With Josh Hoover nursing a wrist injury and the passing game struggling, fourth-ranked Indiana leaned on its defense to survive Michigan. Curt Cignetti expects more with Minnesota coming to town.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB+WAVE) — Curt Cignetti has a football team ranked fourth in the country, a national championship trophy in the case, College GameDay coming to town and an offense that lately has been about as productive as a government committee.
It’s not without an excuse.
Josh Hoover was one of the more efficient quarterbacks in college football before he injured his throwing arm and wrist against Ohio State. He had accounted for 19 touchdowns without an interception entering the Michigan game and was second in the nation in ESPN’s quarterback ratings. He made passing the football look like mailing a letter.
Against Michigan on Saturday, he completed eight passes for 81 yards.
Indiana won anyway.
The Hoosiers beat Michigan 13-6 in overtime, which was a fine afternoon for the defense, a splendid afternoon for the punter and a rather trying afternoon for anyone who enjoys the forward pass.
Indiana scored six points in regulation. It converted two of 14 third downs. It punted seven times.
Then, in overtime, Hoover threw a 21-yard pass to Brock Schott and ran four yards for a touchdown. Apparently somebody told the offense the game had started.
The defense took care of the rest.
So here is Indiana, 7-1, having won at Michigan for the first time since 1967 with a quarterback who wasn’t himself and an offense that wasn’t much of anything.
And Cignetti, being Cignetti, would like to know when everybody plans to start playing better.
“We didn’t separate at receiver in this game,” he said Monday. “And, you know, we obviously didn’t throw the ball very well or very often, and a lot of that was because of the type of game it became.”
Then he offered an assessment of the previous week’s preparation that won’t be appearing on any motivational posters.
“And quite frankly, in practice last week the pass game wasn’t very good. I expect it to be better this week.”
Cignetti has the bedside manner of a parking ticket. He isn’t particularly interested in making anybody feel better about things. He is interested in making them better.
Hoover spent the week after Ohio State practicing with limitations. Cignetti acknowledged after the Michigan game that the coaches discussed replacing him with backup Grant Wilson, a veteran with starting experience who had practiced well.
They didn’t.
“At the end of the day, we felt like it’s been Josh’s season, and even though he’s not 100%, we’ve got to finish it out with him,” Cignetti said.
Hoover rewarded the decision with the two biggest offensive plays of the afternoon. He wasn’t particularly interested in discussing his discomfort.
“I had to battle through some things this week to get out here,” Hoover said. “I knew I was going to find a way to get out here and find a way to win this game for this team regardless of how I felt.”
Asked Monday whether he expected Hoover to start against Minnesota, Cignetti was characteristically economical.
“I expect him to be fine and better this week.”
That’s the medical report. No charts. No discussion of ligaments and tendons.
Better this week. Next question.
Hoover isn’t Indiana’s only offensive concern. The Hoosiers haven’t found a dependable third receiver. Asked whether Davion Chandler, Tyler Morris or Chazz Preston had separated himself, Cignetti said, “Still kind of waiting for one guy to separate themselves.”
Indiana has now played three consecutive Big Ten fistfights against Nebraska, Ohio State and Michigan. It has won two of them. It has also lost some of the offensive rhythm that made it so difficult to defend during its national championship season.
The Hoosiers scored 15 points against Ohio State and 13 against Michigan. That’s 28 points in eight quarters and an overtime.
Fortunately, Indiana’s defense has decided it doesn’t need much help.
Against Michigan, the Hoosiers recorded four sacks, 10 tackles for loss and two takeaways. The Wolverines gained 224 yards and never reached the end zone. They got the ball in overtime needing a touchdown and found the Indiana defense as uncooperative as it had been all afternoon.
Tobi Osunsanmi has nine sacks in eight games. He had eight and a half in three seasons at Kansas State. Somebody on the Indiana staff found the instructions that came with him. Cignetti credited defensive coordinator Bryant Haines and assistants Buddha Williams and Pat Kuntz with developing Osunsanmi’s technique and finding ways to use his explosiveness.
Rolijah Hardy had nine tackles and two sacks. Amare Ferrell has intercepted three passes in the past two games. Indiana has allowed just three touchdowns in its opponents’ last 11 trips inside the 20.
“Our front seven, eight, we’re hard to run against,” Cignetti said. “We got all 11 doing their job, it’s pretty tough.”
It was the kind of game where the punter, Billy Gowers, could have been named offensive player of the week and nobody would have objected.
Now comes Minnesota. The Golden Gophers are 5-2 and have beaten three teams that were ranked when they played them: Washington, Michigan and Iowa.
They beat Iowa 13-10 last weekend. Indiana beat Michigan 13-6.
If these two teams get into a scoring contest, somebody may have to explain the rules.
“They’re a lot like us in that they’re not going to beat themselves,” Cignetti said. “They’re going to make you earn it.”
The Gophers don’t surrender many big plays. They can play man or zone, bring pressure from different directions and change their approach from week to week. They are not an ideal opponent for a passing game trying to find itself.
And this will be Indiana’s ninth consecutive game without a week off. Cignetti acknowledged that everybody who has played significant snaps is hurting somewhere.
“But they’re all able to play,” he said.
It’s a nice distinction, and an important one. There is healthy, and there is healthy enough to get through Saturday. By late October, most college football teams have more of the latter.
Still, there is something remarkable about what Cignetti has built.
Indiana spent decades trying to figure out how to win football games. Now it has figured out so many ways to win that it can occasionally dispense with the offense altogether.
Cignetti doesn’t intend to make a habit of it. He expects the passing game to be better. He expects his quarterback to be better. With GameDay in town and Minnesota’s defense waiting, he needs need both.