While Marcus Freeman didn’t know a lot about Curt Cignetti before it was announced that their teams would meet in the College Football Playoff, Notre Dame’s head coach quickly became impressed with the credentials of his Indiana counterpart.
A quick Google search on Cignetti shows that he’s been a highly successful coach since 2011 when he took his first head coaching job at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
In six years at IUP, Cignetti led the Hawks to a 53-17 record and they reached the NCAA Division II football championship three times. From there, he moved on to Elon. The Phoenix went 14-9 in two years under Cignetti before he took the head coaching job at James Madison. The Dukes won a lot under Cignetti, going 52-9 over five years. James Madison reached the NCAA Division I FCS football playoffs in each of his first three years leading the program before moving to FBS after the 2021 season.
Freeman had a similar quick Google search after learning who the Fighting Irish would be facing in the CFP.
“I didn’t know much about him,” Freeman said, in a video shared on X Mike Berardino of the South Bend Tribune. “I took a minute and Googled him and looked at some of the things he’s done in the past at his other places. He’s won everywhere he’s been. He’s done a great job and we expect a great opponent.”
WATCH: #NDFootball coach Marcus Freeman on @IndianaFootball coach Curt “Google Me” Cignetti: “I took a minute and Googled him.” @CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/CxTipmkqbk
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) December 8, 2024
Freeman continued to praise the Indiana team, speaking highly of both its offense and defense. So, whatever awareness he lacked of Cignetti or the Hoosiers team before Sunday, Freeman knows he’s facing a formidable foe.
Another Google search shows that the Fighting Irish hold a 23-5-1 lead in the series with the Hoosiers. Granted, that says nothing about the current teams. Despite the close proximity of the schools (South Bend and Bloomington are roughly 200 miles apart), the Notre Dame and Indiana football programs haven’t seen much of each other recently. They were semi-regular opponents through the early part of the 20th Century. The Fighting Irish and Hoosiers met 28 times from 1898-1958. Since that 1958 game, the two schools have only met on the gridiron once — a 47-29 Notre Dame win in 1991.
Overall, the Fighting Irish lead the series 23-5-1 with Indiana’s last win coming in 1950.
[Mike Bernadino on X]
