You're listening to the Back Home Network presented by Home Field Apparel. Welcome back to Crimson Cast, Galen Clavier joining you once again. It is Tuesday, August 29th and happy college football season everyone. It's officially started.
We got some really terrible games this past weekend, but it's just it's like the the cold bowl of Gazpacho before the actual courses start to arrive as we're getting a lot of football over the course of the next several days, including the start of the I U football season as it's finally here, they'll be taken on Ohio State. We're going to talk about that in a second. Got a special guest who has not joined us in a while who is going to be joining us in just a
second. But first before we get to that one of the remind everybody that we're part of the back home network here on Crimson Cast. The back home network is brought to you by home field apparel, your place to go for the finest in college fashions. They have been dropping some amazing stuff over the weekend in terms of you know they had those those boxes for individual teams that and I you won.
It looked incredible and and if you're not on their mailing list you missed it but you know between it was home fields birthday first of all is their 5th birthday I think yesterday. So they had a bunch of great stuff available through that. But you know what really was was was great to see was the the box of of I U stuff that was available right alongside the Bomber jackets that had dropped earlier in the week.
If you're a Notre Dame person, if you're a Michigan State person, there's just so much out there right now that Home Field Apparel has been cooking up and sending out to the people's. If you'd like to check it out, go to homefieldapparel.com and use the code home to get 15% off your first order. I'm sure they'll have more stuff throughout the course of the season. We'll look forward to seeing that again. Homefieldapparel.com Proud sponsors of the back home network.
We are joined on the show today by a long time I U football fan Observer analyst. He's also one of the guys that launched the Hoosier network, which is has has gained levels of popularity that are hard for me to fathom at this point. But a very gratifying Teddy Bailey joining us on the show. He's been on the show before. We're happy to have him back. Teddy in his Are you Oval, Dad Hat here on the show. It's great to see you, man. How's it going?
I'm doing well, Galen, and plugging the brand and doing whatever I have to do, but good to be back on. It's been probably a year or two or so, some ugly years of Indiana football, but but good to be back as yeah, there's no UMass New Mexico State this week. We're doing the real thing yeah we're we're going to avoid having to watch like Jacksonville State you know play whoever they were playing. I don't remember who it was. I'm not I lost money on that game whatever.
You know whoever they were playing but but no Teddy.
It's great to have you on as always and and you are a rarity I'm I just I just had a birthday you know I'm in my mid 40s it's always both heartening and and then then concern comes out of me whenever a a young person like yourself is a die hard I U football fan really follows the team because I look at you and I see myself 20 some years ago and I'm like man I I hope it turns out differently for you but as you just alluded to these last couple of seasons not exactly great from a trajectory
perspective. So I just wanted to say first and foremost thank you and thanks to all the folks who are at your age relatively young out of college or in college that actually spend time watching this football program. It really is important. Yeah, I I got a roll end of this deal. You know my freshman year at IU was the 2015 Pinstripe Bull team and then you know I became closer with the program covering it and you know, so I was, I was indoctrinated with with all appearances and so.
I know that's always been, you know, the standard or the the goal for this program is to to become a program that expects to make a bowl every year. And that's kind of how my college career went and it was weird when when when that stopped. So so yeah, now we're back. We're now we're back down a few pegs. It's a little different. But you know, I I do live and die by this program. I just really wanted to be successful. It's a totally different fan experience than the Basketball 1.
And I kind of I kind of like it in a in a way it it's refreshing when when the expectations are are a little less. Yes, it's one of it's a it's a balance because on the one hand you know the weight of expectations as we've seen with men's basketball can really be crushing. The flip side is with football, you'd like some reward, you know, more more regularly than the the rare ones that have been sprinkled on the fan base over the last 25 years.
And that is the real kind of struggle with this football program and and how you approach fandom. And you know, I it actually dovetails pretty nicely with something that I've been thinking about here a lot lately and I wanted to get your take on it before we dive into talking about the team, because I really am relying on you to maybe charge me up a little bit for this football season. I've been a bit ambivalent about the start of the year, as I'm
sure you've noticed. But part of the problem with the ambivalence is I kind of feel like there's not a lot to get excited about and and that's the program is partially to blame
for that. Like I feel like with a lot of what we've seen over this preseason or the the, you know summer camp or whatever you're going to call it, like there's just there's very little to latch onto right now if you're an IU fan other than well Jalen Lucas is here and there's some new faces like a guy from Western Michigan might be the best player on defense and hey there's a new offensive line
coach. I mean there's just it's not a lot of of positive energy or things to focus on if you're a fan of I U. Football. And as you and I know you know a lot of people that follow I U football are are pretty casual about it until it looks like the team is good. If you're if you're someone who's maybe I U. Football. Curious, but not fully in a relationship with it. I don't know why you would do anything towards being like an observer or a fan of the team this year, because there's just
not a lot to get latched onto. Yeah, I don't really, I don't really blame that that segment of of the fan base. I'm the perfect guest for this episode if that's what we're going for because I can get excited about anything when it comes to this program and and and I can channel some optimism even even when it's not necessarily there.
Yeah, I. You know I was I was reflecting on this because you know I think the the message boards and and and what and ended the Twitter discourse have been harpy on this for a while and you know Tom Allen's secrecy has been you know a Twitter joke for the last 48 hours or so. But we really haven't you know we haven't gotten a lot of information about this team over the course of the offseason.
I saw a clip from Alabama and they they released two or three minutes of their quarterbacks throwing and. I don't think, I don't think they have announced the starter and it wasn't, you know, a full 11 on 11. They were literally just throwing and it was behind the behind the arm shot and you could see how the quarterbacks threw balls. And I was like, wouldn't that be
nice, you know? And whenever I talk to people, you know, I'm like, hey guys, like we might have one of the better receiving groups in the Big 10 and I truly do believe that. But you know. Can we complete a task? I I really have no idea. And the the fact that the, you know, the program's putting out videos and it's it's a ton of receptions, but you know you can't even make out who's throwing in the football. And I know that's the elephant in the room is the quarterback
situation. But I think you know, when you're talking about preseason expectations and fan excitement, it really, it really would be nice if the fan base had at least seen something. Tangible in the offseason. I don't really know how you do that. You know, because Indiana doesn't really do spring games
anymore. I don't know if that's releasing Twitter clips or whatever it is, but I think that's part of the problem is that it's a completely new team and there's no depth chart, which is fine, but like, it's going to take the fan base a couple games to even learn these numbers on the field. And thank goodness we have names on the back of the jerseys this year, because that's not that's
not always a given, either. So I I think that's the challenge it's a ton of new faces and I don't think they've really been introduced properly and and that's on purpose and what better way to introduce them than against Ohio State which in my opinion is the most disheartening thing is that you know this team is going to get judged based on how they look immediately. That's how the Indiana fan base always works and and they tune them out as soon as as soon as
they're they believe. They need to, right? And it's unfortunate that that's gonna come against Ohio State but that I'm hoping that I'm hoping that the efforts there and that fans can leave the stadium thinking okay we're gonna be in some games this year and if we can take that away from this Saturday, that'd be great. You know and I've I've thought about that because you're right. I mean the fan base does tend or the people that would be inclined to follow. Maybe not even the fan base.
The people that really follow I U Football are there every week. It's just there aren't that many of those people. But this is where I'm I I I'm concerned and and kind of disappointed in how this offseason's gone because on the one hand I U needs support. They they need an IL support. They need regular fan support and yet they it feels like very little has been done to try to build that and and you know look you're going to lose to Ohio State.
I mean it it it, I don't think that we should just assume that it was actually interesting listening to to Scott and Ken Bikoff talking on their preview pod. And Ken brings up a great point and I brought it up on the pod
in past years. It's like it's it's weird that the only place in the Big 10 where they just assume we're going to we're going to lose to Ohio State lose to Michigan lose to Penn State and it happens every year is Indiana and all these other schools you know have have been competitive or have knocked off one of those teams And and you know outside of the COVID year which is kind of an oddity.
I U hasn't beaten any of those teams you know basically in in your living memory and I I guess Penn State technically but that one I don't know if that really counts. That was yeah. The middle of their sanction era. It's like it shouldn't be like Rutgers is bad. Maryland has been not good at times. You know Illinois boom bust, produce boom bust. But they've all figured out ways. I think with Rutgers is accepted
to beat one of those teams. It's like it shouldn't be just as well Indiana couldn't possibly compete thing and it felt like you know under under Kevin Wilson and even in the early years of the Tom Allen era there was they were competitive in those games for for four quarters in a lot of cases and then not every single time they're not here.
So if we're if we're A, assuming that I is going to lose and B, we're not going to get people juiced up about the way the team is composed because we have no clue because we don't know who the leaders are on offense or on defense or how they're going to line up or anything. I mean, that's a really tough sell for a fan base that if you're not going to hang your hat on wins and losses, you got to hang your hat on something. And I don't know what you're expecting people to get excited
about at this point. Yeah, I think that's a great point. Something I think a lot about when I took a step back is that this program kind of lacks that that that big moment. You know, I'm thinking the David Bell, Purdue upset of Ohio State and you know, Rossi, it has that blackout and there's a huge moment. I I don't really think it was that successful the produced season. You know they they went to a ball game, I believe. Was that either they got waxed by Auburn or something like that?
Yeah, yeah, exactly. So it wasn't, you know, some historic year that the the fan base up there is going to, you know, remember 50 years or not. But they're sure going to remember the time they beat Ohio State at home. And you know, again, in my living memory it's kind of the the COVID year and you know that was a fantastic season and we're always going to remember that I'm sure, but. You know, no one could even be there.
You know, it's like all the the, the the one that couldn't even, you know, be in Bloomington to celebrate it or storm the field. So, So whacking those big moments is huge. Yeah. And then I think it's a communications problem. You know, somebody works in communications. I I actually have no idea what they could do to improve this. But because it's, it's so many years of just bad football. But I I think at the end it did a great job in the Portal this offseason.
But, but how You can't measure that until we actually play the games. You know, it's like Okay, you know, they stole all players. They got a good handful, a good amount of players that they had, they would have, they would have had no business getting coming out of high school. So I guess that's great. And you can look at the portal being you know helpful for a program like Indiana that kind of needs that double dip into you know.
Talent roster building whatever. But no one knows you know anything about these kids and it's going to you know probably be a rude awakening you know yeah I'm totally with you on on Indiana being kind of that loan program where where we assume we have no chance but man there's been so many close years with with you know even 2017 you know Richard Lego had a cooking for 1/2 and and then the but but but a performance like that this this Saturday would be. Beautiful.
Yeah. Hanging in there half and then the doors kind of come come out at the end. You know I I think I think people would take that.
I mean there have been instances like you said I mean you know that game and in 2017 under the lights the the 2015 game against Michigan you know I mean there and there have been others and then look obviously they they want some of the games in the COVID year and and those are moments but they weren't moments people got a chance to go visit in person and be there for.
You know you mentioned the transfer portal and it's been interesting because that has been something that I've noticed the media covering I U of coalescer I was like well you know Alan and company did a surprisingly good job in the portal and yet I can't help but be a little bit skeptical. I mean you know last year they pulled some good like attractive looking players out of the portal and they had a couple successes. Camp Camper was was clearly a
success. You know Josh Henderson I think is going to turn into a pretty good back. But you also had guys who really didn't perform that terribly well. And I think the concern I have is like so much particularly on defense is going to lean on those types of players, you know who who aren't. We know where they weren't here, they haven't been weaned in the system and they they washed out at bigger programs in some cases or they have been very productive.
But it's smaller programs. It is this weird kind of mishmash and certainly you know that you're you got to take what you get and and it's not like are you Losing a bunch of players, especially on defense from the last couple of vintages of this team is a bad thing given how poorly they played.
But it's and I I feel this way about another position, which we'll talk about in a second, But it's like we're asked to take a lot on faith that this was actually the right moves without A having a chance to see any of it in action. B, really having been told what people are going to do or how
they're going to set up and see. Like the the fact that these guys were available and decided to come here is an indication of like what they've been able to accomplish so far in college, which is either not much or much against lower competition. That is a bit of a concern for me and it's a different type of concern than what we've had in the past, I think with some Tom Allen teams. Yeah, I think you're right.
I I think the way to evaluate the transfer portal is kind of looking at these players and and you're you kind of have to read it in between the lines about whether they could have gone to a better program than Indiana. Could they have started at another program other than Indiana? Or were they just in the portal? And maybe the staff saw something and and they and that was kind of their best option right by all reports, accounts, whatever.
Andre Carter looks like a player that could be a steal for Indiana and I have no idea. We're we're all going to find out together. You know the the the Indiana defensive line has not been able to get legitimate consistent pressure on an opposing quarterback since, I don't know, maybe my freshman year with like Darius Latham and. And you know, Jacob Robinson had a great, you know, like freshman, sophomore year and whatnot, but, but there really hasn't been, They've just been there, right?
And you know, so much pressure was placed on the secondary to cover forever because the quarterback, you know, had all
day to to do whatever he wanted. And then I think the secondary, you know either was on the field for too long because we couldn't block or throw or. You know they were just worn out and and and I do think you know that the the era of the Mullen Jalen Williams Devon Matthews you know you could probably go further with like Raheem Lane Andre Carter and all the I think that era you know collectively maybe it was a coaching thing personnel who knows it got worse as as it looked worse for a
variety of reasons so. Yeah, I I think you're right in that there's so many parts coming together on this defense. It's kind of been the entire storylines offseason. It's like, Tom, how are you going to make this work? Because you know there's a ton of new faces. They're very high on some, you know, Richard freshman back there. So, So we'll see. But I do think a couple of these players or players that Indiana. Probably shouldn't have gotten, and I'm not so sure why.
Even looking at their current recruiting pace, you know some of the kids they're getting, I'm like this for the results that this program has gotten on the field in the last two years and it's gotten really ugly in the last two years, mostly because of the quarterback in offensive line issues. But it's impressive on paper. It's just you know can can you form a unit. Yeah, I mean your your point about the the defensive line is is well taken.
I mean if you look at the the last two years, 2021-2022, Indiana was 115th in Saks in in college football in 2021 and they were 104th last year and it wasn't like they were that great before. I mean they were 97th and 2018, they were 66th and 2019 and I'm going to throw out the 2020 year because there were just so many different levels of games played. It's not really a fair
comparison. But you know that is that is clearly been a real problem for this defense in an era where you have to get pressure on quarterbacks. I U has tried to rely on their back 7 essentially to get a lot of stuff done and it it really, I mean it kind of worked in 2019 and and and to a lesser extent in 20/20/2020 is just it's hard to put that into context because of how messed up everybody's
rosters were. But 2019, you know, I think that defense really demonstrated that you could win in a kind of a, you know, a contain based system that didn't rely entirely on SACS but was able to make things happen when moving the Husky around or or you're having really good players in the secondary and the bottom kind of fell out of that the last couple
of years. The the big question I guess I'm going to have though with that is when you look at the the talent that Indiana's going to have to beat and I'm not really talking about the Ohio State's, the the Michigan's, the Penn States but the the teams in the broad middle. It's. I'd like to think that I U has found some kind of or refound a formula that's going to work for
them. But it's important to remember like it it what it it was one of those things where the defense had to essentially start a brand new scheme when Tom Allen got here in 2016 to take the leaps that it did and it became like a top 25 defense for a couple of years and it's falling away from
that. It's hard for me to believe that in the same system that they continue to run, that they're suddenly going to have this huge, you know, leap, inability and an execution with a bunch of guys who've never really played specifically in that system before and have not played together. Maybe, maybe we'll be proven wrong. But, you know, it felt like in 2016, Allen inherited a defense that had some athletic talent but didn't have the coaching on top of it to make it work.
It didn't have the scheme well, like this is a different environment now and so I'm curious like where the leaps really would come from. It certainly has to start, I think, on the D line, but I worry about what they've done not being enough. Yeah, I mean these are totally fair concerns and I don't, I don't have a ton of wisdom to add. There's also an element or the element of of you know does is Tom calling plays or not.
You know, he's kind of, you know, he's gone hot potato with with that issue the last few years. And you know, this defense is his baby. It's always going to be his baby. That's you know how he likes to win football games, doesn't always make for the most pleasant watch. But whatever, that's his thing and and he's always going to have, you know, some level of involvement with with the defense on a daytoday basis. I do like that he's taking a
step back and. Kind of referring to himself as more of the CEO, because that's just 202030 college football coaching. You know, you're not the D coordinator anymore. You're not getting paid to be
the D coordinator anymore. You're getting paid to, you know, be be the head coach of an entire program with so many moving parts in In today's age of college football, Yeah, I think it's going to have to come from the defensive line and they're going to need more than Andre Carter to, to get to the court to create those negative plays. I mean, that's the. That that's the reason they they they've struggled on on defense is is they they they just give
up positive plays. You know you can you can talk about takeaways all you want and yeah that that would be great But you know if you get pressure you're going to get takeaways right. Like we don't have to talk about this defense. Like it's like, you know, you got to go to the the, the, the, the, the, the some crazy, you know, football coaching pedigree that I have. You know, it's like. Do they have multiple players and get to the quarterback? I don't know.
I think Andre Carter's one of them. We'll see about the others. On paper, Anthony Jones looks like a great get for them. I do think that fans should be cautious about the transfer portal. Whether or not why, why did they leave their school? Usually it's because of playing time. And you know, they're going to get more playing time at Indiana. Does that mean that they're not going to be good players in Indiana? No. But like you have, like you
should be a little skeptical. But I think anytime Indiana can add players that have seen the field at Texas, like Jimmier Johnson or, you know, I don't really know if Anthony Jones saw the field that much at Oregon. But like, plucking from those programs is probably a net plus in the long run, and Indiana doesn't really like. They can't.
They got to take that and and develop these guys and I do like that they kind of went for younger pieces that that solve some action for big time programs. I just think that's a decent formula for getting getting some result out of the transfer portal, but. You know, at the same time they they really didn't have that many practices to put this thing together.
And you know I I think Ohio State's going to have some big plays on Saturday and you know you just kind of have to patch it up before before Louisville and and those teams that you mentioned that that really will decide if this season is is anything or not. Let's jump to a position group that didn't have a lot of transfer infusion but instead had a coaching infusion and that's the offensive line. There was an interesting set of quotes that came out of the
press availability yesterday. You know, Walt Bell, the offensive coordinator. I guess this was technically two days ago, but whatever. No, it was yesterday. I was right. He he said he was really impressed by the improved in the quote here was technical proficiency of the offensive line under Bob Bostad and that he felt like the offensive line had developed an edge in
practice. And there was another, you know, there was a comment from, you know, from from from Bell, you know, basically saying that the group had really advanced rapidly. And then of course, you know, you had to immediately say that's that's not an attack on Darren Hiller, which that's another issue that we'll get to. But I mean the the offensive line.
I mean we know that this has been a big issue over the course of the last several years and it's been weird watching people try to argue that it hasn't been a big issue when it clearly has. I'm still, I have to be in like a wait to see it actually happen mode with this offensive line. I'm certainly buoyed by the the phraseology that's coming out of some of the coaches.
But it just it's it's amazing to me that Indiana has struggled so much in this area without I I would say, I mean it's not like Indiana's had like a horrific talent disparity compared to the the middle class of the Big 10 and yet they've they've consistently had lines that have underperformed significantly over time. I mean, what what would you see like really stable offensive line play?
Like what kind of impact could that have given the skill position players that we know Indiana's got coming into this year? Every conversation I've had with an IU football curious person this offseason, I've just kind of been like, we just just need a quarterback and get these guys to ball. I mean like.
They have a they have a they have some they have a handful of true difference makers on offense and and if if if they can have a quarterback that just limits mistakes and and gets the ball where it needs to go. We they don't need some crazy you know Nate Sudfeld type arm or anything.
Just just just get Jalen and Lucas the ball in space on a on a quick you know bubble screen and and do that five times a game and then find EJ Williams and and Ken Camper and have them break some tackles and like you have offensive production. Yeah. I totally agree with your take on the offensive line. I I I feel bad for for Conor base like last year I I think he should have gotten paid hazard pay. I mean it was ridiculous that he was just standing back there and getting demolished.
It it wasn't even it was really depressing to watch. I think there's tons of ways that are to lose a football game that are more entertaining than that. I I agree with the wait and see approach, especially because these are the same players. You know, they brought in a handful of like death ads. I thought the the Bolticoff and Longman, I mean on paper their death ads, but I I just thought they would add some new faces to the room. They didn't. So you know getting getting that
Bedford back is huge. I think he's been the best offensive lineman in the past few years. So that's he's going to make a big difference. Like, even take coaching out of that. But it does seem like they have a real offensive line coach and I'm not going to sit here and pretend that like I know what, Darren Hiller did it on a daily basis, but whatever he was doing wasn't working. They were completely unprepared and they were recruiting it like an OK level.
So it should have been a little bit better. But you know, if they can block even a little bit. My last point on this would be I think.
Part of the reason why they went to this dual threat quarterback focus that they're now suddenly obsessed with is because they realized, you know, it's going to take at least a few more years before they have an above average offensive line in the Big 10. I think if and if they're going to get there, they're going to need someone like Bob Bosnad to stay here for a few years, which if you look at his, you know, resume, he doesn't. Usually stay very long at his
stops. I mean, that's kind of the nature of college football coaching in general. But you know, they're going to need him to to get a bunch of these Wisconsin kids in and and and develop them for a few years because that's how long it takes to to create an offensive line. It's not, you know, you can't just throw Jalen Jay and Lucas out an offensive guard, you know, like a player like him or his caliber or whatever the comparison would be and expect
to get production. I mean, you know, you got to put on serious weight, serious conditioning. It's. It's a total life change to become a Big 10 offensive line and you don't just find them anywhere. So yeah, I mean, I would hope that all these quotes that we've seen over the first top season shed light on the offensive line being better because it can't be
worse. And and if it's better, they have that they they stand a chance to move the ball, but they're going to have to avoid injuries because there's really not that much help behind them. It gets scary really fast. So we will, we will see. And again, you know, I'm going to end every point with this, but they, they don't have time to mess around. You know, they got it.
They got to be ready to go. The good news is they're they're kind of all experienced with with the exception of Carter Smith, they've all seen a lot of football. So you know, they know what they're getting. They they know what they're getting themselves into on Saturday. Well, it it brings up a larger point though. And this is something you mentioned the dual third quarterback thing and it's it's something Scott and I have touched on a few Times Now on
the show. It's like look, what do you expect I you to want to do offensively this year? We we don't know who the quarterback's going to be. We know whoever it is is going to be unproven through the air, whether that is Tavin Jackson or Brendan Sorosby or Dexter Williams, which I I'd like to remind everybody that you know Dexter Williams career completion percentage is still
like 34%. You know it's so you're you're you you talk about the dual threat thing and that was certainly the mantra that popped up at the end of last season And after not hearing it for I think the entirety of the Tom Allen era, suddenly it became the only thing that they could do. But it's it is odd because it it's left me less clear even about what Indiana will want to do offensively this year.
I mean, Walt Bell clearly was hired into a an uncomfortable situation where he didn't have full control over his offensive staff. He had an uncertain situation at quarterback. He had an offensive line that was struggling to block. He had no real, like proven receivers that weren't injured coming in. He didn't have a proven running back. He was able to find a few things last year, so that stuff wasn't a complete disaster. Year two of Walt Bell is the
offensive coordinator. From what you've seen and what you know about football, like, what would you expect him to try to do? He he's going to have to be as creative as possible. And I I think that's in his DNA as a as a as a schemer, as an offensive play caller. You know, the one thing I give Walt Bell a lot of credit for since he's been here with with an offensive line that that couldn't block and a quarterback that was a statue back there and got no fault, no fault to his own.
He, you know, once, once. Once things like got benched or heard or whatever it was and and Dexter was back there, you know, Walt was able to create an entirely new offense for Dexter, which which I thought was impressive. You know, I mean, he should have done that, right? I mean, like, you know, Dexter Williams is not known for his arm. He wasn't in high school. He hasn't since he's been here. You know, he's an athlete. You got to get him on the run. Right.
And that's what he did. And you know, I think at times last year it looked really high schooly and I don't necessarily mean that as like an insult and a joke. Like it's probably how they're going to be successful this year. I mean they they're going to have to do a lot of like short yardage stuff and and hope that their speed. Can get the job done, but the issue is that speed is not going to work against Ohio State. So that might have to be a little different, but they're
going to have to be creative. I think defense is going to make them prove that they can be competent on offense. And So what does that look like? Like I think that box gets stacked, I mean. I would play, I would you know as great as camp Camper is in a one-on-one setting. I mean he's huge. He has great hands, pretty, you know, above average speed and like I said great size.
You know, I would leave Indiana's receivers one-on-one with, you know, maybe a little safety help here and there, but, you know, I would. I I would defend the run at all costs and follow Jalen Lucas with multiple defenders and and make someone else beat you. I mean Jalen Lucas is going to be the entire scouting report for these upper echelon Big 10 teams because if Ohio State can limit Jalen Lucas on the ground
and they don't have. Indiana has zero shot in this game and I think, I think that might change as you know, cave in or stores be get get more comfortable as the season goes on. And and Walt becomes more comfortable calling it and whatnot. But I think they're going to have to. They're going to have to do some crazy. I'm not even talking about trickery on Saturday. Like maybe there's a little element of that. But, you know, a ton of notion, a ton of options.
I mean, I wouldn't really hate if you know something I do kind of want to get your thoughts on is is. You know Taven Jackson was was brought in as a dual threat option, right? I mean he was a fantastic recruit, really heralded in high school, a great debt on paper for Indiana at the time where they really need strong quarterback play. But but he's not the fastest. I mean if people are expecting Taven Jackson to outrun defenses it just had a flashback of Xander Diaman anywhere close to
that I I don't. I don't think it's going to happen. I I think he makes his. His best place with his arm and he didn't throw as much in high school as as some of the quarterbacks rated near him did and so that part worries me a little bit. By all indication serves me is the faster quarterback. So you know, and again, if you're if you're running a, you know, speed option type stuff. You know, this is where my knowledge of football comes from.
Video games, clearly. But if you're running that type of stuff, which they did all the time with Dexter, some of their biggest players were with Dexter, starting with the ball and and kind of, you know, having a little bit of a threat there, the quarterback's going to get hit. Which, you know, Tom Allen should have absolute PTSD of quarterback injuries in general and and willingly. You know, making their quarterback get hit is not something he should you should endorse by any means.
So yeah, I I think. Ball It's going to have to be created. Get the ball. Get get the ball. They have a ton of guys. I I love what they did in the I I think they have reliable receivers. I think EJ Williams has huge upside and just fell out of favor at Clemson. I think he is the town. This is the kid who who started at Clemson as a freshman or venture freshman in the second or whatever it was when he got on the field early at Clemson. He's good enough to play here to goose.
Carter was unbelievably productive at the FCS novel, Not just. A couple 100 yards here there. I mean he was like in 1000 yard receiver for him. Like he's going to get open, he's going to catch the ball but but can walk. They'll find a way to get that ball into these guys hands as as Scott's pointed out on earlier episodes of the show. I you spent so much time throwing balls behind the line of scrimmage. You know the blocking wasn't there to get the ball down feel.
I mean what you said earlier about you know, double down on the run. I mean until I U proves that they can block long enough to give the quarterback time to get it out. I mean why would you do anything else as an opponent And you know I echo a lot of your I feel bad for Connor Basil act and I feel like Connor Basil like weirdly became a scapegoat for the offense not working last year
for no reason. And I mean, you know, and again, it's like you're brought in new offensive coordinator, you know, porous offensive line, uncertain skill position players all over the place. And you, you win, you know, your first three games, essentially. And then things start to deteriorate. It's like, I don't know how that person gets blamed for the ills of the rest of the offense. And yet that's exactly what happened.
And not only that but the idea of having a pocket passer became suddenly the problem with I use offense, which is bonkers. When you think about Michael Penix, not a mobile guy really, you know not in the traditional running quarterback mold. That was where you had your best offensive success consistently. It's it's those kinds of of inconsistencies in terms of how I you under Allen's, you know, has kind of evaluated the program internally in the decisions that they've made.
That concerns me now. You know, I think for this year the fact that they haven't named a starter and I could be proven wrong on this, but the fact that the starter hasn't been named is telling me that it's probably soresby because I feel like given and I have no inside info. I was talking with Taylor Layman from Bite Size Bison on this. He had a nice piece on it today.
But I feel like you know, the way that Tom Allen's been talking and and the little tidbits that reporters who talk to assistant coaches tend to drop once you know how to read those tea leaves, it really sounds like they're just waiting for Dexter Williams to be in a position where he can start. If that's the case, I think what you said is 100% accurate that Soresbee is a faster runner. He is a little bit more like Dexter Williams than Tavin Jackson would be.
I also think that given the high profile nature of Jackson as a recruit, as a guy that was at Tennessee, as a guy who is, you know, clearly related to trace Jackson, Davis, if he was, if he was going to be the starter, I don't feel like we would be hiding that behind the curtain until the last possible second, yeah. I am picturing a fun video announcement. You know, that gets actual traction on Twitter and you know the whole the whole school in
fanbase coalesc around. You know Tip and Jackson is the guy. This is what Tom Allen does. You know, he, he does it every year, but he's not the only one. You know, it's funny. I feel like Tom has become like the face of like gamesmanship or coward, whatever you want to call it. But James Franklin is the name Drew Alley of the starter. He's the best quarterback they've ever had. I mean, on paper, right? And like they they don't even have like a that worthwhile the
challenger to him. So I mean, it's just silly. I mean, I have no idea. I'm with you there and look, I I look at it from the standpoint of it. I think both quarterbacks are of really from a football perspective. I don't know that it matters that much because I think if someone had really distinguished themselves, they would have been named starter by this point. But that is a problem if nobody's really distinguished themselves enough to really be starter that you would feel good
about announcing them. I do think that's that's more of an issue from a a program marketing perspective than it necessarily is from the perspective of the the on field product. I do wonder and this kind of goes back to what you were saying and it and it also ties into the question I asked earlier, my concern about what is it that Indiana wants to do? You know, so they if you look at it, they've got all of these pieces you mentioned.
You know you you've got 3 receivers that at least brand name wise should be guys who can regularly catch the ball you know and whether whether they're. Coming more than that too, right. And and no, they don't have, they don't know a J Barner's not around. There's not like a clear cut case at tight end. But you've also got Jalen Lucas as a skill guy. You've got, you know Josh Henderson is a skill guy. You've got some skill position
players. But if the plan is that the quarterback's going to be like a running quarterback and that that's going to be a main part of the offense, it's kind of a weird way to go about things. Because A I U does not have the infrastructure to win a bunch of games, you know, running the triple option or doing, you know, purely like power run kinds of things. And you're kind of wasting a lot of the talent advantages you do have.
If that's the direction that you're planning on going, I mean I they they, you know, we've talked about this a couple times on the show. They won the Michigan State game and that was great and they did it using a completely unexpected game plan. But they don't win, but they don't win the game if they don't get the touchdown or the the, you know, the long returns from Jalen Lucas and they don't win the game of Michigan State doesn't miss the field goals.
And so it's like, is that really what you're predicating Everything on moving forward, we don't know. All we can do is read tea leaves from what we're seeing, what little we've seen and heard in press conferences. But it sure feels like that might be where they're aiming at, Teddy. And I don't know if that's a great plan. Yeah, and and and unless Jalen Lucas is that literally Devin Hester, I don't think we're getting that many return touchdowns this year.
I mean, like just like analytically. Those plays are not repeatable. They're not. Not relatable. The easiest, the easiest thing these things do in college is just don't kick to the guy who can return it. And it's, you know, might have been a surprise last year. And then if you have people, I mean, Jay Lucas only returned 2 kicks for touchdowns. It wasn't like he did it every game. It. Felt like 12. It did. It really did.
But that's in. That's the that might be the easiest thing that an opposing team can take off the table. And it's like, well, I guess what you're starting every drive at the 25 now. Good luck going 75 yards with not throwing the football that much. I mean that that really does. If that's where Indiana's going and I'm not, I don't know that it is. But it worries me that they might be considering something along those lines. I think it's going to have to be a part. I I don't think it's.
I don't think it's the the foundation of the offense. I I don't think it's it's a winnable formula. I think they're going to have to see a quarterback grow up in front of their eyes. Week by week, if this thing is going to be successful and they're going to try to hit on a pitch count of those types of plays every week. And you know, depending on the opponent or just the blocking, you know they're going to hit on them from time to time.
But to to go back to the well of like our Jalen, our Jalen, our Jalen, you know, like. All right. Quarterback in Jalen you know it's the strength of this team is in the in the receiving port. Well, I wanted to ask you though, because one of the things we have heard is Tom Allen saying we got to find more ways to get Jalen Lucas the football. You know, we've heard like, well, yeah, we're going to find ways to get him into this part of the offense or that part of the offense.
How does Indiana utilize Jalen Lucas? I've thought I've been asking people this question a lot. I don't have a great answer because he's not in every down back. Like this is not a guy you would hand the ball off to and plunge him into the line. And it's he's a, you know, he's a guy who probably does better in like, you know, on screens and in space. We don't know because we didn't really see him on offense last
year, you know? But like, it's not a situation where you using him like a feature back is really going to work unless there's something about his game that we just haven't seen. Yeah. And he's supposedly, you know put in the work this offseason to get there at receiver to to to get there. But do do you want to to throw passes to Jalen? Do you want to do you want to throw slants over the middle to Jalen Lucas? I mean, not really.
I mean he if he's if he's that important to your offense, I mean you want to get him into space where you can make people miss. I mean, you don't. I don't want to see him get hit, you know, repeatedly over the middle. Where he's not used to catching balls like that. So I, I, I, I think you know this is going to this might sound a little crazy. I think his value actually might be more rooted in in being used as a decoy and and purposely maybe not purposely.
But you know like I said I think defenses are going to spend all week trying to figure out how Indian is going to use them and Indiana should know that and and. You know, he's the guy that the defenses have to take away and you know in the Indiana has to to take advantage of that. I mean, it's not every day that they have that type of kid. I'm gonna. I'm assuming you don't have your stat sheet pulled up right now and aren't looking at it.
Can you How many passes did Jalen Lucas catch last year? I didn't complete many to begin with. Oh boy. I'm going super low for Okay. It's not that bad. Yeah, so he cut, he cut 16 balls for 82 yards. He had a 5.13 yards per catch average, right? Didn't didn't score a touchdown. Now it's interesting, even on the in the running front, you know he was in terms of yards per carry, the best back Indiana had. He he carried for 5.5 yards per
carry, scored two touchdowns. However, he only rushed 49 times for 271 yards, which was third on the team in both categories. Your Sean Shivers got 143 carries, Josh Henderson got 90 carries. So Lucas got, you know, barely more than half of what Josh Henderson had. And so it's it's interesting because I am, you know first of all Indiana got out rushed by almost 800 yards last year but they passed for almost the exact same amount or they received
almost the same amount of yards. Like it's it's it's kind of this weird thing as as opponents where you know Indiana's receivers, I think they were like 600 yards behind what their opponents did. It wasn't as bad as the rushing attack was So that there maybe is an opening to do more
running. But it would be interesting to see exactly how Jalen Lucas fits into that mix and whether the fact that he's going to, I guess, theoretically be more of a central part of the offense ends up making him less effective. Because, as you mentioned earlier, he ends up getting keyed on constantly throughout the course of the game. Yeah, I think, yeah. And I think you take advantage of him being keyed on constantly, and then you get the ball in space.
You know, whether that's slot screens or pitches outside, they have some big dudes at receiver that should be able to walk. I mean, we're going to find out. If that's true, but you swing it out to Jaylen on the backfield and you get some blockers up front, I mean, kind of good luck. Like, I don't really care like which linebackers are in front of them. Like, you should be able to make the mess. And if you can't, he's just
gonna run past them. But you know, I've been thinking about Can Perry a lot too, because if you give Jalen Lucas, you know, better hands, probably slightly, you know, less speed but a little bit of size that that's kind of what Can Perry is on paper. And you know, having two quick guys that can play the slot is, is a nice luxury to have, especially when you have big bodies on the outside. I mean, just talking about Adnia's office is just so.
Frustrating because if they had a quarterback who as as as completed a past period, you know you could really get behind it a little bit and you know, hopefully when it's week seven, week 8, you know there's a little bit more confidence back there. I'm going to counter you. I I think Taven's starting. Why? I don't know. I I I think, you know, whenever you have an elite elevenish quarterback, you kind of have to
play them. But you know I I've watched Shorty's high school tape a couple weeks ago and you know it looked a lot better than I remembered it when we got him at the time. So. And he and he played big boy high school football too and he does have a year in the system and he is quicker. So you know, I, I, I think we're all imagining things about David Jackson. But none of this is rooted in reality, really, because we're we're kind of fantasizing.
And look, I have, I have gone through the whole offseason on the assumption automatically that Taven Jackson was going to be the starting quarterback. And it's really only been the last week or two, as the Dexter Williams talk has popped up, that it's given me some second thoughts about what they might end up doing there. You know, another, I say one other guy that we haven't talked about a whole lot that I'm curious about is Donovan Mccully as a skill position player.
I mean this is a guy came in with a tremendous amount of hype and we'd have started at quarterback for a couple of games and then was in the wide receiver room and didn't do very much last year despite being a great athletic specimen.
And now you know you mentioned I mean you of all people as plugged in as you are to to how are you plays football and what the rosters it. Then you mentioned, you mentioned Cam Perry, you've mentioned to Quiese Carter, you've mentioned Cam Camper. You've mentioned DJ Williams. You know, I'm sure Omar Cooper would be a guy that you would mention as well. Like, does McCauley see the field at this point? I'm Anderson Kobe, who was,
yeah, pretty reliable last year. I mean, I don't think and a former Tennessee player as well, yes. Yeah, yeah. I don't think he's a player that wins you games. But, you know, last year he caught the ball when it was thrown to him, You know, it was pretty reliable, yeah. And McCauley supposedly is primed to take another step. You know, kind of reading in between the lines of the quotes, it seems like he's mature, that receiver, and not just kind of been like.
Basketball player athlete who can get the ball in a jump off situation it seems like you know I take that as refined route running and and and just kind of knowing how how how to get the ball rather than just running around and and and hoping that it helping you can go up and grab it which you know probably can't be replicated against Big Ten corners. Yeah he's going to see the field.
I mean this is a crazy rotation. I also think you know, knowing how Tom handles injuries, I think you know. I'm not saying Camp Camper gets eased in, but like he gets rotated in on Saturday more than he will six weeks from now. So there's going to be opportunities for all of these guys to catch the ball and there's even guys behind them that that should be ready to take the next step. Jocko Smith should be ready to take the next step. You know they they have a ton of talent at receiver.
I don't think you can ever have enough, but EJ Williams was brought here to to be on the field for every play. And and so was camp tampering and last year he was spectacular and they don't win the Illinois game without him. So yeah, it's it, but it's a lot of competition. I think McCall is going to have every shot, but I don't think he's going to put up like crazy numbers just because of the the the questionable quarterback play that we're kind of like embracing for. It's like.
I'm I'm I'm picturing like the first snap of of of Saturday and we're all just kind of like holding our breath to like A see who runs out and like B see that first pass completed. Because I I can just I can hear the groan of the stadium.
It's like the first play is like like it was last year when when shot Tigers got blown up or like something terrible like they just need like Oh my God they they completed the ball like it's second and six like let's go Yeah yeah it's going to be interesting I mean seeing how everything plays out in that environment and and how everybody reacts. I don't I who who knows at this point.
I mean it's going to be a fascinating scene and and really the first two weeks I mean it's just such an unusual game situations 330 on CBS playing Ohio State in game one and then you got a Friday night game against Indiana State in game two and it's it's just it's the the seasons always start weird in this era of college football and and we've seen a lot of these types of games it always feels like it takes us until late September before we really know what we're dealing with.
Regardless I just I I feel like this is the year where we know the least about I U football probably going back to like 2012 and and that's unfortunate because I I feel like for for many years we had a clear sense of who the personnel were, what Indiana was trying to do, who was going to be the key players and how they were going to fit into things.
And then we would get pleasantly surprised by other guys popping up. And this year it's just real hard to get a beat on everything and that doesn't mean that it you know can't turn out okay and I guess to kind of wrap up the conversation how do you see the season going. I mean what it what is if you're if you're putting money down on predictions at this point, like how do you see this team ultimately faring when it's all said and done? Yeah, it's the $1,000,000 question, isn't it?
Yeah. And like I'm going to have a much more reality rooted answer like after a couple plays on Saturday when we actually can like look at it with our own eyes. Yeah, like I'm, I'm always optimistic. I I do think this team, you know, while we don't know anything about them really, I I think there's potential. Across the board last year the team fell apart down the stretch completely fell apart.
I I think they they quit in some of their on some of their coaches quits probably not the right word but lost faith in in in kind of the how the ship was moving injuries just decimated it you know and I think this is a team that can get better as the season goes on which. Is great because that that that's a that's a change from from that from the last two seasons. I I I think it can win. I think it can win four or five games.
You know I wanna I wanna I wanna go further but but I gotta stop myself. It's a tough schedule. It always is. I don't even care about losing divisions you know the schools they're adding it's it's going to stay hard. It's going to be a different hard. I I think Louisville is more winnable than people probably give it credit for. The national media is really high on on a Jeff Brown first year program. You know neutral say and
anything can happen. You know, by then, hopefully, you know Indiana kind of gets the training wheels off off its quarterback. But but after that, you know they should be at Rutgers at home. But Sheanna's recruited pretty well. Yeah it's you know I'm I'm I'm really what I'm really scared about is is kind of you know Ohio State blows the doors off this team you have a couple good moments but you know they they can't mess around against Indiana State or Akron.
You know they they can't afford to lose those games. You know, I think that's where you would really lose the fan base and and the noise and on time Alan would would get pretty pretty crazy because you know, even the thought of. This is the season where we know the least about this program. You know what year are we in on Sun Island 5-6 ish. It's yeah, it's not great. So I would say four or five
wins. I think they get better as it goes on. You know I could see this team you know losing to Louisville maybe even a weird upset against Akron if if if something goes horribly wrong. But, but I could see this team kind of figuring out. You know, beating in Michigan State, playing close with Purdue the end of year and the fan base kind of goes in the next season with with a little bit more hope that than we are right now. But you know, that being said, Indiana football always makes it
interesting. So we'll see. One of the things I think is really fascinating and I'm going to save my predictions until I do The Ending Podcast with Scott here in a couple of days. But people going back and forth, I've heard people on other podcasts talking about well you know Indiana won some games that maybe they should have lost but lost some games they should have won. Which actually if you go back and look at last year that's not
what happened. They they they got right and and well, but no they they won that game they probably shouldn't have. They won Western Kentucky. They probably shouldn't have. They won Michigan State. They probably shouldn't have. And and that, you know, so normally I'd look at Indiana and I'd be like, you know, regression has to go in their favor.
But a lot of the regression candidacy elements are bad for Indiana, not just the fact that they won three last possession games last year without losing any. Did you know, I didn't realize this. I read it in somebody's piece the other day that Indiana was the Power 5 conference team for the most penalty yards per game against them, which is hilarious. I mean as as a longtime complainer of officiating and and the perspective that I U get screwed.
You know, I U opponents averaged 68.4 penalty yards against last year and that as a regression candidate would not be ideal because there's there's a lot of stuff that I guess opponents would have left on the table through that process. So that's that's going to be interesting to watch. But yeah, look, I think there are some some positive case scenarios for I UI know that if you listen to this whole podcast, you're probably like, well, here they go being
negative again. But no, it's like if if all the things we're talking about line up, if there's a coherent offensive philosophy, if they can get the ball to their best players because they have the blocking time to do so. If they've got a quarterback who's able to make throws and make good decisions, perhaps more importantly and if this defense of essentially outsiders is able to coalesce, well, okay. I mean there's there's winnable games on the schedule.
You know, as I said in an earlier tweet, you know there the you could there's nine winnable games on the schedule like there really are. And none of none of the you get outside the big three that Indiana's playing and none of them are that scary. First year Wisconsin. Yeah, first year Wisconsin. You know, first year coach at Purdue, Illinois is a regression candidate. You know Rutgers, as you mentioned Maryland, who's probably also a regression candidate given how their season
went last year. I mean there's a lot of those types of things that you could look at, but I there's just so little to go off of. And this is where you just, if you're going to predict Indiana's going to win more than four games, you're really kind of doing it on faith. And that's absolutely, that's absolutely your prerogative. Not you, but like it, the people listening. It's your prerogative. You want to do that.
I just don't know what the evidence would be at this point that you would point to other than I believe. And sometimes that's all you need. But it's it's a weird place to be for Indiana where, you know, beliefs rarely translate into tangible things.
It's it's college football. I mean and football in general, it's just it comes down to quarterback play and it's always going to, I guess, you know, that's oversimplifying because last year they, you know, they had a quarterback who could throw a ball, but you know, they they couldn't give them, you know, more than 90, a second and a half to do so. So, you know, does a quarterback grow up?
You know, and there's going to be, even if even if they do, there's going to be some brutal growing pains, You know, ridiculous turnovers. I mean, you can go back. Payton Ramsey turned into a really. Good starting quarterback. He didn't start that way. You know, I mean Michael Penix. I mean, we, you know, we only really got to see him and fits and starts, but even those games that he was playing early on in his career, he was good, but he
wasn't like all the time good. You're going to have these these learning curves and that's that's 100% true. I'm glad you brought that up, because it's. It is something that you just, you're going to deal with. You're going to deal with the professional level too. I mean the, you know, Anthony Richardson starting for the Colts. Like, he's going, you know Justin Fields who was a really good quarterback at the college level that's had brutal growing pains getting to that next
level. Indiana's not. You know it's not only not immune to that. That's been the rule of operations. Nate Sudfeld struggled early on in his career. I mean that there's these things happen. I just worry like there's such there's such the little track record for. Having the space around you at IU to be able to go through those growing pains without either getting injured, you know, is that that you know that that's a real problem. I'm really worried about it.
People seemed really mad that that the staff didn't go out and get another one year veteran quarterback to just kind of bridge the gap. You know because it didn't. It wasn't pretty last year. Chance Nolan is a name that just people love. Why didn't we get Chance Nolan? And you know anyone like that who would actually, there were others like there was some running quarterbacks was. At the there was like 3 or 4 handoff. I really wanted Jeffsons, who's at Nebraska.
Yeah, I was obsessed with Jeffson. Seemed like everything that they they wanted to do on offense.
And this staff didn't even really look that hard at bringing one of those guys in and I've been just kind of trying to figure out why because it it it seems like this competition you know you know maybe they had a starter for weeks now and this is all just one big game and and and we're we're just suckers who are you know reading it between the lines of of this game that's really just like APR stunt.
But you know it didn't really they didn't make it seem like they believed in their what they had so much that they weren't. You know, I I think it was it didn't work last year and they're at the point now where they see value in having a season of growing pains. Maybe they get lucky a couple times you know along the season and can eke out wins with a high potential guy like they might feel like they have. And then you know you have a full offseason with them.
And if if things go great, you have three to four years of this guy to build your office around. And they see value in throwing them into the fire. And you know, seeing who rises and and if they they really have someone they can build a program around. But man, it's. Time at that kind of time I mean you know the staff needs to get wins and and then you get wins quickly.
I'm not on the the the hot seat fire train that that everyone is and I'm not even really talking about that with the the buyout number. I I just, I don't really think any and it can do that much better at the head coaching job and if they do they're going to lose them in two years or whatever. So it's like it seems like they're playing for the long haul at quarterback and we'll see if it works out. Yeah. I mean, that's all we can do. And I think it's.
It's it's going to be just fascinating to watch it unfold. And I do, I do think it's a calculated risk. I mean, I I find it hard to believe that there wouldn't have been. A senior level starter who would have, you know, you could have brought in, who could have run things. And it's a really curious decision that they went the youth route. And I don't know if that means they just really believe in Dexter Williams and they're just holding the seat warm for him.
Or if it means that they really believe in one of these two guys. Or if it means that they really couldn't get one of those potential starters out of the portal for one reason or another. I it could be any one of a number of answers. You know, I I think it's a decision that got made by a coach who realizes that yes, he's you know there's some heat on him. But as you said, I we talked about this in the first preseason pod like he's not
getting fired. I mean it's just it's not going to happen to the money's not there. And so that well, well, well, you know, I think, I mean that's a philosophical conversation that probably is a whole separate podcast I do think. I do think that there's a there's a debate to be had. And but I do also think that from the standpoint of, you know, the the reality of the situation it's it's not worth conversing about because it's
it's not. A pathway that Indiana's looking at. And so that means for better or for worse, you've got a two year spam minimum that stuff gets done in. And if you really believe that, hey, we're going to go this direction and we're going to line all of these things up and we're going to line up our line play and we're going to line up who we get in the quarterback and the types of skill position players were getting. And we think we can have success with that even if it takes an
extra year. That's going to be a real hard pill to swallow for a lot of I U fans who were sold on the idea that the program had elevated, only for it to take these two giant leaps backwards to then say, well, we got to get back up to it. But there's also the reality of the situation, which is this is where you're at. And whatever you thought you were going to be doing three years ago doesn't matter as much as what you're actually doing now. And that is a big question mark.
And that's where. That's where all the confusion irritates me, Teddy, because it's like, you know, I do feel like the fans deserve a little bit more clarity about what the football program looks like. Because ultimately what you're you're asking people to buy tickets and spend money and spend time on. Essentially a big leap of faith from a guy who's burned a lot of goodwill, unfortunately, over the last couple of years. Yeah. And I think you're actually seeing that.
I don't know if you've gone on the the the ticket page for the Ohio State game. I mean this thing might not be a sellout, it's probably going to be pretty close. But you know 2017 it, it was a pretty obvious sellout. You know, totally different team, different expectations, different probably improved marketing for the game, but a whole, whole, whole ton of reasons. But yeah, I think you're kind of seeing that with ticket sales.
I mean, it's like it's the first Big 10 CBS game and a great window, great weather, huge opponent. And you know, it's almost like a football game is not even happening. And it's because no one knows who's going to play quarterback and no one's seen anything to make them want to care who it is. It's like he's driving out there. We'll see how it goes. I, I, I, I'll leave you on this.
I think my biggest worry for this season is that it's a constant roulette of quarterback and no one, no one has the the the leash or the the string of games that they need to actually grow up. And you know, they it's a dumpster fire when it starts and then everyone's waiting for Dexter to get back and they plug in Dexter. And I don't know and then an injury happens or he gets pulled or something. I just just like, can we just stick with a A player until it's apparent that it's just not
working? You know, I get really worried about that and maybe I shouldn't. I mean, Ohio State's going to play two quarterbacks against us on Saturday and they're Ohio State. So, you know, maybe that's just my personal opinion. But I I, you know, I really want like a quarterback to just play. And you know, every they're not going to succeed if in the back of their head they're thinking about, you know, getting benched every time they feel an interception.
You know, I mean. Injuries have been a huge factor with without you quarterbacks, but ultimately, I mean you can go back to the Richard, Lego Payton, Ramsey season when you know you you had a starter and then you didn't have a starter and then you went back. I mean it was, it was it wasn't healthy and that was that. That season kind of deserves a lot of closer scrutiny in terms of how it was handled because I don't think it was handled particularly well.
And and even I mean you know the the injuries kind of masked a lot of the back and forth that Indiana's dealt with even with like the Ramsey penic situation. And so it is it is a weird history with I U quarterbacks under Allen and and really even before that if you can go back to the Wilson era it's a similar thing I'm with you. Some stability at the most important position would be great.
And look, injuries do happen. Many of those injuries have been because of bad offensive you know, so it's like getting that stabilized allows some of these other things to happen. And I I share your sentiment that if if I use going to make a decision that the one thing I don't want to see honestly is you know you're you're if you're going to start a guy only to not start the guy shortly after because you've got another plan. I really think that's a poor idea.
It is. It is very much in line with what we've seen out. I mean we saw it in 2021, like we saw Panics wasn't ready. They should have started Tuttle, even though Tuttle was clearly not the best option. But it would have been a better decision than putting 1/2 ready guy physically out there to deal with the situation. And I I just sometimes I feel like and this goes back to your, you know, the Tom Allen kind of, you know, being clever on things. I feel like sometimes they get
too clever. With these decisions, without thinking about the longerterm ramifications of how it's going to play out. And I don't. I mean, again, we're all just playing armchair psychologist here, but all we can do is look at the results. And the results have not borne out the decision making process for a lot of the last couple of years. Yeah, you know, it would have been great if they named a quarterback and create a little hype around it, you know?
But I guess Tom doesn't care about the Hyatt. We're not. Ohio State's probably just fine watching high school film on growth of these guys. So yeah, well, hopefully one performs. We'll see what happens and and Teddy, we'll have you. On a little bit later on in the in the season, because I think it's going to be a really fascinating year. We're going to learn. Not that much the first two weeks and then we're going to learn a lot in a very short
period of time. And then you know by, you know it's it's funny because it's like the season will be half over real fast. And I am really fascinated to see where Indiana sits at that point and what we've learned and and where where some of these questions that we've asked today start to get answered in terms of what to expect on a weekbyweek basis. Yeah. And then you know they have an early bye week this year.
So you know that that Michigan game is kind of where I'm looking at a, you know, potential Dexter Williams dresses situation. And so if you know it doesn't go that well these first couple weeks, it's kind of a whole new season starting then and it's kind of how I would read it. Well, Teddy Bailey, thank you for. Joining us as always a great pleasure and great to talk to you my friend. Yeah, you too. I will see you on Saturday. Yeah, absolutely.
Thanks to all you folks for. Listening in for Teddy? I'm Galen Clavius is Crimson Cast. Thanks to our friends at Home Field Apparel. You're presenting sponsor for the back home network. And thanks to our friends across the back Home network. We got some special stuff coming up for you in the next month, so
keep an eye out for that. Also, Actually, before I stop playing the music, for those of you hung around that this long, we have a sub stack now that you can subscribe to to get Crimson Cast delivered directly to your inbox. We know that Twitter slash X is falling apart. I'm worried someday it's going to disappear entirely. So subscribe to the sub stack. It's free. There are some if you want to pay. There are some subscribe subscriber goodies that you can get access to. But the episodes?
We'll always be free. We'll have some random thoughts on there as well, so be sure to go to crimsoncast.substack.com, fill your e-mail in. We'd love to send Crimson casts to you directly. Thanks to Teddy Bailey. Thanks to everybody. Part of the back home network, and we'll look forward to chatting with you folks again. We got some more podcasts coming up later this week. I'm Galen Clavio. Bring back the Bison. So long, everybody. And he struck the rock.