'It's just another game': Despite implications, Hoosiers aren't treating Illinois matchup differently

Saturday’s clash between No. 9 Illinois and No. 19 Indiana has an opportunity to be the biggest matchup in the history of Memorial Stadium, and yet the Hoosiers are treating it just like any other game.

We’ve all seen it on social media, with fans of both teams clamoring that their squad is primed for one of the biggest wins in their program’s history. For Indiana though, they couldn’t care less about the numbers next to the two teams’ names.

They’re focused on the here and now, with an opportunity to go 1-0 this week on the horizon — nothing less, nothing more.

“I wouldn’t say it’s anything different. I just think it’s just the next game. We have plenty of, you know, opponents in the future and I think this is just a big game just because it’s the next game. That’s it,” defensive lineman Mikail Kamara said following Tuesday’s practice.

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For Kamara, it’s just another 60 minutes of football against a different opponent. While it’s a conference game with more implications than the Hoosiers’ previous three matchups, he isn’t hung up on what others are saying about his team’s contest on Saturday.

Fellow defensive lineman Kellan Wyatt shares a familiar view, as he also explained that he doesn’t look at the 7:30 p.m. kickoff against Illinois any differently than a game with less commotion surrounding it.

“To me it’s just another game,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “No, this is just another game to me. And I don’t really look at it as a big game.”

Some might argue that Indiana should put more stock into this one, as if you underestimate the Illini, it could prove disastrous. In a game with College Football Playoff implications, why would Indiana take this approach?

Well, according to the players, it’s how the program feels from top to bottom.

“I think it starts at the top with Cig,” Wyatt explained regarding how head coach Curt Cignetti’s mindset has shaped how the entire program thinks.

“He puts a lot of pressure on us throughout the week, and when he stresses that through practice, I think when it comes to Saturday, Saturday is pretty easy for the most part,” Wyatt added.

With intensity in practice, coupled with Cignetti’s message resonating with the players, Indiana is aligned as a team with the view that playing Illinois isn’t anything special. It’s simply an opportunity to continue working toward the goal of returning to the CFP.

Some may call this arrogance, others might love it, but at the end of the day, the Hoosiers couldn’t care less about what anyone on the outside is saying about them.

“I think at least me personally, it’s just I’m not really concerned about what other people have to say outside of this facility or outside of that locker room,” Kamara explained.

Cignetti’s teams have never cared, or even taken the time to listen to the noise. They’re completely focused on the task at hand, and preparation doesn’t change because a collection of voters believe the opponent is better than the last.

It’s been that way for the past two years, as since Cignetti first stepped foot in Bloomington, he’s held the same viewpoint that he holds today. That is, of course, to meet every week with the same focus and attention to detail, with a W always the end goal.

“I’m always focused in on the game regardless. So for me it doesn’t really change much,” Cignetti said during his press conference on Monday.

“I’m totally focused on the here and now and this team. So I think we made good progress last week and now we’ve got to have a good week of prep so we can play our best Saturday night. And I don’t look down the road at who we play, this and that,” he added.

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Don’t look at this and come to the conclusion that Indiana is overlooking Illinois, as the opposite is the case. The Hoosiers simply don’t care about what the media or the fans are saying. Indiana respects what coach Bret Bielema and the Illini do, but that doesn’t mean they’ll treat Saturday’s matchup differently.

It’s nothing special, and that’s by design. Indiana comes in with a goal, and that goal won’t be clouded by Playoff chatter, rivalry talk or any sort of naysayers. The Hoosiers are focused, and their mentality is simple, as Kamara explains.

“I just think we just go in there, do our fundamentals, and execute, and we come out with the win.”

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