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Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti made the mind-boggling decision to punt the ball away to Notre Dame while trailing by 17 points during the fourth quarter of the College Football Playoff. His explanation for the decision is questionable, at best.
He claims that it stemmed from a lack of faith in the Hoosiers’ offense.
The punt, and the game as a whole, will haunt Bloomington forever. Indiana never stood a chance as soon as quarterback Kurtis Rourke threw an interception in the red zone. Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love went 98 yards for six on the very next play. It felt like a bad omen and it was.
Although the Hoosiers were able to mount a small comeback (very) late in the fourth quarter to make the game look competitive, they were down 27-3 with 90 seconds left. “Blowout” is a fair descriptor for the first-ever First Round game in CFP history.
One drive prior to Indiana’s first touchdown of the game, it faced 4th-and-11 from the Notre Dame 48-yard-line while down by 17 with less than 11 minutes remaining. Cignetti chose to punt instead of trying to convert the first down. The punt, which was also a total shank, felt like a white flag— a surrender.
"Indiana is going to punt… I'm very surprised." – Sean McDonough on Curt Cignetti's decision
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 21, 2024
"I don't understand… It makes no sense." – Greg McElroy
"I don't get this at all. He's really punting it… That's a head-scratcher to me." – McDonough 🏈🎙️ #CFP pic.twitter.com/VYbACXoRJb
Curt Cignetti was crushed for his decision to kick. He rolled over. The Fighting Irish averaged 5.5 yards per carry throughout the game. The Hoosiers’ defense allowed multiple drives of 10 plays or more.
Most people watching the game at home could foresee what was going to happen. Notre Dame got the ball back, with great field position, and drove 78 yards on nine plays to put the win on ice.
When asked about the punt, Cignetti explained that he actually trusted Indiana’s defense more than the offense. (Even though the defense was getting beat to its gaps all night.)
I didn’t want to punt, but we were doing nothing on offense. And our defense was fighting. That was the only positive, really, that I could draw was that our defense was fighting. ‘Cause offense was doing nothing.
— Curt Cignetti
He would rather go hat-for-hat instead of leaving things up to chance.
I didn’t want to go fourth-and-10, it’s like you’re just wishing and hoping. You have nothing to base it on that you can convert fourth-and-10 at that point. And there’s still time, if you punt, to win the game. So that was the reason why. I didn’t want to do it, but I felt like it was the best move.
— Curt Cignetti
Here is the first-year head coach in his own words:
Don’t let Curt Cignetti fool you. His confident explanation does not excuse the decision. The punt served as the proverbial nail in the coffin for the Hoosiers.