CIGNETTI CONTINUES TO WIN DESPITE POOR SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY

 Weekend Stuff … college football, mostly:

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT … from the song of the same 

name we give you CURT CIGNETTI, whose 4th-ranked, 

defending national champion Indiana Hoosiers beat Minnesota 

23-16 despite enough mistakes to last a lifetime … not the least 

of which was one by the coach himself ... for not using No. 2 

kicking specialist PADDIE McATEERsooner… For it was the 

transfer from Troy State who booted a 60-yard field goal – his 

longest ever, by far – on the last snap of regulation to force 

overtime … matching one a few minutes earlier from the same 

distance by arguably the Big Ten’s best kicker, New Mexico 

transfer LUKE DRZEWIEDKI, who enrolled at Minnesota in 

August and had made his last 25 field goal attempts (longest 

active streak in the nation) coming into this one.

So it was no surprise he made it 26 straight … and that, with 19 

seconds left in regulation, seemingly had given the Gophers 

probably their biggest all-time upset … after Cignetti let the 

clock wind down despite having two timeouts remaining … Let 

the second-guessing begin (again). In fact, the former JMU 

coach also had to be questioning his own decision to keep sore-

shouldered No. 1 QB JOSH HOOVER on the field for a half 

in which he consistently sailed the ball too high for his 

receivers or failed to lead them properly ... But, except for a 

trick play that left the intended receiver wide, WIDE open for 

the Gophers’ only touchdown, the Indiana defense limited 

Minnesota to three field goals by Drzeweidski … among them a 

51 yarder which had been his longest as a collegian.

At intermission, Cignetti decided to replace Hoover with 

backup GRANT WILSON, who had seen limited duty, 

completing 4 of 5 passes for 74 yards, two touchdowns (0 

interceptions). In his seventh collegiate campaign after previous 

stops at Fordham and Old Dominion U., Wilson finished 9 for 

17, 156 yards, one touchdown and no INT’s ...The native 

Virginian from Alexandria also barely missed a touchdown pass 

to CHAZ PRESTON who bobbled the ball while stepping out 

of bounds with Minnesota up 13-10 ... It was here, with 9:11 to 

go, that an errant snap deprived last year’s Big 10 kicker-of-the-

year NICO REDICIC of a three-point attempt from 27 yards. 

“The Indiana not-so-special teams have been a problem for 

coach Cignetti today, to say the least,” said CBS’ veteran play 

by play man BRAD NESSLER.

It took a perfectly-timed (a rarity for the Hoosiers in this game) 

33-yard pass from Wilson to CHARLIE BECKER that forced 

Cignetti to make another difficult choice: Stick with Redicic 

who a had a 46-yard FG to tie the score at 10 late in the third 

quarter – and another from 34 yards to make it 13-13 with 3:05 

remaining in regulation ... but also had shanked one badly in 

addition to having one blocked – an errant snap eliminated 

another three-point opportunity … or call on redshirt 

sophomore PADDIE McATEER, a former soccer player who 

delivered from 60 (with room to spare) and admitted later he 

had never attempted one from that far out, not even in practice 

or during pre-game warmups. “I’m living a dream.” McAteer 

said … From there Indiana ran its record to 8-1 (5-1 Big 10) 

when it was Wilson again to Becker, this time in the end zone, 

on the first possession in overtime. The defense took it from 

there. A 4th-and-goal sack left even Cignetti smiling (for a 

change).

And, why not? He won despite numerous breakdowns by 

special teams … including a pair of shanked punts (of 15 and 

27 yards) by BILLY BOWERS, a 30 year old veteran of 

Australian Rules football; Becker fielding a punt inside the 

Hoosiers’ 5 yard line; and a holding penalty on a long punt 

return … as well as the previously mentioned mistakes.

“This is entertainment, so we thought we’d put some 

entertainment value into this game,” Cignetti told CBS’ 

audience. But, seriously, folks … “It was really like how many 

things you could do wrong and walk away with a really bad 

loss and then, with 19 seconds to go, wake up and throw one to 

the outside pocket then kick a 60-yard field goal to keep it 

interesting. This team just finds a way,” he added, 

uncharacteristically smiling the entire time.

So, tell us, coach, unlike Minnesota’s PJ Fleck who was a 

raving maniac from start to finish, how do you manage to keep 

from showing any emotion during big moments? “You’ve got 

to keep your cool, man,” Cignetti said. “You can’t get too 

emotional.”

Not so it shows, anyway.

LET’S GO, DEACS! Boy, did Wake Forest lay waste to your 

Virginia Cavaliers, or what? ...The home standing, 14th-ranked 

Demon Deacons scored on their first eight possessions and led 

44-0 before UVA scored with time left in the THIRD quarter to 

avoid being shutout for the first time since 2017… The final 

score was 51-7 as Wake ran its record to 7-1 (5-1 in the ACC) 

while Virginia dropped its third in a row to fall to 4-5, 2-4…. 

And, just like that, the Cavaliers have gone from being 

nationally ranked to no guarantees they’ll make it to one of the 

no-longer-relevant, nondescript bowl games.

“I don’t know where [VA coach] TONY ELLIOTT goes from 

here,” said ESPN/ACC Network’s BROCK OSWEILER.

 “Searching for answers is probably the best and nicest way to 

put it. I’ll be honest I’m a bit surprised the way this game 

played out. Here was Virginia, with their backs against the wall, 

I thought we would see their best effort … but you need to 

credit Wake Forest who came out with bad intensions and great 

focus.” … Since Elliott became head coach in 2022, only once 

have the Cavaliers been held without a touchdown. In his 

second game, they lost 24-3 at Ilinois.

While he was at it,  Osweiller noted Deacs’ coach JAKE 

DICKERT, in his second season in Winston-Salem, might not 

be around for a third. “I don’t want to jinx anything for anyone 

… but when you look at his body of work … 15-5 overall 

record coming into this one … the only loss to the nation’s No. 

1 team [Miami] ... yeah, for lack of resources and other things, 

it’s going to be difficult to keep someone like that moving 

forward.”

BRIEFLY TOLD – As expected, if sooner rather than later, 

Florida State fired football coach MIKE NORVELL yesterday 

(Nov. 1) … fewer than 24 hours after the Seminoles lost 36-24 

to Clemson to fall to 3-5 and in danger of not going to a bowl 

game for the third straight year. He will receive a parting gift of 

$10.3 million. RICK STOCKSTILL, who was on Norvell’s 

staff as “offensive analyst,” will serve as interim coach ... 

Calling them “a Final Four sleeper,” Virginia’s Cavaliers were 

ranked 12^th in the New York Post’s preseason basketball top 25 

led by Duke, with Louisville (No.7) and North Carolina (13) 

also from the ACC … which was represented by Duke (4), 

Louisville (7) and North Carolina (10) in the women’s top 25 

… with South Carolina, coached by former UVA All-American 

 DAWN STALEY, at No.1, with UConn’s Huskies under one-

time Cavaliers’ assistant coach GENO AUERRIEMA, rated 

No. 2 … For the second time in five years, major league 

baseball appears destined for a delay of spring training – and 

possibly the regular season as well – because the players and 

owners can not come together on a new bargaining agreement. 

The old one expires Dec. 1, with the owners reportedly 

prepared for a lockout if the players do not agree to a salary cap.

Until next time ...