Welcome to the Skull Session.
One more sleep...
We dont pick our path not in football, not in life. How you operate on that path? You get to choose. You get to choose. Heres our path. The way we play is different. Why is it different? Because were different.
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 21, 2024
Brian Hartline pic.twitter.com/6N6Luu9uBt
Have a good Friday.
“I DID GOOGLE HIM.” When Curt Cignetti left James Madison for Indiana, he took 13 transfers with him. However, none of them were quarterbacks. The Hoosiers had Roman Purcell and Tayven Jackson when Cignetti arrived in Bloomington. Neither met his standard, so he found a quarterback from Ohio – the Bobcats, that is.
Kurtis Rourke, a former two-star prospect from Ontario, Canada, had entered the transfer portal after five seasons at Ohio, where he had completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 7,651 yards, 50 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. The Bobcats went 16-6 when Rourke was under center in 2022 and 2023, including a regular-season win over Iowa State in Athens.
Both of those factors intrigued Cignetti, so he called Rourke – whom I learned Thursday has earned an incredible nickname, “The Maple Missile” – and offered him a scholarship at Indiana.
“Everything he was saying on the phone, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s really impressive,'” Rourke said on The Jim Rome Show last week.
After the call, Rourke wondered if all Cignetti told him was too good to be true, so he followed the advice Cignetti later shared at an Indiana press conference: “I win. Google me.”
“I did Google him,” Rourke told Rome.
Rourke’s research revealed that Cignetti had been a football coach for 40 years. It also showed that he never had a losing season in his 14 years as a head coach at IUP (2011-16), Elon (2017-18) and James Madison (2019-23). Oh, and one more thing: Rourke found out Cignetti is one of the more quotable characters in college football. He proved that 24 hours after his plane landed in Bloomington.
“I’ve never taken a back seat to anybody and don’t plan on starting now,” Cignetti said at an Indiana men’s basketball game. “Purdue sucks, and so do Michigan and Ohio State.”
Rourke completed 60.7 percent of his passes for 206 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in Indiana’s 20-15 win over Michigan, which helped Cignetti prove that the Wolverines do, in fact, suck. The duo will look to prove the third part of Cignetti’s now-infamous speech true this weekend in Columbus.
FOR THE CULTURE. Cignetti’s success at Indiana has done more than put the Hoosiers on the national radar as Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff contenders. It’s also changed the culture of the Indiana fan base.
While Ohio State’s 969 all-time wins rank third behind Michigan (1008) and Alabama (970), Indiana’s 713 all-time losses rank first – or last? – among all 134 FBS programs. Its losses had also snowballed in recent seasons, as the Hoosiers went a combined 9-27 in Tom Allen’s final three years as head coach.
But after a 10-0 start in 2024, Cignetti has transformed fans’ doom and gloom into hopeful optimism.
From Adam Rittenberg of ESPN:
Curt Cignetti has changed that and just about everything at Indiana. He came in saying things that would make even the most ardent Indiana fans blush as crimson as their sweaters. But he has backed up the bluster, not just winning games at a historic rate, but changing how people feel about Indiana football, where confidence is at an all-time high entering this week's clash at No. 2 Ohio State.
"This is going to sound so cheesy," said Cignetti's son, also named Curt, "but just to see the sentiment change on Twitter, how these fans have gone from being doom and gloom or doubting to, suddenly, they're super confident we're winning every game, it's unbelievable."
…
Late at night, Curt Jr., 33, who lives in Ohio, and Carly, 31, who lives in New Orleans, will occasionally search the family name on Twitter. The scrolling doesn't come from vanity or a search for validation. They knew their father was a great coach long before he stepped foot on the Indiana campus 356 days ago and lit it ablaze.
Cignetti's kids aren't the only ones doing vibe checks.
"I know for a fact he does, too, not Googling himself, but the Indiana community," Curt Jr. said of his dad. "He sends stuff to our group chat. He sees that it's not just players that are buying in, but the community, and that's been his goal the whole time."
…
"I think he's been a good coach for a long time," former Alabama coach Nick Saban said on "The Pat McAfee Show" before IU played Washington. Cignetti was on Saban's first staff from 2007 to 2010. "He just had success at programs that ... people didn't pay that much attention to. But if you evaluate his success rate, it was very, very good. Now he's at someplace people notice."
I’ve noticed. That’s for sure.
At the start of the season, I believed Indiana would be competitive – that the Hoosiers would win six or seven games and have a positive outlook for the future. I would have never predicted Indiana would be 10-0, with a win over Ohio State separating it from a Big Ten championship and a guaranteed College Football Playoff appearance.
Oh, and about the Hoosiers’ College Football Playoff chances: If Indiana beats Ohio State, it’s in, and even if Indiana loses close, I think it’s in, too. That shouldn’t be controversial, but for some reason, people believe the Hoosiers’ No. 106 strength of schedule should keep them out of the playoff with a loss to the Buckeyes, no matter what the final score is. I find that notion asinine. IU should not be blamed for how its opponents performed this season. Instead, it should be praised for how well it performed against them. Hoosiers teams of the past would have lost most of those matchups, but this year’s Hoosiers are beating the brakes off them. They deserve credit for that. Win or lose Saturday, Indiana deserves a spot in the College Football Playoff, two-loss or three-loss SEC teams be damned.
“HE LOVES THE BUCKEYES.” Ohio State’s individual accolades and team accomplishments blind us to the fact that the Ohio State football program has… you know… people?... that represent it?
It’s strange. We can focus so much on stats and trophies that we fail to remember that the coaches and players inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center don’t use recognition as their sole motivator. Sometimes, what motivates a player is their love for being a Buckeye.
Jack Sawyer is one of them.
“Jack really embodies what it means to be a Buckeye,” Ryan Day said on The Ryan Day Radio Show on Thursday. “He loves his teammates. He loves this school. He loves the Buckeyes. He plays really hard out there. I know everyone is always saying guys come back for a reason and everything, but Jack has been that way.
“He’s had that look in his eye. He’s bringing guys with him. That’s what leadership is all about. It’s one thing just to do it, but you’ve got to bring guys along with you, and you’ve got to pull people with you. I feel like he’s doing that. He’s been strong in there. He’s had a great presence. In order to lead, you’ve got to be seen, but you’ve got to be felt as well, you’ve got to be heard. He’s doing all those things right now. He knows he’s got to be at his best just like the rest of these leaders.”
That's incredible – and accurate – praise.
This offseason, I talked a lot about Sawyer’s decision to return for another season at Ohio State. He and Cody Simon spearheaded the movement; Sawyer with the juniors and Simon with the seniors. Through 10 games, it’s clear that Sawyer and Simon are people and players the rest of the team looks on the defense. They’ll look to them again on Saturday against an Indiana team that ranks No. 3 nationally in points per game (40.2) and No. 16 nationally in yards per play (6.4).
11W READER JIM LACHEY? I think former Ohio State All-American offensive lineman Jim Lachey reads the Skull Session. On The Ryan Day Radio show, the Buckeyes’ radio color commentator asked Day if he’s surprised that Ohio State ranks No. 134 in opponent penalty yards per game, a stat I featured in an article on Wednesday.
To be clear, that’s not the news. Day’s response is the news, but I had to mention Lachey’s (potential) shoutout!
First, Day laughed. Then, he answered, “No comment.”
While Day didn’t continue, Lachey and Paul Keels added their own commentary to the matter.
“Something has to go your way, right?” Lachey asked.
“Really. That’s true,” Keels responded.
It is true.
People think the refs bail out Ohio State because of who Ohio State is, but that’s far from the case – especially this season. There’s been no brand bias or special treatment for the Buckeyes. They’ve had to earn all of their victories. They deserve credit for that, just like they deserve a call every once in a while, dadgummit!
SONG OF THE DAY. "Born Again" - Jelly Roll.
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