You're listening to the Back Home Network presented by Home Field Apparel. Welcome back to Crimson Cast folks. We flew 2000 miles to do this podcast. It is Sunday night and we are still coming down off of the emotional high of the events in Pasadena on Saturday. Both Scott and I were present as Indiana won their first ever game at the Rose Bowl.
They absolutely maul UCLA in the Bruins first Big 10 Conference game, 42 to 13. And you could make an argument it probably shouldn't have even been that close. But for some very opportune calls that went the way of UCLA. Just a complete domination by Indiana and the capper on what was really an incredible weekend. Scott not just for me and my family, not just for you.
I know who we're out there, but for all of the thousands of IU fans who congregated at the Rose Bowl and in Pasadena leading up to that game, Scott, I'm it's going to be hard for me to put into words exactly how cool this last 48 hours was. But it was great to be able to take it in with you.
And just one of those games that suckers you back in to, to like really getting excited and, and maybe maybe for good, you know, maybe this is one of those things where it's not suckering you in. It's actually a statement of a new era. That's that's how I was feeling more and more as I was on the flight home, but not the kind of game we normally get from IU when we travel. And you couldn't have asked for like a better combination of venue, moment and result. I'm still giddy.
What about you? So it's basically the opposite of everything from basically most of our other times that we've traveled to games. I'm going to quote, I have it here and we don't. We don't. I can't do my audio bore with yours, but I have an audio clip here from the great Bill Murray from Ghostbusters that this is what I felt from the game. We came, we saw, we kicked it. So I that's I I feel almost all. This is it's funny you say this because I was thinking as I was on the flight home.
I was, I was a lot of random thoughts in my head. I actually think someone needs to design A Kurt Signetti shirt like him standing in a pose, but like kind of like as a Roman emperor and just like just put just put Veni Vidi Vici underneath it. Just a nice bootleg T-shirt that somebody sells in the parking lot for 10 bucks. I would buy one of those in a heartbeat. It did feel like Indiana on the business trip. They just came, they saw, they conquered and they got the heck
out of there. Or you could do like, you know, put him on the George Clooney body from up in the air, you know, and just like, hey, I'm just, you know, flying to Omaha for a job here. No, every, everything you said was, was spot on. It was really cool to go. Like there was a lot of anticipation. You know, we were kind of joking about things and what was cool, we went to an alumni event beforehand. I bumped into a couple people who were at the 68 game. Like one guy was in the marching 100.
He had a huge button and was just like, I'm super excited to come back here. I had dinner with somebody the night before who was also in the marching 100. Like oddly, I had a lot of marching 100 connections. I didn't go into it that way, but people kind of like coming back, like wanting to, you know, right the wrongs, I guess to the 68 that that Rose Bowl. But everything could not have gone better. You know, a great start. Obviously you're up 14. Nothing.
UCLA is had one play. You know, at halftime, I, I met with AI was waiting in line for a drink. A couple of people were like, oh, Scott from Crimson is great. We're talking in the line. And you know, I, I kind of was like, all right, kind of half joking, but half serious like this. We're kind of in like gots to win territory now. I think it was like 21 three at that time in half and it's like all right, or 21 seven and it's like, all right, this is going to suck if we lose, but we
didn't. And like all the things that normally happened didn't happen. It was a beautiful venue. It was just a picturesque night, like a little bit warm. The sun went down. It's like exactly what you expect. And then with like 7 minutes to go, you watch UCLA fans filing out. We're waving the the Hoosier contingent was fantastic There they were being more boisterous during the game than, you know,
the UCLA fans. No, it was it, it, it made-up for a lot of really bad trips home after kind of getting my tail between my legs from other places where we went. So no, it was, it was a ton of fun for those who didn't go, You know, I think there will hopefully be more of these on in the future because I, I like you kind of come away feeling like this is the start of something that feels a little more replicatable than maybe we've had in the past.
We had a lot to dive into with this, but first let's talk about the folks that bring this show to you folks, our title sponsor, home field apparel sponsor of the entire back home network, which includes, of course, our friends over at Assembly call, the doing the work podcast. I've been. A sponsor of the Rose Bowl because it was like 9. A lot of a lot of home. Field. There it was. There were so many people wearing so many different types of home field for both schools,
which I thought was cool. Like it wasn't just not you. It was there was a UCLA home field all over the place. I think I saw 40 different, you know, the, the that rags to roses shirt to and one of one of my friends, she said like someone came up to her and was like, oh, did you make that yourself? You know, And she, she was like, yeah, sure, I, if you give me this, you know what you're looking for, I could give me $50.00 and I'll make one for you. It's like, that's a good profit
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it first came out. I was like, OK, this is gonna be my big, you know, reward for myself, for Indiana winning this game. And of course, they're all sold out. So I could not get one. That's. I I've not got one either. I'm waiting for the the refresh. Yeah, so. You know, get on the mailing list, sign up for the mailing list, they send out great deals on the mailing list. Sign up for the social media accounts. Again, home field apparel.com, your source for all of the best
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All right, Scott, let's go ahead and dive into this just from a, a football perspective 1st and then we'll kind of tackle some of the more the, the, the more emotional aspects of things, shall we say. Indiana goes into this game. They were a 3 1/2 point favorite. And I think, you know, I went back and listened as I was driving back from the airport. I went back and listened to the preview podcast that we did last week when we were talking about
this game. We were both confident that Indiana was going to win, but I said, I'm really not totally sure how these teams are going to match up. There's a real argument to be made that, you know, maybe UCLA is not very good, but there's also an argument that IU may struggle in a road game, a conference game. UCLA may not be as bad as we saw in that Hawaii game. And we just didn't know Hawaii was going to play against that
level of talent. And it's kind of funny to say that now in retrospect given how the game went. But I think it's important to remember, like, this UCLA team does have talent. They had a bunch of talent on defense. Their defense was really supposed to be their calling card. And Indiana just cut through them throughout this entire game. Indiana comes out and you know, one of the things that I find fascinating about Signetti and his team so far is how ready they are to take advantage of
things that go their way. And so Indiana gets the ball. They do a 12 play, 75 yard drive that chews up 6 1/2 minutes and it results in that touchdown pass from Curtis Rourke to Miles Cross. Then there's a fumble on the next drive. Indiana recovers and three plays later, they're back in the end zone. It's 14, nothing and UCL as entirely on the back foot. And from there, you know, Indiana's win percentage for win probability never dipped. I think below like 8380.
Eighty .4% was the lowest it got. And you know, from the rest of the time, even though there were some nervous moments, Scott IU had control of the game statistically. And they also just had control of the game in terms of play after play after play, offense and defense. It was a performance that was dominant throughout, but the scoreboard didn't really reflect the dominance until the fourth quarter.
But it was good that it did because I think if this game ends like 28 to 13, people don't remember how much of an ass kicking this was that IU was able to pull off in this contest. No, it's true. You know, the, the, the stat that there's a lot of stats I want to talk about tonight. There's there's some high level stats for the season. They're pretty amazing. But one that I take away from from the game was we were nine
for 12 on 3rd downs. And what was interesting is a lot of that is, you know, First off, we're getting 5 or 6 yards of play. Like just every play, it's like we're doing a second or second and four or it's a third and one. But what was interesting is there were a lot of interesting calls, to say the least, that would go against Indiana that would put us like take a third and four and make it a third and 14.
And I don't have the exact number, but it felt like every time that happened, we had a play to get 15 yards. Like instead of just being like, oh, well, shoot, you know, damn it, this is the end of the drive. Or, you know, it's like it, it felt like there was a real steady hand on the team. That's like, all right, let's call this play that we know will get us 15 yards.
And, you know, it was what I also thought was interesting with the game plan as a whole is they kind of ran exactly what they needed to run to get done, what they needed to get done. And what I mean by that is, you know, when they were down 3rd and 15, they would run a play to get 16 yards.
And then in the fourth quarter, I was telling my friend Teddy, who I was with that, you know, it's like, it's like we're not taking a lot of shots, like just a lot of kind of five yards here, 4 yards there and it's great. And then all of a sudden we took like one shot in the end zone
touchdown. And it's like that was kind of the nail in the coffin and it felt like Signeti had almost been sitting on that for the game is like, whenever I want to pull this out, I can pull this out like that's a trump card and then we're done. But it was just that idea of it's like what whatever the yardage was we needed to get, we got it. And that was really cool to see. But just I I agree with you. I mean, they came out, they took care of business early. I mean, we're up 14.
Nothing. UCLA has run one play. And it's like, it's like I texted you. It's like the reverse Iowa game. But then when it got a little bit tight, I think it was like 2110 there right at the start of the second, you know, right after halftime, it's 2110. And you know, I'm immediately my IU football brain is thinking, damn, you know, it's 2110. So now it's going to be 2117 because we'll probably do a three and out. They're going to score a touchdown.
Like what? What, You know, how's it going to go when it's 2117? It's like never got there. Like it just never happened. Never got there. And so that that all of those things were some of the things that like most impressed me, especially when he had a UCLA team that was coming in to stop the run. You could tell they wanted to stop our run. And while they contained it, they still contained it to the point where we're getting, you know, 4 yards a carry.
Yeah. You know, it's interesting because obviously we had some concerns about the passing game in the first couple of games for Indiana, but it was large because the running game was so dominant. And it was clear, at least from my viewing and watching the game, that UCLA was really focused on not letting Indiana
get going in the running game. You know, they and they were jamming the line and it's it, you know, Indiana was gaining or in the early stages, like 2 yards of carry or three yards of carry. Like it wasn't that much. And you combine that with some penalties and it put Indiana in some some 3rd and intermediate or third and long ranges. And then it was just like Indiana said, all right, we'll pass. And they rarely tried to take deep shots, but the couple of times they did it paid off.
But they had a ton of intermediate routes. They had a bunch of short stuff that they did, and they just never looked rattled. And I think that it's one of the big things that stuck out to me in watching how this team dealt with this whole game in the macro, this idea that what we're going to take away, UCLA saying we're going to take away the thing that you're best at, that we think you're best at. And Indiana's like, OK, cool. That's we'll do this other thing
instead. And then they start to focus on that. And then Indiana switches back to running the ball primarily in the second-half. And UCLA really doesn't have a solution. And they really didn't know who to cover. I mean, I thought it was fascinating when they did start to pay attention to the passing game. You start to realize that, you know, Indiana literally has 6 dynamite options for Curtis Work to throw to. I mean, this time Miles Cross leads the team. 6 catches, 90
yards, 15 yards per catch. Omar Cooper, another touchdown, 58 yards. You know, Elijah Serrat had a big pick up, had four catches. But Miles Price gets in the action. Keyshawn Williams catches 2 touchdowns. Zach Horton was a key target for Curtis Rourke. I mean, it was just like it was very, very difficult. You could see in the moment for UCLA to adapt to what IU was doing.
And really the guy that deserves the most credit for that on the field was Curtis Rourke, who just looked unflappable. I mean, there's a great super cut of most of his completions that NBC, I think it was actually Big 10 Network put this out that I would recommend going and checking out.
I retweeted it on the, on the Twitter and it's, it's just like there's, there's the play where the, the, the snap is low and he almost like loses it and he picks it back up and just tosses it. There's plays where he's like having to switch where he's going very quickly and he does that. He, he's looking off defenders and he's throwing the opposite direction.
I mean, the, the, the pocket presence that he was able to demonstrate and this, the lack of panic, I think just in general from this IU team really shine through in this particular game. I mean, we were talking and a lot of people had said, Oh, you know, there, there might be 5050. There might be more IU fans than UCLA fans. There were not, and we'll get to that more later. But it was 8020 UCLA fans and
they were requisitely loud. Like, it wasn't like they were quiet, at least in those early stages. It didn't rattle Indiana. And even as you said in that exchange going into the first half or the going into halftime where they let the touchdown up after the long drive, then UCLA gets the ball back, they go down, Indiana stops them in the red zone, they kick a field goal.
You and I talked about this. It's like this is, this is a little nerve wracking because we've seen Indiana start to fall apart. These kinds of sequences generally hurt IU. IU just comes right back out and he's just like ho hum, no big deal. And then marches down the field. And you know what was that drive? 9 plays, 87 yards, 4 minutes and 36 seconds. Suddenly it's 28 to 10. It's a 3 score game. And it's like, all right, you're really going to catch us. And they never did.
Yeah. Well, the thing with Rourke, I will say that I also again to the same point is a lot of times when he would drop back, you'd see him go through his progressions and then he would just check down to the guy who was wide open in the side is normally Horton off to the side and it's like 4-3 or four times. He just would look through.
It's like not there. It's like, but there was a guy just standing wide open on the edge is like through there and it's like 6 yards and it's like great take that and we'll live see another day. And UCLA was like, well, then when they took that, it's like that's when he would take the longer, you know, 15 yard shots. You mentioned the drive thing. I want to do this because we had we have spent many a year doing the drive chart game in in kind of a sad.
Yeah, you got to do the name. Scott, come on, name that or name that drive. Recite the drives. Come on, drive. So we'll start with Indiana. You know, they this is their drive chart for this game. It was touchdown, touchdown, an 88 play drive that was, you know, turnover on downs and then a touchdown. And then we have half time and it's touchdown, touchdown, touchdown and then a punt when the game was was officially over. That's really good.
That was Indiana, just that was the Indiana team. If you go to UCLA, this is what we're used to. One play fumble. The second one, you know, a 14 play 42 yard drive. But they they stuck with a field goal attempt that they miss three play drive for a punt, A9 play drive for a touchdown, which I'm sure Signetti will let
the defense know about. But then the third quarter, here's what I think like this is again, what's different A9 play drive, they just get a field goal, a next one's 11 play drive, they just get a field goal and then it's interception punt and then the game's over. One of those I think there was another another interception that really should have
happened. I think on that 11 play drive that was called back because of a really bad pass interference call that we we one of the many bad calls we can talk about. But to me, what I take away from this is First off, it's fun to play the drive chart game when we're doing well. But those two drives to start the third quarter, I mean a nine play 65 yard drive and an 11 play 66 yard drive for 5 minutes and 6 minutes respectively. That gets UCLAA total of 6
points. That's again, you know, not every you're not going to stop everyone 3 and out three and out three and out. Like those are big drives for UCLA that took a lot of time that just yielded nothing and I mean yielded, you know, 6 points. And had those both been touchdown drives, the game would have been in a much different place and probably would have been tighter as it got along. But that's really where we sought. We held them for field goals.
We got touchdowns. And it's just it's very unusual for an Indiana team to kind of normally when you allow a drive that long in a Big 10 game, it's like you kind of. Peter out in the red zone and it's like you feel the deflation of even the teams being like, damn it, like and for a sorry, I know I'm talking about like for a lot of those drives, things went wrong in that drive for the defense, whether there was kind of a very phantom pass interference call.
There was another, you know, a couple of them had weird penalties like a sack that suddenly becomes roughing the passer. But the kind of things that as an IU fan, you're like, oh, that's it. Like this is where it like that's the moment where it turns. But it didn't it didn't turn any of them. Like they all became drives ended in field goals. And that that's just very unusual for Indiana to to happen.
You look at those, those two drives, I think you, you really hit the nail on the head because the, the first drive, the not the, you know, the, the one at the beginning of the half, UCLA gets down to the 9 for of Indiana. It's a first and goal and it's incomplete pass, 1 yard run, 1 yard loss on a run, incomplete pass, 28 yard field goal. The next drive and, and at this point, UCLA is down, you know, 28 to 10. They get all the way down into the red zone. It's first and 10 at the 18.
And he goes incomplete pass, 2 yard run, incomplete pass, 34 yard field goal. And then Indiano goes down the field, scores a touchdown. It's 35 to 13. I don't know what to do with all this competence, Scott. I got like, like, it's funny because I remember, you know, so there's, there's two things here, I guess. And they both relate to how we think about IU football or how we've been conditioned to think about IU football.
I don't care who the coach has been it, you know, Jerry Denardo, Terry Hepner, Bill Lynch, Kevin Wilson, Tom Allen. Indiana has always been so easy to rattle when things don't go their way. And you, whatever you ever you want to slice that end of first half, beginning of second-half, like that was a rattling sort of circumstance. And now you're only up by 11 points. You know, you're on the road. They've got all the momentum and it just looked like it didn't matter to Indiana at all.
It just was like, all right, we're just going to go back out and do what we do. And that is so, so different from what we're used to, even in great seasons. I mean, you go back and look at even 2019, go back into 2015. There always felt like there were moments in those seasons where it might, the wheels might fall off the the wagon and then they somehow didn't. This did not feel that way.
But the other thing I'll note, and this is kind of specific to the, the Tom Allen era, you know, the the Tom Allen era defensively was always supposed to be, well, they bend, but they don't break and they let they let teams drive and then they don't, you know, they, they give up a field goal. And then that gradually became less and less true as you went further and further in as as fair and as Kane Womack left, it became, you know, significantly less true.
This was this is legitimately that where Indiana just didn't they didn't break. They they, they, they let that yardage up. They let that time up knowing that way. We're just not going to let them into the end zone. And they didn't let them into the end zone. Eventually UCLA ran out of field to do things and they forced field goals. And you know, it's fascinating to think about it.
You know, the so far on the season, Indiana not, you know, a team that we didn't know a whole lot defensively how they were going to do. They have let in a grand total of 23 points through three games, averaging. Seven points a game giving up seven points a game. I mean, that's that's, that's nuts. And that is obviously a testament to Kurt Signetti. It's a testament to Brian Haynes and and the whole defensive staff, but it's also a testament to the mentality shift.
I think in this program that's already taken place where it is a point of pride to not let your opposition score on you. And there's not the attitude we'll just get them next time. It's like, no, we're going to get them now. And, and I really do think that that is going to be key for this IU team as they move through the rest of the season.
Because if they compare that type of performance, which they've now done three times with the offense that we have seen in all three games where they are clinical, they're able to run or pass, they're able to shift what they're doing. They're able to play, you know, field possessions style of offense where they're just moving the ball very slowly. But they can also take shots down the field.
Like, I don't care who you are, that is a a really difficult combination to try to deal with as an opponent. And you look down the the list of teams Indiana's going to be playing and they've all got flaws in one way or another.
This UCLA game is really kind of the coming out party for Indiana, saying, well, there are certainly some talent flaws that you're not, you're not dealing with a roster of five stars, but already you're seeing it manifesting in the way Indiana's playing, this steadiness and this kind of unflappability. And that travels real well as you get later into the season. UCLA you know they under 100 yards rushing. They they averaged 3.7 yards a rush, under 150 yards passing.
They end with 142, you know, for the season. Oh, I had it right here. Sorry, wrong tab for the season. Indiana is giving up 1.9 yards a rush, which is just incredible. The average passer rating for the opponents is under 100. It's 95 and they're they're giving up on offense just just
3.3 yards a play. Now, again, you could say, all right, two of the opponents are kind of bad to start off, but this is what I was talking about to some people this morning at the airport feels like a different time ago. But it is that, you know, even if you say, all right, UCLA may not be a great Big 10 team. I don't think they're the worst, but they say maybe they're a bottom tier Big 10 team. You know, my, my, my retort is OK, but this is what good Big 10
teams do to bad Big 10 teams. They go on the road and really kick the snot out of them. Like it's this is this is kind of what like the Penn States. And I'm not saying we're at that level yet, but like the that little tier right behind, you know, normally Michigan and Ohio State, that kind of Penn State, Wisconsin, when they're all in Iowa, when they're playing well, like, well, they can't quite do it because they can't score
enough. But you know, those kinds of teams at that level, like when Michigan State's having one of those ten and two seasons, like this is what they do. Like this is what a top tier, upper echelon Big 10 team does on the road to a bad opponent. So that is also something to just be like, oh, well, UCLA sucks when this means nothing. It's like, no, it means something. It means that if we continue to play subpar teams, which it looks like we're going to like this, there is something there.
Yeah, there's, I really see no rationale whatsoever to to minimize the the result in this game. And I do think that it is ultimately a AA4213 win on the road against any Big 10 team when you are not Ohio State or you are not Michigan. Last year is an accomplishment and and it's one that, you know, I, I, I don't think UCLA is a very good team. I also don't think they're the worst team in the conference. I mean, I think that's caveat Michigan as we give them the upper tier.
I like we give them a little anyway, just go ahead. But you know, it's like, but like that what I mean is Ohio State winning at Rutgers like 55 to 3:00 or winning at Indiana 51 to three, like they did what last year or whatever the score was. It's like there that's got to be graded on a curve because you have an overwhelming amount of talent. You probably should be beating
that team by that amount. It's still it's you still get some credit for it. But for a team that's not in that upper echelon of talent to go on the road, you know, in an environment where you are clearly the road team and just execute to the level where you win 42 to 13.
That is something that, as you just said, normally that's what good Big 10 teams do. And I think it, you know, for all the people who have been holding out saying, well, what, you know, they haven't really done anything against good competition. OK. If you want to discount this one by suddenly saying as as I've noticed some people online say, well, UCLA is probably the worst team in the Big 10. It's like, first, they're not Northwestern exists, Purdue exists.
That's two, you know, and you, you, if you're not in the bottom 2, like you're somewhere in the morass of the middle of the conference, far as I'm concerned, but. It's Indiana was a 3 1/2 point favorite in this game and they won by 29. And I want to mention all the talk of, you know, before the season, they Oh my God, you know, going east to West is going to be tough for those teams. And it's like that. That also was not a factor at all.
Yeah. So I think if you want to, if you want to continue to caveat what Indiana's doing, so be it. I'm really excited by the performance. I'm really excited by that level of performance for four quarters. Wasn't like they let up, you know, let off the gas there in the fourth quarter. They actually poured it on. That is what you have to do and that is what instills confidence in this team.
And, you know, I'm just so impressed, not just with the poise related to, you know, that sequence at the end of the first beginning of the second or the poise of being able to play the full 60, but a lot of those penalties just artificially kept drives alive for UCLAI Mean it was. It just looked incredibly blatant that like, well, we got to keep UCLA in this game somehow. There wasn't really another good explanation for a lot of the calls that were made. And it didn't bother Indiana at
all. It just it, it was like, OK, fine, we'll go back out and and play good defense for another couple of of drives. And it's it's it was one of those things again, where we're just used to a certain level of mental fragility with IU football. And it's really heartening through three games to not see that come through at all and instead to watch an Indiana team be opportunistic and not be daunted. You know, they, they almost look like they're never daunted.
Also, I'll note, and maybe the last kind of football thing I want to mention before we talk about the overall atmosphere, another game where Indiana does not turn the ball over. They have yet to turn the ball over in the 2024 season. They're in a + 6 turnover margin.
They turn UCLA over twice. They probably should have turned them over three times, but for one of those aforementioned terrible penalties that that's probably, I don't think you're going to go through a whole season where you don't turn the ball over. But the fact that this is starting to become a theme where Indiana takes care of the football and causes the opponent to have at least one mistake that yields points or good field position.
Again, big change over what we've seen the last couple of years and certainly something that is really promising as we head into this middle portion of the season. The the last thing I'll hit on is, you know, there's 4 penalties for the team in the game.
I think 2 of them were really early false starts, which, which kind of was a little bit uncharacteristic, but you know, again, this is something where, you know, we're, we're less penalized and UCLA, so we only had four penalties in the, in the entire game. And, and again, some of those, I, I feel like two of those were very, very suspect calls and two
were early false starts. It, it's a team that doesn't make a lot of mistakes and when they start, you have those first two false starts that you can see like, all right, didn't
happen again. Like it just, it gets resolved and that's, you know, that this is something where, you know, if you're, I, I know that people are, you know, fans outside are going to be like, oh, you know, 19 and 2020, like he got all fired up. But you know, IU and Tom Allen's like, but if you go back and listen to the podcast, you and I, even during those periods were like, we, we, it was still a sloppy team. It's like they were getting things done, but it was still sloppy.
You know, this, this team, like we've continue to say, is just, it's not it, it's it's very disciplined and it just doesn't look like it makes a lot of those mistakes. And so it's good to see again, another game where there's just not a lot of what I would call like sloppy penalties, just penalties where it looks like people are kind of just not doing the right thing or haven't been, you know, do it again.
It's like the two false starts were really the only ones I would call sloppy penalties and then it just went away after that first drive. Yeah, I mean, I, I just, I couldn't have been more impressed in general with with how much of a team performance this was. I think Curtis Rourke was clearly, I think the best player for Indiana throughout the course of the game. But but again, Aiden Fisher had a great game. You had a different group of defensive players step up behind
him. Jalen Walker had a great game. Amara Farrell looked great, had had one of the the two sacks that Indiana had in the contest. I mean, it just it's really, really exciting to watch Indiana get group contributions from their defense group contributions from their receiving core. You know, Tyson Lawton did not have a great running game, but Justice Ellison it 10 carries, 47 yards. You know, Elijah Green had some
nice carries there at the end. It's it's just cool to see that there are a lot of pretty high level replaceable parts or interchangeable parts. Not replaceable parts, but interchangeable parts where it's not so much mattering that you have a one lead person that's doing everything in one area. It's more it's a collective effort. And it does seem like that's the kind of thing that we thought we might get out of Signetti, but we didn't know if we would get
it this quickly. And I'm really excited in a game against live competition on the road that what we saw in those first two games, we actually saw more of, I would argue, in this game in a lot of phases. Well, and that's, I mean, real quickly, like that would be like, the question is to you, like who's our, who's our #1 receiver right now? And I say it 'cause like, I'm not, I'm not sure. It's see, it's every game is a little bit different.
You know, like I would say Serrado's been really good, but he only had 4 catches, didn't have a touchdown. You know, Williams had two touchdowns in this game. It's like it, it feels like the, the lead receiver is the one who's open, which sounds so stupid and so coach speak, but it, it is kind of the way this team looks to be operating, which is like work just going to find the open guy.
And of those 5 or 6 receivers, you know, it's it I, I'm not sure who the, the sole #1 lead receiver is, which again, is kind of different from where we've been because we've had good receiving cores at IU. But it's like, Oh well, James Hardy, like that's, that's our number one guy. When we get to the red zone, we're, we're taking three shots at him or something. It's like we don't do that. We just go to the guy that's open, which again, sounds so
simple. Or on the flip side, it's like, well, Micah McFadden, like that's the that's the core of our defense. And yeah, yeah, yeah. That's that is there's nothing inherently wrong with it if you can get away with it, but it is interesting and very different. I think that instead of relying on one amazing player to do what they do, Indiana has been getting these collective efforts. And I am really fascinated to see how that carries on throughout the course of this
season. Yeah. So anyway, a huge win for Indiana, 42 to 13. I was one thing I was thinking about. We talked about this a little bit in the airport. I was trying to think of the last time I left a game with the feeling that I had leaving the Rose Bowl, you know, like that, that mix of just unbelievable joy and also kind of surprise that it went as well as it did. And I, I can really only come up with a couple off the top of my head.
The, the last game like this was really, I think it was the bucket game in 2015. You know, in Indiana, they, they went in that game five and six. They had to win the game pretty wasn't good that year. But Indiana had been so up and down and Indiana just absolutely just destroys Purdue in that contest. IU rushes the field. You know, the, the fans rushed the field at the end.
I remember walking out of that game having a similar kind of vibe around me where I was just like, I can't believe what just happened. I'm so happy. I kind of walked around in the daze for a little bit. I felt that way coming out of the game last night. For those who saw my, my, the video that I posted after the game and for those who are on Substack, who are not on, on XI, will post it on the Substack as a free video. I, it's a little out of date now, obviously, because you're
hearing the full podcast. That was just my immediate reaction, but it was just so gratifying from a fan perspective to watch an Indiana team play that well on the road. And look, you and I talked about it. We were confident Indiana winning, but we were talking about, you know, they're going to keep it a close game. This not not they're going to go out and essentially curb stomp
UCLA. That was, you know, I, I, I got off the plane in Denver connecting and there's a guy in a wheelchair sitting there, you know, middle-aged guy, but he looks at my what I'm wearing right now, I'm still wearing what I was wearing on the plane. He's like, you're at the game. Like, yeah. He's like, oh, congratulations on kicking our ass. Like it was that it was that guy. We had a nice conversation.
I will say the, the level of hatred that UCLA fans have for Chip Kelly, like if we could, if we could bottle that and harness it, it would, it would replace the search for nuclear fusion as like the, you know, the renewable resource of the I mean, I, we need to get into that at some point.
But man, these people hate Chip Kelly and I understand why more and more after seeing it. But that's a that aside, it is fascinating to me how effective and how awesome Indiana was and how good that made me feel and how few times I've felt that travelling for Indiana football games like, it really just there hasn't been a lot of that historically. Yeah, I, I, I mean, I haven't gone to a lot of wins for Indiana football where I've gone.
I mean, you know, so I, I don't, I don't really have an answer to that. I mean, the only one that I could think of that was like shocking in in a different way was when we beat Missouri on the road when they were ranked. But if, and this is all off memory, I feel like we had lost a game before that. That was kind of perplexing, like Bowling Green or something, like we had lost a funky game before that. And then again, I I will do fever dream Scott here at some point the end of the podcast.
But that was also a year where it's like I think we had a pretty rough big 10 schedule ahead of us. Like, again, the thing that is so different about this is everything is felt good up to this point. We, like you said, curb stop UCLA in the Rose Bowl. And when I look ahead the next four to five weeks, I don't see, you know, Ohio State, Penn State. I just I don't see the roadblocks that normally happen. Like I see smooth sailing ahead as well.
I, I really cannot remember a moment in time where it, it feels like things were on the right track and I could see it kind of continuing to go nicely for a A5 or six week span ahead while we're in Big 10 play. Yeah, I mean, the Sky's the limit and I, I don't see, look, I mean, I don't think anybody's expecting this to be AI. Do love like there was a moment near the end of the game you you can't We found each other at the stadium. There was a lot of like this is
this is in the moment. Just like, where are the losses? Like I was texting people today and you know, I, I, I texted our friend Taylor Lehman at bite sized Bison. I was like, what's the ceiling? He's like the ceilings. Eleven wins at this point. And I mean, that's hard to get your head wrapped around and look, I don't think that's actually going to happen. We both predicted 8 and four before the season started and people thought we were crazy.
Many people did like, oh, look at the optimism. It's like, whatever. I mean, this is exactly what I was hoping and I knew there was the possibility that this would happen, but we both picked a loss at UCLAI think in our preview, we both picked a loss at UCLAI think you picked the loss at UCLA. I'll go back and check. I think I have this one as a win. But anyway, we're not fighting for credit here. Yeah, yeah, but we're also we are in hey, the the the rankings
come out. We're in others receiving votes now. We're we're others receiving votes. I I predicted 34 to 30 Indiana would win at UCLA. So I I did pick that. You were the one I think that picked the loss. And I think you had us beating like Nebraska or Wisconsin or to Washington. But anyway, yeah, yeah, we'll see. I, I, it's more to me like watching Indiana play as well as they did and the ability of, of that, you know, the, the 60 minute game and, and how that
made me feel just as a fan. This is very qualitative. It's very individual. But I've seen a lot, you know, a ton of Indiana games. I've traveled to a lot of Indiana games. And I don't think I'll feel that way again this season. Because I now have higher expectations. I've now seen them do it against a live opponent on the road. Like it, it will. I'll never have that kind of innocent. The write up is always more fun than that, and I'm glad for that. Like I, I wanna shed that.
I wanna actually feel like I can lean on this team as a fan and say to myself, I believe in them and I believe I can speak strongly and positively about them. And and that win last night in the way that they accomplished that. They're not going to win every game on their schedule. I still think 8 and 4 is a great target number for a team that's at this much new. There'll be more film of Indiana now.
I mean, there's a lot of different things that will happen throughout the course of the season. There's injuries, but it was really, really gratifying walking out of there. And I just it, I reflected on how few times I've really been able to have that particular feeling with an Indiana team. And and all three of those games were special. Like those were kind of the last two big breakthroughs. Like, yeah, that that bucket game in 15 got Indiana back to a bowl for the first time in in
eight years. And the game in 2019 was really what pushed Indiana over the hump. And instead of being a team that was going to struggle to get to a bowl, it was like, well, which bowl are we getting to? And so I, it was a dissimilar kind of feeling last night. Anyway, let's let's jump into the atmosphere just in general. I mean, I, I want to start off by saying this. The, I, we were in Pasadena for a couple of days.
I got there Wednesday night. I had some some work obligations out there, but we were both in town Thursday and Friday and Saturday. And it was cool because you could see the IU presence slowly building throughout the course of those two days. And I mean the local news even did a package on it that got retweeted by Amanda Pavelka, if you want to go check that out. I think we retweeted it too. But it was just cool because it was noticeable the number of IU
fans there. And then in that whole lead up before the game on Saturday, you had tons of IU people down in Old Town Pasadena. You know, we were in a bar and I had just randomly chosen it. I, I texted you, I was like, where should we do a meet up at noon? And you couldn't go, But you gave me a couple options and I chose one. And we went in there and I told a few people and it was 98% Indiana fans.
They were literally like, there were a couple of people who were clearly not there to watch football and everybody else was IU fans. And that was really cool. And we saw a bunch of people there that we knew and, and we're friends with. And I went up to talk to the bartender when I was closing out my tab and, and he was like, you guys, you guys really filled this place up. Everybody's been real friendly. It's been amazing. And, and it was cool to hear that.
And that was a sentiment I heard from a bunch of people throughout the course of our time. It was, it was just so awesome to watch so many people for an Indiana football game come to that kind of a location and be there. And, you know, just kind of the that that level of energy that you can get from being part of the traveling fan group. I don't know if I've ever felt it quite as keenly as I filled it in Pasadena this past weekend. Yeah, it was.
I, I felt the same thing. I was out Friday hanging bump around Pasadena and just bumping into a lot of IU people wearing an IU hat. And it's like you, you start it, it's kind of cool to kind of see it start growing and building. And there was a, the the IU Alumni Association Association did a very cool tailgate before the game that there's over 1000 people there. It was. 1200 was what they told me. Yeah, it.
Was, I mean, it was everyone was, was jovial, was excited, you know what was talking about it. And a lot of people had this kind of the same settlement that I had is like, I, if I, you ever goes to the Rose Bowl, I'm going, it's like, even though it's not the Rose Bowl game, it's like it's at the Rose Bowl. I'm going and I want to see this. And like we said, there was, there was I, I met people who were, you know, at the game in 68, like just, it was a really cool vibe.
And then when you got into the stadium, you know, I was talking to a few friends about this. It was, it was really surreal just being like, we're playing UCLA. It's Big 10. But you know, when, when we went to like Iowa, you know, there, there's a little bit of history there where, you know, you know, Iowans are kind of making fun of their defense and they're kind of making fun of us because we suck. And then they're kind of nice. And like you go to Purdue, obviously there's a lot of, you
know, back and forth. And it's like with the big tent you have, you have a feel for teams. I, I was joking. This is like 2 fan bases being on a first date where you're just like, you know, I, I do love walk walks on the beach and like, Oh no, like your, your in laws sound fantastic. Let's go, let's go, let's travel with them. And no, no, no, I like, we'll just, you know, I didn't see the thing on your foot. Like you look great. Well, you look great.
Well, you look awesome. It's like I'll pick up the tent. Like there was no real animosity like. Like, we just went deep into Scott's, like early dating psyche. That was fascinating. I've. Been married 19 years. I haven't done it in a while first dating so but you know, it's like they were all nice kind of in like a we're not sure what to make of you kind of thing. Like I had a guy in line we're waiting and he's from UCLA thing he's like, hey, was pegs good at IU?
Like he was kind of hurt a lot. But like, like, obviously like we we went six and two in 2020. Like, OK, he was pretty good at Washington. Like, yeah, I was like, it's but it's like it's realizing like they have such little knowledge, just like I don't know a lot about, you know, I didn't keep up with UCLA football much and it was it was interesting that dynamic. But you know, the the fan, the IU fans that were there, I was saying 30%.
I don't think it got there. I think it was probably 20 to 25%, but we were engaged, they were loud, they were engaged. They IU fans were really into it. And you know, UCLA fans were were there, but they didn't have a lot to cheer for. But definitely they were way more passive and just not as into it as it felt like the IU Collective was. So that was, that was really
fun. But it was kind of fun building up to that and then getting to the game and then everyone, you know, kind of just being excited and, and being into it.
It was, it was awesome. And then it kind of it got really fun at the end because then all the UCLA fans left with like 7 minutes to go and we're kind of like, dude, the Rose Bowls are, it's like IU fans just walking all over the place it. Was a it was a really special moment at the end of the game and all the not all but most of the IU fans congregated around the tunnel right near where our seats were and saluted the team insignetti as they came off.
I mean, that was that was really, really special and. Yeah, I mean, I was. First of all, I thought IUAA did a great job with that tailgate. That was a really, really nice touch, right? Big like the whole the whole setup was interesting because the all the UCLA fans were, you know, they were there was a large parking lot where you tailgate in front of the Rose Bowl. And then there's a golf course on the other side of the Rose Bowl and people were tailgating very LA Yeah.
And I felt bad like of the driving across this golf course, like hopefully has a tee time on Tuesday or whatever. But but it was, you know, there were there were there were tailgates. There were a lot of IU fans kind of sprinkled in among that. But there was this huge tent on your way to get to the stadium. And that was the IUAA event. And that was really, really fun. And there was some, you know, a lot of people there. Jared Jeffries was there.
Dean Garrett was there. Was there Scott Dolson was walking around give Dolson credit like I mean it was a hunt. It was hot in the sun. He's he's full, you know, shirt tie. It's like dude, you're throw on like you, you can do this shirt like you don't need to go full shirt and tie, but he was he was walking around talking to me. It was it was I'm with you.
It was very. Cool. And then we got it. We got to meet a ton of Crimson cast listeners, some that we've we've run into before, some of you brand new. We got to meet for the first time. That was really special and got a chance to take some pictures. It was, it was fun seeing everybody out there. Everybody we met was super nice and had nice things to say, so always appreciate it. If you're going to, if you're going to talk to us, just be nice. If you have nothing nice to say,
just don't. Don't talk to. Us are you going to mention this on every podcast you do from now on? Like it's not as firmly in his don't read the comments era, but the the the apple saying you're. Like you're not reading the comments, but you suck Like I've been waiting to tell you anyway. I was hoping someone would do that. I almost, I almost paid somebody 5 bucks to do it, but I didn't. But I'll say this for those who haven't been to the Rose Bowl, it's, it's a fascinating spot.
The, I mean, the, the, the topography around it is beautiful. The mountains right behind it in the background. And you know, you, you go into the entry gates and entry took longer than I think it probably should have, but that's a minor complaint that happens at other
stadiums too and the like. The concourses are all outdoors and then and there's no it. Doesn't really have a profile, like it's just it's kind of just a couple feet up and runs a little bit like Fenway when you're around Fenway Park or like it's just it's kind of blends in. Like you don't notice a 100,000 seat stadium next to you. It's just it's very blend, blend inable.
And then and it's actually there's these kind of long narrow tunnels that you have to take to get into the stadium and, you know, walking through that and then popping out the other side and and you see this amazing view. We were seated on the side opposite the press box. So the sun was coming at us for a lot longer than it was the other side. But that was the nice view because you can see the mountains from that side. And so I was glad that we were over there and it was just, it
was such a thing. I'll say too is like it felt like they focus on the football like for for a place that has one of the biggest bowl games ever, there's only two jumbo, you know, I wouldn't call it jumbo trials like 11 screen to
our right. There was one kind of behind us and what I loved to our left on the upper side of the, you know, behind one of the end zones was like a really small it look, kind of look like the old scoreboard that IU had in Memorial Stadium. Like it just just, you know, lights. It even has the clock with the the hand, like not, you know, the the analog clock.
Like it. It very much felt like, you know, hey, we're here to focus and watch the football and not not get into Dumbotron and not have, you know, hot dog cannons. There's anything wrong with that, But it's just it was very like, hey, we're here for football. I I highly recommend going to a game there. It really was a lot of fun and it was just it, the whole aura of the place was and I look, I've been to other like historic
stadiums. I taught at the University of Miami the last year the Orange Bowl was around and the Orange Bowl was a dump. I mean, it was, it was a dump. It was so it had been so mismanaged and and poorly maintained and, and the Rose Bowl, a lot of people say, well, it's actually kind of a crappy stadium and it's not, it's it's there's not a lot of bells and whistles, right? You know, at least outside of the suites. But it was, it was not a dump. It was still a really cool
place. And it just it, it kind of reminds me of Dodger Stadium. If you've ever been there to to watch baseball game, to quote Jeremy Gray, like it feels like you're in an episode of Bad Men, you know, And then the Rose Bowl was kind of like the outdoor. Concourses were cool, but just milling around there was cool. And then from where we were sitting, we were, I was kind of like 1 section over from you.
But like when we're on like a 20 yard line, kind of the, the only thing that I did notice is like when the ball was going to the other end zone, I was just like, man, that is it's really far away. Like when you're Memorial Stadium, it feels tighter like then it's like, Oh yeah, this place is huge. Like this is a really big place.
And you but it it, it does kind of have an intimate feel until like things are happening on the far side of the field and you're like, man, that is really far away. I know it's it was, it was definitely in that old bowl shape. It reminds me a lot of the Big House. It's, it's got a, it's a very similar type of build and you know, they're not that different in age. So I bumped into a guy in the Vegas airport who had also gone to the game and he saw the IU
stuff. He's like, did you go to the game? And was like, yeah, he's like, what do you think of the Rose Bowl? And I was like, oh, I I really enjoyed it. He's like, man, he's like, he was kind of a dump. It's like, but maybe those beautiful place I've seen and I'm like, well, it can't be bowl. Like, you know, it gets to be a dump and be like, pick one, bro. I never. I never. Felt like we were missing any amenities at the Rose Bowl. I don't know why people call it a dump.
I've seen dumps. That's not a dump. Northwestern Stadium is a dump. I mean, they'll, I'm sure they'll fix that with the renovation. But yeah, know your facts, right? Anyway, you know, the only other thing I'll say, you know, and this was something that kind of struck me when I was in the security line at, at the airport leaving guy, older guy saw my my logo. And it's like you, you know, Indiana, that was a, it's a hell of a game last night.
And, you know, it kind of goes on and on for a bit. And he was like legitimately shocked. And at one point he says, I graduated in 1957. And I just, you know, so used to, to Indiana not winning these kinds of games and things like that. And I got to thinking about that with being at the Rose Bowl too, 'cause I remember, like my dad moved to Bloomington in 1964. And so he was here for the season, that 67 season.
He was actually a freshman that year at IU where they made the Rose Bowl. He didn't go. You know, you, you at that age, you weren't going to go to a game, at least not in the late 60s. And I remember, you know, him growing up, he's really the reason I'm an IU fan. And I remember him talking about that Rose Bowl season and talking about how, you know, he always wanted to go if Indiana ever got back there. So, you know, he, he passed several years ago.
So it was really fun. And, and I was just kind of really emotional to be there in that moment and think about that and think about the number of people in the IU family who have had some variation of the story that I just told.
And you know, these generations of fans that have wanted to go out there and experience it. I was telling you, I brought my, my family with me. I had my my 2 girls and we're walking out of there and I turned to them and I said, you do not realize how lucky you are that you were in the stands here
for this. You know, and, and you know, it doesn't matter if UCLA is bad necessarily, but to be able to go in a game that was not a foregone conclusion, win that way and that venue and be there for history. I mean, that was the, the 1st 6 touchdowns scored by you in Roseville history. You saw them all. Is it? It's not a bowl game, but it is a step in the direction towards where I use program wants to be. And I, you know, I thought a lot about the the people we talked
with, both of us independently. It was so special, especially the older fans, to be able to go to Pasadena, go to the Rose Bowl and watch IU play. That really was probably the most emotionally resonant thing of the whole weekend for me. Scott. That's, I hope that's all really well said. I'm going to I'm going to pivot because I can't follow. That was very well said.
I can't follow that as well. But the thing that I was thinking, and I talked to you about this a little bit, and this is a bit of a scarecrow argument. I think IU is taking football very seriously. But you know, this is This is why football is so important is that you can have events like this. And yes, I know that people you and I've traveled for basketball games, but it just isn't quite the same.
Like there's, there's pregame, like they'll do kind of events for, for, for basketball, but it's, it's just, it isn't the same. You don't draw people the same locations aren't always at the same. And it's, you just don't always have that kind of pregame feel. You know, I, I thought back to going to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville and that was a really cool event on the water
side. You got all people fired up and, and, you know, went to the Gator Bowl and, you know, there's, there's really cool venues in the Big 10 to go to. People like to travel to fun places. You're going back at USC in like 2027.
There'll be a game in, you know, Seattle and Washington, you know, and, and going to events like this, you know, it also provides a, you know, side note, like my wife and I have a, we started a scholarship at the School of education for something, it's important to us. But, you know, so I, I went out with the to dinner with some people from the folks at the
School of education. But it's like this is an event that allows people to like it allows the school IU to to kind of bring people together and host people and get, you know, get more donations and things that they need to do to keep going. And that alumni event was a great networking event for the, you know, I talked to the guy from the school of Ed and he's like, this has been awesome. It's like a lot of people I've been trying to meet, I'm able to
meet here. And, you know, for as good as Indiana travels for basketball, it just isn't quite the same. Like when you're going to a game at Auburn or something like you, you can kind of do it, but it's just, it isn't, it just isn't the same as as this. And I just kind of walk away. Be like, This is why it's so important that we have positive experiences like this, because now people are more likely to, you know, be like, you know what, that was fun.
Like I want to go to Seattle and see a game in Washington. Like I at least know IU can, you know, they're not going to win all of them, but they, they can at least hold their head high and, you know, make themselves proud and, and we can travel with them and like, I'm not scared to go to Iowa again, you know, things like that. But it's just, it is, it is just so important for a university to have a functional team and to have events like this, because I'm, I'm always impressed by how
many people from IU show out. And I think there's a lot of people in Pasadena who weren't, didn't even go to the game, who were just walking around with IU stuff and just all all the flights. Obviously we're flying back to Indiana. So it's going to be a lot of IU folks. But it's just like you, you see people there and, you know, we bump into like, think about bed at the airport. Some I haven't seen in like 12
years. It's just it, it's such a great moment to bring people together, gather and kind of give you a reason to get there. So I just it that was kind of my main take away is like, This is why it's so important and I'm so happy that we're having these moments with IU football. Couldn't have said it any better myself. I will also leave that one so. Fever dreamtime. Let's just fever dream. Come on, let's fever dream it So let's let's wait. I want to hold. I I don't want. I want.
To end on the note, let's just let's end on the note we just ended on. You're right, you're right. Cut that nice romantic than I am. No, no, we've got some nice romantic music playing. The credits are starting to roll. I think let's just lean into that. Sorry, sorry. It's OK. I I it's great. Anyway, we'll go ahead and wrap up as again, just a a, a an amazing week, an amazing weekend
for IU 3 and O on the season. 42 to 13 winners at the Rose Bowl against UCLA and there'll be an action this coming Saturdays. They take on Charlotte. We'll have programming throughout the course of the week. Scott, any final thoughts? No, I think we hit it well. All right, folks. For Scott, I'm Galen. Thank you to Home Field Apparel, Thank you to Who's your game day logger brought to you by Upland Brewing Company.
Thanks to everybody that we saw out in Los Angeles and we look forward to talking with you all again. For Scott, I'm Galen. We'll catch you folks. On the flip side, bring back to Bison. So long everybody. Goodbye YouTube.