Football <\/p>\n
Curt Cignetti wasn’t lacking any confidence prior to Indiana’s first-round College Football Playoff showdown against Notre Dame on Friday evening. During the coach’s pregame appearance on <\/em>ESPN’s College GameDay, <\/em>Cignetti didn’t mince words<\/a> when declaring his team was going to put on a show against the Fighting Irish.<\/p>\n When it came time to back up those words, that confidence seemed to disappear entirely. Indiana was routed 27\u201317 by Notre Dame, and Cignetti’s squad didn’t put up much of a fight. There were various points in which Cignetti made some rather timid coaching decisions. Most notably was when he opted to punt the ball while in plus-territory despite the team trailing by three scores in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n Cignetti, who boasted about how Indiana dominates ranked opponents<\/a>, despite the Hoosiers losing their only Top-25 matchup this season, came under fire from college football fans who questioned how he could do all that pregame yapping only to coach with his tail between his legs. <\/p>\n ???? https:\/\/t.co\/6VEffTFaO6<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) December 21, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Curt Cignetti talked all that trash just to punt like a coward down 17 in the 4th smh https:\/\/t.co\/2BLlIDZfGy<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Master (@MasterTes) December 21, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n I don’t understand why Curt Cignetti said what he said on GameDay if he was going to coach the game this way.<\/p>\n \u2014 Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) December 21, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Curt Cignetti punted in plus territory down 17 with 10:41 left in a playoff game.<\/p>\n Get this fraud out of here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Brandon Walker (@BFW) December 21, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Notre Dame vastly better than Indiana but the Cignetti game plan has been puzzling.<\/p>\n Six punts. Fair catches on kick returns. Rushing on 3rd and 10. <\/p>\n This is not how you spring a playoff upset.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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