Curt Cignetti takes shot at Illinois: 'This will be a more difficult challenge than the last one'

Saturday’s game has come and gone, but Illinois is still taking a beating at the hands of Curt Cignetti and Indiana. A couple days after steamrolling the Fighting Illini by a score of 63-10, Cignetti circled back to deliver one more critical blow to Illinois in his Monday press conference.

While previewing Week 5’s matchup against Iowa, the Hoosiers coach talked about the challenge the Hakwyes presented. He also appeared to make a dig toward the Fighting Illini and coach Bret Beliema.

“Iowa, it’s a tough place to play, Kinnick Stadium,” Cignetti said. “They sell out almost every Saturday. It’s loud. We’re going to have to play well. This will be a challenge, a more difficult challenge than the last one, for sure. And the sooner our guys realize that, the better.”

Illinois entered Saturday ranked No. 9 in the country, but Indiana exposed the Fighting Illini as anything but a top 10 team. The Hoosiers led 35-10 at halftime and held Illinois scoreless in the second half in the rout.

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza had only two incompletions on the day as he finished with 267 yards passing and five touchdowns with no interceptions. The Hoosiers improved to 4-0 (1-0 Big Ten) on the young season and shot up to No. 11 in this week’s AP Poll, signaling their arrival as contenders.

Illinois, on the other hand, dropped 14 spots to No. 23 in the top 25 and looks more like pretenders. It’s hard to blame Cignetti for thinking Iowa might pose more of a challenge than a team he just beat by more than 50 points.

Regardless, it looks like Curt Cignetti could have the Hoosiers back as a College Football Playoff contender one year after leading them there in his inaugural season. But first, Indiana will look to take care of Iowa when the game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. Cignetti knows there’s still a lot of work ahead to prepare for that one.

“Regardless of the final score, there’s always things that show up on tape that have got to get corrected,” Cignetti said. “Believe me, there’s plenty there. So really more interested in moving on to our next opponent, which will be a real challenge at Iowa. Got a lot of respect for Coach (Kirk) Ferentz, everything he’s accomplished throughout his career as a head coach and as an assistant, too.”