It is time for our big stat. It is
presented by Gatorade. We've been talking about this Indiana
story again, 12 wins for the first time in
program history. They had never won 11 before last
year, and they did themselves one better this season
onto the champ game for the first time ever.
Did it largely on the ground. Against Purdue,
355 rushing yards. Their 6th game with 300 or
more yards this year. That is the most in
the FBS, which gets us to our big interview
. Kaylon Black, who had 2 touchdowns in that
game, joins us now. And Kaylon, let's
just start with this. Give me a sense of
Indiana's mentality as a team as you guys head into
Maybe the biggest game in school history. I suppose
you could argue that the playoff game last year was
bigger, but, but give me a sense of
, of how you guys are, are approaching this
game. Um, definitely fast, physical, and
relentless. This is what Coachignetti preaches day in and
day out, making sure that we're keyed into our
details, making sure we're focused each and every day
, no complacency, and just making sure that we're
just locked in at all times. Well, one
thing that Howard was just talking about a little bit
earlier, I'm not sure if you heard it,
but he was talking about how locked in you guys
are every week, that it just feels like.
You know, Indiana is going to come to play
week in and week out. And that's not always
true of every team in college football. How do
you guys get to that point every week? Like
, what's kind of the secret sauce to come out
and be ready to execute? Mainly just taking it
day by day and honestly taking it week by week
as well, um, being detailed and making sure
that we're just focused in every single aspect of what
we do, whether it's meetings out there on the
practice field and also recovering and taking care of our
bodies outside of the football field. So Coach C
just preaches to us that, hey, we,
we, we're here now, so make sure we're
being focused and we make sure we're locked in.
I want to ask you a little bit about Kurt
Signnetti, and I think you're kind of uniquely qualified
to tell us about him because you've been with him
for 6 years. You had 2 years that were
, uh, affected by injury during your time at
JMU. You played 2 more years there and then
2 years here at Indiana. So you know this
guy pretty well. What makes him tech? Why
is he such a good football coach? He loves
his, he loves his players, man. Um
, Coach Si is the one coach to take care
of his players. We don't practice very long.
It's just fast and, and everything is executed with
high standard, and that's just something that has been
instilled in me since I met him. Um,
I realized that that's the type of coach that he
is. He's won everywhere that he's been, and
, um, I just love being under a coach
like him. I'm sure you're aware of this by
now, Kay Long. People are kind of fascinated
by him. I, I would count myself among
those who are fascinated by him. You've described his
coaching style. How would you describe his personality?
I mean, he's a funny guy if you,
if you really like get to, get to know
him. Um, he's also the personable coach that
he'll ask you how you, how you are,
um, how your family's doing, and, um
, Coach T is just overall just a great guy
to be around and I'm sure that anyone in our
building would tell you that. You, you mentioned
him as funny. I don't think that the outside
world gets to see him as particularly funny. It's
rare that he actually cracks a smile in an interview
. In what ways is he funny? It's just
like his, his responses to, to questions sometimes
, um, just also like his, his character
can also be funny as well, um, Coach
Siggs is like I said, he's just a great
guy to be around and, and everyone can tell
you that. I, I talked about your journey
. What was your vision when you came to Indiana
? Like what were you expecting this to be making
that jump from JMU to the Big 10? Definitely
to um reach a conference championship, reach the playoffs
, um, just being under coaching for so long
, that's just a standard, and, um,
it's always been fast, physical, and relentless,
and that's just what it's been from day one,
and, um, just having that mindset and that
, that grit and that determination as a coach is
just easy to wanna play for someone like that,
and he's definitely like I love him as a coach
, man. He's, he's just a, a
personable guy. He loves his players and, um
, it's just easy to grow under a coach like
him. Kayla, again, I'm not sure if
you heard our conversation earlier, so at the risk
of repeating myself just to make sure you know it
. Indiana hasn't won a Big 10 championship since 1967
, hasn't won it outright since 1945. How much
of that did you know before you came to Indiana
? Like, did you know that this was a
program that was probably best known, honestly, for
losing? I did know that and um Coach Si
I'm sure he knew that as well but he's the
guy to take risks and um everywhere he's been like
he's always wanted to to improve and get better and
um like I said like it was easy for me
to to wanna come over and and be under him
just because of how he is as a coach just
is a great coach overall. I, I mentioned
the injury issues that you had early on in your
time at JMU. Describe your journey. What has
this meant to you to kind of overcome all that
and be at the spot you're at right now?
I'm definitely blessed, man. I have to give
it all to God because without him there is,
there is no me. There is no any of
this, so, um, none of this is
possible without him and, um, just during this
time, um, that's been a lot of reflection
. And just being, being, um, condescended
to just knowing that there's always gonna be time to
grow and be impatient and just taking my time with
things, um, and that's just been the best
part about it just knowing my time is gonna come
and, um, being on the team like this
with a whole lot of great guys, a lot
of veterans, a lot of great coaches, our
staff is great as well, um, it's just
been a blessing to be a part of. You
mentioned the great guys, you know, Fernando Mendoza
obviously comes off so well, and he's a Heisman
Trophy candidate. I would argue maybe this game on
Saturday, the battle between Fernando and Julian San may
very well be what determines the Heisman Trophy. I
always think it's interesting when a player transfers in,
particularly a quarterback, because it's such a, a
leadership position. He seems to have integrated himself so
well to this team. How did he do that
? How did he go from kind of parachuting in
to becoming a clear team leader so quickly? Man
, Fernando is a great guy. Like, from
day one we knew that he was gonna be like
cool with everyone. Um, he made it known
that, hey guys, this is gonna be my
team, and, um, we just seen his
talent like immediately like the way he can spin the
ball, um, he can run out of the
pocket, and, um, just even outside of
the field, like everyone just loves him. He
has a great personality, man, and, um
, he's also a great player. He is.
You've got a lot of them. Ohio State has
a lot of them too. They have an outstanding
defense, as you know. They're leading the nation
in scoring D. Give me a sense of what
you see when you turn on the film, uh
, Ohio State. Man, uh, a ferocious
defense, man, a great front seven, and
they're great in the back end as well. Um
, those guys fly around to the ball. Um
, you can tell they take no plays off,
man, and, um, we're definitely gonna have
our hands full this weekend. Just a couple more
questions before we let you go, Kaylon. I
really appreciate your time. Uh, we've mentioned kind
of the historical perspective of all this. And obviously
, this game is in Indianapolis. You have Indiana
fans who have waited really their entire lives to see
something like this from IU football. What kind of
sense have you been able to get? You know
, I understand, hey, you guys are in
the facility. You're kind of doing your thing.
Has, how much has kind of trickled to you
of what this has meant to Indiana fans? Is
there a moment where you've, it's kind of struck
you of, of what you guys have done?
Honestly, man, it's, it's trickled throughout the
whole season. Like people are always telling us like
we love you guys, we thank you for everything
that you've done for us, and we can't wait
for the Big 10 championship. We can't wait for
the playoffs. Um, it's just been a blessing
to just, to just hear our fan base roar
for us, and, and they love us so
much, man, and, um, we definitely
hear those things and it definitely, it, it
gives us the motivation we need to, to keep
on going. What would it mean to win this
game on Saturday in front of that fan base?
It will mean a lot, man. It'll mean
a lot for the community. It'll mean a lot
for the alumni base, the big alumni base that
we have, man, and, and it's just
definitely a blessing to be able to put on for
, for our city. OK, Kaylon, congratulations
. This has been, uh, such a cool
story to follow. Congratulations to you on persevering and
on your journey, and we look forward to seeing
you on Saturday in Indy. Thank you, man
. Thank you for having me. My pleasure.