Indiana looks to turn the page after Week 1 win: 'We should get much better this week'

For Indiana in Week 1, it felt a lot like déjà vu.

A less talented opponent, a slow start, a strong finish, but a win nonetheless accompanied both Week 1 of 2024, as well as Saturday’s Week 1 contest against Old Dominion to open the 2025 season.

The coaches realized that quickly, and so did the players, but everyone inside Indiana’s program is quick to turn the page, while also looking to correct what went wrong against the Monarchs.

“A little bit like Groundhog Day, to be honest. Like FIU, dominate the game, not reflective on the scoreboard. Not happy with the way the offense played in the second half of FIU in the red area in this game, and the fans left at halftime. But it all felt like Groundhog Day to me,” Curt Cignetti said during his media availability on Monday.

For those not familiar with the premise of the 1993 film Groundhog Day, the main character relives the same day over and over again. In the movie, of course, what’s being repeated is February 2, but for Indiana, what was repeated were silly Week 1 mistakes that lead to a lackluster performance.

The 2024 team was able to get back on track with a 77-3 win against Western Illinois, but will the 2025 squad be able to do the same with Kennesaw State coming to town for Week 2? Time will certainly tell, but the Hoosiers are determined to repeat the success of Week 2 in 2024 against Kennesaw State this time around.

In order to do so, Indiana is looking within itself to get better, as both sides of the ball experienced areas of frustration in Week 1. Center Pat Coogan and cornerback D’Angelo Ponds spoke with the media on Tuesday after practice, with both sharing a similar sentiment that the Hoosiers’ performance against ODU wasn’t good enough, and they’re doing everything in their power to improve throughout practice this week.

Game Week Q&A: Pat Coogan, D’Angelo Ponds preview Week 2 contest against Kennesaw State

On how similar 2025 feels to 2024, Ponds said: “I would say the same. We struggled a little bit last year from different sides of the ball with different things.” He added, “It’s Week 1, so everybody has something to work on around the country, so I feel like there’s no panic around the defense. Like, I feel like we’re going to be good.”

With improvement as the clear goal across the team, the Hoosiers are a united front. Each unit understands what it needs to do, and for Coogan, he mentioned that these conversations began right away after defeating Old Dominion.

“It started on Sunday and Monday with people taking accountability and people and us looking in the mirror and being like, we have to be better. There’s no doubt about it,” he told reporters. “So that was the first step and then, you know, we had a great Tuesday practice and it’s going to lead into Wednesday and, you know, but at the same time, we can’t dwell on it, right?”

“Like we got to be like, all right, you know, we know what we did wrong. We know how to fix it, which is good because we know how to fix it and then we got to move on and get better from there,” Coogan explained.

Indiana is putting its performance in the rearview mirror, but at the same time it’ll always be in the back of the Hoosiers’ minds. Like Coogan said, they won’t dwell on it, the past is in the past, but if you’re not taking accountability for previous mistakes, you’re not getting better.

Cignetti has made it clear that his team got the result it wanted — a win. This doesn’t mean that Indiana is satisfied, because it never is. Only until a national championship banner is flying over Memorial Stadium will Curt Cignetti be satisfied, and that’s simply how it is.

Entering a matchup with Kennesaw State in Week 2, everyone knows the objective: win first, but always be getting better. Indiana has a great opportunity to get both of these down against the Owls, as there’s a significant talent gap between the two teams.

The Hoosiers are expected to win, but they won’t take anything for granted. A loss could doom their CFP hopes, giving the matchup with KSU great importance, despite the game not looking so entertaining on paper.

MORE: ‘The sky’s the limit’ for Indiana’s ‘underrated’ safety Amare Ferrell

After what Coogan described as a “great” start to the week, look for Indiana to be more polished, especially against a mobile quarterback on defense and in the red zone on offense. Cignetti was clear that these were the two major areas of disappointment on Saturday, giving his team a golden opportunity to improve right off the bat.

It was just one game of football that prompted this type of response, and it’s just one game of football being played on Saturday, but constantly getting better is the only way to progress through what hopes to be a successful season.

If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.

In an extremely competitive Big Ten Conference, Indiana is right there, but it’ll need to work on some things in these next two nonconference games. When No. 11 Illinois comes to town on Sept. 20, the Hoosiers will need to bring out their A-game.

That A-game hasn’t quite been discovered yet, and that’s OK, but Cignetti and Indiana won’t stop until that’s achieved.

“Gotta get better, period, all the way around. Gotta get better. And we should get much better this week.”

Not yet a member of TheHoosier?  Join our community for Just $1 for your first week and get a complimentary year of The Athletic included with your membership. Join here!

Use the code “IND20” on Rhoback.com for a generous 20% off for all new customers through the end of this week. Rhoback — Best Fit, Best Feel.