BLOOMINGTON, Indiana — Football coach Curt Cignetti’s lengthy resume helped him navigate his team’s lethargic start during a 31-7 win over Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon.

The No. 2 Hoosiers (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) hardly looked like four-touchdown favorites early on against a Wisconsin team mired in a season-long offensive slump and playing with their third-string quarterback, freshman Carter Smith, making his first career start.

“Sixth game in a row at the end of the year and it showed, I thought, in the first half,” Cignetti said. “We looked kind of tired.”

Indiana was fortunate to go into the break with a 10-7 lead, thanks in part to a wobbly 37-yard field goal from Nico Radicic into the wind.

As Cignetti walked off the field at halftime, his mind drifted back a few years. He recalled his second season at IUP in 2012, when his team stumbled out of the gate against Lock Haven—a team in the midst of a 52-game losing streak.

“What’s always worked for me in these situations, and worked today again, is instead of going in there and kind of rip-snorting at halftime,” Cignetti explained, “just telling everybody to take a deep breath, relax, have fun, go out there and play one play at a time.”

The message proved just as effective for Indiana as it did for that IUP team, which ended up beating Lock Haven by 42 points.

In the second half, the Hoosiers pulled away with quarterback Fernando Mendoza throwing for three touchdowns. Meanwhile, the defense held Wisconsin to just 21 yards and one first down.

This game was the latest example of why IU athletic director Scott Dolson prioritized head coaching experience when searching for a replacement for Tom Allen.

This wasn’t the only time this season that Cignetti’s experience gave him an advantage. Earlier in the year, he relied on his seasoned judgment while deciding whether or not to go for it on fourth down at midfield during a win over Illinois.

Cignetti, who hasn’t had a losing season in 14 years as a head coach, built his game and player management skills long before arriving in Bloomington.

“Coach Cignetti is a fantastic coach,” Mendoza said. “He understands his players and his team. He knows we were lethargic and we weren’t playing our Indiana brand of football. He took us into halftime, told us to take a deep breath, to have fun and play football. I think in the second half we saw we could have fun and play football well.”

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https://sports.yahoo.com/article/big-passionate-speech-curt-cignetti-091015193.html