Curt Cignetti warns Indiana safeties must tighten up despite rout of Kennesaw State: 'We’ve got to get better at safety'

The scoreboard told one story, but Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti’s eyes told another Monday.

Indiana football rolled to a 56-9 rout of Kennesaw State on Saturday, the kind of early September win that normally allows a coach to exhale. Yet when Cignetti sat down to dissect the film, what he saw left him unsettled: Indiana’s defense, particularly its safeties, had been burned by far too many explosive plays.

“They had drives of 63, 64, 44 and 50 consecutively, and we had a number of missed assignments, poor alignments, the fast balls, particularly in the middle of the field where they’re going fast, were not aligned correctly,” Cignetti said Monday.

MORE: Coach Q&A: Curt Cignetti previews Indiana’s Week 3 clash with Indiana State

For a program that built much of last year’s 10-win season on a reputation for suffocating big plays, the sudden cracks in the secondary stand out.

In 2024, Indiana never gave up more than six chunk plays — plays of 20 yards or more — in a game. Through two weeks this fall, it has already surrendered nine — seven of them coming against the Owls. Four came through the air, three on the ground.

The Owls’ quarterback, Amari Odom, feasted on the miscues. He connected on three of his four throws that traveled 20 yards or more for 104 yards, per Pro Football Focus. The only miss? A dropped pass.

For Cignetti, the issue wasn’t schematic breakdowns at the coaching level but poor execution and sluggish recognition from his back end.

“The calls are getting in quick enough, and the communication from Aiden [Fisher] is getting done quick enough,” Cignetti said, referring to his veteran linebacker’s on-field role in setting alignments. “Now, one time maybe he set the strength to the right and maybe he could have set it to the left, but the guys on the back end got to get lined up faster, and that’s the safety position primarily.”

The most glaring example came on a second-quarter sequence when Kennesaw State lined up in an empty set. Indiana’s safeties — Amare Ferrell, Louis Moore and rover Devan Boykin — all drifted to the wrong side of the formation. Kennesaw State wideout Lyndon Ravare broke free for 34 yards before cornerback Jamari Sharpe chased him down and forced a fumble that Cignetti called the “play of the day.”

“On that particular play, ball is in the middle of the field, they come out in empty, three by two, and we set the strength wrong, and then they motioned to a four by one and we’ve got guys all over the place,” Cignetti said.

Those are the kinds of errors that might not sink Indiana against Old Dominion or Kennesaw State but could prove fatal against Illinois, Iowa, Oregon or Penn State. The Hoosiers are stepping into Big Ten play soon, and opponents will not need a second invitation to exploit a secondary slow to align.

Cignetti admitted his frustration wasn’t a blanket indictment of the group. He sees potential in the starting trio on the back end and emphasized their mistakes stem from correctable details.

“We’ve got to get better at safety,” Cignetti said. “They’re capable of — they’re not playing bad, but they’re capable of playing better.”

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But circumstances complicate the path forward. Indiana is already thin at safety after losing Bryson Bonds to a season-ending knee injury in the opener and freshman Byron Baldwin Jr. sidelined with an undisclosed injury. Depth chart reinforcements last weekend included Jah Jah Boyd, walk-on Anthony Chung and rover Jaylen Bell.

And then there’s Moore, the veteran starter whose 14 tackles and two interceptions have been a bright spot but whose eligibility is clouded by a pending NCAA lawsuit hearing. The uncertainty looms large with a colossal clash with Illinois set for two weeks from now.

“That one is sort of day-to-day depending on health status of a guy or two,” Cignetti said of his lineup decisions at safety.

For now, Indiana will savor its 56-9 win but with an asterisk. Cignetti has made clear that big plays allowed are not a luxury his team can afford.

The Hoosiers climbed to the cusp of national relevance last season by being disciplined and airtight on the back end. With conference play looming, rediscovering that identity is no longer optional — it’s urgent.

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