Curt Cignetti, Indiana not falling for 'rat poison': 'It's time to sharpen the saw'
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Indiana football has been the story of the 2025-26 college football season, as the Hoosiers are 15-0 and have achieved a historic turnaround with a national championship game bid.
Coach Curt Cignetti isn’t focused on the attention surrounding his program and is looking forward to taking on Miami on Monday, Jan. 19. He even called back to an old Nick Saban quote about avoiding the “rat poison.”
Cignetti, who was the receivers coach at Alabama on Saban’s inaugural staff, brought up the sentiment when talking about his team’s togetherness this season.
“I think leading up to this game, there’s been a lot of pro Indiana hype, a lot of rat poison out there,” Cignetti said Jan. 18. “I happened to see Holly Rowe’s thing on social media this morning about our guys hugging each other at the end of practice. It is a close team. I’ve witnessed quite a bit of sentimentalism throughout the week from some of our seniors who we’ve been with quite a long time.”
Indiana has won both of its College Football Playoff games against Alabama and Oregon by 35 and 34 points, respectively. It has won 13 of its 15 games this season by double-digits, with its single-digit wins against Penn State on the road and Ohio State in the Big Ten Conference Championship game.
Lots of talk has been made of Indiana’s roster, including its transfer portal-heavy class from James Madison, Cignetti’s former employer, and the lack of 5-star recruits.
Cignetti, in Norman Dale fashion, said it’s time to ditch the underdog narrative.
“I think it’s time to sharpen the saw now, throw those warm fuzzies out the door, that sentimentalism,” Cignetti said. “It’s time to go play a game against a great opponent. We’ve got to have a sharp edge going into this game. You don’t go to war with warm milk and cookies.”
Beating Miami won’t be easy. All the Hurricanes have done during the CFP is upset their opponents, taking down Texas A&M on the road before beating Ohio State and Mississippi.
Indiana and Miami are set for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Curt Cignetti, Indiana not falling for ‘rat poison’ vs Miami
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