Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti has never been one to bite his tongue, and he certainly didn’t start Monday night with a national championship on the line.
During a heated College Football Playoff National Championship clash between the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers and the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes, Cignetti unloaded on the officiating. The fiery coach was specifically livid over what he described as multiple missed personal foul calls on his star quarterback, Fernando Mendoza.
Curt Cignetti: "There's three personal fouls on the quarterback not called in one drive that need to be called because they're obvious personal fouls. I'm all for letting them play. But when you cross the line, you gotta call it. They were black and white calls."
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“There’s three personal fouls on the quarterback not called in one drive that need to be called because they’re obvious personal fouls,” Cignetti said during the game. “I’m all for letting them play. But when you cross the line, you gotta call it. They were black and white calls.”
The frustration came as the Hurricanes’ defense, led by Rueben Bain Jr., ramped up the pressure on the Heisman Trophy winner. While Miami struggled to move the ball early, totaling just 69 yards in the first half, their defensive front played with a physical edge that clearly irked the Indiana staff. At halftime, Indiana held a 10-0 lead, but the story was as much about the hits Mendoza was taking as it was the score.
Statistically, the Indiana Hoosiers dominated the early flow, holding a massive advantage in total yards (83-18) by the end of the first quarter. Mendoza was clinical, completing 12-of-19 passes for 116 yards in the first half, while the Hurricanes’ Carson Beck struggled to find any rhythm against a stingy Indiana defense, allowing just 11.1 points per game.
Cignetti’s “Cignetti Effect” has brought Indiana to the brink of a historic 16-0 season, but if the officials don’t start reaching for their flags, the Hoosiers’ path to the title might get a lot more painful.
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