Why was Curt Cignetti so emotional after win at Penn State? Decades of frustration for his family
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BLOOMINGTON — The biggest upset Saturday at Beaver Stadium was Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti nearly shedding a few tears.
Cignetti, who rarely displays emotion outside of a grim determination to beat the opposing team, got choked up in a post-game interview with Fox sideline Jenny Taft after his team pulled out a 27-24 comeback win.
He revisited the moment during his weekly press conference Monday.
“I did get a little choked up there at the end just because I was so proud of our guys,” Cignetti said. “Our backs were against the wall there, and boy, it wasn’t looking very good, and in that venue, 105,000 people, and Penn State was playing really well.”
The Nittany Lions erased a 13-point deficit in the second half with quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer outplaying Fernando Mendoza, and Nicholas Singleton breaking through with a pair of explosive plays.
Penn State was a first down away from ending a five-game losing streak, but that’s when Cignetti said IU found a way to “flip the switch.”
After getting an elusive defensive stop, Mendoza orchestrated a 10-play, 80-yard drive that ended with Omar Cooper Jr. making a leaping grab in the back of the end zone.
The offense piled up more yards on the drive (80) than it had during the rest of the half (77).
“Let me tell you, Penn State got players,” Cignetti said. “I give them a lot of credit. I’ve got a lot of respect for that program. That was a great place to play. Their fans were awesome. They had it cranked up, and we found a way to flip the switch and get the momentum back and make the plays.”
What went unsaid until Monday was how much Cignetti’s own history fueled his emotion surrounding the matchup.
“I guess part of it, probably, I was thinking about it a little bit,” Cignetti said. “My first time in that stadium was 1971 and every two years I was in that stadium for about 15, 16 years, and I can tell you there were a lot of long rides home. Not many happy rides home.”
His father, Frank Cignetti Sr., went winless against Penn State as both an assistant on West Virginia (0-6) and the program’s head coach (0-4). Curt went 0-4 during his collegiate career for the Mountaineers.
Penn State’s average margin of victory over the Cignettis at Beaver Stadium during that stretch was 31.6 points.
Curt Cignetti was 1-3 against Penn State as an assistant with Pittsburgh and Alabama. The lone win came in a game at Tuscaloosa in 2010.
“You think about my journey, 10, 15 years ago, did I ever think I’d lead a team into that stadium? No,” Cignetti said. “Lead a team into that stadium victorious?”
Those memories were enough to break Cignetti’s stoic demeanor after the game for the briefest of moments.
“It meant a lot,” Cignetti said.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Why Curt Cignetti was emotional after Indiana football win at Penn State
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