Indiana weathers midweek complacency, stormy skies to top Michigan State

Rain fell on Memorial Stadium Saturday night — hard, relentless, uninvited — but it didn’t dampen Indiana’s celebration. If anything, it felt fitting. Because before the skies opened over Bloomington, Curt Cignetti had already done some raining of his own, dousing his team’s post-Oregon euphoria to make sure the Hoosiers’ parade didn’t start too early.

By the time the final drops splashed down on Indiana’s 38–13 win over Michigan State, both storms — meteorological and metaphorical — had served their purpose.

Late in the second quarter, the first drops began to fall. Lightning soon cracked across the sky, forcing a 19-minute weather delay that stretched halftime beyond its usual rhythm. Players retreated to the locker room, soaked and restless. When they returned, the rain came in bursts — off and on, swirling under the lights throughout the second half, right up until the clock hit zero and Indiana had secured its second straight victory over the Spartans for the first time since the mid-1990s.

But to get there, the Hoosiers first had to survive the week that followed their biggest win in half a century — a week where the downpour Cignetti feared most wasn’t water from the sky, but complacency creeping into his locker room.

“We’ve seen teams come off a big win and be complacent,” quarterback Fernando Mendoza said following Saturday’s win. “Coach Cignetti made that a point throughout the week, to never be complacent.”

A week earlier, Indiana had stormed into Autzen Stadium and stunned then–No. 3 Oregon in what was hailed as one of the most significant wins in program history. The triumph vaulted the Hoosiers to No. 3 in the AP Poll — their highest ranking ever — and catapulted the program into the national spotlight.

But in the wake of that victory, Cignetti saw something that set off alarms.

“Coming off that big road win last week, we all are aware of the potential issues you’re dealing with there,” Cignetti said, his voice even but deliberate.

SEE ALSO: Coach Q&A: Curt Cignetti reacts to Indiana’s Week 8 win over Michigan State

The first practices of the week told him everything he needed to know. The edge was gone. The crispness was dulled. The urgency had faded.

“Monday and Tuesday, you could tell there was a lot of complacency around the team,” wideout Omar Cooper said. “We were a little lackadaisical and moving slower than normal — than we have in past weeks.”

For a team still learning how to carry the weight of expectation, the game against Michigan State was a perfect trap: a lesser opponent, an emotional hangover from a historic win and all the outside noise swirling around a suddenly top-five Indiana team.

By Thursday, Cignetti had seen enough. After practice, he gathered his team and — as players later put it — made sure the message hit home.

“Stay focused and keep the main thing the main thing,” wide receiver Elijah Sarratt recalled. “Preaching the main stuff that he always does — not to look ahead of this team.”

Linebacker Aiden Fisher said the point was clear: “Just making sure that we’re not feeling too good about ourselves off a win like that.”

It worked.

“We had a conversation, at least the defensive guys did, [about] we have to get rid of that stuff, hone back in on the details and humble ourselves,” Fisher said. “I think we did a good job the back half of the week.”

Cignetti didn’t downplay the intensity of that moment.

“Look, you can’t be a real nice guy when you have a job like mine,” he said. “What did Mike Krzyzewski say when he retired? He said, toughest opponent he’s ever faced was human nature.

“Well, human nature after winning against Oregon is to be happy and relaxed, support staff, coaches, players, trainers. My job is to make sure they’ve got the right mindset ready to play. It’s not always fun, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

By the weekend, the shift was obvious. Practices grew sharper. The Hoosiers’ focus returned. Fisher said it was the kind of week that separates good teams from great ones.

“You really have to be kind of like a maniac about it,” Fisher said. “Do not let that get in. Be scared of complacency, be scared of feeling good about yourself too much where it’s not confidence, it’s cockiness.”

MORE: Players Q&A: Indiana players react to Indiana’s home win over Michigan State

So when the rain began to fall and the lightning delay stretched halftime, Indiana didn’t blink. They’d already been through a storm.

Mendoza led touchdown drive after touchdown drive, despite the slick conditions. The defense smothered Michigan State in the second half. And when the final whistle blew, the Hoosiers stood drenched and defiant, their celebration unspoiled by the rain above.

“I thought the team and the staff did a good job really focusing in on this next opponent and the challenge that it could present,” Cignetti said.

For the second straight year, Indiana hoisted the Old Brass Spittoon — a symbol of old-school grit reclaimed under a steady downpour. But the real victory came earlier in the week, when Cignetti refused to let the Hoosiers bask too long in their own sunshine.

Cignetti had rained on their parade. And on Saturday night, under a Bloomington sky that seemed determined to join in, Indiana proved why that was exactly what they needed.

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