Curt Cignetti spoke to the Indiana media after the No. 5 Hoosiers lost 38-15 to No. 2 Ohio State at Ohio Stadium on Saturday.

Here’s everything Cigetti had to say after the game:

Opening Statement…

Cignetti: Well in life all good things come to an end eventually. I give Ohio State a lot of credit. They dominated the football match.

I thought we got off to a good start and a good football game for a while at 7-7. We came up with a turnover on defense (Jailin Walker interception) and a fourth down (at the goal line when Indiana led 7-0) and then we got a first down on offense at 7-7 and then we come up 3rd- and-1 and from all indications they jumped offsides, which would have given us a first try. But we got called for the penalty (a false start officially credited to Bray Lynch) … I’m not sure they made the right call. We came up 3rd and 6 and we got sacked. From that point on, and really, I’m not saying the game would have been different on that call – that’s not what I’m saying at all – that’s where the game changed. It was around that point.

We couldn’t protect the quarterback. We had communication errors in passport pro. Every time we dropped back to pass something bad happened. It seemed like we were in that end zone to our left for nine years. It was like a nightmare. We lost a point there. Really we were lucky to go into half time just seven points down. And they’ve been a great third quarter team, Ohio State. We couldn’t get anything going still on offense. They had a great punt return. I was proud of how we fought back and got within two points there, 31-15, but I didn’t like the fact that we gave up the run (a 39-yard run by TreVeyon Henderson to the Indiana 1-yard line in the last minute) and the touchdown at the end. They won, they deserve to win. They are a great football team and along with the noise it made it a very challenging day for us. And I give them nothing but credit.

On struggling with passport protection…

Cignetti: Nothing we haven’t seen on tape and we practiced all week. I think you’re connecting it with the noise and having to go to a silent count, the center couldn’t hear. And the speed at which they do it, compared to our scout team, the pressure at the moment, our guys just didn’t respond very well. Sometimes we’d miss missions, sometimes we’d have miscommunications, sometimes we’d get physically beaten, but it wasn’t very pretty.

If the Hoosiers had trouble putting negative plays behind them when the game started going Ohio State in the second quarter and if the team was depleted at halftime …

Cignetti: No. I felt good during the break. This is how I felt. We were down 14-7 and lucky we were only seven, that’s how I felt. All we had to do was get our feet back on the ground and slow the game down a bit. That the longer the game went on, the pressure would shift to them if it were to stay within striking distance, but then they had those points. We just couldn’t answer. We started to get some ground game going, but we were calling passes, getting sacked and playing behind the chains. I was proud that we scored the last touchdown and made the two-point conversion (to make it) 31-15. You take an onside kick now. Who knows? But (they scored one more touchdown) and that’s it.

Problems with Special Teams…

Cignetti: We went into the game plus-10 in turnover ratio and those (fumbled punt snaps) are like turnovers, right? Ohio State was plus-4 heading in. The dropped punt is definitely like a touchdown and the punt return, there might have been a couple (penalties) in the back that didn’t show up, but still. Yes, it’s not good. It’s not good football.

On Indiana’s schedule, the playoffs and what Indiana showed on Saturday …

Cigetti: You know, we didn’t handle the noise very well. We just didn’t. They are an excellent football team. And I didn’t think we played our best game today. But I think a lot of it was down to them.

(Follow-up question on whether Indiana deserves to be in the playoffs…)

Cignetti: I don’t make those decisions. I think it’s probably more important now that I’m focusing on our next game. A big in-state rival against Purdue that Indiana hasn’t beaten in how many years? Since 2019. I think that has to be everyone’s focus.

On Ohio State’s final touchdown…

Cignetti: No. He has to do what he has to do for his team.

What changed for the Indiana offense after its first series…

Cignetti: Good question and it’s hard for me to remember series two and three and what happened through it. I think we had some opportunities. We got down in that end zone, it seemed like we were down there for a quarter and a half. And they just pestered us. I don’t know if it was the silent count and the trigger of the guard. They were able to time a few flashes. We couldn’t protect the quarterback. We probably threw the ball a little more, we didn’t try to run the ball. We didn’t get anything going, that’s really what happened. We had five or six series where we didn’t get anything done on offense.

On Kurtis Rourke’s day and what caused trouble…

Cignetti: It will be a combination of things. It kind of snowballs on you. One time it’s this thing, the next time it’s that.

If Indiana’s defense plays well and what can be taken away from that…

Cignetti: I thought so too. I know there were some moments where the defensive coaches weren’t really happy. They now have some guys on offense that can make plays. If you take out the last long run, when it was 31-15, they basically drove four minutes there. They ran a wedge play and the guys spit it 39 yards down to about the 1. You take that run from there and they’re under 300 yards of total offense. Not bad, but offense and special teams have to take their toll. But I think our defense played hard and they’ve been pretty consistent all year…as has our football team. But we are talking about today.

If the pass protection issues started to wear on the players…

Cignetti: No, maybe the pressure of the moment was the wrong term. Maybe it was the ability of the opponent. That’s a good football team that went to Oregon and lost the last drive of the game at Oregon on a controversial offensive PI call. This team is loaded. Loaded.

If he was surprised the Hoosiers didn’t handle the noise well…

Cignetti: I thought we could handle it at our normal cadence based on the reports we had received. Some of the lineman could hear, but the center couldn’t. We had to be quiet. It was no problem. We got the ball rolling.

If Indiana should be one of the 12 teams in the playoffs based on assignments…

Cignetti: Is that a serious question? I’m not even going to answer that. The answer is so obvious.