By Mark Pszonak
It will forever be a fantastic and memorable season for Indiana. However, the ending will mostly be remembered for head coach Curt Cignetti’s pregame flex during his unexpected appearance on College GameDay and then his inability to back it up during the game.
Coach Cignetti’s appearance on College GameDay could have proven to be epic. It was odd considering a head coach never appears on a pregame show a couple of hours before a game, especially a game of this importance, but overall I mostly appreciated him for being passionate and energetic.
https://twitter.com/CollegeGameDay/status/1870246917596135493
However, you can’t say, “We don’t just beat Top 25 teams, we beat the $hit out of them” and then faceplant in front of the country. There are times when a final score isn’t indicative of a game, and Notre Dame’s 27-17 victory is a perfect example of that. The Irish put the Hoosiers in an immediate chokehold and never truly let up. And Coach Cignetti basically just tapped out instead of showing the bravado he did on College GameDay.
The most notable tapping out moment came in the fourth quarter when the Hoosiers were down 20-3 with under 10 minutes remaining. Indiana was inside the Irish 40-yard line and Coach Cignetti decided to punt. He was asked about this decision after the game and gave this answer:
https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1870338055841939835
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To me, this means that he gave up on his offense. And that is the opposite of the flexing he did pregame. Coach Cignetti’s decision let his team down and let Indiana fans down. For some unknown reason, it seemed as though he was playing to keep the game close instead of trying to win.
Coach Cignetti has proven himself to be a very good coach, but he didn’t show that on Friday night.
