The biggest game in Indiana football history forces the Hoosiers to balance two strong mindsets.
IU is set to take on Notre Dame Friday at 8 p.m. in South Bend in the first round of the College Football playoff. If the Hoosiers pull off an upset victory, they advance to the Sugar Bowl to take on Georgia.
The team is in a special position, the type players envision themselves in as they grow up around the game. But appreciating that significance directly conflicts with the things Curt Cignetti has preached all year — no one game is bigger than the other, and this is just another football game.
Defensive coordinator Bryant Haines called it a delicate balance between those two things.
“I’m happy for all these guys, and I’m excited for the moment too. But we’re a process-oriented operation,” Haines said. “When the game gets here, I’m sure the moment will be awesome and an electric environment, all those things. But at the end of the day, run, hit, tackle, swarm, the standard is the standard. Another football game.”
Indiana has excelled all season at compartmentalizing everything that’s happened along the way. IU hasn’t been rattled by the weight of any moment this year, and that’s in large part because of the mentality Cignetti emphasizes — the same one Haines outlined.
Some players, like D’Angelo Ponds, are maintaining the complete tunnel vision they’ve relied on all season. It’s all they know how to do.
“You have to take it like another game,” Ponds said. “You can’t just do extra things. You can’t be Superman. You’ve got to do your job. It’s really another game. You’ve got to do your job. Don’t make it too big of a game for you.”
But that doesn’t mean the Hoosiers are ignoring the position they’re in. Their heads aren’t buried in sand.
Running back Justice Ellison knows he can’t play football forever, and opportunities like these can be rare. So while he’s continued working hard as always, he’s made a point of taking in everything that’s come with playing on this big stage.
“I’ve been dreaming of this moment since a little boy and my mom and dad always told me take advantage of every opportunity, be thankful for everything you have and cherish the moment, whether it’s an interview, whether it’s a run, whether talking to the team or I’m in the film room or even getting treatment,” Ellison said. “I’ve just been enjoying it, and that’s the reason why I came here. I came here for this. I came here to win. I came here for the playoffs. I came here to do it with guys that I haven’t done a lot of football with.”
Ellison played at Notre Dame Stadium last year with Wake Forest. He spent four years in the ACC.
This moment means a lot to him. But for someone like James Carpenter, it’s even more significant. Carpenter joined Haines and Cignetti at James Madison in 2019 as a walk-on. He eventually earned a scholarship, and blossomed more than the coaches could’ve ever imagined.
For a player like him to start a College Football Playoff game at defensive tackle is a chance he’s not taking for granted. And Carpenter is channeling that into motivation to go even harder.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, once-in-a-lifetime experience. You get to go play for a national championship, and this is where it starts,” Carpenter said. “I really think there’s going to be no issues, and we’ll be locked in, I think. It started since Sunday, where the selection show was. So I think if you’re not locked in to this game, something’s wrong with you. It’s what we came here to do: win a national championship.”
That’s how Cignetti and his staff want the players to view this game. Nobody is shying away from the importance of this game or the grandeur of this stage — and if anyone’s implied that publicly, they surely understand it privately.
This remarkable season could conclude in the blink of an eye, or the magic could continue and the Hoosiers could keep on rolling. Until this journey ends, they’ve done the same things they did all year that got them to this point. Continue working hard to prepare for the big moments, blocking out the noise, staying locked in on the task at hand, and remaining calm under the bright lights. That’s what Cignetti’s seen from his team all week, and is why he’ll feel confident entering South Bend on Friday night.
“I’ve really seen the focus, the prep, the urgency on the practice field, the speed at which we practice, the execution level really ratchet up a notch or two. Not that it was not good in the off week, but this is game week, and it’s different,” Cignetti said. “I like where we’re at.”
For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- Find us on Facebook: thedailyhoosier
- You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
