For an undefeated team on the brink of a national title, the most crucial update of the week came not from the film room, but from the trainer’s table. The Indiana Hoosiers walked out of the Oregon Ducks blowout with some injury concerns. Hence, Curt Cignetti gave out an injury update for the CFP title game as the undefeated Hoosiers cruise forward after a 56-22 statement win against the Oregon Ducks.

“We came out really good and everybody that played in the last game will play in this game,” Cignetti said when ESPN analyst Adam Rittenberg asked the head coach in a Q&A session on January 12.

Indiana rolled Oregon at the Peach Bowl, but it wasn’t entirely injury-free. Two Hoosiers went down during the CFP semifinal, with sixth-year defensive lineman Mikail Kamara drawing the most attention afterward. He needed help from the training staff twice, limping gingerly to the sideline each time. 

Without Kamara, Cignetti’s choices were thin.

Fast forward to January 12, just a week before the College Football National Championship, Cignetti confirmed that Kamara will be ready to face the Miami Hurricanes. Besides the defensive lineman, four players remain out with season-ending injuries.

Cignetti will be without defensive linemen Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt, sixth-year safety Bryson Bonds, and redshirt junior running back Lee Beebe Jr. Daley suffered a season-ending right knee injury while celebrating on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium following the Big Ten Championship Game.

But Cignetti’s squad did not let him down. Mario Landino and Daniel Ndukwe rose to the occasion in the CFP. Ndukwe notched two sacks, forced a fumble on Oregon quarterback Dante Moore, and blocked a punt in the Hoosiers’ 56-22 blowout in Atlanta.

Much like Indiana, Mario Cristobal’s Miami Hurricanes finished their Fiesta Bowl win with an injury scare.

Sixth-year redshirt senior defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor, who has 15.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks this season, suffered an elbow injury. But Cristobal says he’s in “great condition.”

He said redshirt junior Ahmad Moten Sr. is firing on all cylinders and sophomore defensive back OJ Frederique Jr. is “good to go.” Frederique, limited to five snaps against Ole Miss after a leg injury vs. Ohio State in the CFP quarterfinal, is back in action.

In that case, health-wise, both Cignetti and Cristobal’s squads are doing well. But which head coach has the edge to get a shot at the Natty?

Curt Cignetti applauded for the miracle work at Indiana ahead of CFP championship

When Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban stepped down, Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart was the uncrowned king of college football. He held a coaching record of 117-21. But with the 2025 season coming to an end, Joel Klatt believes that the crown belongs to Cignetti. 

“Kirby hasn’t even been in the Final Four in the last three years,” said the analyst on the Next Round Podcast. 

This has sparked a significant debate among fans and analysts. When Smart inherited the Bulldogs program, they had already experienced what a winning culture was like. This was thanks in part to players like Nick Chubb, whom former head coach Mark Richt recruited.

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Things were not that easy for Cignetti. He had to build everything from scratch at Bloomington. Even after a strong 11-2 2024 campaign, Indiana still had 715 all-time losses, the FBS high mark at the time. 

To appreciate the mountain Cignetti has climbed, one must understand the depths from which Indiana football has come. Before Cignetti’s December 2023 arrival, the Hoosiers were the kings of losing: 125 seasons, 23 head coaches, and not one had left with a winning conference record. 

“I don’t know if there’s a hotter coach at any level than this guy,” said ESPN NFL analyst Peter Schrager. “I’d be very curious to see if an NFL team picks up that phone and calls old Bloomington, Indiana, and just inquires that gentleman right there.”

For now, the NFL isn’t on Curt Cignetti’s radar. With a healthy roster and a season for the ages, Cignetti has not only his team on the brink of a title but the entire college football world debating his place among the coaching elite.

Could that be a sign that a national championship is within reach?