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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
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Ryan Phillips

Curt Cignetti's Sideline Scowl Gets Meme Treatment With Indiana Up Big on Alabama

Curt Cignetti Indiana (Organization) Alabama (Organization) Rodger Sherman Football CFP Hoosiers Ohio State Texas Tech

No one holds a sideline demeanor like Curt Cignetti.

Indiana’s head coach was wearing his trademark scowl on the sideline during the Rose Bowl, and everyone had a reaction to it. As the No. 1 Hoosiers manhandled No. 9 Alabama in the first half of their College Football Playoff quarterfinal, Cignetti refused to deviate from his resting furious face.

As the Hoosiers shoved Alabama around and established a 24-0 lead early in the third quarter, Cignetti’s scowl quickly turned into a meme. Some of the best we’ve seen are below.

All jokes aside, what Cignetti has done at Indiana is nothing short of remarkable. The Hoosiers had arguably the worst football program in the country before he arrived in Bloomington on November 30, 2023. In his first year, Indiana went 11-2 and made the College Football Playoff. Their only two losses came on the road against Ohio State and Notre Dame, the two teams who played in the CFP title game.

In 2025, he has Indiana as the top-ranked team in the country, sitting at 13-0 with a Big Ten championship already in the bag. His team is closing in on 14-0 and a spot in the CFP semifinals.

The man can make any face he wants on the sideline with those results.

More College Football on Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Curt Cignetti's Sideline Scowl Gets Meme Treatment With Indiana Up Big on Alabama.

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