Welcome back to Crimson Cast, Alan Clavio joining you. It is Thursday, October 24th. IU football content week on Crimson Cast continues to roll on and we got one of our favorite guests on Taylor Lehman from Bite Sized Bison. Back with us again to preview this week's contest between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Washington Huskies. Noon on Big 10 Network. We got college game day in town. They're over setting up right now South of the stadium.
Taylor, you can feel the buzz here in Bloomington, can't you? Yeah, yeah. No, it's real. I remember when they were in town and was that 2017 and that that felt that felt significant. And but this I would say, you know, I mean, I was younger than, but this feels, this feels even more probable. Yeah, I remember I did a 12 hour tailgate that day and and then somehow made it into the stadium and lasted the entire game. You know, we'll we'll talk about
that when you were younger too. I was younger too. I could still do that. I. I have no doubt. Well, no, apparently the buzzer says I'm not capable of doing. I don't know what that was. Sorry about that folks. But anyway, before we get started, couple of quick items. First of all, we are brought to you by Home Field Apparel here at Crimson Cast and the entire
back home network. Your place to go for the finest in college fashions, the softest fabrics, the coolest designs, and a big blowout appearance here in Bloomington. The good brand doing good things, and they are absolutely going to be all over the place in Bloomington. You can catch them at Upland. You know where Upland is. Upland's over at on 11th St. here in Bloomington. They'll be doing a pop up store there. They'll have the 9 Windy Anna shirt available at a deep
discount. You also get discounts on drinks if you're wearing Home Field apparel. I'm assuming you can buy some there, but you should bring your own as well and get a chance to see all of the other amazing things that Home field has available to to check out. It's going to be really quite fascinating to have them back in town because then on Saturday morning they have paired up with the upstairs pub and will be Co sponsoring game day breakfast.
It's going to be awesome. 7:00 AM exclusive shirts. I mean, this is like the culmination of two of our favorite brands in Bloomington getting together. Not just not just that, but also the upland thing as well. I mean, it's a great agglomeration of things and really festive, exactly what we want to see. Am I understanding right that there's going to be food there? Yes, there goes breakfast is like I think there's a a collectible plate as well. It's going to be a lot of cool
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Also, just a reminder folks, the podcast is brought to you this football season by Hoosier Game Day Logger. The iconic candy stripe can the perfect compliment to enjoying IU football whether you're in the stands or whether you're at home. You can buy Hoosier Game Day Logger all over the stadium. You can buy it any place that beer is sold, including Upland's many locations, including the one that Home Fields going to be at tomorrow.
Can I? Tell a quick story about the Hoosier game day Logger during the Nebraska game, I was behind some Nebraska fans. They left early, by the way. They were very discouraged and but anyway, they were with a couple of Indiana fans. They were a group together and somebody went and got a Hoosier game day logger and they brought it to one of their one of one of their friends and they're they made him pose with it for a picture. It was like he didn't want to do he was not going to do it.
But he eventually gave and then he drank the whole thing. I mean, you can't resist. It it's one of the best looking cans I've ever seen. I've seen a lot of beer cans in my lifetime, you know, So who's your game day lager? Delightful easy drinking Vienna lager, perfect with football. Be sure to please drink responsibly and we thank Upland for their support. All right, Taylor, let's dive in as we have a lot to talk about. First, let's recap our our
thoughts. When we finished up that podcast last week about Nebraska and Indiana, you know, we were both confident that Indiana was going to win that game. I don't think we were confident they were going to win 56 to 7. So let's quickly start off by saying like, what were the two or three key sources of success statistically that Indiana had that allowed them to win that game by 49 points? Yeah. And I think the first thing is just the way they ran the ball. I did not anticipate that.
I did not think Nebraska's rush defense was as good as they were touting. But but the the way that they ran the ball was really effective, I thought. And then I also thought Miles cross was really effective. I remember saying on the podcast that it could be a Miles cross game given how effective their cornerbacks were. And I, I think that was a big reason why he's able to work all over the field and they really struggled to cover him.
But then also the, you know, I, I've, I had a lot of concerns about the secondary going into that game. And at first it looked like there might be some issues, but you could definitely tell 'cause, you know, they work in zone mostly because there is a talent disparity. Going man to man like that would not be a good idea. And you could tell as the game was going on, they were really jumping some routes and, and, and I mean, forcing turnovers in the passing game was, was great too.
I think that's really the first time we've seen that from them. So the, the, the, the secondary performance was really not surprising to me, but it was encouraging to see, especially going into the, you know, this, this last the back half of the schedule. Yeah, I was really impressed with with how how much havoc they were able to create, especially with turnovers like you mentioned. I mean, you know, a + 4 turnover margin, that was their best of
the year by far. And you know, a, a real change of pace from what they've had. You know, for instance, in the in the Maryland game, you know, where it went the opposite direction. And I think you have to go back quite a ways to find a game where Indiana had that good of a turnover margin. And in fact, I'm doing that right now. I'm looking through past games. They were +3 at Rutgers in the 2020 season, and they were +3 at home versus Northwestern in the 2019.
But you can go all the way back to 2016 and you can't find a game where Indiana was +4 better in turn over they. Didn't have a + 4 better turnover margin game in in 2020. No, that's crazy. No, they they, in fact, they had the plus 3 versus Rutgers and and the other games were plus 1 + 2 + 2 -, 1 + 2 + 1 - 2. Wow, so this was one of the like many other things about that Nebraska game. This was kind of a Unicorn. Now that probably led to the score. What this is the weird thing I
was going to say. It kind of led to the score not being representative and yet that, you know, did we really lose that bad graphic that everybody loves on Twitter? It it wasn't unrepresentative. That was that was about as bad as Nebraska actually got beat. It is just interesting that an IU defense that had kind of been derided a bit over the course of the previous few weeks really came came out to play and were able to take advantage of the situation against Nebraska the
way they work. Yeah, I'm looking at the EPA roundup that I do immediately after every game. And after the Nebraska game, Nebraska's offense had such a bad EPA that it would have finished in the 12th percentile of all games played last year. So that's that's, that's it's really, it's the it's not good. And, and, and when you go down the list, I mean, EPA per past 19th percentile, EPA per rush, 19th percentile, like, like it was a dominant game by Indiana's
defense. And I will say that that there were two turnovers that happened deep in their own territory too, which was really encouraging to see because early in the season, when the ball, when the, when opposing offenses were driving into their territory, they did, they didn't play super well. So having those performances in their own territory was really encouraging, especially for this Washington team that really can move the ball in the middle of the field.
So let's go ahead and pivot talk about Washington. I mean, so this is a Washington team that has had a a curious schedule or curious set of outcomes, I think. And they're clearly a team that is in transition from one coaching staff to another, which was probably going to happen.
I mean, maybe not the coaching staff part, but even if Caitlin de Boer hadn't left, this was going to be a year where they were going to be reloading, given, you know, the sheer outflow of talent that they had off of those teams the last couple of years. And, you know, I mean, it's a team that's had just a an insane level of success, 11 and two in 2022 and then 14 and one. They got all the way to the national championship game last year.
You know, they they were going to have a lot of changes. Now they've dropped 12 points per game on offense. They played better defensively, like last year they averaged about 25 points per game given up. This year they're only allowing 17. But it's clearly a team that, while talented, is having trouble scoring regularly. And they've, I don't know, they've got some interesting issues with them. Yeah, yeah. No, absolutely. They're they're they're coordinating pair.
I think people will if they don't know already that they they'll find it interesting is their offensive coordinator is the son of Pete Carroll, which is who is his name is Brennan Carroll. He was the offensive coordinator at Arizona and came over. I think he's actually kind of promising. And and then the defensive coordinator is the son of Bill Belichick.
Steven Belichick was coaching DBS at at that New England, you know, last year, I think the last Four Seasons now and really kind of created that weird like Rutgers New England secondary connection because he went to Rutgers. And so the they have a lot of investment. Like the I don't I don't think a lot of people realize the football program that's coming to the big 10 in Washington like it it they have institutional investment.
If if you're not old enough, you might not remember like, well, I mean, I'm not old Buff, right, I am. The the 80s and 90s were were very successful times for Washington. And then they kind of made a comeback in the 20 tens, starting with Steve Sarkeesian, who's at Texas now. And so, you know, this is a this is a program that expects to win and has some backing to do it. Their assistant salary pools at 7.5 million, which is almost 2 million higher than I us this season.
And so, you know, like you were saying, there's going to be some transition because they were losing their offensive coordinator anyway. He was going to go somewhere else. And so, I mean, they probably just would have bumped Nick Sheridan up, I guess, but. Can we revisit that? I mean, I think right now that looked good for Alabama. Yeah, right. So, you know, there's there. But like you were saying, there's just some inconsistencies in this transitions, in this transition season.
There's a lot of talent, there's a lot of positive scheme. We'll probably get into this a little bit later, but their offense reminds me like a slightly less effective 2019 IU offense in a lot of ways. So, you know, yeah, Yeah, I mean, I, I just general inconsistencies. Yeah, no. And it is interesting because, you know, they they had kind of a weird stretches of program. I mean, and and it was kind of hit the bottom of the barrel
with the Tyrone Willingham era. And then, you know, they got Sarkeesian who brought the program back. Chris Peterson comes over from Boise State, has a really successful tenure. And then they get Kaylin de Boer. And you know, that like they really didn't. I mean, I had Jimmy Lake in there for one season, but that they didn't quite work as well as I, you know, people would have hoped it would. But it's it's fascinating, you know, because Washington is a
legitimate football brand. And they're also kind of by themselves. You know, I mean, they're they're four and a half five hours away from Washington State. If they're closer to Oregon than they are or maybe just as close, but they're by themselves. They're in a big city and it's a city that loves football. I mean, you look at the support that the Seahawks have and, you know, Washington was really kind of the Ogs of that.
So they do have a, a really well resourced program, but you look at what they've done so far this year and they've had the same kind of inconsistencies that the rest of the PAC 12 schools have had. And and except for Oregon, you know, like, but USC is basically having the same season Washington's had where they've had a couple of good wins, including, you know, a win that looks worse every week now that Michigan win that Washington pulled off, that looked like a
really good one at the time. But then they turn around and they lose at Iowa 40 to 16. You know, they lost at Rutgers on Friday night. They were the better team that night, but Rutgers had the big plays and that ended up being the win for them. You know, they they essentially throttle Northwestern at home in their Big 10 opener. And that was nice to see. But you know, they haven't scored a ton of points against good competition so far.
Once they've gotten out of their the weak part of the non conference. They they only score 19 points against Washington State. They score 24 against Northwestern. They score 18 against Rutgers. They score 27 against Michigan. But they needed some turnovers from Michigan to be able to do that. And then they only score 16 points on the road against Iowa. So, you know, some of this is more of a macro thing.
It's like, yes, you're building, but you're also playing, I think, a different caliber of competition in the Big 10 than what they were facing in the PAC 12.
That's not to denigrate Washington or their accomplishments the last couple of years, but it's clear just from what's happened to USC, there's a lot more depth and a lot harder physical style of play than what these PAC 12 teams were generally used to. Again, with the exception of Oregon, who kind of recruits on a different level than everybody else. Yeah, yeah. No. And I think, you know, the the comparison you could draw to is the defensive coordinator at USC
and he came over from UCLA. And so, you know, UCLA had a really effective defense last season. You would expect that the translate to USC. And I don't think it really has the way that they were hoping it would. And I think a lot of that does have to come does come from the transition into the Big 10.
But I think, you know, even yeah, that that was that was the big thing I was watching coming into this season was just how how does how does how do the PAC 12 teams deal with these these Big 10 teams that play, you know, a pretty different brand of football. And I think Washington's one of those teams that you really see it affecting the the way that they're performing. Yeah. Let's dive into some of their individual numbers like what is
what makes this team tick? I would, I would tell everybody if you like what you're hearing here, subscribe to bite sized bison on sub stack bite sized bison dot substack.com. It's a very reasonable amount of money. If you love IU football, if you love stats, or even if you're just curious about what's going on under the hood, Don't fall into the trap of relying on traditional statistics to try to understand what's going on in football. You need this information. Let's dive into that
information. So right now, Indiana, a 73% favorite in S&P Plus an 84% favorite in FPI, what accounts for that difference? Yes. So the difference is FPI they run like I think it's 20,000 simulations. I think that is slightly differing from SP Plus's resume based approach. And so I, I think, you know, IU wins, what would you say 84 percent, 84% of those simulated games against Washington.
And I think a lot of that just has to do with the way that the teams match up and and the way that we're going to talk. And it's also travel that travel that fits into it too. And, and we've already in the morning, Washington having to play at 9:00 in the morning body time. They've had to do this now twice it 2, two games in a row. They had a week off for the bye week last week, but they'd go to Iowa for a noon kick and that did not turn out well for them.
They they really struggled with that. And we've seen now, as I think the stat was earlier, it is hard for these teams to travel. We saw it with USC last week and that wasn't even a morning game for them, but they travel to Maryland and they lose that game. It's been very hard for teams to crisscross the country
effectively on either side. There has been a couple of exceptions, like Penn State winning at USC, Indiana winning at UCLA, but it's still a dominant issue and it seems to be affecting the PAC 12 schools maybe a little bit more. Yeah, yeah. I always heard the science that going was it going West to east is harder to do anyway. So maybe that hasn't to do with it.
Yeah, I mean, you know, if, if I hop in the plane, you know, and I go visit like, you know, my my villa in Los Angeles, like I can, I can do all that land there and still feel pretty good for most of the day. If I'm flying this direction and I have to like get up at, you know, much earlier time that I would like to, I'm all screwed up. So I think that's part of it. But yeah, it's so so it's it's
baked in there. But if you look at purely the resume, 73% win probability for Indiana in this game and projected to win 32 to 22. So about a 10 point margin. Now the line has been pretty steady all week at 6 1/2.
And just a reminder for everybody, betting lines are not you need you can look at the betting line as the way that Vegas is trying to interpolate what would be the middle like where would it like, you know, if if if we were looking at this game, how do we get betters on both sides? That's really what that comes down to.
But we can kind of extrapolate from that that if you look at it perceptionally, they're looking at Rourke is about a three 3 1/2 point factor, which I don't know if that's, if I'm, I'm surprised that it's not more than that or, or or if that's tied into the opponent that they're playing here. But that has been factored into the equation and why the line's a little bit lower than what S&P Plus is projecting now.
Clearly one of the big impacts, let's stick with Indiana to start with here is you know, Indiana's the number one most successful team in the passing game in the country. They're 7th in the rush. But no one knows exactly how Tavin Jackson at quarterback operates for a full game. We we liked what we saw out of him, certainly in the
second-half. I was actually watching the the replay this morning and I was really impressed with some of the throws that he was making, not just the the over the shoulder throw to to Elijah Sarat, but some of the other throws that I was seeing him make. I was like, this is actually really impressive and it looked
like they didn't skip a beat. If they get that, then maybe the 6 1/2 point spread is too low and maybe Indiana should be favored by more, because I'm having a hard time seeing Washington's defense be able to slow down the efficiency that Indiana's been playing with on offense up to this point. Yeah, yeah. No, absolutely. I, I want to add that I put money on Indiana's total point. They're, they're total, the team total at at least 35 points.
That that's the, that's the one that I kind of drew for myself. But the but yeah, the efficiency is, is insane.
And I think, you know, it's just because of their multiplicity on offense and, and their balance and kind of, you know, I've mentioned this in the preview too, is like, you know, how, how committed are they going to be to that balance if they find a lot of success on the on the ground game against Washington's defense, which teams have done, as Zach pointed that out on your most, your recent podcast, you know, do they stick with the run
because teams have generally been going 25 passes, 35 rushes against this Washington team. And I, I could see Indiana, you know, going that way. That's not too far out of balance. But also at the same time, they any sort of metric or any sort of statistical advantage just has not mattered for this offense. Nobody can stop Mike Shanahan from doing what he wants to do. And and so, you know, plugging Tavan into that is like he he
adds athleticism. He maybe lacks some of the cerebral aspects of the offense that Curtish work has simply from being so experienced and also. Being good at his position, but also spending more time and reps and practice. And but he seemed and Taven seems to have really good relationships with the receivers. And you know, like you were saying, I he would talk about how you didn't recognize him playing on the field at one point.
And I did the same thing until he threw that touchdown pass, I think it was to Elijah Sarat. And I was like, I was like Dwight Haven through that. Yeah. And and so I was like, oh, wow. You know, he he looks, he looks really good out there. And I think the fact that, you know, you and I both did not recognize that it wasn't Curtis Rourke is a good sign. But, you know, he's always had the arm talent. It's always been, you know, getting him into a system that caters to his strengths.
Last year, they really struggle with that, except for the Louisville game for some reason. And we saw what happened and and he looked great, you know, especially when he's pushing the ball down field. But if he can, you know, I don't know if he's going to be like a super, you know, dangerous running threat like a lot of people think he might be with the RPO, but he'll run more than Curtis work more than likely. And you know, that'll that'll help with the the rushing attack
as well. But yeah, no, just the, I don't, I don't know if the efficiency will take a hit like because this OK, so I have this graphic that that that I've used multiple times in talking about the quarterbacks with the staff. And, and it's it's it looks at the quarterbacks that came into their starting positions during the five seasons that this staff was at the IT was at James Madison. And every time in all the one were transfers, by the way.
And so every time they ended up getting a PFF grade of like, I think Jordan McLeod had the lowest, which is really saying something. No kidding. 908990 Like Ben Denucci, Todd Santeo, Cole Johnson, all those guys, they just had this like insane growth from where they came from to James Madison, this starting quarterbacks. And so just like putting Taven, they know how to cater to a
quarterbacks strengths. And so putting Taven Jackson into that offense is going to be I, I don't think it will skip a beat. I, you know, it, it's interesting too, because if you think about the running game in particular and how that plays in, I mean, Tavin Jackson is first and foremost the the thrower, but it does add another
dimension there as well. And you may not need it because ultimately, Justice Ellison, Tyson Lawton have really kind of established themselves as, as, you know, kind of the fire and ice combo with this. I mean, Ellison looks like he gets stronger every game. But so much of that stems from the offensive line and their ability to block.
And this becomes maybe Indiana's biggest advantage in this game, the ability, if we look at what they did against Nebraska, A-Team whose strength was supposed to be the defensive
line. And you know, the Red Sea comment about these huge holes being opened up, I mean, Washington's got to really be like, how are they scheming against that is going to be a big part of of their planning coming into this contest because this Indiana offensive line clearly knows what they're doing, believes they're going to hit those blocks. And Indiana could rush for like, you know, like they would have no problems rushing for three hundred 350 yards if that was available to them.
I think they probably prefer to do it, especially in a game like this, you know, So that's that is something that I think everybody needs to keep an eye on as we move forward. Yeah, yeah. On the other hand, I do think that this watching defense is good. Like, you know, they, they are, they're built from the outside and, you know, because Steven Belichick and his natural tendencies for defensive backs, they have a really strong
secondary. Their, their defensive backs are, are, are probably the best as a, as a collective group in, in the big 10. And I mean, they haven't really played an offense that can throw like Indiana can, but, you know, we'll, we'll see how that goes this week. But they do have some talent along the defensive line too.
And, and they've caused havoc on the defensive line 1. I think they're like a top six team in defensive line havoc in the big 10. And so, you know, it just, yeah, it just when we were talking about it like traveling and and you know how difficult that's going to be, but it just kind of shows, you know, when Washington is on, they're really on and and that could, you know, make this a competitive game. But if they're not on, I think this this gets out of hand.
But yeah, yeah, the offensive line is, I use offensive line as insane, just that I can't believe the difference from last year to this year and from two years ago to this year. Yeah, it it's one of the underrated stories about this whole thing with Indiana is just how not to. I mean, solid is not doing them enough justice how well they're playing, but it's out of nowhere. I mean, really. And I mean, just all credit to Bob Bostad and and to, you know, to to Mike Katie kind of
anchoring things. I mean, him coming back was huge. And just the the way they've been able to cobble these pieces together. I mean, we talked a lot in the preseason about how that was a real concern area and that has been maybe the least concerning area. Not that there've been many concerning areas at all, but have we even talked about negative things with the offensive line so far this
season? No, no, you know, there's slight regression for Drew Evans at the beginning of the season, but it's leveled out and he's he's, you know, he's holding down the bottom the floor of the offensive line and former walk on. And he's, you know, grading I think in like the top 25% of guards and FBS and that's all you can ask for out of him. Absolutely. That's yeah, he's great. I mean, they're, they're,
they're humming. The other aspect that I think is going to be interesting is like, what does Indiana try to do in the passing game? I mean, I, I don't think that they're just going to run. They, they enjoy those chunk plays that they're getting. They enjoy, you know, being able to move the ball at will. And I going back and watching the Nebraska game, it's you really start to get a sense of how much they love peeling off those 12 yard plays.
And they're, you know, it is it is an open question about until we see it for a whole game, how well Taven Jackson can place his throws the way that Curtis Rourke does. And also, maybe more importantly, how good is Tavan at adjusting at the line of scrimmage and making the right calls on the on the RPO's and figuring out where he's going to
put the ball. But I'm, I'm interested to see like what Indiana decides to do because the, the, the strength of Washington's defense, as you mentioned, is the secondary and you know, you get the number one most efficient passing attack in the country versus the number 9 most efficient pass defense in the country. Now we said that last week about the running game versus Nebraska and we saw what gave there.
So again, it's just like I is, is that number for the the Washington defensive product of them having played teams that can't pass the ball particularly well Because I, I think we've by this point got enough evidence that Indiana's offense from a past perspective is legit. Yeah, I think that the team that they played this season, Washington has played this season that is the most effective in the passing games probably Washington State and they I think they're like 23rd
and and passing yards per game. And also SP plus has them as the 17th best offense, Washington State and they completed only 50% of their passes against Washington. So I think they're, I think they are an effective pass defense. It's just that they from first of all, they've they've played teams that just can't pass the ball. Like all four Big 10 teams they've played are bottom 6 in
the conference in EPA per pass. And so the, you know, that's just not been just testing them hasn't been available. So, you know, what does that look like? I, you know, I don't know. I, I don't, I don't think we do know. And so that'll be, that'd be interesting to see. But yeah, like you said, they're not just going to run the ball. They're definitely going to pass
the ball. We might see messy Elijah Sarat, you know, struggle a bit more than he has on the perimeter because that's where their strengths are. And Thaddeus Dixon, the cornerback, is extremely good. Best reception rate in the country among Victor in the Big 10 amongst cornerbacks. And so, yeah, I think, you know, it might be another one of those games where they just have to
have complex passing concepts. Not that not not complex for the quarterback to understand, but more just things that really build off of each other and, and, you know, using the running game then to build those, those, those routes to, to become open. We saw some of that in, in the game against Nebraska too. Like the there's one, I don't know, you know, I don't know if you know about Dan Casey on Twitter. He's like a football scheme guy. I, I really like him.
He he pointed out a play that Indiana ran last week that was an RPO triple option. And then at the last second before running, I don't think he was ever going to run, but Curtis Rourke pulled up and threw to his right. Yeah, it was a short. Just to I know that that was a touchdown pass on the Yeah, I remember that. I, I remember hearing that at the moment.
I was like, oh, that was nice. The run game actually set up that pass and I think we might see some of that this this week because that's the best way you get a good secondary out of out of position and Nebraska has a decent secondary too. Yeah, exactly. Well, that's the thing. It's like it's, I think you have to prepare mentally for the best that your opponent might throw at you. And then when that doesn't happen, it's like, well, why?
Like how did we get to that point where it didn't happen? I think with Nebraska, I'm still trying to figure out exactly why they played so poorly. You know, because it was like the game they could have gotten back into the game if they'd scored in the at the beginning of the second-half and then it just became a freight train in the opposite direction for them. That rule said he thought they were prepared. Well, I'd say something about that rule.
Then. Let's switch sides of the ball so Washington, you know, the the kind of the core of their offense is Will Rogers transfer quarterback from Mississippi State was has been very accurate so far this year, 72.2% completion percentage thrown for 18120 yards, 13 touchdowns, 2 interceptions. He has not been the problem with the offense and it's been impressive and and not
surprising, I guess. I mean, Rogers got great tutelage at Mississippi State, played, you know, was brought there by by Mike Leach originally and and certainly had a great season pass for almost 4000 yards back in 2022. Missed a lot of last year, but it's four games last year. So didn't have quite as good of a season.
But, you know, you look at the rest of this Washington offense and you know, they're probably thinking, well, I'm glad we're playing Indiana because the secondary is the the weakest part of the defense, relatively speaking, and they're going to have to exploit that if they're going to try to have success in this contest. Yeah, yeah, this is exactly why I said that. This kind of reminds me of a less effective 2019 Indiana team because the offensive line for
Washington is just so bad. They're they're tackle pairing has allowed the most quarterback pressures of any tackle pairing in the country. So that means, you know, Mikael Camaro, who basically pass rushes every snap, is going to be hunting Will Rogers all game. And you know, they like, it's so bad Galen, that Jonah Coleman, I think Jonah Coleman's going to play in the NFL. Fantastic running back cannot go to the left because they can't block on the left side of the
line. And like only 17% of his rushes go to the left. And so the do you know that that's that's really their hindrance? But like you were saying, like scheming around a poor offensive line requires a good quarterback and and also talented receivers, which they have as well. I think Denzel Boston's going to have a chance to play in the NFL by the end of his Washington career. Giles Jackson's going to get a
chance. He was part of that national championship team last year and it was really important when I think it was Jalen McMillan was hurt. And you know what, this the when it kind of reminds me of when Indiana played Maryland and Maryland's strength of their defense was their defensive line and the goal was to just get behind that defensive line. I think that's what Washington's going to try. They're going to use screens. They're going to use check down passes.
They're going to use, you know, complex mesh of the routes and and, you know, mix and match what they're doing. But I think, you know, it's going to be, it's going to put pressure on on, on the IU secondary for sure.
Jonah Coleman, you mentioned earlier now I did a podcast yesterday with, with Brandon Boyd, who has a podcast does Washington Athletics and he said Jonah Coleman's on like a snap count limit, according to Jen Fish, like 1515 rushes in this game, which that's great because I, I mean, that's a guy who's rushing for 6.8 yards of carry and has five touchdowns and almost 100 yards of game so far. They don't really have a lot
behind him. You've got Cameron Davis, Damond Williams and Adam Mohammed. Those are the only other 3 running backs that have exceeded triple digits and none of them have more than 185 yards. And so if they're really going to hold Coleman back, that really does handcuff Washington's offense in a lot of ways because you're just, you don't have to take them quite as seriously if he's not getting the ball. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
It allows, you know, they're still going to be the the the way that this defensive line for Indiana really runs is like they just pin their ears back and they just go at the offensive line. I mean, obviously it's it's not just like pure aggression, but that they are going to be attacking every snap. So they're not really necessarily sitting back, but the linebackers will and and that'll be that'll be significant to in coverage. But the yeah, no, absolutely that Jonah Coleman.
I mean, he, he is, he's so insane. He he only trails Boise State running back was Ashton Jean. How do you pronounce his last name? Genti. I think it's Genti. Genti Ashton, genti you. Can tell we did a lot of research on Boise State before the podcast all. I know is Cam Camper, but the, the he, he, he averages the second most yards after contact per rush behind Ashton Genti. And that is an insane stat because the reason he does that is because their offensive line is so bad.
And so he everything he's he's gaining, you know, he gained 79% of his yards after contact. And so, you know, that really bodes well because like you were saying, there's not a Jonah Coleman behind Jonah Coleman. So you know this if, if you can get the running back on the ground, which other teams have not been able to, you can really hold back this Washington team, which can move the ball. They're like 18th in conversion rate. The so the other aspect of this
is going to be interesting. It's like the the way that they're going to try to approach their offensive flow and what Indiana tries. I mean, the, the idea that Indiana is going to force a bunch of of turnovers is probably not going to happen. And and yet like Washington can't really dink and dunk their way down the field the whole time. And the other aspect is this is a worse special teams team than Nebraska was.
And Nebraska was real bad. And you know, what it looks like from the statistics is that comes from really two things. One, their field goal kicker is not very good. He's he's missed 7 out of the 17 attempts that he's had so far this year. And they also get almost no yardage on punt returns. I think they're averaging like 6
1/2 yards a punt return. So you're and, and, and even on kickoff returns, I think they're only averaging like 21 yards when I don't know why they're choosing to bring it out if they're only averaging 21 yards of punt or kick returns. So they're not getting great field position. They're not. And they're not able to trust
their kicker. And we saw what they did the Nebraska last week where, you know, Nebraska, instead of kicking the field goal to, you know, be down seven to three, I think it was, ends up going for it. They lose the ball. Indiana drives down the field and scores. And it completely changed the complexion of the game from that point forward. So Washington almost has extra pressure on their offense.
If they don't convert, they get themselves in positions where they're going to struggle to put points on the board. Yeah, the crazy thing is Galen that, you know, maybe they can't trust their kicker, but they've certainly been going to him a lot. He leads the he leads the conference in attempts like at 17 and and he has only made 10.
And so, so in a big part of that is because their offensive line is so bad, because they're so bad after they break into opponent territory, they are sorry, I forget the forget the figure, but they are what is it 102nd in the country and EPA after their opponent's 40 yard line and they just can't move the ball once the field gets tighter.
And even with Jonah Coleman. And so you know, the that that bodes well for Indiana because Washington is really good in early downs that that is that's where their offense thrives. And Indiana has been really good about getting opponents into third down situations. I remember last that against Nebraska, it just seemed like we were standing up all the time. I mean, I was constantly standing.
Everybody else was standing up. I felt bad because there were people behind me. I'm like I'm blocking your view. But no, the we were standing up for 3rd downs and constantly and, and I was like, like, wow, this is, this is not good for Nebraska. They were converting quite a few
of them. But you know, the, yeah, getting them in 3rd down situation is going to be really important because, you know, they don't have they're, they're not, they, they don't have a kicker that can really, you know, execute like you were saying, because Nebraska, yeah, it actually, it really did affect the game. When you know that, you know, they're not going to look to their kicker, then it's like, OK, wow. You know, you you really can prepare for these four down series.
So I guess as we wrap up, you know, we, we've talked a lot about the keys for Indiana. You know what I'd maybe like to finish on is everything has gone right for Indiana in these games eventually. And I, you know, what I'm really curious about is, you know, how, how much of a chance do you think Indiana has to jump on Washington very early in this
game? Because I do feel like there's going to be a game that comes down the Pike eventually where Indiana doesn't grind their opponents into a paste like they have here, you know, and, and in a situation where you've got it back and forth and Indiana's having to constantly put points on the board, I still like them. But I do wonder, like, you know, you don't want to mess around with a Washington team that still has a lot of talented players.
Like, can they go out and really just set the tone early like they did in the Nebraska game? You know that that to me, seems like one of the big keys for Indiana, just in general, is to grab that momentum and not let Washington have any of it. Yeah, yeah, No, I mean, I I agree. And and it's, it's, it's tough to know, you know, it like it's, I guess it's kind of baked into Indiana's identity at this point is that they they script those first drives so effectively.
And and the that's also reflected in their in game adjustments. I think Mike Shanahan, particularly on offense is just really a really smart coach. I think he has a bright a bright future ahead of him. But yeah, I mean, like you were saying, you don't want to mess around and let Washington stay in this game. There's like, there's too much talent, there's too much football knowledge. You know, it's it's honestly a lot, a lot like Indiana in a lot of ways.
And and especially in like the the young up and coming coordinators and and things along those lines. I mean, that's you. I mean, Stephen Belichick's not exactly up and coming, but. You know, he's got that that young man's got to make a name for. Himself too. OK. But, you know, I I think that, yeah, I think this, I think there's a very real chance that this is their toughest. Like once, once we're in the game on the field. This might be their toughest game yet if if they let a
Washington team hang around. So I think it really does kind of hinge on that beginning. I guess the flip side, because you said that on on X and people got mad at you because Washington lost 40 to 16 to Iowa. You know, I do think it's interesting kind of looking back at that game and and how it went. You know, Iowa started with a punt. They they were three and out and then Washington drove down the field 14 plays, 73 yards, missed a field goal going back to what
we were talking about. And then Iowa scored a touchdown on an 80 yard drive, but then Washington pegged him back 77. All right. Then they forced Iowa into another three and out. Then Washington fumble on the next drive. Then Iowa kicks a field goal. Like you have to get like it was 1710 Iowa at the end of the
first half. So it was a, it was a close game, but then, you know, essentially from there, Washington disintegrated interception to start the second-half, turnover on downs on their next Dr. turnover on downs on the drive after that, turnover on downs on the drive after that. And then they finally score a touchdown on a long drive. I mean, 17 plays, 75 yards down, 40 to 10:00, and they end up scoring a touchdown. I don't know if they missed the extra point or went for two.
They they troubled in for two and they missed it. But that's an illustration of what I'm talking about. Like they they were in that game at halftime and then suddenly it got away from them. And it's actually not too different from what happened in the Michigan game. That one didn't get away from them. They got a couple of opportunistic things at the end and they were able to to pick up the victory.
Tough assignment on the road. And I think for the first time, Memorial Stadium is a weapon that you can use against your opponents. So we're talking about that with Mitchell Page last night. And it's like, it's weird to think about Memorial Stadium is a factor, and yet I think it's going to be a factor. Not as I mean, Kinnick is a kind of on a different level. If you've never been there, you you know what I mean. But Memorial Stadium last week,
that was intimidating. I don't know if you listened to Sean Asbury's interview with Rhett Lewis on I. Haven't had a chance. Yet he talked, they Rhett Lewis asked him about the environment and and the Nebraska game and he because Sean Asbury started with Boston College.
So he's been in ACC environments and he said it was the the loudest game that he's been at. And and that's kind of it's kind of wild because, you know, Memorial Stadium is like half the size of some of those this one of the biggest stadiums and
and to be that loud, that's. It is, but you know, but again, it's like weirdly, the way they did the construction and the way they enclosed both ends and the way that the sides come up and the fact that all the sound is essentially ricocheting off the turf and then back on to the stands. It's always been a little more intimate.
You know, I mean, as much as I love the big house, as much as I have enjoyed going to like Penn State, the the, the shapes are just different and, and the the sound carries in a different way. And you can have a really loud 52,053 and it's like Mackie Arena is insanely loud in basketball, sometimes louder than Assembly Hall, despite having essentially 3500 fewer people in it. I think it is. And so it's not unheard of. And I expect IU fans to be in full voice once again for this
one. Maybe not as full voice, it says Nebraska because Nebraska's a little better known, like brand name to go against. But I think people will get up for Washington as well. And all the other items going alongside at this weekend are going to help add into that. I don't know if you saw Mike Pennix. Yeah, I saw that. He said he wanted Washington to win. I mean, it makes sense, yeah. I don't know anybody here anymore.
Blame them for that, you know? But yeah, I think there's a there's a little, there's a little juice in this one. I think for for Indiana against Washington. And it's the just the weird like Indiana connections to Washington and stuff. I just think that, you know, people, people know Washington. A lot of IU fans were watching
Washington last year. So it'll it's interesting, especially with, I mean, Jed Fish was tied to this job opening and, and, and there was a name being being thrown around before they hired Curtis Ignati. And so, you know, and I talked about this in the preview too, that these these two programs just in really kind of unprecedented positions at the same time and that you know, is basically Arizona Light and James Madison. Right I. Know and and I think they're going to be tied for the next
few years. So this is kind of the first plot point there in that, you know, it's it's there, it's it's the the first meeting in the in two year ones. They both hired new coaches and both accepted these transplanted systems. And I just, I find the whole game just extremely interesting. There's a lot of different ways to to do a lot of different entry points into this game.
Absolutely should be a lot of fun to watch and we're looking forward to being there in person to watch it and then we will talk about it, of course afterwards. Taylor, as always, a pleasure to have you on the show and I appreciate your insights as always and we'll look forward to doing this again next week. Yeah, thanks for having me on.
Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks to all you folks for tuning in. Just a reminder folks, we will not have a recorded podcast on Friday, but we will be live at the Upstairs Pub from 5:00 to 6:00 PM. Got some special guests joining us for that hour as we get ready for the weekend. Tied in with home field apparel over there as well. So that'll be a lot of fun. So be sure if you can. If you're in Bloomington, stop by the Upstairs Pub 5:00 to 6:00.
I will be there and I will look forward to talking with you. And also reminder, we will have our normal recap podcast from the weekend coming up on Sunday. You can check that out on Crimson Cast. Subscribe to the sub stack crimsoncast.substack.com. It's free and you can get your podcast episode delivered right to your e-mail address. For Taylor Lehmann, I'm Galen Clavio, thanks for joining us here on the show. Indiana plays this Saturday at noon on Big 10 Network game day in town.
Should be a lot of fun. We'll catch you folks. On the flip side, bring back the Bison. Stay never daunted. So long, everybody.