IU holds off Michigan 20-15 to improve to 10-0

November 9, 2024

Curt Cignetti | Indiana Head Coach
Opening Statement
CC: Got a win. Got a win. Defense, bend don’t break in the second half. Wouldn’t let them in the end zone. Punt return was a huge play there, and then we stop them and we get the 1st down that we need.

So it’s a good win. Not many style points there. Not going to be many people banging the drum saying Indiana ought to be rated higher in the BCS and all that good stuff, but the Indiana Hoosiers are 10-0 and have a week off, so Coach Cignetti has got a day off tomorrow.

I thought we had a chance to distance ourselves in the first half and we really just didn’t take full advantage of our opportunities in the red area. We had an offensive PI call and a couple other things happen, some close calls. I thought one time they fumbled, great stand on the defense on the 2, and it looked like we were getting ready to fall on it and I thought their quarterback grabbed our guy.

But we just still had a multiple-score lead at halftime but we come out the first play of the second half, threw the interception, but the defense held them.
For a while there, we had a hard time gaining three yards on offense. A lot of sacks. We weren’t getting anything done. But defense would bend and not break, and we found a way to get it done.

It tells you a lot about the resiliency of this team, its competitive character. At the end of the day, they all count as one, whether it’s 72-6 or 3-2. They count as one. You know what? We’re going to take the win over the Michigan Wolverines, and the Indiana Hoosiers will enjoy being undefeated for 24 hours.

On the Ke’Shawn Williams punt return…
CC: Absolutely. No doubt about it. There’s a veteran guy, he’d catch 35, 40 a year at Wake Forest. He’s made plays for us. Him and Price alternate. Made a nice catch early in the game on our sideline and Price got knocked out of the game, and that was a hard punt really to judge and catch because the nose was spiraling down and to the left. It was dying.

He was full throttle, man. To catch that punt, and he made it happen, was a tremendous effort, and really was very uplifting for everybody in the stadium. About the first great thing that had happened offensively counting the punt return as an offensive play. Gave us a real shot.

On the pressure and what was different in the second half…
CC: Well, the interception was a bad way to start, and then we had some protection issues, and then we had some opportunities, plays that we normally make, maybe a one-on-one go ball or back-shoulder throw, we fake the bubble and Sarratt down the sideline just can’t quite connect. We had a number of those. And then the sacks. We couldn’t get anything going in the run game. It just wasn’t happening.

On if the offense felt any nervousness…
CC: No, I thought we did a really good job. The offense is used to clicking and scoring a lot of points. I thought everybody had good resolve. We stepped up as a team and found a different way to win.

On how you thought the defensive line played…
CC: Yeah, I thought our defense played a great game, held them to 69 yards rushing, 137 yards passing. So 206 total yards. Kept them out of the end zone quite a few times when they were deep in the red area inside the 10 down tight, and yeah, that guy was on the run quite a bit, and so great effort. Flew around. Swarmed the ball.

On how big of a moment this was for team to get a win over Michigan…
CC: Okay, here’s how I’m going to honestly answer that question. I’m glad we won. I don’t like the way we played. I’m not happy with the way we played, particularly on offense in the second half. So we’ve got to take a good look at the film Monday and see what happens.

I thought special teams overall was fairly solid. There were a couple kickoff returns that game out on their bench, but it looked like maybe we were getting grabbed on them. But I thought our defense did a number of good things, but they were on the field too long. But it’s a win. None of us are going to give it back.

While I’m glad we won and that we’re keeping this going, I am not happy with the way we played.

On how the team has embodied the undefeated spirit…
CC: Yeah, great competitive character, a lot of guys that have played really good football in their career. My teams have always played really good defense, and Brian Haines does a great job. You’ve got guys like Kamara and Carpenter and CJ West and Lanell Carr and Fisher and Walker and Ponds and now Ferrell and on and on, Jamier Johnson, and you’ve got guys coming in in the rotation. They’ve got a lot of pride about the way we play. Our defensive coaches do a great job of coaching them up and getting them ready.

But we’re going to put that tape on and there’s going to be a lot of things that Coach Haines and his staff are not going to like on that tape, also, but they definitely had built the wall between the 1 and the goal line a number of times tonight when Michigan was down tight.

On what you learned about your team from the adversity they faced in the fourth quarter…
CC: Gutty, find a way to win. I’m sure glad we played this game at home because our fans played a big role tonight. I thought it was a great crowd. That punt return, too, was such a key play.

But championship teams find a way to win football games, and not all the time do you get style points. This is probably the first one we haven’t gotten style points. Let’s face it, we didn’t even trail until last week, and then we were down 10-0 and scored 47 straight. Pretty good win.

Our numbers are through the roof. You look at PFF, we’re top in the country in all three, ODK, but we obviously had our struggles but we found a way to get it done. This is a team. This is a team, and everybody’s goal is the same.

I can’t say enough about these guys. I don’t throw many bouquets out there. We all know that. But these guys have accomplished quite a bit, so I can reflect on that for tonight and then we’ll get back to work on Monday and have a good off week.

On what you have seen from Nico Radicic and his confidence…
CC: Yeah, he’s done a great job on the extra points. Like you said, we haven’t had many field goals because we’ve scored so many touchdowns down there, but did he have two or three tonight? Two? And they were both huge.
He’s been kicking well in practice. We didn’t kick the 51- or 52-yarder with him. Thought about it, but the offense thought they had a play that could work and it had a chance, we just didn’t make it happen.

He’s calm and cool and accurate and has good disposition, which is great for a kicker. We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of good kickers the last five, six years that have been pretty good. We have a certain way we manage that, that I manage them, but at the end of the day they’ve got to put it between the uprights.

On the importance of on-field leadership from guys like Aiden Fisher and CJ West…
CC: Well, you’ve got to have good leadership on your football team to have a successful season, and if you are a good leader, that means you can persevere through tough times and overcome obstacles and adversity and you know how to handle success, too, and you lead by example. Others follow.

Those guys had big games tonight, and there are probably a number of guys that had big games tonight. But that’s why we are where we are, because we’ve got a lot of guys like that.

CJ West was a guy who was a key addition to this football team after spring ball. We were very thin on the defensive line. That was a big get for us. It’s great to see him playing at such a high level right now.

On how this game will help the team focus more going forward…
CC: Well, yeah, I think this team understands that no matter — we can find a way to get it done. But I think if you polled them, they would all prefer to execute at a much higher level and score more points.

Indiana Student-Athletes
Kurtis Rourke | QB | R-Sr +
On the importance of adversity in this game…
KR: You obviously don’t want games to come down to the last possession, but they’re going to come up.  Our defense played exceptionally throughout the whole game, especially coming up with the big stop at the end. And from there, we were able to get that first down. Those situations are the ones we practice, and we knew they were going to come up eventually. We just had to execute and we did.

On the success of the offense in the first half and its struggles in the second half…
KR: We were going up against a great defense. So during that first half, we had to be near perfect. We made some good reads, some big catches and some big runs. In the second half, it just didn’t go our way. We didn’t make those same plays and in games like this against defenses like this, we have to make those plays. That’s definitely something we’re going to have to work on and improve on throughout the rest of the year.

On the absence of Drew Evans and how much tougher that makes the rest of the season…
KR: It’s huge. Drew is one of my favorite guys on the team. He’s a big piece of the offensive line and one of the hardest workers I know. Losing a guy like that definitely hurts, but it’s always been the next man up. Tyler Stephens has been a guy that everyone loves as well. He stepped up in that role and did a great job, so we’ll need to lean on him and the rest of the offensive line.

Omar Cooper Jr. | WR | R-So.
On winning one on one battles…
OCJ: It’s a lot of work that I put on in the off season, working on releases and then stacking the players and also working with Kurtis (Rourke).

On it being different compared to being way ahead score-wise…
OCJ: It was definitely something that we weren’t used to. It was good to see how we would react to it, and I think we reacted to it well. Our defense stepped up a lot for us which helped us, obviously. We owe them big time.

On the team’s composure late in the game…
OCJ: I feel like that is something that is just instilled in us with coach Cignetti. He makes sure no matter how we beat a team or how close a game is, we have to fight until the end. Today we were able to show we can do that no matter who we play.

Aiden Fisher | LB | Jr.
On making it uncomfortable for Michigan’s quarterback…
AF: It starts with the D-line first. We have a lot of guys up there that do a good job disrupting the pass game which also helped in the run game. Mixing up some of those coverages in the back is something we talked about all week, and I think we did a good job of that.

On energy coming off the crowd…
AF: It is huge. Every third down or really every defensive possession the crowd is roaring. You can feel it as you go.

On pulling off a close game rather than a blowout…
AF: It’s huge. A lot of championship teams have those ugly hard fought wins, and I think that’s what we did today. We had a great opponent who came in here, a physical one, and I think that speaks to how you handle adversity.

Ke’Shawn Williams | WR | Sr. +
On what today’s win shows about this team…
KW: That just shows the resilience that it takes more than just the offense. It takes more than just the defense. It takes more than just special teams. It takes all three units to click together at one time. When you’re doing enough, and you’re a good team and you stay confident and stay poised in those moments, you know no moment is too big.

On any curiosity about how the team would react in the fourth-quarter…
KW: I wasn’t too worried or too curious because we had times where we started slow and picked it up. When you perform how we have performed all year there’s never any doubt. We’re never on the sideline like dang, this might be it. We know when we get out there and do our thing, we going to make some stuff happen.

On what makes this team so poised…
KW: Just experience. Confidence in each other and knowing that the guy next to you is going to do his job as long as you do yours. We are an experienced group. We got a lot of older guys in the room and all facets. All of us on offense who’ve played a lot of games and played in a lot of big moment games. We just know what we are capable of.

CJ West | DL | R-Sr.
On holding a team known for their offense to two yards… 
CW:  It just really speaks on our bond and our chemistry when it comes to dealing with that. We’re in a really tight room. It just speaks on our preparation that we have during the week. Once again, competing with our O-Line and having a competitive edge during the week it helps us when game time comes.

On the pressure put on Michigan’s quarterback…
CW: I mean applying pressure to the quarterback is huge and disrupts the rhythm of the game, especially to somebody’s offense. So that was another focus in there and going to stop the running and applying the pressure. That just kind of gives us a helping hand when it comes to passing, and they don’t get a bunch of time to throw the ball down the field, helping our DBs.

Sherrone Moore| Michigan Head Coach
On the defense in the second half…
SM: Yes, I thought they did an unbelievable job in the second half. The fight, the effort. I think they allowed 56 yards. And just in the game, that offense is averaging 40 something points per game, and we held them to 20. I thought they played really well in the second half, really well in the second half. Our side of the ball in the first half had some things we had to clean up, but the second half was good to see.

On the offense struggling in the red zone… 
SM: Yes, I mean at the end of the day we have to execute, and we just didn’t execute at a high level. There were some twists and movements, some zone runs that we didn’t pick up. It was one guy here, one guy there, but that was the story. When we look back at the iPad, and look at the things, that’s what it was. We have to do better.

On Indiana’s defense… 
SM: I think it starts up front. They have a good front. They have guys that hold the point really well and move. It wasn’t as much as the pressure, it was the movement of the front that they did a really good job in. I thought we were getting rhythm in the throw game, but had to get one in the run game and we never did. That ended up being the story of the game.

Michigan Student-Athletes
Davis Warren | QB | Sr
On falling short to Indiana…
DW: The defense fought their butts off in the second half. That was one of the highest-scoring offenses in the country, and we held them to 20 points. We left some plays out there in the red zone. We also missed a couple on third downs.

On the Indiana defense in the red zone…
DW: They do a variety of things and do a good job disguising certain looks. But I’d say we just left opportunities on the table, especially in the red zone. We should’ve converted those. We’re trying to put the ball in the end zone, but we’ve got to be better. You get to the red zone three times and come away with three field goal. Iit’s just not winning football.

Zeke Berry | DB | Jr
On the Michigan defense in the second half…
ZB: I’d say we came out with more juice in the second half, ready to play together as one on defense. We just kept stacking plays on top of plays and working together. We just kept playing the way we play.

On if losing to Indiana hits harder as opposed to other losses…
ZB: It’s all the same. Every time you come out there and play a team, you just want to play the best ball you can as a group. Play Michigan football. No matter what the score was today, I just felt like we did our best to come out with a win. Just a couple of things we need to clean up.