You're listening to the Back Home Network presented by Home Field Apparel. Welcome back to Crimson Cascade and Clavio joining you here. It is Thursday the 19th of September and Indiana Football 3 and O on the campaign looking forward to another game this upcoming week as they take on the Charlotte 49ers at Memorial Stadium and have a chance to move to four and O for the first time in a while. And it's been a really exciting last few weeks for this IU
football program. One of the people we wanted to catch up with about the football program was a guy who was pretty closely tied to it as a broadcaster. And then before that, many years ago as a player, Rhett Lewis of the NFL Network and formerly color commentator on the IU Football Radio Network, now doing sideline reporting for the Big 10 Network. And always one of our favorite people to talk with as he always has great insights on this team
and on football in general. So we got an interview coming up with him here in just a little bit talking through what he's seen so far out of this team and just the overall vibe coming out of that UCLA game as Indiana is still kind of basking in the afterglow of that five days later.
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crimsoncast.substack.com. We'll go ahead and get to our interview with Rhett Lewis now. And as we move forward, just a reminder, folks, we will have our normal postgame wrap up podcast taking place on Sunday morning of this upcoming week. So be sure to tune in for that. We're there the day after every IU football game, talking through what we saw and giving a
quick preview of the next week. So again, here's our interview with Rhett Lewis. And be sure to tune in this coming Sunday as we recap Indiana and their game against the Charlotte 49ers. All right, here we go. And joining us on the show once again, we welcome him back after a couple of your absence. But he's familiar to most of you IU fans if you listen to any games on the radio last year.
Rhett Lewis, IU alum, IU football alum and new addition to the Big 10 Network family of broadcasters. Rhett, first of all, great to see you and congratulations on that. We miss you here and IU Radioland, but it's great to have you back on the show. Yeah, I appreciate that Galen. It's it's always great to chat with you and always, you know, in awe of what you do with the at the media school and and the great students that turn out.
I get to cross paths with a with a few of them in my travels, both with Big 10 Network at NFL Network. So I I love that. And on that note, you know, it's it was really bittersweet to leave the IU radio booth for sure after two years. But you know, for all the all of your students who might TuneIn and you know being attached to live games in this especially if you want to be in television being attached to television live events.
Is. Where this business is, it's not even where it's heading, it's where it is and it's only going to get more impactful to be a part of live games because of the shoulder programming, the pre and post it, it's all going away and I have, I've seen that first hand. So the more live events and live games you can do in whatever role I have done TV play by play, TV Color and now TV Sideline. So however I can get there is where I'm going. It is wild to think about how
much the business is changing. And it's also, I was, I was trying to tell my, my sports media industry class the other day, you know, in 20 years ago you had maybe 1/3 of the games were on television in a way that people could watch it. Now, not only is almost every FBS level game on television, but a lot of FCS level games are on television or streaming or in some way, shape or form are out there. It's just a completely different business than it used to be.
Totally, totally. And, and so, yeah, I mean, like when I got into the business, it was all about like getting into getting a studio job and right. And like, you know, going to work for a network and which is great. And some of that stuff is still out there, still exists, but it's just so much there. There's so few. There's some like the, the the volume is just so much less now on that front, so. Well, let's, let's talk a little bit. I mean, Speaking of things that
have changed. Yeah. Hello, IU football. Where have you been all my life? Let's let's start with the remarkable events of this past weekend. Indiana playing in the Rose Bowl in the building for the first time since 1968. First Big 10 game for UCLA, a game that a lot of people had decided to install as kind of the barometer of where the team was at. Because as impressive as the first two wins were for IU, they were certainly against lesser
competition. IU goes out and just dismantles UCLA over the course of four quarters. You know, I I first want to get your just reaction to seeing that take place and you know, as someone who who put on the uniform and played for this program and has been attached to this program in other ways, like what were the emotions around seeing that performance from an IU football team in that environment? Man, it was like holy, you know what? I can swear on the podcast if.
We can. Wow, holy shit, that was awesome. You know, like I, I, you know, I was doing a game in Lincoln, NE, which was, you know, pretty incredible on a number of levels on that front too for that program that is feels like they are all the way back. And so we kicked off at the same time.
And, you know, I, I was kind of like checking my phone, but down on the sideline, which, you know, my, where's you know, where my role for Big 10 network is like it's really hard to get Wi-Fi to get any cell, to get any coverage. So I'm like, you know, every now and then something would pop up my phone and I'd see it. Like my dad would text me, right? So Mike, I'd wait. My dad, who's also an IU alum and was on the Rose Bowl team as
a student athletic trainer. The last time we were at the Rose Bowl, which was kind of fitting, he, he had texted me first at like 7, nothing. And I was like, oh, awesome, great start. And like, I didn't hear from him again. I didn't get the text that came in for like another 30 minutes. And then it was like all of a sudden it was, it was 20 or 14, whatever the 21 to whatever it was at that time. I was like, oh, what happened? Well, it turns out it was 14. Nothing in a blink of an eye.
And this is what I was saying going into the game. Coach Signetti is a professional head coach. That is not to say that he is an NFL head coach. It is that he is a professional at being a head coach. He has done, we have talked about his success and his track record and it matters. It matters. Look at what happened at, you know, look at UCLA right now. Desean Foster is a legend in that program, but he is a rookie head coach and they're guys watching the tape, especially on
defense. I haven't gotten into a ton of the offense, the IU defense tape yet. That's on the docket today, but their defense looked confused to me, like they didn't know. I I'm seeing them pointing at each other. They're moving. I mean, like there's Indiana was so well prepared for this game. And that's not to say that, you know, UCLA didn't do a good job of preparing. I just think that IU takes it to
another level. This the coaches that coach Signetti has hired are just fantastic, sharp football minds and they know how to get these guys ready to play and to put them in the best positions to succeed. And that's what we're seeing. So the guttural reaction, all that was, you know, wow. And I texted that to a number of the coaches this weekend. I was just like, this is UCLA is not a good team, but they are the best team that IU has faced this year by far. And so to win that convincingly
is is pretty big. We've tried to talk about this on the show like the point you just made. And it's it's tough because it's it's not. I don't know that you can effectively explain the results of the first three games for IU without pointing to the difference in the way the team prepares and the way that the
players feel prepared. And we were noticing this even in talking with players in the offseason, like they know there was always this this kind of interesting shading where it's like we, you know, we love Coach Allen and that staff, but we feel like we are being better prepared for what we're going to
be facing in game situations. And I got I was thinking about it. It's like IU maybe wins that game against UCLA, even with last year's team and staff in place in as much as as you said, UCLA, well have they have talent, but they clearly are not well organized. And that was that was present on both sides of the ball.
But it's a close game. It's a game that looks like a lot of other games that IU played over the last three seasons where it it comes down to 1 possession and you're you feel kind of lucky afterwards if you came away with it. It didn't feel, I mean, we were a little nervous around halftime when UCLA scores at the end, we. Had 13 or something. It was 21. It was 21, seven UCLA drives down the field, scores at the end of the first half. They get the ball to start the second-half.
They kick the field goal and you know, I've seen that scenario a bunch of times as an IU fan and, and you've seen it as well. And you're, you know, in the back of my head, I'm like, I've been talking to Big game about Signeti and his staff and how prepped they are. This will be a great test. And they just came down the field as if it didn't matter, as if nothing had changed from what they were planning. And in a blink of an eye, it's 2810. They stopped them on the next. Drive to 2813.
And then it's essentially game over. It's just there's such a marked difference in the little things, in the details, in the way that IU approaches, plays, a lot of those. You know, it was clear UCLA was selling out to stop the run because that had been the bread and butter of IU for the first couple of games. And IU was like, hey, here's our. Passing attack that we haven't. Had to use in the last couple of games and by the way we have 6 people.
We can throw to what? Are you going to do about it like that? That was so invigorating for me as a fan and as someone who observes this team because I the last. Time I can remember. Feeling that way was when Caitlin de Boer was the offensive coordinator and and that that felt so different. And it's like, wow, that flavor has returned to to IU football.
That's a good way to put it that does that does summon back some of those feelings where the now head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, who just put a 42 on the on Wisconsin and Madison was the Indian offensive coordinator and the Alabama defensive coordinator was the IU defensive coordinator and the Alabama offensive coordinator was the IU quarterback coach and
the IU strength coach. You know, like we go on and on about the Alabama connections there, but I, I think a lot of this comes down to Curtis Rourke's comfortability. It is he, you can just see it on tape. His comfort level is just quick. I mean, so rapidly rising in this offense. And, you know, I, I think it took some time. I mean, like they've been drilling on on a lot of this stuff since the spring and then you go into the summer and then fall camp, you know, I don't
know if it was there yet. And then, you know, like the scrimmages weren't like overly impressive. And then you get into FIU looks OK, looks good. Certainly service. I mean, like, obviously Western Illinois, you know, not again, not a great squad, but I mean, IU did what IU had to do, right? It was IU versus IU and they won in a big way in that one. And then this one man, I I recall a drive in the second-half that I want to say ended with that Miles cross catch, another incredible one
that went for a score. But it was it was a drive in which they Curtis had a play that just a bad decision. It should have been picked off, should have been picked off. And then I think it was maybe 2 plays later, he comes back with what in my mind was the throw of the day. He takes he takes a blitzing a blitzer's hit to his like upper, you know, his lower thigh knee area and that beautifully layers a ball over the flat over like the curl defender to a crossing.
I want to say it was it was Keyshawn. I can't remember exactly. I mean just laid it out perfectly and just gets back up, shakes it off Bam. Next play. Next play I think is big for Curtis. And so I think he is a low blood, low blood pressure player in the pocket right now where he is calm, he is collected. He is ready to move on to the next thing, good or bad, and that is really going to serve IU
well. And so like, the the more I look at this thing, you know, it's the team that won what, 9 games the last three years? I feel pretty good about being halfway to bowl eligibility through three. Games I, when I watch Rourke, I, I feel a lot of Nate Sudfeld in terms of presence, you know, and and that's not Peyton Ramsey was
great. Michael Pennix was great to have back there, but you know, they, they were such scramblers that you know, they would often times default to if it if stuff broke down, they would try to make a play for themselves. And I've been so impressed with Rourke and his ability to stick in the pocket and, and, and go through his progressions and not
get really bothered. And I was wondering I mean because again you're not facing high level defense against FIU or Western Illinois, but but that UCLA defense, I mean according to some rankings last. Year were really good. Yeah, they were like top 25 in terms of talent levels and things like that. And it's interesting because I've now seen people start to discount that day, the UCLA win, because it's like, well, they're not very good. That's like, how many goal posts are we planning on?
Moving we also made them not very good. That's right. Yeah, You know, But I I'll say this, and Rourke is a great example of what I've really been impressed with so far from the coaching staff, other than what we've already discussed, which is how well they made decisions in the offseason about what players to target and bring in.
Because it's not just Rourke, but Rourke is probably the best example of it. But you look at it, the leading tackler is Aiden Fisher, who they brought in and knew could play at this level. The running back quartet now is all from elsewhere. The, you know, the receiving core. Omar Cooper has certainly, I think demonstrated that he could be the breakout star of the guys
that was here. But Serat and Horton and Williams and Craw, I mean, it's like this whole collection of players that either were were very lightly utilized or came in from elsewhere and are brand new, hey. Hold on one second, Galen, because we haven't even really seen EJ Williams or Donovan McCullough yet, right? Like, think about that for a second.
It's, it's why, and I'm what I'm so impressed by is not just the talent evaluation and the idea that these guys could play at this level, but I'm also really impressed at how interchangeable the players are in the scheme and what you know, and, and where it's like, yes, there are players that do certain things, but we've seen a different player step up and have a big game. It feels like in every game so
far. And you're seeing players like Mccully, who's been more of a decoy, hasn't gotten into the action that much. He's out there celebrating with the guys that are making the plays. Like it feels like people have bought in, in the running back room, in the wide receiver room to this idea that they are a collective and that collectively they're fitting into this
offense. And, and I think on defense, you're seeing a similar thing where the who's leading in tackles, who's getting pressure on the quarterback. It's shifting a bit from game to game, but they've instilled this more collective effort. And they've also got all of these pieces that if one guy isn't, you know, getting the maximum level of production in a game, somebody else has stepped up and is doing so. Yeah, and that's what
competitive depth is all about. And that's something that, you know, IU has has lacked in, you know, really since the, the COVID year where they they were able to replace guys that year and even back in 1819 too. You know, Penix goes down, you got a quarterback who can lead you to a bowl game, you know,
twice, right? I mean, you've got you've got guys in the secondary that were rotating through and picking off passes that that really wasn't the case these last three years because you felt like there was a drop off. Like frontline talent wise, I use 5I use kind of always been OK. But man, if somebody goes down, it's like the, you know, the drop off is big. And that's what you see with middle tier big 10 teams is that
you know, yeah, sure. They're not, you know, Ohio State talent level, but certainly serviceable enough to find yourself into the postseason. How many teams are at Ohio State's talent level in the Big 10, in the Big 10 too, right? You know, maybe Oregon if you want to, unless you're counting Oregon as the second team. I mean, it's, you know, and, and this is I think the important thing. It's like if you look at IU and, and there's still a lot of work to do.
There's still a lot more to be proven. But what I see the way that we're grading other teams. Nebraska being a good example, they've looked impressive in their games, but I would argue I use look more impressive if you take their games as a whole and it's it's more brand name than anything else. And IU, who knows what, what do they end up doing? We predicted eight wins before the season on the podcast and people are like, you guys are
being way too optimistic. But I had a feeling that what we were seeing in practices and the things we were being told, we're going to essentially flesh out the way that we're seeing so far. It'll be curious to see what happens over these next three games because as you said, halfway to bowl eligibility before you get halfway through September, pretty rarefied air for IU football.
And you've got a sequence of three games here that will really, I think, demonstrate, you know, where in the pecking order we should be thinking about IUI. Mean Charlotte, Maryland and then at Northwestern, those are all games Indiana can win. And when you look at the relative talent levels, I feel very good about where I use at because of how organized they look and how badly they've made each of their opponents look thus far.
Yeah, I mean, like I I was drumming up scenarios where, you know, you could be talking about a team that's undefeated, you know, welcoming Michigan, right to Bloomington. Who who just decided they needed to change quarterbacks going into their biggest game of the year? It's like, it's hard. I know I've I've had a lot of conversations with people on the side where I'm like, is the floor like nine wins? I'm like, let's, let's pump the
brakes. A little bit here, but you deserve we Indiana fans deserve to feel good about this and to get excited about it. And I think that's that's the moral of the story here. Like get out there and, you know, not only pack, but defend the Rock, You know, like make, make make Memorial Stadium, you know, a place to be reckoned with. And I think that's where starting off 3 and O getting that first big Rd. win.
Hopefully they are welcomed back very raucously at the Rock this weekend against Charlotte. And then, you know, you get Maryland at home as well, which is big on the road in Northwestern is an interesting 1. I don't know if there's a decided home field advantage there other than everything's just a little bit unique there. And I can't tell you how big of a a difference it'll make taking on Nebraska in Bloomington as opposed to in Lincoln.
That place is an absolute buzz saw when they are bowling. So, yeah, I feel you. I mean, like, I I looking at this too. I mean, like, yeah, it looks, all of it looks very doable, but you got to go out and do it. And I think that's what Coach Cignetti is proving and preaching to his players right now. And that's what will serve this team well is that he's not like, all right, we're three and O, you know, I imagine there is no one who has mentioned there's halfway to eligibility within
that building this week. Yeah, What do you make? You know, it's been amusing watching IU fans kind of wrap their heads around Signetti and his approach because it is so markedly different from what we've seen from previous coaches, not just Tom Allen, but even but Kevin Wilson as well. Like there's just there's this real hyper focus on doing things properly in terms of execution. And you, you hear Signetti's comments and post game press conferences.
You hear him when he's on the coaches show. And it's funny to a lot of people because it seems very basic and and very straightforward. And yet it does seem to be resonating with the players. So I guess I two questions for you. I'm curious about your reaction to his approach from what we've seen. And I'm sure you've been Privy to some things that maybe we haven't seen.
But also, as a player, how much does hearing that kind of message play into your building of confidence as you move forward through the course of a season? It's huge. You got a coach out there saying, you know, we expect to win and to, you know, fairly boldly proclaim that this team is capable of winning in a way that this town and this fan base hasn't seen in decades. And it's like, wait, it's like, it's it's almost like a
reminder. It's like this is, yeah, I I get it. It's been a tough run, you know, these last couple of years, you know, had a had a good little, a good, a good burst, you know, four or five years ago. But it's been bad enough to make it feel like that almost didn't happen, right? And so now what coach Signetti has done is completely flipped the mindset where it's it's not like, man, we're really going to fight and we we hope to win these games. No, it's like the expect, it's
everyone's expectation to win. But the way that Coach Signetti portrays it is one of such confidence that I think it really does trickle into the players collective mindset and into the program's collective mindset. And while it may rub some people the wrong way, it may not be for everybody. Right now it's for IU and I think that's that's the best thing that could be said. It's, it's, it just feels like a huge difference. I mean, you have to have a belief programmatically in what
you're doing. And it has often felt that I us try to run on emotion and, you know, emotions are very susceptible to the moment. And, you know, I think that was, again, it's what impressed me the most about the sequence in the UCLA game where normally that knocks an IU team off of its pathway. And it feels like in every game, IU has at the very least maintained, if not gotten slightly stronger as they've gone through.
And and obviously, as the I well, here's the thing I keep saying, you know, as the competition level ratchets up. And yet that's not really what happens in the there's the what I'm fascinated by, and we kind of touched on it a little bit a minute ago. The middle third of the schedule. You know, you've got you've got at Northwestern in a weird quasi home environment for that, right? You've got a you've got N
Nebraska for homecoming. You've got Washington the following week, who's who looks pretty up and down. And then you're at Michigan State like that, any of those games individually, if you're looking at IU right now in the way that they've played, if UCLA is a decent harbinger as a road team for what you might get talent wise from those other teams. And I don't think that's too far off. Like none of those teams are are stocked with any more talent than Indiana.
This is where the preparation and the attitude and the belief can filter through. And I, I think that it's why I try not to get too irrationally excited because obviously things can change, injuries happen, things like that. But having that as a core for your program is, is such a a huge potential advantage, especially when you're playing two of those games at home and the two games you're playing at home are probably the two most talented teams that you've got
in that four-game stretch. Yeah, I think that's that's huge, right? You know, the Maryland one will be really interesting to me because I think Billy Edwards is playing some really good football for them at quarterback. I I don't really know what to make of them as a team yet. I haven't watched a ton of their games yet. So I don't know that I can say for certain how I feel about that. But that is that is in the offing right now. This will be a good test for Indiana, right?
Because, yeah, I think everybody was on him a little bit, You know, big win, 77 points against Western Illinois. I think there was still, you know, a little bit of all right, it's an FCS team. Like, let's not get, but now you go into the Rose Bowl and smash UCLA that way. I think there's a lot more eyes open. You've got, you know, Bill Connolly talking about the College Football Playoff and you know that I and everybody's like, whoa, whoa, whoa. You got to come back.
You got to come back down and refocus and play Charlotte this week, OK. Who I don't think is as talented as UCLA, but they may be a little bit better put together as a team right now. So they've got a coach who's, you know, in his second year, got some really good coaches on that staff. Dre Bly is on that staff. Tim Brewster is on that staff. There's. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Former what? Minnesota, right.
Yeah. So this will be a challenge I think, you know, not just on the field, but again, another mindset challenge. But I I really haven't been given any reason to believe that Coach Signetti won't have these guys ready for both pieces of that challenge. It's a wild spot to be in. This feels like a different reality that we've been shot into and it's just trying to get our heads wrapped around it. But it's fun.
It's been so much fun watching people, I think having had their mentality switch as fans about what I you could be. And I am really fascinated to see what the crowd looks like in Memorial Stadium this weekend and especially next week. And I mean, I think, you know, I'm, I'm hoping that the UCLA game woke some people up that were still sleeping on them and, and made people say this is really a team worth following,
worth getting behind. I've been going around telling people let's make the Charlotte game the introduce a friend to Indiana football game. Awesome idea. I love it. Let's like find a way to get find a bring a friend, you know, pay for the tickets. There's plenty of cheap tickets still available. But let's get people in into the Rock noon game. There's no travel excuses. And you know, to me, it's like I want I'd love to. It was such a cool moment.
I can say this standing in the Rose Bowl end zone above the tunnel at the end of the game, cheering the players as they came off the. Field. I mean, it was. Such a cool moment. And, you know, I, I, I hope that the players and the coaches realized like, there's a core of really strong support for IU football. And now it's a matter of getting some of the more casual fans who have kept it at arm's length
into the fold and getting them. Because like that, those are the kinds of things that really do make a big difference when you're playing a Maryland, when you're playing in Nebraska. And the crowd might be there. But it's about getting people really pumped up and excited about what this team's doing. And I think that they've done enough at this point to certainly warrant. That. Yeah, and look, a noon kick is a great opportunity to, you know,
come early but stay late. Like stay all flippin day. Like enjoy the game and then and then go out, back out to the parking lot after the win. OK, Not at halftime. At back out to the parking lot after the game. There's great concessions in Memorial Stadium, there's all kinds of beer options. There's no reason to leave at this point. Exactly right until until the clock hits zero and the victory flag has been raised. Well, it's an exciting time Rhett, and it's great to chat
with you on on this. And you know, good luck. We'll hopefully see you. Maybe you'll swing by. We're in a slightly different spot, but we'd love to see you before the game. And for those of you who are going to be watching from home, get to Memorial Stadium. But if you can't, you'll be able to see Rhett on the sideline this weekend for the game. So Rhett Lewis, NFL Network and Big 10 Network, we appreciate you joining us here on Crimson Care. Anytime. Thanks guys.