Curt Cignetti said not to expect too many freshmen to play. He meant it.

BLOOMINGTON – Curt Cignetti proved a man of his word over the weekend, when IU’s participation report dropped postgame.

Cignetti, whose staff was intentional last winter about leaning heavily into the transfer portal to hasten its roster rebuild, said he didn’t expect very many freshmen on the field against Florida International. A participation report counting just two newcomer freshmen following Saturday’s 31-7 win backed him up.

“The best guys play,” Cignetti said the previous week, “and we’re a veteran team. We’ve got a lot of new guys. We’ve got a lot of seniors on this football team, so I wouldn’t anticipate seeing many freshmen out there.”

This is annual calculus for college football coaches.

More IU football: It’s great fans are showing up. It would be better if they stay.

Especially in the portal era, moneyed football programs like the ones you’ll find in the Big Ten are bound to field their share of transfers each season. Even more so for teams that experience a coaching change, like Indiana.

Still, these are the games coaches tend to target for freshmen meant to see the field but keep their redshirt by appearing in no more than four games. The margin for error is greater, and the opponent less dangerous. It generally makes more sense to ease in young players against Florida International than, say, Nebraska.

But Cignetti stayed true to his word Saturday. The best players played, and few of those were freshmen.

“That doesn’t mean you might not see one or two,” he said prior to FIU, “but it’s all based on who can help us be successful, who’s ready to play winning football.”

The participation report — a full accounting of every Hoosier that entered a game — only listed linebacker Rolijah Hardy and defensive lineman Mario Landino among true freshmen who played (Hardy is…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/curt-cignetti-said-not-expect-083635342.html

Author : IndyStar | The Indianapolis Star

Publish date : 2024-09-04 08:36:35

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