Indiana HC Curt Cignetti loses due to a late goal against Riley Leonard

Friday night didn’t go according to plan for head coach Curt Cignetti and Indiana football. The Hoosiers were outclassed in all three phases of the game in South Bend as Notre Dame secured a spot in the Sugar Bowl with a 27-17 home win on New Year’s Eve.

Throughout the third quarter of the game, Indiana continued to make mistake after mistake while continuing to breathe life into Notre Dame offensively. With the Fighting Irish running down the field but facing a third-and-long, the Hoosiers finally got a stop on what looked like a sack. However, an Indiana pass rusher hit Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard out of bounds, resulting in a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down. After the game, Cignetti lost his mind on the sidelines.

That penalty gave the Fighting Irish more points, and it wasn’t the first or last thing to bother Cignetti in the game. In this game, Indiana didn’t have much going on in any phase of the game, which resulted in the first playoff game being rather boring.

Notre Dame’s offensive and defensive lines dominated this game from start to finish, as Indiana was never able to consistently run the ball or protect quarterback Kurtis Rourke. Additionally, Notre Dame’s elite secondary played a lot of man coverage and challenged Indiana’s receivers to beat them in one-on-one coverage, something the Hoosiers couldn’t do.

Notre Dame didn’t have an explosive night offensively, but it imposed its will on Indiana’s defensive front all night long and was able to control the clock. They got a big play, a 98-yard touchdown run from Jeremiyah Love that opened the scoring in the first quarter.

This was still a very successful season for Indiana, which finished 11-2 in Cignetti’s first season as head coach. With a track record dating back to his time at James Madison, every indication is that Indiana will remain a Big Ten contender for years to come.