Cignetti making the impossible look possible for Indiana

“It’s pretty simple. I win. Google me.”

That was Curt Cignetti’s brash proclamation last December –  three weeks after he’d been lured from James Madison to revive an Indiana program that had won just six games over the previous three seasons combined.

There were reasons for skepticism beyond that 6-27 record since 2021, which included a grand total of three wins against Big Ten opponents in 27 attempts. Indiana is a basketball school, and even then, one that hasn’t won a men’s national championship since 1987. Things are even more dire with the Hoosiers’ football program: In 125 years of existence prior to this season, Indiana lost 206 more games than it won, and had just three bowl wins.

What’s happened since is unimaginable. 

Indiana is 8-0 this year – it’s best start since 1957 – and ranked 13th in the nation, in genuine contention for spots in both the Big Ten championship game and the College Football Playoff.

Cignetti’s hiring might not have raised many eyebrows in the Big Ten, but it got the attention of 13 of his former James Madison players, who entered the transfer portal and shifted to Bloomington along with their head coach.

Canadian quarterback Kurtis Rourke was one of 18 others that transferred to Indiana following Cignetti’s move, opting to spend his final year of eligibility at Indiana after five seasons in the Mid-Atlantic Conference (MAC) at Ohio.

Cignetti brought a resume that might’ve been overlooked, at least by the crowd that didn’t take the time to search his name on Google.

After a four-year tenure as a wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator under Nick Saban at Alabama, Cignetti accepted his first head coaching job in 2010 at the age of 50 – and it was not a particularly glamorous one. Cignetti took the reins at the University of Indiana at Pennsylvania (IUP) – a Division II program that his father, Curt Sr., coached from 1986-2005. 

After a 53-17 record over six seasons at IUP, it was off to Elon, where Cignetti reversed a six-season losing trend with two straight winning seasons, and then to James Madison, which won 14 games and reached the Division I (now FCS) championship game in his first season on the sideline. Cignetti capped a five-year tenure at James Madison by leading the program to its first ever bowl game last November.

Cignetti’s first season at Indiana started innocently enough, with easy wins over non-conference opponents Florida International and Western Illinois. Since then, the Hoosiers have toppled each Big Ten foe: UCLA at the Rose Bowl, then Maryland, Northwestern, Nebraska and Washington – the most recent, coming comfortably without Rourke, who left with a thumb injury in the first half of a 56-7 win the previous week.

On Saturday, Indiana heads to East Lansing for a meeting with Michigan State, followed by a home game against defending national champion Michigan, which is eager to play spoiler in a season that began going sideways after a 31-12 loss to Texas in Week 2. Then it’s off to Columbus to face Ohio State, in a matchup that’s likely to serve as a play-in for the Big Ten championship game.

Rourke’s Heisman bid took a hit after he missed the win over Washington, but Cignetti announced Thursday that he’ll be back this weekend against the Spartans.

In seven starts, Rourke has 1,941 passing yards, 18 touchdowns and just three interceptions – placing him in the conversation for Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, which would pair nicely with the same award he won in the MAC two seasons ago.

In the meantime, there’s something bigger at stake for Indiana. 

A win over the Buckeyes in three weeks and a berth in inaugural 12-team playoff would leave little doubt surrounding the question of whether this is the greatest season in program history.

It’s gone just as Cignetti expected.

These days, the Hoosiers are one of the biggest stories in college football, and you don’t need a Google search to find the evidence.