Indiana HC Curt Cignetti couldn’t help but make an honest admission about this matchup with Ohio State on Saturday
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti was open and honest about his thoughts on this Week 7 battle between his team and Ohio State.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are 5-1 in the 2026 college football season, and the schedule is about to get a lot tougher. Ohio State travels to face the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday in a top 5 Big Ten battle.
This game is a rematch of last year’s Big Ten Championship Game, which Indiana won 13-10. Before that, Ohio State took care of Indiana 38-15 in their 2024 meeting.
Ahead of the showdown, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti made an honest admission about the matchup with the Buckeyes.
Indiana and Ohio State set for a top 5 Big Ten rematch
Indiana will come into this game with a 6-0 record. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes are slight favorites on the road against the Hoosiers, which tells you how close this one projects to be.
The Buckeyes’ schedule takes a turn upward with this trip. A matchup between two top 5 Big Ten teams carries weight on its own, and the title game loss from a year ago only adds to it. Saturday should be a good one.
Cignetti didn’t hide how he feels about the setting for this game. Speaking ahead of the matchup, the Indiana coach made it clear he’s glad to be playing this one at home.
“I’m glad we’re playing at home. We really need our crowd to be loud and very involved. We gotta give them reasons to be. It’s just a football game, but I’m glad it’s at home. It’s two good teams — two really good teams. A great team we’re playing. I’m not sure how good we are yet. But our crowds have been awesome and we need it to be loud. Real loud.”
That’s Cignetti giving Ohio State its props. His comments about being glad to play at home stand out the most. Cignetti essentially admitted he doesn’t want to be playing this Ohio State team on the road this season, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Home-field advantage matters in these kinds of matchups. Not having to deal with a road environment against a team of Ohio State’s caliber is a win for Indiana before kickoff. Additionally, Cignetti calling the Buckeyes “a great team” while saying he isn’t sure how good his own group is yet shows the respect he has for this opponent.
Ohio State has a chance to add another quality win
Ohio State is more battle-tested than the Hoosiers coming into Saturday. Still, the Buckeyes are going to have to go out and prove it against No. 5 Indiana in a hostile environment.
Saturday is a great chance for Ohio State to pick up another quality win to pair with its victory over Iowa. A ranked road win would look nice on the Buckeyes’ resume. That kind of result could carry real weight later in the season, when it matters in the College Football Playoff rankings.
On the flip side, Indiana has a chance to make a statement of its own at home with an undefeated record on the line. The Hoosiers got the better of Ohio State in last year’s title game, and Cignetti wants his crowd to help them do it again.
