Curt Cignetti Drags Referees Over Unfair Fernando Mendoza Foul Calls at National Title Game

The National Championship game is going exactly how we expected it to go. The Miami Hurricanes are running through Fernando Mendoza, but only in a reckless way. Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti didn’t shy away from calling the refs out at halftime in a blunt interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe.

“Well, there’s three personal fouls on the quarterback not called in one drive that need to be called because they’re obvious personal fouls. i’m all for letting them play, but when you cross the line. You got to call it. And they weren’t. They were black and white calls.” Curt Cignetti said when asked about Miami’s front line getting on Mendoza.

We got some third-down conversions on cross against double mug that’s help. We got two scores late. The defense hasn’t let them in the end zone or on the scoreboard. We’ll get the ball first. Sure, it’d be nice to go down there and score a touchdown.”

Cignetti argued that the Hurricanes were crossing the line between being physical and being dangerous. He told the national audience that while he’s fine with a tough game, officials have to step in when it becomes “obvious” that a player is being targeted.

One hit in particular had everyone talking. Miami safety Jakobe Thomas leveled Mendoza right after a handoff, appearing to lead with the crown of his helmet. The impact was so hard it left Mendoza with a bloody lip visible on the broadcast. Even the announcers, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, along with rules expert Bill LeMonnier, were stunned that a targeting flag wasn’t thrown for the hit under the chin.

It wasn’t just that one play, though. Cignetti noted that Mendoza took a violent shot to his back while throwing on the same drive, and another late hit that also went unpunished. It’s not often we see Curt Cignetti losing his cool. But obviously this time, the crash out was valid. The refs basically were blind.

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