BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Here’s everything Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti had to say during his postgame press conference after the Hoosiers defeated Maryland 42-28 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Indiana is 5-0 for the first time since 1967 and the Hoosiers are 2-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since 2020.
Opening statement …
Cignetti: Okay, good win. Far from perfect, trust me. 4-0 in the turnover ratio against us, had not turned it over going into the game one time and still won by two scores. But defense really responded to every one of those turnovers.
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There’s a lot of corrections to make, but it was a good effort, a gutty effort.
You could feel the fans out there. I’m glad that they keep improving in the attendance area. I thought that was a good turnout, and good is the enemy of great, so let’s have a great turnout. Let’s sell it out next week or next time we’re at home and figure out how to make it even louder because that’s what we want to do; we want to be the best in everything we do.
Even when we’re good, even when we perform good, we’re not satisfied. But it was a good turnout.
We’re 5-0. But this isn’t the end for us. I’m proud of the team and everything they’ve accomplished.
I felt like we’ve made good progress in the off-season, in the winter, spring, summer, but we had to put it on film. We can play better than we played today.
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On responding to adversity …
Cignetti: Yeah, there were a lot of good responses in that game. The defense responded to offensive turnovers. The offense responded to touchdowns given up by the defense. We responded more than they did.
So there was really a lot that went on in that game. There’s no doubt about it. Winning is good because it deepens belief in confidence and success, which leads to confidence and belief, which leads to success. You’ve still got to put the work in, but strengthens that confidence and belief.
On Indiana’s energy throughout the game …
Cignetti: Well, that’s us. We want to play every play like it’s 0-0. Never too high, never too low. Something bad happens, okay, we’re going to play this play. You get 11 guys playing that way consistently, then you’ve got a chance.
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On the defensive line and the pressure it applied …
Cignetti: Yeah, I don’t know how many sacks we had total. Five? Okay. He seemed like he was on the ground on awful lot early in the game, which is what we wanted to do.
We just have to – when we have a chance to kind of go for the jugular, we’ve got to get a little better at that. But they’ve got some playmakers. They’ve got some guys that get on top of you. They got us in a defense we didn’t want to be in on the long run.
But that’s where it all starts, up front. We’re experienced up front. We think it’s one of our strengths, and it was definitely one of the areas that they weren’t feeling too great about coming into the game, and we needed a big win there, and I think we got it.
On getting a late-game blocked punt …
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Cignetti: Yeah, that was awesome. I have no idea what happened. I was taking my headset off and giving it to somebody behind me and I completely missed it. I just wish we would have picked it up and scored.
On limiting the effectiveness of receiver Tai Felton …
Cignetti: Well, I think he went out, didn’t he? And didn’t return, right? It’s hard for him to have a big day when he’s not on the field.
Follow-up question noting that Felton went out in the third quarter …
Cignetti: What did he have? He had five for 38, yeah. But Hemby made some.
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We did a pretty good job, and it started up front with the pressure. They got on top of us a couple times, though.
On how Kurtis Rourke responded to his own adversity …
Cignetti: Yeah, I mean, he responded like I kind of felt like he would. I didn’t think he’d be flustered by the two interceptions, and he wasn’t.
When we had our one-on-one opportunities, we were winning, and we played well when we played with tempo, the two-minute drive and some of the other times. He’s a grizzly old vet. He’s got to hold on to that ball a little better in the pocket when he runs it.
Indiana’s Elijah Sarratt (13) celebrates his touchdown during the Indiana versus Maryland football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
On wide receivers Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt …
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Cignetti: Yeah. They were winning their one-on-ones when it was press coverage, and we were getting them the ball, and I was glad to see Donaven won his one-on-one in the red area. That was a play we were hoping to be able to get called against zero blitz coverage.
We felt like that was a match-up that was in our favor going into the game, and it turned out to be that way.
On the impact of the fans …
Cignetti: Oh, it’s extremely valuable. Players feed off of that energy. Look, it’s all about energy, right? You’ve got to have energy to do anything, and the fans are supplying the energy and the players are feeding off of that energy.
I don’t know how many points it’s worth, but it’s really important, and I think we got everything moving in the right direction here.
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On what the Hoosiers learned about themselves …
Cignetti: Well, I think you learn about your team every week. You play 12 regular season games, you learn about them in the off week, too. I thought this was a good challenge for us, and we outlasted them. We did a lot of good things. But there’s a lot of things we can do better.
On a “new” Indiana this season …
Cignetti: Well, I don’t know what the old Indiana was other than what I watched on tape or maybe looked in a record book.
We are what we are, and we have a blueprint and a plan and a philosophy how to play the game. It’s all about people and processes. I think we’ve got a chance to be a good football team. Todd Blackledge said at the end of the UCLA game that this is a good football team, Indiana. You’ve got to prove it every day, every play.
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On tight end Zach Horton and his impact …
Cignetti: Yeah, well, I’m glad other coaches point that out, too, when they watch us on tape or scout us, how valuable he is. It’s not all about his touches. He does a lot of great things for us offensively. He’s really a blood-and-guts hard-nosed tough guy with talent.
He’s a tremendous football player.
On the versatility of the running game …
Cignetti: We play those three backs every game, and they’ve been really consistent. If we didn’t turn it over four times, maybe we would have had 200.
BALTIMORE, MD—The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is asking residents to be on the lookout for cold-stunned sea turtles and marine mammals along the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic coast this winter. Cold-stunning occurs when water temperatures drop rapidly, causing animals to become lethargic and hypothermic. This condition can be fatal, especially for sea turtles.
According to DNR, cold-stunning typically affects sea turtles in late autumn and early winter. While sea turtles are most commonly affected, West Indian manatees are also susceptible.
Anyone who sees a cold-stunned animal should call the Maryland Natural Resources Police Hotline at 800-628-9944. It is important to maintain a safe distance, as these animals can be dangerous.
Sea turtles and marine mammals are protected by federal law. Harassing, feeding, or collecting these animals or their parts is illegal and can result in fines, imprisonment, and/or the seizure of vessels and personal property.
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This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.
Photo: A sea turtle exhibiting signs of cold-stunning. Maryland Department of Natural Resources photo.
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DMV residents are remembering former President Jimmy Carter, including one Maryland man who has a picture worth a thousand words.
Josh Davidsburg shared a photo of himself at 2-years-old with News4. The photo shows him sitting on Carter’s lap.
“Even though I don’t remember it, it’s still like a big part of my life,” Davidsburg said.
The adorable photo printed in a local paper was snapped during a Fourth of July parade in Atlanta in 1981.
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“I just kind of wandered off and wandered up to Jimmy Carter and I said, ‘uppy’ and he picked me up and put me in his lap,” Davidsburg said.
In the photo, Davidsburg has an American flag in his mouth. He says the flag came from none other than Rosalynn Carter.
The memory was so special, he made sure to immortalize it.
“My wife actually printed it out and actually got a signed copy from him,” Davidsburg said.
Davidsburg lives near Baltimore now, but was born in Georgia when his father was a reporter at a TV station in Atlanta.
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More than 40 years after this photo was taken, he says the once-in-a-lifetime encounter changed his life.
“For him it was probably nothing,” Davidsburg said. “I was this little kid that kind of hobbled up to him, but it kind of helped set me on the path of where I am today.”
Like his dad, Davidburg used to be a reporter, working up and down the East Coast for about a decade before becoming a Senior Lecturer teaching journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.
“Going into reporting, it was the first kind of the biggest politician I’ve ever met and everybody else has kind of paled in comparison,” Davidsburg said.
He says while he and the rest of the world mourns former President Carter’s passing, they will also remember his enduring legacy forever.
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“How many people can say that they not only did they live to 100, but they made such an amazing use of that time,” Davidsburg said. “Giving back to the country that he loved and the state and city that he loved.”
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland turned the ball over 25 times, blew a 17-point lead and was outrebounded in the second half.
Coach Brenda Frese still had plenty to be happy about.
“I thought it was a phenomenal game from two really competitive teams,” Frese said. “Credit Michigan State. We knew they were going to play hard for 40 minutes.”
No. 8 Maryland faced its biggest test in a while Sunday, and the Terrapins held off the No. 19 Spartans 72-66. It wasn’t a pretty game from an offensive standpoint, but the Terps were able to execute when they needed to at the end.
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Up by two in the final minute, Shyanne Sellers found Christina Dalce on a pick-and-roll for an easy layup with 36.3 seconds left — her only points of the game. Michigan State didn’t score again, falling short in this matchup between two ranked Big Ten teams.
This was nearly a clash of unbeatens, but the Spartans (11-2, 1-1 Big Ten) lost to Alabama in their prior game.
Maryland (12-0, 2-0) has equaled the second-best start in team history.
“It’s one of the most competitive groups I’ve ever coached,” Frese said. “It’s not really about being undefeated. Of course we love it. I think it shows just the work that they’re putting in. But for us, as long as we just continue to keep our head down and work hard through this process, I think that’s where you’re seeing the results pay off.”
The Terrapins beat Duke last month, but this was their first ranked opponent since then. It was a physical game in which rebounds were not for the faint of heart.
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“One thing I’ve loved about our team all year is our effort’s always been in a great space,” said Michigan State coach Robyn Fralick, whose team had a 10-1 edge in offensive rebounds in the second half.
Maryland let a big lead get away, but with the score tied at 57, Saylor Poffenbarger and Bri McDaniel made 3-pointers to put the Terps up by six.
McDaniel had to leave the game early in the fourth after falling to the ground with a thud, but she was able to return.
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