Curt Cinetti entered Friday's College Football Playoff opener with a cocky attitude and confidence that his Indiana team can beat anyone.
But that attitude didn't translate into play-calling, at least late in the game when they lost 27-17.
Trailing 20-3 with 10 minutes and 34 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Indiana found itself in a fourth-and-11 situation at the Notre Dame 48-yard line, and many, including those in the ESPN broadcast booth, believed the Hoosiers were on the offensive. I expected it to go. Their season is at stake.
But that wasn't the case.
Cininetti sent out punter James Evans, who sent the ball into the Fighting Irish 22.
“I don't get this at all. … He's really punting,” play-by-play man Sean McDonough said. “That's a headache for me.”
Now, if Indiana thought they could keep Notre Dame off the scoreboard and get the ball in advantageous territory, they were quickly proven wrong.
After a nine-play, 78-yard drive, quarterback Riley Leonard ran in for a 1-yard touchdown, extending Notre Dame's lead to 27-3.
The lackluster performance came after Cignetti went on “College GameDay” and said he's not afraid of any top team.
“We didn't just beat the top 25 teams, we beat the top teams out of them,” he said.
That wasn't the case Friday night.
“They brought it to us,” Cinetti said after the game. “They won, they deserved to win. We didn't play our best game, but they contributed a lot to that tonight.”
