Indiana survived a scare at Nebraska on Saturday, and the play that sealed the 20-17 win came straight from a Kansas idea book.
Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti said after the game that the fourth-and-1 call was borrowed from the Jayhawks, crediting the scheme Kansas used to popularize it. “The fourth-and-1 play, Kansas made that one famous with that guy starting at quarterback for Tampa,” Cignetti said.
“That guy's a good coach. We stole that one about five, six years ago.”
Cignetti was pointing to Jalon Daniels and associate head coach Andy Kotelnicki, who is now in his second stint back with Kansas. That puts the origin of the play back in the first run of Kotelnicki’s time coordinating the Jayhawks’ offense.
The call worked exactly the way Indiana wanted. The formation helped sell the run, Nick Marsh slipped behind the defense, and Josh Hoover found him for a 44-yard touchdown that put the Hoosiers over the top. Indiana had trailed heading into the fourth quarter before finishing off the comeback.
Kotelnicki spent two seasons away from Kansas as Penn State’s offensive coordinator, but he was a major force during the Jayhawks’ rise under Lance Leipold. In his second year calling plays, Kansas averaged 7.0 yards per play, a school record at the time and the second-best mark in the country behind only Ohio State.
Kansas has had its own issues with offensive consistency this season, but Cignetti’s comments still amounted to a strong nod to the impact of the scheme. The Jayhawks’ offense showed more explosiveness than it had all year in last week’s loss to Utah, and Cignetti’s praise at least offered another reminder of the respect Kotelnicki’s approach has earned.
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Kansas coaches got a little extra validation this week when Indianas offense showed a fourth-and-1 play-action look that felt familiar to anyone who has spent time around the Jayhawks recent playbook. Associate head coach Andy Kotelnicki pointed out the connection, noting that the Hoosiers had leaned on a concept Kansas ran back in 2022, and the detail quickly became a small but meaningful reminder of how ideas can travel through college football.
Curt Cignetti backed up the observation and said Indiana had picked up the play years ago, then talked through how it has shown up in recent games. For Kansas fans, the exchange was less about ownership than recognition, the kind of respectful nod that suggests a clever wrinkle from one sideline can earn a lasting place on another. [Read more 🡒]
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