‘All you can do is turn on the tv and be impressed’: IU football heads into final stretch of season — the ‘Triangle of Triumph’

Producers couldn’t write this potential ending for IU football any better than what it’s set up to be at the moment. On December 1, Curt Cignetti walked into Assembly Hall on the day he was introduced as the head coach and put together his most famous quote up to this point.

“Purdue sucks,” he said. “And so do Michigan and Ohio State.”

At that point, it turned heads. But not in the positive way. He hadn’t coached a power four game and was taking over an Indiana program that had won just nine games in three seasons prior.

Fast forward to this weekend and Indiana is 9-0 and has the potential to move to 10-0, making it the best season in program history.

And on Saturday vs Michigan, Cignetti has the first chance at completing his ‘Triangle of Triumph’.

“He’s going to have these three games to finish the year. So he’s got the Triangle of Triumph,” FOX national analyst Joel Klatt said of Cignetti.

The final two games of the season come against — no other than Ohio State and Purdue.

Outside of it being the ‘Triangle of Triumph’ — coined by Klatt — Indiana has a chance to cement its spot in the College Football Playoff. When the first rankings were revealed on Tuesday night, it was with Indiana ranked No. 8 overall and the No. 9 seed in the bracket. Ohio State? The 2-ssed.

While the hope and expectation from the IU football program is to end the regular season undefeated, there is still a chance a one-loss Indiana team can make it in the playoffs — if that loss is to Ohio State.

The Hoosiers have been one of the most dominant teams in the country all season, regardless of conference. They have won every game by at least 14 points and have a margin of victory of 32.9 points per game.

“All you can do is turn on the tv and be impressed,” Klatt said of Indiana. “Every team in the country — everyone — has played at least one game where you sit back and think to yourself, ‘what was that?’ … Indiana hasn’t done that. They have been the model of consistency.”

Despite all of the talk, Cignetti continues to push forward as he’s done all year — block out the outside noise and continue to hit a hard reset every single week.

“I’m aware of it,” Cignetti said. “But to get kind of caught up on that and lose your focus would be the kiss of death.”

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