-
Dan Wetzel
This week an athletic director at a college was searching for any troubling ticket purchases that might indicate another Connor Stallions-style advanced scouting operation. At another school, a program reviewed its headset communication protocols.
Lots of other people in college athletics, from administrators to gossipy coaches, are comparing notes, anecdotes and conspiracy theories. Computer hacking? Military-grade listening devices?
College football has paid off Curt Cignetti and Indiana Hoosiers This is the best compliment to delving into a question that was already being joked about on social media.
Are they cheating?
No one is going on record with their suspicions, and no one seems to have any evidence, nor anything that might indicate actual evidence. No one even has a good angle to work with. The above reviews did not yield any results. There are no threads to pull here.
However, the disquiet runs deep among the coaching ranks. Ego too.
This is a game that hates beginners and keeps a wary eye on newcomers. Historically, it has only acknowledged success by similar teams in similar locations.
Bloomington’s Hoosiers are not one of them. They were once the losingest program in Power 4 football. They then hired a coach with a background in Division II, FCS, and Sun Belt football.
They immediately went 27-2. That includes going 15-0 this year heading into Monday’s national championship game miamiWhere they are 8.5-point betting favourites.
Indiana is not only good, but impressive and has won both of its playoff games alabama And oregon Overall 69 points.
And so… here comes doubt, doubt, disbelief. Here come the crosshairs that are completely inappropriate and incredibly unflattering.
Indiana should use both of these as fuel going forward – part motivation, part confidence.
“It’s crazy how some of these things turn out,” tight end Riley Nowakowski told “Big Ten This Morning” on Sirius/XM on Wednesday. “But we’ll take it…if people are saying you’re cheating, you’re probably doing something really cool.”
College athletics seeks to eliminate the only thing it fears, and Cignetti’s team has inspired many.
There have been some close moments this year, namely penn state and against Ohio State In the Big Ten title game. The Hoosiers passed those tests, however. He has impressed mostly everyone.
IU has outscored opponents 639 to 166. It has scored five times as many touchdowns (84-16) and nearly three times as many rushing yards (3,275-1,125) as opponents. It has created 30 turnovers, including two pick-sixes. The Hoosiers rank first in the nation in third-down conversion percentage, first in red zone defense, fifth in penalties per game and second in penalty yards per game. We could go on.
This is usually a sign of an exceptionally well-coached team. Cignetti, 64, a former assistant to Nick Saban, is experienced and energetic, a demanding and tireless coach who focuses on process and standards.
He never cared that Indiana hadn’t won before he got there. He coached from day one like he was at Alabama.
But that’s not in Alabama; He is in Indiana. And so Hoosiers have to deal with unfair and baseless, random accusations from anonymous accounts and the disbelief that this is possible.
So be it. This is one final hurdle to overcome.
Cignetti famously took the job and then took the microphone at an IU basketball game and declared, “Purdue sucks, but so do Michigan and Ohio State.”
It was comically adventurous. No one is laughing anymore.
Cignetti has approached the transfer portal with aplomb, from bringing in several undervalued players from James Madison to striking out Miami for the Miami native. Fernando Mendoza. He finds people who have strength on their shoulders and a desire to work in their hearts. He finds dreamers, but also people who fulfill them.
This is a new era of sports. New faces are allowed.
Their people are better prepared, better trained, more aware and fully motivated. And even if Indiana does a better job than other teams (and then passes it on to the players), it’s a sign of specialness, not duplicity.
If the rest of the game can’t deal with Indiana, that’s their issue. Whisper all you want, but without anything concrete, it just evaporates into thin air.
Meanwhile, Indiana is in the national title game, with an added motivation to show the country that it belongs.
