Curt Cignetti Challenges Indiana's Safeties Amid Depth, Alignment Issues

Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti doesn't often publicly challenge players or position groups he perceives to be struggling. He has four hours of meetings and practices each day to get the message across.

But Cignetti, on three occasions during his press conference Monday, singled out areas where his safeties need to improve. He was only directly asked about the position once.

"We've got to get better at safety," Cignetti said. "We play three of them. We play a rover, a free safety and a strong safety. They're capable of — they're not playing bad, but they're capable of playing better."

The Hoosiers start senior Louis Moore and junior Amare Ferrell on the back-end of their defense, and both have stuffed the stat sheet thus far.

Moore has two interceptions, one in each game, and he leads the team with 14 tackles. He's also recorded two tackles for loss. Ferrell, meanwhile, has an interception and a pair of passes defensed. Indiana's rover, North Carolina State transfer Devan Boykin, has made five tackles, one tackle for loss and has proven to be an effective blitzer, logging two pressures on three slot rushes.

Cignetti's frustration with his safeties centers around alignment. Defensive coordinator Bryant Haines is submitting his calls quick enough, and linebacker Aiden Fisher is communicating the signals in time.

But the secondary isn't holding up its end of the bargain.

"The guys in the back end got to get lined up faster, and that's the safety position primarily," Cignetti said. "Safeties were out of position quite a few times. Got to get lined up quicker. Communication has got to be cleaner. There needs to be a little bit more attention to detail in our preparation in the back end."

Consequently, Indiana allowed eight plays of 15-plus yards in its 56-9 win over Kennesaw State in Week 2. Cignetti thought the Hoosiers' defense made several explosive plays, marked by 14 tackles for loss, but they also allowed too many chunk plays.

The onus falls on Indiana's safeties, an added pressure point for a position group Cignetti dubbed "thin" prior to facing Kennesaw State.

The Hoosiers lost backup safety Bryson Bonds to a season-ending knee injury in Week 1, and Moore's future is uncertain — he's due for another court appearance Wednesday to decide whether he'll be granted eligibility for the remainder of the season. If he's not, his college career will abruptly end.

Indiana has also played without freshman safety Byron Baldwin, the highest-ranked recruit in the team's 2025 class, due to an undisclosed injury. Cignetti labeled Baldwin as "day-to-day" leading into Week 2, and the same phrase applies to the Hoosiers' depth chart order on the back end.

"That one is sort of day-to-day depending on health status of a guy or two," Cignetti said.

Redshirt freshman Jah Jah Boyd made his college debut Saturday and played five snaps in the fourth quarter, while redshirt sophomore walk-on Anthony Chung, who debuted the week before, notched his first college tackle against Kennesaw State.

Indiana has only two other scholarship safeties, and both are true freshmen: Seaonta Stewart Jr., who hasn't played, and Garrett Reese, who's played 15 snaps on kickoff coverage.

Thus, the Hoosiers' questions at safety stretch beyond slow alignment time. And depending on the outcome of Moore's eligibility case, Cignetti and his staff may have fewer solutions entering their 6:30 p.m. Friday matchup with Indiana State at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.