Ryan Day or Curt Cignetti?
That’s the question FOX Sports college football analyst Matt Leinart answered ahead of Saturday’s five-ball matchup between Ohio State and Indiana on FOX.
“Ryan Day is one of the best coaches in all of college football,” Leinart said on the Week 7 edition of the Big Noon Kickoff. “He won a national championship, but I’ll go with Curt Cignetti for the Indiana Hoosiers.”
For Leinart, it all depends on Cignetti’s record at Indiana.
“Since he (Cignetti) took over (at Indiana), it’s the winningest program in college football at 33-2. He’s back-to-back national coach of the year, made the playoffs both seasons and is on his way to a third, winning six straight against top-10 opponents, including last year’s Ohio State Bickeyes.
“Indiana was the worst program in college football history before he took over, and now they’re the defending national champions, and as Cig said: All he does is win. You can google it.”
After stops at IUP, Elon and James Madison, Curt Cignetti arrived at Indiana in 2024 and inherited a program that had lost 27 of its previous 36 games. He quickly turned the Hoosiers into a college football powerhouse.
After an 11-2 season in 2024 that ended with an appearance in the College Football Playoff, Indiana took another step in 2025, defeating Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game en route to a 16-0 season and the first national title in program history. The Buckeyes had beaten the Hoosiers 38-15 in Columbus in 2024, snapping Indiana’s 10-game winning streak.
Since becoming Ohio State’s full-time head coach in 2019, Ryan Day has led the Buckeyes to an 84-13 record, highlighted by a national championship in 2024.
Saturday’s game features two of the Big Ten’s most complete teams. Indiana ranks second in the conference in total offense (462.7 yards per game) and third in scoring (40.2 points per game). The Hoosiers also boast the conference’s best scoring defense, allowing just 11.8 points per game and rank third in total defense (263.5 yards allowed per game).
Meanwhile, Ohio State leads the Big Ten in both total offense (503.5 yards per game) and scoring (42.7 points per game). The Buckeyes are just as formidable on defense, ranking second in the conference in both total defense (246.8 yards allowed per game) and scoring defense (13.2 points allowed per game).
