players, good team speed, good special teams. It will be a big challenge.
We'll have to play well and obviously can't do a lot of the things we did against Minnesota, which looked like we had played 19 games in a row instead of nine. You know, just a very uncharacteristic game for us in so many different ways, but really good defensive performance.
So, questions.
On who will start at quarterback…
CC: We'll see how the week plays out and we'll see who we trot out there.
On A.J. Harris' health status…
CC: He's day-to-day.
On Paddy McAteer and his distance…
CC: Well, we've always had a long field goal guy. Last year that came in handy obviously against Oregon where we hit two 58-yarders in a row.
Paddy has been knocking them home in practice. We usually give him a 57 or something. He's had plenty of distance to spare. I had no doubt in my mind he had plenty of leg. It was just a matter of swinging easy, don't try to overhit it, and it was a clutch kick.
On USC's defense improve…
CC: I think you see game to game improvement, and certainly the last three to four weeks. It shows up in their production numbers and third down efficiency. It always begins up front with disruption up front, but really impressive what they do.
On Charlie Becker's punt returning…
CC: Yeah, lots of fair catches and possessions of the ball. Would like to get more out of that unit. Myles Price obviously was a really good returner doing it in the league. The guy we had last year.
(Jonathan) Brady, was really good. Charlie, foreign to the position, has done a good job. I can see the progress every week, and the big thing there is catch the ball first, because nothing can turn a game around like put one on the ground.
So, our special teams in general have really been a winning edge for us over the past two years, especially last season. We were sloppy to say the least against Minnesota. We've had some down moments throughout the course of the year.
We got field goal kicker that never missed and we've had a few misses there. Some of that is, you know, there is a lot of people involved in that, the snap, the hold, et cetera. At the end of the day it's on the kicker.
So we have got to get better there if we want to be the best we can be.
On what he took away from watching film during the bye week…
CC: Yeah, we're onto the opponent. We're in the office maybe an hour later and not staying until 10:00 at night. Maybe going home at 7:00, 7:30 at night. Couple hours to catch up on some sleep and getting to know the opponent.
Then also taking a look at what else is going on in football and seeing maybe what you can apply to help yourself.
So I would say this in general: A lot of our problems are -- while we were always looking to improve schematically and you're always going to see something different every week, the average fan may not notice it.
A lot of our problems have been general execution. We were averaging 42 points after the first four, five games, and then the next four I think it was, we were averaging 18 points. For the most part it's been missed opportunities. Last week was combination of six offensive penalties on the offensive line.
So it's stuff we got to clean up. Before you win it you can't lose it, and got to make sure we do that.
On Jayden Maiaiva and what stands out about him…
CC: Quick release. Very accurate. You can tell he's really smart, heady. He can have his eyes over here and get them over there and get rid of the ball real quick and accurate.
Probably see him playing for a few years at least after his college days are done. Just very impressive at that position. Has a natural feel.
On the College Football Playoff officially expanding to 24 teams…
CC: I'm really focused on this game. You know, I didn't see that announcement but anticipated the expansion.
There will be a lot more changes before we kick it off next year. I'm sure the next few years.
On Jaylen Bell…
CC: Yeah, he did a nice job at field corner and I got a lot of confidence. He's a good young player and he's played well.
On keeping guys on defense fresh with more rotation…
CC: Helps a lot getting guys playing hard every play, play fast, physical, relentless. We are deep on the defensive line and that's where it all begins, wrecking havoc up front. If you want to have a really good football team and got a really good D-line you got a shot.
That's where it all starts, on defense up front.
On if the bye week was used to negotiate with retaining current players for next season…
CC: No. We keep the main thing the main thing. When the regular season is over, or if there is a Big Ten Championship game involved, we'll do it after that.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Below is a full transcript of the press conference, while video of the media session can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Curt Cignetti | Head Coach
Opening Statement
CC: How we doing? Feels like it's been a while.
Great to have a week off, players and coaches. I think everybody will be refreshed, ready to go. Big challenge this week, USC. Really good football team. 7-2 coming off an impressive win at home against Ohio State. A lot of good players. Coach Riley obviously has done a tremendous job throughout his entire career. They're very talented. Couple freshmen Mosley and Bowman, tight end and receiver, really making an impact on offense; quarterback is sensational. Offensive design is always good.
They're playing good defense right now, rolling a lot of guys up front, a lot disruptive players, good team speed, good special teams. It will be a big challenge.
We'll have to play well and obviously can't do a lot of the things we did against Minnesota, which looked like we had played 19 games in a row instead of nine. You know, just a very uncharacteristic game for us in so many different ways, but really good defensive performance.
So, questions.
On who will start at quarterback…
CC: We'll see how the week plays out and we'll see who we trot out there.
On A.J. Harris' health status…
CC: He's day-to-day.
On Paddy McAteer and his distance…
CC: Well, we've always had a long field goal guy. Last year that came in handy obviously against Oregon where we hit two 58-yarders in a row.
Paddy has been knocking them home in practice. We usually give him a 57 or something. He's had plenty of distance to spare. I had no doubt in my mind he had plenty of leg. It was just a matter of swinging easy, don't try to overhit it, and it was a clutch kick.
On USC's defense improve…
CC: I think you see game to game improvement, and certainly the last three to four weeks. It shows up in their production numbers and third down efficiency. It always begins up front with disruption up front, but really impressive what they do.
On Charlie Becker's punt returning…
CC: Yeah, lots of fair catches and possessions of the ball. Would like to get more out of that unit. Myles Price obviously was a really good returner doing it in the league. The guy we had last year.
(Jonathan) Brady, was really good. Charlie, foreign to the position, has done a good job. I can see the progress every week, and the big thing there is catch the ball first, because nothing can turn a game around like put one on the ground.
So, our special teams in general have really been a winning edge for us over the past two years, especially last season. We were sloppy to say the least against Minnesota. We've had some down moments throughout the course of the year.
We got field goal kicker that never missed and we've had a few misses there. Some of that is, you know, there is a lot of people involved in that, the snap, the hold, et cetera. At the end of the day it's on the kicker.
So we have got to get better there if we want to be the best we can be.
On what he took away from watching film during the bye week…
CC: Yeah, we're onto the opponent. We're in the office maybe an hour later and not staying until 10:00 at night. Maybe going home at 7:00, 7:30 at night. Couple hours to catch up on some sleep and getting to know the opponent.
Then also taking a look at what else is going on in football and seeing maybe what you can apply to help yourself.
So I would say this in general: A lot of our problems are -- while we were always looking to improve schematically and you're always going to see something different every week, the average fan may not notice it.
A lot of our problems have been general execution. We were averaging 42 points after the first four, five games, and then the next four I think it was, we were averaging 18 points. For the most part it's been missed opportunities. Last week was combination of six offensive penalties on the offensive line.
So it's stuff we got to clean up. Before you win it you can't lose it, and got to make sure we do that.
On Jayden Maiaiva and what stands out about him…
CC: Quick release. Very accurate. You can tell he's really smart, heady. He can have his eyes over here and get them over there and get rid of the ball real quick and accurate.
Probably see him playing for a few years at least after his college days are done. Just very impressive at that position. Has a natural feel.
On the College Football Playoff officially expanding to 24 teams…
CC: I'm really focused on this game. You know, I didn't see that announcement but anticipated the expansion.
There will be a lot more changes before we kick it off next year. I'm sure the next few years.
On Jaylen Bell…
CC: Yeah, he did a nice job at field corner and I got a lot of confidence. He's a good young player and he's played well.
On keeping guys on defense fresh with more rotation…
CC: Helps a lot getting guys playing hard every play, play fast, physical, relentless. We are deep on the defensive line and that's where it all begins, wrecking havoc up front. If you want to have a really good football team and got a really good D-line you got a shot.
That's where it all starts, on defense up front.
On if the bye week was used to negotiate with retaining current players for next season…
CC: No. We keep the main thing the main thing. When the regular season is over, or if there is a Big Ten Championship game involved, we'll do it after that.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
#NeverDaunted
Players Mentioned
Tuesday, November 10
Tuesday, November 10
Monday, November 09
Tuesday, November 03