Will Howard trolls Curt Cignetti after Ohio State win

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard got the last laugh over Indiana coach Curt Cignetti following Saturday’s blowout win in Columbus.

Howard mimicked the act of removing and stomping out a lit cigarette in the final seconds of the Buckeyes’ 38-15 win at Ohio Stadium. The move was a pretty clear reference to Cignetti and how some Indiana fans have referenced the coach during the course of the season.

Will Howard with a message for Indiana after the game pic.twitter.com/LAzIptzMKO

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 23, 2024

For context, Indiana has played on the similarity between Cignetti’s last name and the word “cigarette” all season. Students were given T-shirts with Cignetti’s name on a pack of cigarettes for the team’s first game, and the meme took on a life of its own as the Hoosiers jumped out to a 10-0 start.

Cignetti took a lot of heat Saturday as the seconds wound down. The Buckeyes’ in-stadium scoreboard displayed a graphic of a newspaper that read “Buckeyes win??? Google it!” That is a reference to a famous quote from Cignetti’s introductory press conference, in which he told reporters unfamiliar with his resume to “Google me.”

Googled u @CCignettiIU pic.twitter.com/0nl3bAL4C0

— kevin zuppe (@KevinZuppe) November 23, 2024

To be fair to the Buckeyes, Cignetti had talked some smack in the weeks and months leading up to Saturday’s matchup. He deserves a ton of credit for leading Indiana into Columbus with a 10-0 record, which no one saw coming. The Hoosiers were outclassed, however, and Cignetti is going to have to deal with the trash talk coming his way now.