As head coaches across the country abscond the selection committee and bemoan their team’s lack of an invitation to the College Football Playoffs, the man behind the Hoosiers bench, stumped, duped and defeated by Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish, can do little except scratch his head.
With the sting of the 27-17 defeat still fresh, Curt Cignetti, Indiana’s head coach, was pressed to answer for the Hoosiers’ shortcomings and his questionable decision to punt the ball away late in the fourth quarter with his team already down 17 points.
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“I didn’t want to punt, but we were doing nothing on offense and our defense was fighting,” Cignetti said, per Larry Brown Sports. “That was the only positive, really, that I could draw, was our defense was still fighting. Because our offense was doing nothing.”
The head coach is correct on at least one count, his offense was abysmal.
Notwithstanding Cignetti’s broad-chested declaration about his Hoosiers “beat[ing] the sh–” out of top-25 teams, Indiana mustered their second-lowest point total of the season against Notre Dame and didn’t reach the end zone until there was less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
The final score of the contest was 27-17, but those numbers don’t do Indiana’s offensive inabilities even a semblance of justice.
And on the punt-inducing drive in question, much like the many that preceded it, the Hoosiers weren’t showing any signs of life.
The offense had taken over at their own 40-yard-line and moved as far as Notre Dame’s 48.
Facing a 4th-and-11 with 10:34 left in the final frame, Cignetti sent out the punting unit.
“I didn’t want to go [for it on] 4th-and-10,” he told reporters after the game. “It’s like you’re just wishing and hoping.”
The head coach continued: “You have nothing to base it on, that you can convert 4th-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.”
The Fighting Irish took over at their own-22 but had no problem traveling the length of the field.
Quarterback Riley Leonard capped the nine-play, 78-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run that extended the lead to 27-3.
Cignetti’s decision to punt baffled broadcasters and fans alike.
“I don’t understand … It makes no sense,” Greg McElroy said.
“I don’t get this at all, he’s really punting it … that’s a head-scratcher to me,” Sean McDonough added.
The Fighting Irish will face off next against second-ranked Georgia on New Year’s Day. Kickoff in their AllState Sugar Bowl is scheduled for 8:45 p.m. ET.