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Indiana’s Cinderella season under first-year coach Curt Cignetti came to an end Friday night, with the 10th-seeded Hoosiers falling at No. 7 seed Notre Dame in the first on-campus College Football Playoff game.
While Indiana did commit some mistakes in the 27-17 loss — notably an interception at the 2-yard line that resulted in a Jeremiyah Love 98-yard touchdown — the final outcome was largely a result of being out-played and out-manned by the Fighting Irish.
There was a moment in the fourth quarter, however, that raised questions among fans watching the game. Facing fourth-and-11 at the Notre Dame 48 and trailing 20-3, Cignetti elected to punt the ball back to the Fighting Irish, despite there being only 10:34 left of game clock.
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ESPN announcers Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy were confused at Cignetti’s decision as they called the play in real time.
“Indiana is going to punt… I’m very surprised.” – Sean McDonough on Curt Cignetti’s decision
“I don’t understand… It makes no sense.” – Greg McElroy
“I don’t get this at all. He’s really punting it… That’s a head-scratcher to me.” – McDonough 🏈🎙️ #CFP pic.twitter.com/VYbACXoRJb
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 21, 2024
Speaking to reporters after the game, Cignetti said he “didn’t want to punt,” but that he couldn’t rationalize going for it on fourth-and-11 based on what his offense had done to that point.
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“I didn’t want to punt. But we were doing nothing on offense. And our defense was fighting. That was the only positive, really, that I could draw, was that our defense was still fighting,” Cignetti said. “Because offense was doing nothing….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/indianas-curt-cignetti-explains-punt-060103603.html
Author : USA TODAY Sports
Publish date : 2024-12-21 06:01:00
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