You're listening to the back home network presented by home field apparel. Welcome back to Crimson cast. Galen clavius, got Caulfield joining a here. It is the 2nd of October, and we're back, talking OU football. Again, the longest-running IU football podcast out there as we wind our way through a season. That's starting to look. Uncomfortably familiar to certain seasons of the past.
We're going to talk about last night's loss for the Hoosiers in the other other Memorial Stadium out in Nebraska is the Hoosiers. Fall 3521 to the Cornhuskers and there was a lot to discuss coming out of this game as Indiana, just struggled at all of the wrong times. I think would be probably the most charitable way of putting it.
So, we'll chat about that. We'll chat about some of the individual elements of the game and we'll also, I guess trying to figure out what happens from this point forward for this, Indiana football program. As they now stand at three and two on the season. First and foremost, just a reminder that Crimson cast is part of the back home network. In the back home network is brought to you by home field apparel your place, to go for the finest designs and softest
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order. Again, home field. Apparel.com. I bring my partner in Scott. Caulfield's got good to see you. How you doing? Yeah. No, no. I just I gotta do the podcast Marci. Yeah, I'll be there in a couple minutes, Scott? Yeah, no. Galen just waiting on Scale just waiting on the line. Scott. Oh, oh, we starting. Yeah, we're sorry. I didn't know, I prepared all week to really come off to a great start in this podcast, and I didn't know that we were
starting right now. You know, it just kind of came out. I know we have a clock up here. It gives like a thirty five, second countdown for when the gate, when the podcast starts. I just my bad Martha Galen timeout, drill quick timeout. Wow. This is three of them in the podcast, but I'll be there in a sec. Yeah, James, yeah, you guessed. Okay, okay. Okay, I'm ready. You know, ready to go. If this is how you're starting the podcast, I hate to think about how you're going to be
finishing the podcast. But, yes, no, I'm doing well. Yeah. We have to start with that start. It's bad. You know, I have a bunch of things to talk about way more to talk about this game than I thought, I would kind of as the game was wrapping up. High level very high level. I go back to you and I went to the IU. Purdue game was like 2018. It was 2017.
Actually. Yes 17. Okay. And that was like Alan's First full year or second year of those are said there was a second that was his first full year. Yes it was and I remember at that game you and I having a grand old time also leaving early because we knew we were going to lose but it kind of watching that team versus you know, Jeff Brahms teams it does feel like there's been this weird kind of the two fan bases looking at.
It's like the spider made mean the to fit, you know, the two fans fan base is looking at their the two coaches and both you. And I were just like, like, Brahms team and Purdue just looked more like fundamentally sound. They look more practice with more discipline. They weren't making a lot of silly mistakes. It's like we're still there with Alan and this team they still make mistakes and I were joking about it and look everyone can everyone can have mistakes but
it's like you spend all week. As you pointed on Twitter like making a point of emphasis that we're going to start the game, you know, the right way and you come out and you don't have a play ready and you have to call timeout and your first two drives, and that, that drive is a 333, play drive 41-yard. Your second Drive is three plays for 21 yards. Thanks to a penalty and you have two back-to-back punts, not to mention, uniform, or coming after that.
It's just it's tough and you're still seeing that at a high level, you know, this Team and you've been saying it for a while you know it son dis are, it's a pure Vibes, not discipline and it we're going to continue doing this podcast or not going anywhere but it's getting tough because I want this to work out. It was a fun time.
In 2020 Alan seems like he really does care and wants to try but we're at a point where we're going to be saying the same thing every single week which is this team makes a lot of mistakes. It's undisciplined it makes a lot of variety to go. Whack-a-mole mistake team. It's like oh we're just gonna figure out the offensive lot.
You're going to figure out not fall starting and then we're just going to not block for puns, and like we got that figured out, but then we're going to have, like, 15 holding penalties. I don't know what it's going to be against Michigan, but they'll be something where it's like, oh whoops, I forgot to practice that this week. It's an undisciplined team, the o line is an absolute atrocity.
We can continue talking about that but almost should be like, just we, you know, hey, Crimson Castle. Home field a our line sucks. Alright, let's talk about some other things and the second Dairy is also pretty bad and the Nebraska game was interesting because it felt almost like a boxing match for Nebraska's. Just kind of Taken Jabs. Just you know, every six or seven play. It's like we're going to take a shot deep and I was thinking this morning, like why don't we do that?
It's like, oh yeah, because babies, like doesn't have time, like it goes back to the offensive line. Like you can't throw deep if you only have a net, you know, eight tenths of a second in the pocket. So it's just it's frustrating for me because it feels like we're getting into this kind of You know, we're talking about the same thing over and over again and it's something that you and I noticed years ago and it just pops up and it's just
that again. It's one play one mistake but you know they had another delay of game and even Matt Millen your best friend on the broadcast was like this is a weird like it's something you don't normally see for a hurry up off of its to be like look you know calling in plays. And again if we hurry up offense why do we get to the line? Why do we get set? Why do they look to the sideline for? Plays and then why don't we have plays ready? And why are we getting?
It's just it's a horrible to start the game but it's emblematic of a real problem. This team has that they are just undisciplined and sloppy and as you said, it's a team on Vibe, that's just it. I worry. This is what we're going to be talking about, just over and over and over again for the remainder of this season and the remainder of his tenure because that's, you know, 2017. That is by my math. Five years ago, this team still
looks kind of Splendid sloppy. You know, one of the things about every year with IU football with a couple of exceptions, your 2019 and 2020. Definitely being major exceptions. Is that there is almost always a point in every season where it becomes clear, who the team is where they reveal, who they are. As a football team where they reveal, what they're going to be able to do and not. Do you remember very clearly? It was it was obvious last.
Year when Indiana lost the game versus Cincinnati that this was a team where we pretty much knew from that point forward, what was actually going to happen. And yeah, there were, you know, obviously they, you know, they they played fairly well against like, Michigan State later on that year. But those of us who have watched this team for a while, you kind of get over the hump and you realize, oh this is what we're
actually dealing with. And you can kind of adjust your feelings and and reactions to games accordingly. And I feel like this was that game for Indiana this year where, you know, I remember I was talking with some, some media observers that follow all you football closely in the
week, leading up to this game. And you know, they were, they wouldn't come out and say this publicly, but they were essentially like well Indiana's, you know, very likely to win this game because Nebraska has nothing to play for Nebraska will fold, you know? Nebraska is they're looking, you know, they fired their head coach, they've shifted They know they have their special teams coach is their defensive
coordinator. There's a bunch of guys that have one foot if not both feed in the transfer portal already looking for their next opportunity. They've had that's a beaten-down program and they're they're they're just not going to be able to stick with it and Deanna is going to be able to figure out a win a game. Well, Indiana folded instead, I mean it's really it's and this is, this is where, you know the the normal logical rules of college football, generally don't apply.
Fly to IU football. Because and, you know, any and I had literally everything to play for in this game. You know, they win this game. They're two games from boils ability. They have a road win in the conference against the team that had lost at home a few weeks earlier to a group of five team and not even a particularly
great group of five team. You know, Indiana had literally everything on the line and in multiple places within this game, they Were not only unable to execute but they actively shot themselves in the foot and this is as you kind of alluded to in your opening. That's essentially what we've
gotten used to with IU football. I mean, you mentioned that game at Purdue in 2017. I immediately thought of the game that I you played up at Minnesota in 2018, which I was at, I went to that with, you know, with some of our, our friends, in the eye, you Sports media Biz, and That game was, you know, a reeling, Minnesota team, a bunch of people, very down on PJ, Fleck, Indiana, you know, right there on the cusp of potentially getting near Bowl eligibility and, you know, again
and Indiana team that had everything to play for and they win that game. They're very likely going to get Bowl eligible the following week. Instead, they lay an egg in the first half. They make this big comeback, they take over the lead and then Give it back in the final minutes and Minnesota ends up winning a game. They had no business winning, and Indiana ends up. Finishing the season with a 5 and 7 record. Great point.
I'm like, kind of like this is the fulcrum point of the Season, we understand the team because I feel like up to this point. There's been this question of, you know, that the stats are really not ideal on this team to put it nicely. This team grades out very poorly and there's some concerning things that you see with your eyeballs, but yet they were 3 and 0 and then the other side is like well, but there.
Able to pull these games out. Like they can get stuff done and when, you know, comes down to when they need it, they're able to get it done. It's like, okay, I didn't really see it that way, but you couldn't really argue it because the results were there. Now, I think you're starting to see that was based on probably just bad opponents because this team also, you know, in the last two weeks, you had second half's
that were pretty important. The second half against Cincinnati, that 197 yards, but 81 of that came in OneDrive. But they really were not able to really The Gap against Cincinnati against Nebraska fan 61 yards in the second half of their seven drives. They only got a first down on two of them. So five of those drives were either three and outs or for doubts.
So this to me, what I see this is that at halftime when teams are making adjustments, the other team is making better adjustments or different adjustments for something that shutting down our offense. But you couple this with something that has been a constant. We start. Gabe's unbelievably slow and we start games and we get down, you know, our game this season first quarter scores, we're down to Illinois 723, we're down to Idaho, 10, 20, we're down to Western, Kentucky 723 were down
to Cincinnati. 2:50 we're down the Nebraska 720. Caveat with one timeout wasted on a, on the first play. So me the constant is we're going to start these games slow because that's what we do. Like if the line comes out for the first quarter against Michigan, you know, I'm going to take Michigan and Over all day long us. Getting up 10. Nothing on Michigan is very impossible, impossible impossible because we have done
it all. Here's like that's that's this team's Mo. It's not a, you know, about a bug, this is a feature, but it does seem that. Now the competition is starting to ratchet up a little bit like and not even at us like we play Michigan, Ohio State, it's like we're playing, you know, great coaches. Like you mentioned, Nebraska has an interim coach here at like, it's just the curve is starting to move up toward a better competition. You're seeing that oh that those
second half adjustments are not. It's not Idaho anymore. Like these are real teams. There's a real Road environment so it's it's very concerning because now it gets a lot harder like we're playing Michigan next week if you haven't noticed I don't like in. Maryland looks pretty good. Like it's I'm very concerned because the fact that we start slow and now seem to be able to basically We can't do much of anything offensively in second half's.
Those are really too bad combinations to play football with especially in the Big Ten. I mean, it's, it's not the greatest conference but but you know it's it's a conference where you have to bring it and look up the probably will go to those that question you had on Twitter about like, you know,
should we move down to Visions? Like maybe we should be able to do it just for a years four years ago to the Mac for just, for this year, we're gonna go to the back, we'll keep the money, but it will come back up next year. It's You look at some of the numbers and you know, they're they're just like stunning, I mean, you know 67 yards rushing on 23 carries but one of those carries was for 34 yards which means that I you had 33 yards on the twenty two remaining carries
that they had. You know, you look at the the performance of Connor basil, a canned the passing game and it's just not where it needs to be. And again, yes, they were missing camper, they were missing DJ Matthews but it's I just keep coming back to this basic premise, which is like you've got, you're in, you're in year 7 now I think of the Tom Allen era and this team is so bereft of functional talent that there's no plan B, like there's no running game, you know, I
mean as much as we talk about the lack of the receivers and I It's a big deal but there's literally nothing else for this team to lean on. They can't rush the ball. They can't rely on that phase of their offense. I mean they even were doing the old Kailyn Deboer thing in the second, half of using screens, as a way to essentially, replace the running game and try to pick up a few yards, they to Jet
Sweep at one point. I mean, they're really having to go very, very deep into the Playbook to even figure out a way to gain a modicum of yards and you look At their overall numbers. And, you know, we're through five games. Now, there's enough of a national sample size. You can start comparing teams. Indiana is 114th nationally in yards per play. They're gaining 4.75 yards on average per play.
I mean, that is putrid. I think only Iowa in the Big Ten is a worse yards per play team right now and it just begs. The question I guess to some degree like, where's the talent we've heard about Tom Allen and is recruiting ability for the last six years. Here's where are all of the players. I mean, the two players that were missing were transfers. These were guys that came in through the portal cam camper and DJ Matthews. Like where's the Homegrown Talent where we go ahead?
The quarterback also a transfer portal guy. You know? No no you're you're leading right into one of my other points. I don't mean to cut you off. That's a great point and I so I was playing around with this a little bit this morning first I don't want to pick on Donovan McCauley.
But it's fair to look at him as like, you know, he was a super highly recruited quarterback coming in that did and I know he didn't have he was supposed to be red shirted but it's not like when you're redshirted you're just putting a glass case and you're not coached like he was coached for a year under this program as a quarterback and was let's just be nice was not functional as a D1 quarterback. Okay, he's now a wide receiver. If had a year to do that, they've changed him twice.
But hey, it's like alright, if you Bringing a player and you move him eight positions in a couple years. Like that's also on the coaching staff but like he's been a non-factor this year, six perceptions 85 yards but I looked at the wide receiver core okay to your point. Here's our top receivers this year. Based on yardage Camp, a was a transfer from Trinity Valley. DJ Matthews was a transfer from Florida State Emery.
Simmons was a transfer from North Carolina the next, on the on the wide receiver or receiving list is a AJ barter is it? I you recruit but he's a tight end, so let's keep going. Next is Josh Henderson. He's a running back. Also, from North Carolina, Kobe is from Tennessee. You get down to Donovan. McCauley is the, I you recruit that he's the highest rated, I you recruit. Who is getting, who's on our wide receiver yardage for this year.
You go back and look at it and I haven't had time to do this in depth. But like I just picked off the 2020 IU football commits. It's only two years. There's not a ton of time that's when recruiting start. Move up for IU. Number one, recruit for Star wide receiver, Rashawn Williams. He transferred we have a three and a half star running back, Tim Baldwin. He transferred David Baker is still enrolled at IU. Where is he? Why is he not catching?
It's it does to your point. It begs the question like we're not. There's no recruits that are coming through and for Tom Allen that's kind of been the other Saving Grace is like our recruiting classes are getting Better every single year. It's not showing up in the secondary. It's not showing up in the o-line. It's not showing up on the skill position, when all your skill position or transfers and you can make a living in the transfer portal.
Not saying you can't do that but all for the offseason stuff, Allen's kind of been you know living on the I'm raising the I you recruit level where they're not coming through to become active players on the roster. Yeah, it's I was thinking last night it's like You think back to where Indiana football was at winning? At Wisconsin in early, December of 2020. And since that point, it's, it's almost unrecognizable. I mean six, since that Point
Indiana has what are they? They were too, and they were they lost the bowl game. They were two antenna last year, and they're three and two this year. So, five total wins since December of 2020 and the overall atmosphere around the team. Has gone from a confident program that walks into you know, granted less hostile environments than they normally are because of covid and picks up victories and plays with swagger to a team that is constantly looking over its shoulder.
And I'm, I would love to know what happened like really over the course of this last period of time because so much of the Bedrock items that we had expected out of Tom, Allen's teams for Better, or For Worse. Seem to not be there right now. You know, the defense which was a strong suit of Alan Alan came in in 2016 is the defensive coordinator that defense was a
key. Part of 2019 and 2020 success, overall has not looked like anything close to what it used to be. And when Indiana, I mean, it's tough because yesterday, on the one hand, you don't, you can't criticize the defense too much because, you know, they score the Touchdown. And they put Indiana in a position for most of the third quarter where they might be able to succeed and, and they don't. But at the beginning of the game, where they needed to make plays, they couldn't make plays,
they get burned. And then at the end of the game where they need to make plays they they can't make the plays and they get burned and that ends up giving Nebraska the margin of Victory. And so it's like it's hard to. This was a better game for the defense than what we have seen over all. But it was still not I think anywhere close to a good enough game, given what Indiana's limitations are on offense and that itself is a real problem because the offense is essentially non-functional for
large stretches of the game. Not always, I mean this time Indiana played really well around the first half. You know, they played really well in the second quarter and then they were you know a little functional in the third quarter but not much and then they essentially just stopped being able to do anything. It's it's Bizarre Scott to watch a team work, a little bit of the time and be able to be
functionally successful. A little bit of the time, but not consistently, and it just like why. We're, where is where does that lack of consistency? Come from? I can understand it against a Maryland. Excuse me against a Michigan, or against a Penn State, or an Ohio State, but this Nebraska team is
itself. The Exemplar of The lack of consistency over the course of not just this season, but previous Seasons, you know, for that team to out consistency, IU is a real punch in the gut, you know, because these are the the problem for Indiana ultimately is like these are the margin games that they have to win, if they're going to have anything
close to a successful season. And when you're presented with a an opponent, like this people people in the Twitter mentions were like, well, you know, they had a bye week that out of that. It's This is not a well Nebraska team, like, this is a Nebraska team with no direction and no leadership. They have talented players who have been essentially coached poorly for the last two to four years. And, you know, they just fired their coach.
Like, the idea that an Indiana program, that Tom Allen has been controlling for seven years and which clearly has the ability to execute at times even with the missing wide receivers.
The idea that that You can at least keep it within a score in Lincoln in these environments are in this particular situation is. I think an indicator of a real problem that we've talked about which is that it's just there's just something fundamentally flawed with the way that this Indiana team has been set up. It's one thing, you know, you can look at a game and you can say well I don't think Indiana
is going to win. Then you get into the game and you realize, wow, Nebraska is kind of fundamentally broken and you come back you tie the game at Halftime. Time. And then don't score in the second half and like you said, you're essentially getting shut out offensively in the second half. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense and it's incredibly frustrating because, you know, we're not talking about Indiana, Waltzing into Ohio stadium and winning a game.
We're talking about doing what Georgia, Southern did a few weeks ago and not being able to do it and for Indiana to not be able to do that. It's hard to look at that. And say yeah, you know what in retrospect or you know, like looking This is a team that's going to be able to put things together and that's I guess like when we when we can we were critical of the team were like look that that Illinois win that Western Kentucky where I'm like that's kind of Fools Gold.
Yes, there's those are wins on the schedule but they don't really indicate a likelihood of winning those games in the future because the win likelihood of those games was very, very low, Indiana shouldn't have won those games and did, but that was not likely to last, and I think we're seeing here that it Not likely to last. Like that was more of a mirage than a reality. We look at Nebraska has like their, you know, fundamentally broken team. I'd love to hop on a Nebraska.
No casket are probably stay in like Indiana. That's a fundamentally broken team. I mean, you look at it is, it's I took this down and then I was starting to, I haven't done enough into this but now I fully aware Walt Bell is running a faster, hurry up type offense. So this is a little bit of an unfair stat but that said even in a fast her Hurry up offense, a good a good drive is going to take up some time we had 15 drives against Nebraska.
Nine of them did not result in a first down, that's putrid, but nut. I was kind of looking through none of the drives lasted more than three minutes and I know you're doing, hurry, it's like I know it's like inherently drives are not going to be, you know, you're not going to get a seven eight, nine, minute drive out of this team.
But you know, if you have a nice, if you have a couple of runs and you know, not and also it's not like we haven't Loss of like oh we're getting 80, yard touchdowns left and right like even with a hurry-up offense a good drive should be three, four, five minutes. If you're having a couple of those you're giving your defense some rest.
So I went back and look. So all right no drives against Nebraska for more than three minutes and our Drive chart against Nebraska. It is, I don't have it up and maybe it's like, you know, 28 seconds, half a minute. You know, it's really bad. But if you go back at since the game against Cincinnati, we only had two drives over three minutes. Oh, sorry. He drives or not too bad, two of them were four minutes.
One was three minutes and six seconds against Western Kentucky. We only had one drive for more than three minutes and against Illinois. I'm leaving Idaho out of this against Illinois. We only had one drive for over a shark to drives over three minutes but one of those was three minutes and eight seconds, it's not like three-minute drives are the, some kind of, you know, key to success. But when you're not able to put any of them together and so what I'm Where I'm going with this is
the stock market. I think close attention to it. I've done well with the stock market, but if you look at it like day-to-day or like we look at three days like, oh my God,
it was up two days but down one. It's like that's a trend that's kind of like IU football where you can see a couple of good plays that you said there's these moments where it's like, there's a couple of good plays, but if you pull out and look at the stock market for a year, those little gaps like suddenly it becomes part of a larger Trend where it's like, oh this year we're down 18 percent and so that, Those two days don't really matter, similar Without You football.
Like, when you just take a step back. Now, when you look at all of the games, like this is an offense, that is just incapable of holding onto the ball, doing anything functional with the ball and I think you're seeing it also hurting the defense, but yeah, making that many drives to not really do anything with it and not even again. Three minutes is not the end all be all but two and a half minutes like you Got to hold the ball a little bit.
You've got to get some first downs, you've got to move it but yeah. Nebraska 15 drives nine of them did not result in a first down. No drives for more than three minutes, that's putrid. Well, it is awful and it doesn't get, you know, when you look at the defense, has the defense ranks Nebraska's, one of the worst of the Big Ten like it just maybe Michigan State's a little bit easier, but it's also
a road game. I just, I need someone to explain I mean, this was Nebraska's first win against an FBS opponent in 64 days they have lost nine in a row, you know the it's just that all the talk about oh well Lincoln's a hard place to play, it's like, come on, like this. This is a Nebraska team that is in its kind of its lowest ebb.
It kind of reminds me of those Michigan teams under Rich Rodriguez that were clearly struggling like to just put two and two together and Indiana, couldn't beat them at all during that period of time. I gotta say, I gotta say, with Lincoln Like it is, it was again, like this is the difference between a program that takes football, seriously.
And then I love, I even like, you know, Fred glass tried his best to get fans in and like it was that third to fourth quarter transfer where it's like, oh we're gonna play that William Tell song, we're going to have, you know, we're going to take the red steppers and put little, you know, masks on them. Say look like The Lone Ranger like, that'll be fun. And then you look at Nebraska last night said, hey, we're going to truffle ice and everyone has glow sticks.
We're gonna fire into the, we're going to do like Road. Rotating lights around the stadium. It's like what the hell's happening here like this, look like a Super Bowl halftime show. Yeah, I mean putting that aside but no I look at the end of the day it's there's just so many little things that you look at this particular game. And you know certainly there's players that I think we're deserving of praise and it'll get kind of lost in the shuffle.
I mean I think you know I tip my hat on the offensive side to Emory Simmons who certainly hadn't played that Much caught six balls, 457 yards had a touchdown and I thought I understood Kobe played pretty well. That's not a guy that had seen a whole lot of action thus far. And I and I was impressed with electric on a couple of his cup of his catches, he looks really, really good. You know, defensively, I that cam Jones and Aaron Casey both
played pretty well. Overall Brian Fitzgerald who we've been somewhat critical of on the show for not playing better, had that huge interception and just had a good game overall I thought but there just were so in that that interception is like that is where I you. It's like we just if we get luck it's always bad luck. Like I've been just unbelievable interception. Well you just cannot State how insane the interception was but of course his knee is on the half-yard line.
So it's like that's a it's almost like it would have been better for him to drop it or like you'd like again he's obviously you can't be like hey while you're doing it and say one-handed catch falling out of bounds. Can you work on yard pick? He work on your body control like yeah it's like a Force that amazing interception had to be like, well, you know, this is going to either end to the safety or through three and out. Like, this is, it's just, it sucks that it had to happen that way.
But I mean, yeah, those are phenomenal interception. Yeah, it look. I mean, ultimately, all of those good performances were just essentially overshadowed by Indiana's inconsistencies and their inability to execute where it mattered and just like Plays the where it shouldn't have been anywhere close to where it was the punt block. I keep coming back to, and I'm just like, how on Earth I mean, that was one of I don't know if I've seen a bigger Jailbreak in,
in terms of a punt block. I mean, it was like, literally nobody decided to block for Indiana on the player. Guys, could have block that pun, you know, there was a play. I think it was earlier, it was actually, it was after that. I think. No, it was before where, you know, the The lying just doesn't block on the right side and you know, Connor, basal-like ends up getting sacked and he go back and look at the replay and it's like how I've never seen a right
tackle. Just not like just started like fries basically and not know what to do and then a running back being like, Oh wait, I don't know what I'm supposed to do and it was almost like they guided the rusher in to the quarterback. We're kind of lucky. I think that basil act didn't fumble the ball. You look at You're leading, rusher is Jalen Lucas this electric freshman. That everybody's been talking about. Had three carries 39 yards. On three carries, didn't see him again.
The rest of the game except at the very tail end of the game. When they had this like 160-pound back in blocking in pass protection and that, you know, as much as we hear about, oh Indiana doesn't have Playmakers or they don't have, you know electric difference makers from a physical perspective. It's like I look like a pretty electric player and they couldn't figure out a way to get
them on the field. Even if you're putting him in the slot and you're bringing him, you know, into a bubble screen formation or something like that, at least try, if you have Playmakers to get them into space and utilize them, and it just feel, it, feels like with this Indiana offense, they are incapable, consistently of figuring out on each Drive. Okay, how do we get players into position to be successful?
And it's a different problem. Every time you know, Connor basil, Act was very inconsistent. Yesterday he had a lot of throws that were off Target. He was having to move around in the pocket, a bunch. But then there were also times when basil Act was not an accurate and he put the ball on the numbers and the receiver wouldn't pull the ball in. You've got receivers, not coming back to the ball. To the point that we're watching, basil act like motioning to the wide receivers,
after the play to come back. When the protection inevitably breaks down, you've got the protection, which, you know, again, as we said at the beginning, makes it essentially impossible. To maintain any semblance of a running game. And also about every third or fourth drop back puts the quarterback in a position where he's either having to scramble out of the pocket, throw an early pass. That's likely, inaccurate, or get sacked. And, and again, it's like you
mentioned this. This is not Ohio State, this is not Michigan. This is Nebraska who had one of the worst defenses in the league. People, you know, after the game I think are acting like this is supposed to be a higher level. The Big Ten defense that Indiana played than it actually was so look, I don't know. I mean, we can talk about this, you know, for the next two or three hours and it's going to be the same thing and it's just, you know, you look at this performance and it's, yes, it's
on the road. Yes, Indiana could potentially come back and play better at home, but you look at the remaining home games at Indiana's got on the schedule and it's hard to Envision them winning more than Maybe one of them, and even that might be a stretch. I mean, the remaining games at home, they've got Michigan at home. That does not seem like a game that Indiana is likely to win. They've got Maryland at home. That does not seem like a game. Indiana is likely to win.
I mean, that Maryland, team was able to pretty easily handle at home, Michigan State and played pretty well on the road, the previous week against Michigan. They've got Penn State at home. That looks like a very unlikely win. They've got Purdue at home and you know as much as people have been pointing and laughing at Purdue and just A viably. So that's a Purdue team that picked themselves off.
The carpet went to a superior opponent talent-wise and style of Play Wise and essentially left no doubt in beating Minnesota like, that was a pretty dominant performance. All Things Considered by that Purdue team, especially on defense. And so I just I look at this and I say, I mean is the season over for all, you know, but where did the winds come from it, this point and you know to be sitting at three wins on the season Looking forward and saying to
yourself. Well, there's a real problem here because Indiana has allowed at least 20 points in every game they've allowed at least 30 points in each of the last three games and they don't they, unfortunately, this is a year where Indiana isn't playing any of the real offensively challenged teams out of the Big Ten West. They're not playing Wisconsin, they're not playing Iowa, you know? And even if they were, it's hard to Envision Indiana's offense being able to perform against
those defenses. The That's a Purdue performed against Minnesota or the way that Illinois performed against Wisconsin. So, it's just frustrating because all of the trend lines and all of the observable statistics, and all of the advanced statistics have been telling us the same thing for a while about this team, this team isn't very good, this was like the one game.
You felt like they might be able to steal on the road and it didn't happen if it was right there, they're tied going into the fourth quarter and instead of seizing control, Role of the game and figuring out a way to win, they lose by 14. Again, not a huge surprise, but very disappointing because it just felt like that was the door closing on.
You know, what could have been a successful season if things had broken the right way for IU. So the door closing on a possible win me. Like and there's just not that many more. You mentioned that Purdue game. It is. That's what was so unique about, you know, even in 2019, it's like we kind of pick Do some guys were having rough years like in 2020. That's what was so different is that we won that Penn State games like oh my God, we never win those types of games and
it's like, a couple weeks. You have Michigan looming. It's all right. Well, this is all gonna come Crashing Down to Earth and like, know we beat Michigan. It's like, oh, we got to go to Wisconsin. Like that's that's where it's like, oh no, we won that Kate. Like we're doing things, we don't normally do but now we're back to reality and that Purdue game is a prime example.
Like we almost never have games like that, all outside of 20 T where it's like Minnesota was the hot shit T. Like they're the team has won two in a row. They're beating teams down there not giving up any points and Purdue goes in there and winds and just beats a top 20 team. You know, we go into Nebraska team, that's falling apart and can't get it done. It is reminiscent of kind of just the natural world world world order.
But yeah, when you look forward and this is What's always so frustrating about being an IU fan, is things calcify around us at this time of year were four teams. Like you know, if we were Purdue it's like will be like, oh well I mean Minnesota. You like they're, they're on fire, they're ranked in the top 20. Like we're not going to win that game. It's like, that's what happens. Like know you can do it.
Like, it's possible to go beat these teams, but yet, as we look at this schedule, it's like, all right. Well, we still have Michigan Penn State and Ohio State. Those are all losses. But now Maryland is kind of calcifying is a loss One's gotta go. You know, Rutgers sounds that no Rutgers is like one of the top five rated defenses in the Big Ten. Like they are a vastly better defense than Nebraska.
The place isn't as tough to play, but like that's getting tough, you know, Michigan State baby, but they still rank out better than Nebraska. And most areas are, then Purdue now has a real Lifeline. It's like everything always calcifies into losses this time of year and everything. The cement gets hard and all the hard game stay hard but some of the all the ones we thought were easy, get hard and then we lose
them all. And Were never able to go like kind of you know take one that we shouldn't get while also getting the ones we should. It's super frustrating. And my final point is this I don't want to be negative. But, you know, I beginning of the year I had us at three wins, you know, I kind of missed up which ones we were going to get as I sit here right now. I just have to say, I think I
think we're going to lose out. I don't see where, you know, this was a type of game where this was a game that was there. The taking but you know the offense scores 14 points, you get a nice defensive score, that's great. You mentioned that pump block that turned into a touchdown to me that kind of the Season hinges on that.
And that this is a team and always kind of has been where it's like you just you say it a lot like you know, we're kind of on the razor's Edge but it's just as this team you don't get to make those kinds of horrific mistakes. You just can't, you can't have those mistakes. X where you punt, you give up a pump, block that turns into a touchdown. You just, you don't have that margin for. Are you don't Ohio State? Can they can make two of those at a game and still win by 25.
Michigan can Nebraska can have a jailbreak and have a safety turn into a touchdown and they can still win by 14. I mean, that's the thing, it's not like, this was a one player game where it's like, damn if that last drive we would have had no like we lost my 14, Nebraska covered twice. Like covered, five and a half two different, they almost covered it. X. Yeah, you know. So it's like wheat we always make those mistakes but we just, you can't.
And when you're at, I use level with the seemingly Talent deficiency that we have. It's tough at the last thing I'd it's going to shoehorn this into the end. It's like this is again, take a shot. This is why I hate talking about recruiting because we'll get to April May June and it's like oh we get all these recruits and like, you know, Alan's moving up, the recruiting Trail. It's like yeah we're ranked 24th but Entry ago we got this four-star. There's an ongoing Alabama.
It's like all right that's great but if you can't turn recruits into players on the field of those positions then none of it matters. And if all of your talent is coming in the transfer portal that's fine. But then stop recruiting like stop talking about recruiting so that that's where I'm very, very one more, very concerned. Because right now we are seeing none of the skill positions.
Any of those recruits that are So highly touted turning into anything functional on the field and that's a real problem because at this point when you have two wide receivers down and you have kind of a, you know, why receiving Corps? That's also kind of turning over from last year. This would be a perfect time to see some of those recruits do something instead. It's like Kobe was kind of the guy last night and kind of jumped off the page that's a
transfer. So this is very frustrating in a lot of respects because I'm not sure I see another win. I'm not sure. I see. This team being able to put everything together in one game to get a win but long-term man. I also don't know where you go from here because I don't see that influx of talent coming onto the field from the recruiting base and Indiana. Just well, we haven't shown in the transfer portal.
It's like, we're getting the, you know, base lack is good, but it's like he wasn't the top tier were, you know, quarterback. We're not winning the transfer portal battle either. So, it's just, it's tough times, man. Like this is why you hate October, but Hey, pumpkin spice latte. Yeah, back. Well look, I think I agree with what you said there. I think the other thing though is it's, it's not, it's not the recruiting issues as much as it's the development.
I just where's the Player Development where like the getting the whole idea is you bring in players of a certain level and then you coach them up and it's wild that Indiana is spending as much money as they are on like an NFL level strength and conditioning coach and they can't develop Help players that I was something that someone tweeted, or a texted to me, who follows the team closely, it's it's wild that Indiana looks kind of like it's always looked despite all
of this influx of talent and they've had to plug so many holes. And look, you're going to get a lot of players out of the transfer portal, but that it like, there doesn't seem to be a reservoir of other players that are also developing in parallel to that.
And a lot of these transfer portal players as we've talked about, Like you can see why they were in the transfer portal, not that they're bad players, but they're often inconsistent, which is essentially the watchword for this IU football team. And I don't know, I mean, a lot of the people who were very negative on Tom Allen and the program of Tom Allen, I think more to the point and this goes all the way back to your conversation with the folks at punt. John punt.
This offseason is that the Mojo, the momentum of the Tom Allen program. It Why you like hitting a brick wall in that 2021 season and we've seen this play out before it? I you where, when a coach loses that momentum, it's incredibly hard to get it back and, you know, I think you there were certainly arguments to be made through the first three games that well, you know, maybe they're not playing well, but there, they figured out a way to win games, and maybe that's an encapsulation of it.
And yet, in these last two, as you said, they've come out Prepared, they've made mistakes throughout, you know, I don't think there's much shame in losing at Cincinnati but the way they lost it Cincinnati was frustrating because it was largely self-inflicted. And this was also a loss that was largely self-inflicted and, you know, your point about you don't to be negative. But it's hard to see winds remaining on the schedule. Look, the wind probability for I
use opponents for the rest of the way our 92% Michigan. 80% Maryland, 61% Rutgers 83%, that's what Penn State. I think, 98%, Ohio, State, 84%, 110 84%, Michigan State and 74%, Purdue. So Indiana, will be an underdog in every remaining game. And we said that two weeks ago as well, I mean, they are underdogs every every step of the way. And that's not us being - that is Fpi, which is, you know, ESPN's computer which doesn't really care who the team is looking looking at the numbers.
It doesn't love each other, it's just cares about number. It's looking at the numbers and it's saying that this Indiana team against opponents that they are playing is worse in every single game moving forward. And that's a real problem because I don't see where it's wrong. Like I do, it's hard for me to look at that and say to myself. Oh yeah, no FBI clearly isn't taking Into account. Something important about this, I you football team?
That's essentially who they are and and I just, I keep coming back to this idea that what we were told all offseason was that last year, was a culture problem. And, of course, you know, we didn't get the answers as to, why a culture problem, popped up after two of the most successful seasons and IU football history, it was just kind of accepted.
Well, there were, there were some bad apples on the roster and therefore, but no things have different now and Tom, Allen's taking over the defense and And you know they've got a new offensive coordinator in and that's going to fix everything. And I think what we're seeing unfortunately is that there's a far greater fundamental issue with the fabric of Indiana football where they're still making these types of mistakes and still struggling in these sorts of games.
And again we are deep into Tom Allen's tenure, you know it. So I just I don't I'm with you. It's like it's hard to see this team suddenly finding religion. Ian between now and two weeks from now when they play Maryland is, you know, is it possible sure. Could they win another game or two? Sure they and if they do, I think certainly we will change the narrative.
But from what we've got right now from the evidence, through five games, that sitting on the table, it's hard to feel that positive about where the program is at and you look at the lack of development of players, you look at the consistent, seven-year struggles on the offensive line and Absolute inability of Tom, Allen to do anything to fix it or seem to even acknowledge that. It's an actual problem that
needs fixing. You look at the defense regressing significantly from where it was a couple of years ago, in terms of, you know, both forcing turnovers and just being able to stop the opponent in key moments. And this is where I think a lot of the pessimism comes from. It's this idea that there doesn't seem to be any easy remedy and No. The to some degree, the best chances to demonstrate that Indiana is actually able to be successful against opponents that are beatable like that
times kind of come and gone. I mean, yes, you've got a couple more games like that on the schedule, but this was a great opportunity against probably the most wounded opponent on the schedule and they couldn't figure out a way to pull it out when it was there and that, that is very frustrating. You know, I watched Tom Allen's postgame press conferences, the part like I mean, he's not, they're never gonna say anything amazing in there, but it's like I hate going on this row but
it's like you're getting picked. Like you got the big contract, okay? You're getting paid. You're not, you're not, you know, there was a time there where it's like, you'll build Lynch or Kevin Wilson's? All right, well like but in the end like this is like the 13th highest paid Gil coach. The big Ten's like what are you trying to do? Alan's making the 25 million dollars a year. Like you are making the the
solid money. We're Like a at least somewhat respectable mid-level, Big Ten program. This is to me where I would say to the team, like the rubber meets the road, I don't know how you're going to do it, but you need to win a game. You need to win one more game this year. Because as you said as I've said like nothing is going to happen. This offseason with the coaching
staff. Hopefully one offensive line coach might change but outside of that, nothing else is inherently changing with the high level coaching staff. Is going to be really hard for anybody to like mentally get excited and like do the mental gymnastics in the marketing to talk about, like this program is on the rise, or we're doing
better things. When you have two years where you lose out, like, yes, this year, you won one more game and you want a Big Ten game, but it's kind of almost going to be washed away if you lose out and if you go three and eight and you lose eight in a row that's going to suck. If we're at a point where the last win in October, Was in 2020, that's not a great look. If you've gone two years without winning a game after September, that's all fun.
When you just lose out, two years in a row, that's going to really kill interest in the program. So, this is where the rubber hits the road. You know, this is where Allen needs to show why? He's a national Coach of the Year candidate. Why? He's a good coach? Like things are not going well, if he can only win and do well, when all the stars are aligned and we're humming and everything. Is rolling, right? Then he's not the right coach for Indiana because things are
not always going. This is not Ohio State things are not always going to be humming. It's not a program where you could just kind of sit back. Like there are a lot of moments like this where you and I have podcast it for 10 years were like things aren't going right. You need to figure out a way to do something that's really hard. Purdue did it this week? They were kind of faltering. They want a game at Minnesota. Minnesota is not going to the
college football playoff. Like, that's not a great. T Matt's a good team. Go win it. We're playing. We have a couple of good teams like you can be truckers. You could beat Maryland, did home? Like those teams are going undefeated, those teams don't have, you know, if possible like this is where you have to figure out how to get it done because it's just going to be a real bummer. If you go two years in a row losing out, so do something different, find a way to win one of these games.
We'll see what happens with Indiana. Moving forward as they are 3 and 2 and certainly there are opportunities for Indiana to win games moving forward, but a big hey, big pot, big fox Friday's coming. Yeah, being talked about that. But this is Vegas, big noon Saturday as they call it as yes. Indiana hosting Michigan. And well, you know, I mean this is where I think all the things you just said. I mean, I'm sure there's people listening who will be Got, they haven't lost out yet.
You're being unfair. You're being negative to die to die. And what I would say though, is, okay, we've talked about this many times. Indiana has a putrid record against Michigan and Ohio State. Yes, those are better programs Indiana's, beaten Michigan. Once since 1967, they've beaten Ohio State 0 times, since 1989, other teams have been able to rise to the occasion.
Occasion at home and figure out ways to beat those teams, Ohio State, maybe, not quite as much, but we have seen it happen with some and, you know, Michigan is certainly a team that's been susceptible to getting picked off every once in a while. This is certainly a better Michigan team, but this is the kind of game where Indiana needs to come out and play with passion and with fire. And they at least need to make it a difficult game for Michigan. They need at least need to make it a game.
We're Michigan's like, well crap Indiana's, really brought their a-plus-plus game to this and that's at this point. Like, that's, that's what you have to. You almost have to like, say, look, Indiana football, we're not this bad. We have, we have pride in the program. We have pride in the way that we play. This is where Indiana has to throw the kitchen sink at things and and figure stuff out and
look. So if you think Think we're being unfair to the program and to the players and the Tom Allen fine. But this is where you have to start actually demonstrating things. Not, not not coming back from a 10%. When expectancy to beat Western Kentucky at home in overtime. Like this is where if you actually are in the conversation for being like a mid tier Big Ten team home game homecoming, you know, one of the biggest games in terms of media Windows, this is where you have to perform.
We'll talk about that throughout the course of the week, you know, it's just that again, it would be the first time this year that we've really seen Indiana over perform and that is a real concern and it's like not likely to happen. But this is where again, it's like you're talking about the salary and you talk about, okay? This is your job as the head football, coach to figure out answers and try to fix these things. This is, this is where it happens. So let's see what happens, you
know, it's, it's just funny. About me talk about Michigan. We had some friends over last night to watch the game, which is also tough experience. But I was talking about some of the Stadium's. I had been to in the Big Ten, like I start saying, I want to take my son to more Big Ten football stadiums on Snapchat. I've been to Michigan not for a game and my friends, like, oh, that must have been like, oh, like did you must have hated that like being a Michigan's
like, know what? I don't really have hatred toward Michigan because like, that's not even we suck and they beat us like it's like, it's like the old, you know, the joke about the Red Sox, the Yankees back in the day was like hammering, a nail Like we're the nail, like I probably more annoyed about like Maryland and Rutgers like I don't that's like be being mad at like the, you know, the going to Lambeau. It's like I said, that's a different League anyway.
Just it's funny they're like, oh, you must hate it. It's like, no. Like I really don't have a ton of animosity toward Michigan, they're just, they are way better and we don't beat that. But to your point, it can be done. Like, they are pick off a bowl. I just I don't see any reality where that happens, next Saturday, but Lets you know, hey, let's, let's let's plan for it Hope Springs Eternal and we'll see what Indiana's able to
come up with on all of this. But anyway, that'll wrap it up for us. We'll be back later on this week. Talk more about IU football and we will see what the numbers show as Indiana takes on the Michigan Wolverines for homecoming. This upcoming week for Scott, I'm Galen, thanks for joining us here on the show, will be back later on in the week. Like I said, be sure to check out Crimson cash, which will come out on Thursday, and Of the regular week preview as well.
Coming up, we'll catch you. Folks on the flip side, bring back the Bison, so everybody