The Indiana Hoosiers started this week like every other one in the Curt Cignetti era — breaking down tape from their previous game, making corrections and studying the next opponent.
This time, though, it's different.
For the first time in 23 games, the sixth-ranked Hoosiers are trying to rebound from a loss. And while their stoic coach doesn't get enamored with numbers, he understands it will be challenging for players to turn the page on last weekend's 19-15 loss to then-No. 4 Ohio State.
The two-time Associated Press Coach of the Year also knows it's what they must do to avoid suffering back-to-back losses for the first time in his three-year tenure.
“Look, this business and what we ask of the players is not easy stuff. This is hard,” Cignetti said Monday. “(The last game) took a lot of effort. It was a physical game. A lot of guys felt a lot better 10 days ago than they do right now, and we’re heading into another one.”
The last time Indiana was in this situation came in late November 2024 after a 38-15 loss at then-No. 2 Ohio State. And, just like last weekend, Indiana entered that game ranked No. 5.
The next week, Indiana responded by handing rival Purdue its worst loss in school history, 66-0, while sealing its first playoff bid. They lost again Dec. 20, 2024, 27-17 at then-No. 3 Notre Dame on Dec. 20, 2024 in the first playoff game played on a college campus.
While the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish squared off in that season's national championship game, the Hoosiers (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) responded to Cignetti's second loss at Indiana with a school record 22 consecutive wins, their first Big Ten title since 1967, and the first national championship in program history. They also produced their first Heisman Trophy winner and became the first major college football team to produce a 16-0 season since the 1890s.
It was one of the most impressive runs in the College Football Playoff era and, arguably, the greatest turnaround in the sport's history.
But now that the winning streak and the 19-game home winning streak are both over, Indiana will be starting over when it visits Michigan (4-2, 1-2) on Saturday.
Many Hoosiers players are eager about their first trip to the “Big House,” and they'll be chasing two more milestones — winning their first game in Ann Arbor since 1967 and capturing a second straight victory in the series for the first time since 1958-59. Indiana beat Michigan 20-15 at home in 2024. The teams didn't play last season.
In Bloomington, that kind of talk is merely a distraction to what matters most to these players — fixing what went wrong against the Buckeyes. And this week it's been all business.
“There were a lot of missing opportunities, a lot of things we could have taken advantage of. But we learned from it,” receiver Charlie Becker said. “We watched the tape, we're going to get better. I think there's a lot of things we (receivers) kind of made it difficult for a quarterback and for the team. There's a lot of areas where we as receivers can improve and help them out.”
Cignetti wouldn't expect anything less from one of his leaders, even though the Hoosiers were just inches away from extending the nation's two longest active streaks last weekend.
He spoke Monday about the “great effort” his team displayed in its last two games — overcoming a two-score deficit in the fourth quarter at Nebraska two weeks ago and coming within a Josh Hoover-to-Nick Marsh completion with 1:02 to play from doing the same against the No. 3 Buckeyes.
Cignetti anticipates Indiana will bring that same fight against a Michigan team that has scored a Big Ten-low 136 points.
“Look, we met a lot of our goals,” Cignetti said when asked to evaluate the loss. “They did spit a few runs, but we gave up a little bit schematically to double cover (receiver Jeremiah Smith), and we know that this guy might catch a few more, they may hit a few more runs. But we put pressure on the quarterback, which we wanted to do. I thought it was an outstanding effort and we’re going to need another one this week.”
And the Hoosiers are committed to making sure this one comes with a better ending.
“I think we battled really hard toward the end, and we never really gave up,” Becker said. “I think that's something that we learned and that we can take into these (future) games is that we can compete with anybody and we know that we can win.”
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