Indiana University Athletics
Media Monday: Western Kentucky
9/14/2026 1:00:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– Following the 55-0 win over Howard in Week 2, Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti addressed the media inside the Don Croftcheck Football Team Room on Monday (September 14) ahead of the 4 p.m. kickoff on Saturday (September 19) against Western Kentucky 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: All right. Thought it was a good day Saturday. Walked out feeling a lot better about things. Thought defense took a major step forward, flew around, swarmed the ball, dominated the line of scrimmage. Got the shutout, scored the touchdown. Didn't let the opponent cross the 50. Eight three-and-outs and a four-and-out. Just flew around and played a lot better.
Offense scored a lot of points. Emptied the bench. Four different receivers catch touchdown passes, two backs over a hundred. Scored seven out of our eight possessions, touchdowns, till the end when we were trying to sort of shorten the game a little bit.
But we still have nine or 10 plays ODK as a team that are negatives, negative plays, that we need to eliminate before we start Big Ten play and beginning with this week against Western Kentucky.
On the way he approaches using younger players now that redshirts are not in play anymore…
CC: I mean, they can play and not lose eligibility. We dress X amount of guys, guys that know what's going on on offense and defense, at least the base offense and defense. Hopefully get to the point where you can empty the bench.
We played three quarterbacks and all the running backs. Exhausted most of the guys that dressed.
On which position groups made the most strides from Week 1 to Week 2…
CC: I thought the defense in general did. They got us on a naked bootleg and an RPO earlier in the game. But then once the game became a box game, we stuffed the run, harassed the quarterback. Had 12 TFLs and five sacks. Deflected a pass, ran back for a touchdown. I think the defense in general, the D-line, the linebackers, and the DBs all took a major step forward.
On the ability to clean up penalties and how the team cut them down from five to two this weekend…
CC: I mean, it's a point of emphasis and the players buy in. I'm not happy with the two penalties. We had a false start inside the 10, then we had a hold that negated a touchdown run. Lead BBs had two touchdown runs called back because of a hold. You'd like to get out with zero. That's hard to do. But that was minimal.
The turnover thing, wasn't pleased with the two muffed punts. We lost one. That was I believe the only time that Howard got the ball across the 50 yard line. Did a nice job on defense there.
It's a point of emphasis. We've been successful in doing it in the games throughout the entire season.
On what he has seen from Western Kentucky on film…
CC: Got off to a rough start against Nevada, then had to go down to Georgia. Quarterback returns. The wide receivers early in the game against Georgia did a nice job of separating.
But they've struggled obviously in their first two games. The goal is to continue to make 'em struggle defensively. Have given up some points. 280 yards rushing a game.
It's always about preparation for the opponent. It's still this week more about us and tightening some things up, and in some ways we're learning still about what we can do best before we go to Big Ten play.
On the two muffed punts last week and if he addressed that internally…
CC: Well, I had a brief conversation with them (Tyler Morris and Grant Cain). You can see on tape during the game what happened. We kind of misjudged the ball. One hit his shoulder, the other one was up high, too. Fair caught both of them. Got to catch the ball.
On what he is looking for out of the young tight end room…
CC: Number one, tight ends got to be able to block. He's a big part of the run game. I think Barker has made some progress there. Gibbs is getting close to ready to play. Was doing well in camp. It's a position that's got to continue to develop.
On where the offensive line has improved and how far he thinks that group can go in Big Ten play…
CC: I mean, I thought we played fairly well against North Texas. I though the rushing stats weren't great. They were kind of loaded up on us. We had a long run called back. The pass protection was good against them.
There were a couple times Josh dropped back to throw and had a little bit of pressure Saturday. We want to clean that up, always have a clean pocket.
The line's in good hands with Coach (Bob) Bostad.
On Josh Hoover and his assessment through two weeks…
CC: Somebody told me they saw a statistic where the last five home games or something, more touchdown passes than incompletions or something like that. We're five since last season, including last season.
We did a nice job of separating outside. Obviously a lot of guys got to score. Charlie had three. But I think he'd be the first to tell you wasn't his best game. There were three or four reads that ought to be pretty basic that we didn't make that we can make. He made some really good plays, too.
On the injury status of Jamari Sharpe, A.J. Harris and Blake Smythe…
CC: They're day to day, but we're optimistic on Jamari. See how he's doing. Blake Smythe, as well.
On Jacob Savage, his ability and if he can make a jump…
CC: Yeah, we like him. He's instinctive. It means a lot to him. He's a play-maker over there. We'll just see how it all unfolds.
On the defensive backs and what he has seen from Jaylen Bell and Ryland Gandy…
CC: I thought they both took steps forward the last two weeks. I thought Jaylen Bell has been pretty consistent. Thought he played well against North Texas.
Ryland had a couple mistakes, but he's certainly improved and played a lot of football. I have a lot of confidence in both of them.
Sometimes the best ability is availability. So we do expect Sharpe back. We're ready to roll.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
#NeverDaunted
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: All right. Thought it was a good day Saturday. Walked out feeling a lot better about things. Thought defense took a major step forward, flew around, swarmed the ball, dominated the line of scrimmage. Got the shutout, scored the touchdown. Didn't let the opponent cross the 50. Eight three-and-outs and a four-and-out. Just flew around and played a lot better.
Offense scored a lot of points. Emptied the bench. Four different receivers catch touchdown passes, two backs over a hundred. Scored seven out of our eight possessions, touchdowns, till the end when we were trying to sort of shorten the game a little bit.
But we still have nine or 10 plays ODK as a team that are negatives, negative plays, that we need to eliminate before we start Big Ten play and beginning with this week against Western Kentucky.
On the way he approaches using younger players now that redshirts are not in play anymore…
CC: I mean, they can play and not lose eligibility. We dress X amount of guys, guys that know what's going on on offense and defense, at least the base offense and defense. Hopefully get to the point where you can empty the bench.
We played three quarterbacks and all the running backs. Exhausted most of the guys that dressed.
On which position groups made the most strides from Week 1 to Week 2…
CC: I thought the defense in general did. They got us on a naked bootleg and an RPO earlier in the game. But then once the game became a box game, we stuffed the run, harassed the quarterback. Had 12 TFLs and five sacks. Deflected a pass, ran back for a touchdown. I think the defense in general, the D-line, the linebackers, and the DBs all took a major step forward.
On the ability to clean up penalties and how the team cut them down from five to two this weekend…
CC: I mean, it's a point of emphasis and the players buy in. I'm not happy with the two penalties. We had a false start inside the 10, then we had a hold that negated a touchdown run. Lead BBs had two touchdown runs called back because of a hold. You'd like to get out with zero. That's hard to do. But that was minimal.
The turnover thing, wasn't pleased with the two muffed punts. We lost one. That was I believe the only time that Howard got the ball across the 50 yard line. Did a nice job on defense there.
It's a point of emphasis. We've been successful in doing it in the games throughout the entire season.
On what he has seen from Western Kentucky on film…
CC: Got off to a rough start against Nevada, then had to go down to Georgia. Quarterback returns. The wide receivers early in the game against Georgia did a nice job of separating.
But they've struggled obviously in their first two games. The goal is to continue to make 'em struggle defensively. Have given up some points. 280 yards rushing a game.
It's always about preparation for the opponent. It's still this week more about us and tightening some things up, and in some ways we're learning still about what we can do best before we go to Big Ten play.
On the two muffed punts last week and if he addressed that internally…
CC: Well, I had a brief conversation with them (Tyler Morris and Grant Cain). You can see on tape during the game what happened. We kind of misjudged the ball. One hit his shoulder, the other one was up high, too. Fair caught both of them. Got to catch the ball.
On what he is looking for out of the young tight end room…
CC: Number one, tight ends got to be able to block. He's a big part of the run game. I think Barker has made some progress there. Gibbs is getting close to ready to play. Was doing well in camp. It's a position that's got to continue to develop.
On where the offensive line has improved and how far he thinks that group can go in Big Ten play…
CC: I mean, I thought we played fairly well against North Texas. I though the rushing stats weren't great. They were kind of loaded up on us. We had a long run called back. The pass protection was good against them.
There were a couple times Josh dropped back to throw and had a little bit of pressure Saturday. We want to clean that up, always have a clean pocket.
The line's in good hands with Coach (Bob) Bostad.
On Josh Hoover and his assessment through two weeks…
CC: Somebody told me they saw a statistic where the last five home games or something, more touchdown passes than incompletions or something like that. We're five since last season, including last season.
We did a nice job of separating outside. Obviously a lot of guys got to score. Charlie had three. But I think he'd be the first to tell you wasn't his best game. There were three or four reads that ought to be pretty basic that we didn't make that we can make. He made some really good plays, too.
On the injury status of Jamari Sharpe, A.J. Harris and Blake Smythe…
CC: They're day to day, but we're optimistic on Jamari. See how he's doing. Blake Smythe, as well.
On Jacob Savage, his ability and if he can make a jump…
CC: Yeah, we like him. He's instinctive. It means a lot to him. He's a play-maker over there. We'll just see how it all unfolds.
On the defensive backs and what he has seen from Jaylen Bell and Ryland Gandy…
CC: I thought they both took steps forward the last two weeks. I thought Jaylen Bell has been pretty consistent. Thought he played well against North Texas.
Ryland had a couple mistakes, but he's certainly improved and played a lot of football. I have a lot of confidence in both of them.
Sometimes the best ability is availability. So we do expect Sharpe back. We're ready to roll.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
#NeverDaunted
Players Mentioned
DB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DL
/ FootballMonday, September 14
Saturday, September 12
Saturday, September 12
Saturday, September 12