The Indiana football program ushers in a new era of football in Bloomington as Florida International comes to town for the season opener.
Indiana football will be debuting the Curt Cignetti tenure on Saturday with a great deal of excitement from the IU fanbase.
Head coach Mike MacIntyre, quarterback Keyone Jenkins and linebacker Reggie Peterson discussed Indiana football and the matchup earlier this week.
Below are some notable quotes from MacIntyre in addition to video Q&As from all three.
On Indiana football program: “They have 31 new transfers, 17 new freshmen, new coaching staff, so totally revamped team and the guys that stayed have a lot of pride in being there. They brought a lot of guys from James Madison with them and (I) was kinda laughing they brought three to four guys from Old Dominion which is their big rival with them to Indiana … we’ve been watching all James Madison film and the (Indiana) spring game film — we don’t get film but the copy from the Big Ten Network … we would think they will do a lot of what they did at James Madison. And, they were extremely successful. They brought the same defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator, a lot of the same players so our assumption is they’ll do a lot of the same offense, same defense, they brought the same special teams coordinator. So we’ve been watching a lot of that.”
On Kurtis Rourke: “He had a heck of a career at Ohio University. Was the MAC Offensive Player of the Year one year and First Team All-C0nference. He had an excellent year two years ago and last year got injured — coming off an ACL. He looked good in the spring game moving around and throwing it. He’s big, almost 6-5. He’s 225 pounds, so he’s a big thrower and can also run it. He has a lot of experience, so we expect him to play well.”
On the new-look Indiana rushing attack: “Two of their guys are their guys from James Madison … they really understand their running game. I don’t think they’ll drop off as far — and then they have a new guy coming in from Wake Forest … they’ve replaced them (the old IU running backs) with good players, especially with the two guys that know their offense, would fit quickly so their running game won’t suffer. And I would expect in the pass protection. they know how to pick it up from what they did at James Madison.”
On Curt Cignetti: “Curt’s done great wherever he’s been. He’ll end up doing a heck of a job there at Indiana. He knows how to do it, he’s done it multiple times and he has his plan so he’ll keep working his plan as he keeps getting his players in there … they feel comfortable they’ll get up and running quicker because there is more familiarity with their system and the culture they want to build within this program.”
On Indiana’s receiving unit: “Their receiving core looks like it’s extremely talented, they have a lot of guys who can do a lot of things. They also brought their tight end — he really understands their system and will be a big component of what they’ll do. Their receivers will be really good and most of them — they have some big, athletic receivers.”
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Alec Lasley is the owner of Hoosier Illustrated, a comprehensive site covering news, updates and recruiting for Indiana University athletics. Alec has covered Indiana for six years and is a credentialed media member. He has previously worked for both Rivals and 247Sports.