As Indiana soars, coach Curt Cignetti ‘highly confident’ in strong showing against Nebraska

If anything, the 63-year-old first-time power-league skipper is more bullish than ever at what the No. 16 Hoosiers can do long-term ahead of Saturday’s home tilt with Nebraska.

“What I’ve learned up to this point is we have unlimited potential as an institution and football program,” Cignetti said Monday. “That if you commit daily and do the things you’ve got to do to be successful, there’s no self-imposed limitations on what you can achieve.”

Still, a 6-0 first half of the season brings with it its own challenges.

Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” show will be in town, something players can’t get caught up in. Staying humble and hungry isn’t always a given. Cignetti cited an old quote from former Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski that a team’s toughest opponent when things are going well is human nature.

“You’ve got to have some special characteristics to be able to deal with success and not be affected by it in a negative manner,” Cignetti said.

The coach learned the lesson under coach Nick Saban while serving as Alabama’s recruiting coordinator in the mid-2000s. He applied it during winning tenures at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Elon and James Madison. JMU went 11-2 last year, with a swath of those players following Cignetti to Bloomington.

Indiana, picked to finish 17th of 18 Big Ten teams in preseason polls, became the league’s first bowl-eligible school last week. An overhaul of local and internal expectations is well underway.

Asked how the announced sellout home crowd can affect Saturday’s game, the coach said the Hoosiers need to provide a reason or two to be loud.

“I’m highly confident we will,” Cignetti said.

Nebraska brings its own challenges, the coach said during his weekly press conference. He praised the Huskers’ offensive skill players along with a “multiple” NU defensive scheme that rotates a crowd of players and boasts a disruptive defensive line.

Quarterback Dylan Raiola is “mega talented,” Cignetti said. He sees a true freshman playing confidently with a good supporting cast.

“Schematically, the staff does a really nice job — they don’t put too much pressure on him,” Cignetti said. “They’re balanced, they want to run the football, good play-action pass, get him out of the pocket, change the launch point. I think they’ve done a tremendous job with him.”