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POTB 579: IU football's 5-0 start, hoops to begin exhibition play with Josh Pos · Podcast on the Brink

0:01
Speaker 1: Welcome back to a new episode of podcast on the
0:04
Speaker 1: brink Thursday, October 8th, busy weekend of IU sports coming up.
0:29
Speaker 1: The Hoosiers football team will be in Nebraska for a
0:34
Speaker 1: conference game this weekend. Big noon kickoff, 12 Eastern, 11
0:38
Speaker 1: local time there in Lincoln. That should be quite an atmosphere.
0:44
Speaker 1: Looking forward to having a chance to watch that. And
0:46
Speaker 1: then Sunday night, IU basketball. It's first exhibition game up
0:49
Speaker 1: at Butler, 6.30 p.m. tip there. I believe that's going
0:54
Speaker 1: to be available to watch online at wishtv.com. Before we
0:59
Speaker 1: get to this week's episode of podcast on the brink
1:02
Speaker 1: and our old friend, Josh pose, who is been kind
1:04
Speaker 1: enough to join us for this week's episode. Wanted to
1:07
Speaker 1: take a moment to remind you, you enjoy the show,
1:09
Speaker 1: please give us a five star rating and review over
1:13
Speaker 1: on apple podcast or Spotify. If you're watching over on YouTube,
1:17
Speaker 1: like the video, subscribe to the channel, share the link
1:19
Speaker 1: with another IU or big 10 fan that you think
1:21
Speaker 1: might enjoy this content. Josh. Welcome back. You're joining us
1:26
Speaker 1: from a, I think this is your first, uh, podcast, uh, appearance, uh,
1:32
Speaker 1: from the state of South Dakota. So tell everyone what
1:36
Speaker 1: you've been up to since graduation, why you're joining us
1:38
Speaker 1: from South Dakota.
1:40
Speaker 2: So I am now a, first of all, I'm glad
1:42
Speaker 2: to be back on. It's feels like it's been forever.
1:44
Speaker 2: I think it was March the last time. Uh, I
1:48
Speaker 2: am now a graduate assistant in the athletic communications office
1:51
Speaker 2: at the university of South Dakota. Um, should I say
1:54
Speaker 2: go Yotes? Uh, and I'm working with their, helping out
2:01
Speaker 2: with football, basketball, but also being the head contact for
2:05
Speaker 2: men's and women's swim and dive, women's golf and softball.
2:08
Speaker 2: So just enjoying a new state on that I'm living in.
2:13
Speaker 2: I started in Illinois, went to Indiana, now staying in
2:16
Speaker 2: the Midwest ish, kind of the Plains of South Dakota.
2:20
Speaker 1: Yeah. You, uh, you, the reason why I had wanted
2:24
Speaker 1: to have you on is you still keep, uh, very
2:27
Speaker 1: close tabs on everything, uh, IU football and basketball. So
2:31
Speaker 1: I wanted to, to get some of your thoughts here, um,
2:34
Speaker 1: because you, you were the one that really started the
2:37
Speaker 1: IU football coverage over at inside the hall. Uh, you were, uh,
2:40
Speaker 1: the person that guided all that coverage last season. Actually,
2:43
Speaker 1: they were what undefeated with you on the, uh, on
2:47
Speaker 1: the beat, uh, over at inside the hall. In fact, um,
2:51
Speaker 1: IU football has not lost a game since we started
2:53
Speaker 1: covering the team, which is kind of crazy to think about.
2:56
Speaker 1: 21-game win streak, they'll take that this weekend into Nebraska.
3:00
Speaker 1: But I'm curious just for your thoughts, watching from afar,
3:03
Speaker 1: obviously you're not on the day-to-day anymore, but I know
3:05
Speaker 1: you still watch every game, every snap. What have been
3:09
Speaker 1: your thoughts just so far on this 5-0 start, what
3:13
Speaker 1: you see out of this Indiana team, and just overall
3:17
Speaker 1: assessment of how things are going so far?
3:20
Speaker 2: I think with high expectations bring a little bit of letdown.
3:25
Speaker 2: And I'm not saying this team has been a letdown
3:27
Speaker 2: through five games. They were 5-0. They won every game.
3:32
Speaker 2: Even the Northwestern game, it really wasn't even that close,
3:35
Speaker 2: per se, given the win expectancy at the end. I
3:38
Speaker 2: think it was SP Plus that Indiana had a 92%,
3:42
Speaker 2: 93% chance of victory in that postgame. It got close,
3:46
Speaker 2: but it didn't. I think this team... has some work
3:49
Speaker 2: to do. They kind of had that moxie that we're
3:52
Speaker 2: the national champions, and Kurt Cignetti, especially going into conference play,
3:57
Speaker 2: won't have anything of that. I think they've been mostly
4:01
Speaker 2: penalty-free in these last few games, and it started out
4:05
Speaker 2: pretty bad against North Texas with a few penalties, even
4:08
Speaker 2: on a kickoff, and they've gotten progressively better as the
4:11
Speaker 2: season's worn on, and that's the sign of a Kurt
4:14
Speaker 2: Cignetti team. And I'm not seeing every day. I'm not
4:17
Speaker 2: going to press conferences, but I still watch them. I
4:19
Speaker 2: still go to the YouTube channel for Inside the Hall
4:21
Speaker 2: and watch every single video up there. Got the plug
4:26
Speaker 2: there for you. But I'm relatively excited about the next
4:32
Speaker 2: stretch of games and to see that this is kind
4:37
Speaker 2: of that stretch, that Illinois-Iowa-Oregon stretch of last year where
4:40
Speaker 2: the team really broke out. They didn't play great in
4:43
Speaker 2: those first three games. It was kind of There's things
4:47
Speaker 2: that needed to be worked out. Well, that's the same thing.
4:49
Speaker 2: There's a new team this year, a new quarterback, a
4:51
Speaker 2: new wide receiver too, two new running backs, one coming
4:56
Speaker 2: in from somewhere else, one coming from off of injury.
4:59
Speaker 2: So there's a lot of meshing that needs to happen,
5:01
Speaker 2: especially on the defensive side too. I know the front
5:03
Speaker 2: seven's relatively stable on who's here and who was here
5:09
Speaker 2: last year. But the secondary, they've had some issues. That
5:12
Speaker 2: happens when you're learning and you're playing someone else. They
5:16
Speaker 2: spent spring, summer, fall playing against themselves. Well, those first
5:23
Speaker 2: few games, you have to get back into the competitive mindset,
5:26
Speaker 2: and they're starting to do so, and you saw that
5:27
Speaker 2: against Rutgers.
5:29
Speaker 1: What do you make just of the discourse so far
5:31
Speaker 1: about the performance of Josh Hoover? I know Kurt Cignetti's
5:36
Speaker 1: kind of his way to kind of defend him, maybe
5:38
Speaker 1: try to take some of the pressure off, and I
5:39
Speaker 1: think that's actually a pretty good strategy because coming off
5:42
Speaker 1: of what we witnessed last season with the play of
5:45
Speaker 1: Fernando Mendoza, there was obviously going to be some, uh,
5:48
Speaker 1: some slippage in terms of the play at the position.
5:51
Speaker 1: But if you look at what Josh Hoover has done
5:53
Speaker 1: so far, he's on track to, to be obviously, uh,
5:58
Speaker 1: have a great season. Um, I'm not saying that he's
6:00
Speaker 1: going to go on to win the Heisman trophy, not
6:02
Speaker 1: saying that Indiana is going to go on to go
6:04
Speaker 1: undefeated and win the national championship again, but, uh, In
6:07
Speaker 1: terms of Josh Hoover, sure, he's made some plays, some
6:11
Speaker 1: throws that maybe he'd like to have back that maybe
6:13
Speaker 1: weren't completely on target. But he hasn't thrown an interception.
6:18
Speaker 1: He's not fumbled the ball. He's not– no turnovers. I
6:20
Speaker 1: think that's really the thing we talked about in the summer,
6:23
Speaker 1: or at least his former coach at TCU mentioned the turnovers,
6:27
Speaker 1: which Kurt Cignetti had a response to that too. But
6:31
Speaker 1: I think so far Josh Hoover's kind of checked all
6:33
Speaker 1: the boxes of what you'd want to see out of
6:35
Speaker 1: a quarterback. through five games. And now we'll kind of
6:37
Speaker 1: see what that looks like when they go on the
6:40
Speaker 1: road in a tougher environment. I think it's great that
6:42
Speaker 1: they went to Rutgers and got a road game under
6:45
Speaker 1: their belt. Now they're going to go to Nebraska, which
6:48
Speaker 1: is obviously going to have a huge crowd on hand.
6:50
Speaker 1: Although I think there's going to be a strong showing
6:52
Speaker 1: of Indiana fans there as well. Indiana fans now traveling
6:57
Speaker 1: and kind of going everywhere to support this team, and
7:00
Speaker 1: rightfully so. But I'm just curious, you know, what you've
7:03
Speaker 1: seen from Hoover so far, better than expected, about what
7:06
Speaker 1: you expected, worse than expected?
7:08
Speaker 2: I think he's better than expected, especially with everybody online
7:12
Speaker 2: having him under the microscope for some reason. And everything
7:16
Speaker 2: has to be compared to Fernando Mendoza for some reason
7:19
Speaker 2: with people online. And it's getting frustrating to see that,
7:24
Speaker 2: knowing that he has played better than he ever did
7:26
Speaker 2: at TCU. Like you mentioned, turnover free. That was the
7:30
Speaker 2: big issue that Sonny Dyches had. Well, here we are
7:33
Speaker 2: through five games and he hasn't thrown the ball away. Granted,
7:35
Speaker 2: the competition hasn't been as good as maybe he saw
7:40
Speaker 2: in the first five games last season or the year before,
7:42
Speaker 2: but you look at the stats compared to Mendoza through
7:45
Speaker 2: five games, he's like less than 100 yards off from
7:47
Speaker 2: his totals and he's throwing touchdowns. And I think Fernando
7:51
Speaker 2: threw an interception. He did. He definitely threw one against
7:54
Speaker 2: Iowa in a crucial moment. And Indiana hasn't played the
7:57
Speaker 2: quality of opponent that Iowa was last year, but at
8:00
Speaker 2: the same time, he's still getting reps with his guys.
8:06
Speaker 2: You can throw to open receivers all you want in
8:09
Speaker 2: the fall, in the winter, in the spring, in the summer,
8:12
Speaker 2: but it doesn't compare to what you see when someone
8:15
Speaker 2: else is wearing a different jersey of the other school.
8:18
Speaker 2: Another thing is, last week it was zero penalties on
8:23
Speaker 2: the offense. I think it was zero penalties total. That's
8:26
Speaker 2: huge on the road, especially in a tune-up game before
8:29
Speaker 2: going to a place like Nebraska. That's important. They understand
8:33
Speaker 2: his cadence. He understands his offensive line and his receivers.
8:37
Speaker 2: And he has a heck of a run game to
8:39
Speaker 2: back him up. And that's really what he lacked at TCU.
8:43
Speaker 2: And Signetti said it way back in March or April
8:47
Speaker 2: that he's going to meet his best friend and it's
8:48
Speaker 2: a run game. He never had that. And now the
8:51
Speaker 2: pressure is off of him, at least inside the building. Outside,
8:56
Speaker 2: people talk and Cignetti mentions the outside noise and clutter
8:59
Speaker 2: it doesn't seem to bother Josh Hoover so long long-winded
9:03
Speaker 2: answer I think he's exceeding my expectations as of now
9:07
Speaker 2: in terms.
9:07
Speaker 1: Of the running game are you surprised at how well
9:10
Speaker 1: that's developed because I think the first couple games maybe
9:12
Speaker 1: it looked I don't want to say underwhelming but it
9:16
Speaker 1: was definitely a work in progress but now with just
9:18
Speaker 1: kind of it was expected to be a three-headed monster
9:20
Speaker 1: obviously with Kobe Martin being out that it's just a
9:23
Speaker 1: two-headed monster right now but with Lee Beebe Jr., who's
9:26
Speaker 1: obviously playing better the last couple weeks, had that huge
9:29
Speaker 1: game when Turbo Richard went out with the injury. Turbo
9:32
Speaker 1: Richard's been outstanding as well. It seems like this is
9:36
Speaker 1: going to, again, when we get into this whole comparison
9:40
Speaker 1: thing of comparing last season, because they had such a
9:42
Speaker 1: great duo there with Kalon Black and Roman Hemby, and
9:46
Speaker 1: obviously Kobe Martin was a part of that too, but
9:49
Speaker 1: now you've got this group with Beebe and Turbo Richard
9:55
Speaker 1: Seems to be on track to give Indiana just another
9:58
Speaker 1: outstanding season and backfield.
10:01
Speaker 2: I think a lot of people go to the running
10:04
Speaker 2: backs when there's running issues. And sure, some of the
10:06
Speaker 2: blame could be put on them, but in those first
10:08
Speaker 2: couple games, especially in that North Texas game, the offensive
10:11
Speaker 2: line wasn't creating the holes that it was supposed to,
10:15
Speaker 2: that it had in last year's games. And when you
10:19
Speaker 2: have a new person in there, you have some inexperience
10:22
Speaker 2: on the right side with a Johnny. That's what happens sometimes.
10:26
Speaker 2: And you're not fully, you're not fully ready to go
10:30
Speaker 2: those first couple of weeks. I, you watch the, the
10:33
Speaker 2: all 22 version of the Rutgers game and you could
10:37
Speaker 2: fit a semi truck through for turbo Richard and lead
10:40
Speaker 2: BB last week. So it's all a part of growing
10:44
Speaker 2: as a team and trusting and waiting for those holes to,
10:48
Speaker 2: to widen up and, I think that I might go
10:51
Speaker 2: out on a limb and say that Turbo Richard and
10:55
Speaker 2: Lee Beebe might be just as good, if not better,
10:57
Speaker 2: than last year's group.
10:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, Turbo Richard, the explosiveness, and Lee Beebe, I mean,
11:03
Speaker 1: both of them, they've been super impressive, fun to watch.
11:06
Speaker 1: And when those holes do get opened up, they can
11:10
Speaker 1: really be game changers in terms of breaking off these
11:12
Speaker 1: long runs. You saw it last week against Rutgers. Several
11:16
Speaker 1: drives were kind of propelled downfield quickly. by those guys
11:20
Speaker 1: breaking a big run, and I think that's huge, especially
11:23
Speaker 1: going on the road this weekend. You've got to be
11:26
Speaker 1: able to establish the run game, and that's going to
11:28
Speaker 1: open things up for Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh to
11:32
Speaker 1: get open. Davion Chandler's also been super effective. Tyler Morris
11:35
Speaker 1: has had his moments, too. I saw a mock draft yesterday.
11:39
Speaker 1: I think The Athletic put out. They had, I think,
11:41
Speaker 1: Charlie Becker fourth on the mock draft, and they had
11:44
Speaker 1: Nick Marsh in the top 20 as well. hard to
11:48
Speaker 1: believe you know just how uh well those you know
11:51
Speaker 1: those guys are being perceived by the nfl i mean
11:53
Speaker 1: do you see that out of both those guys are
11:55
Speaker 1: those guys on track in your mind to be first
11:56
Speaker 1: round picks uh next next spring.
11:59
Speaker 2: Oh absolutely it's not just the stats that they put
12:01
Speaker 2: up it's their physique they are nfl looking wide receivers
12:05
Speaker 2: something you look at a guy like the miles price
12:08
Speaker 2: is doing well for himself as a special teams guy
12:11
Speaker 2: but he was never going to be someone that could
12:13
Speaker 2: be a legitimate pass catcher in the NFL. He didn't
12:17
Speaker 2: have really the physique. He was small. But he's found
12:20
Speaker 2: his niche. These guys, they have hands like glue. They
12:24
Speaker 2: don't go down easily. And they're just freaks of athletes.
12:30
Speaker 2: And their height, I think Charlie Becker is like 6'4, 6'5.
12:34
Speaker 2: I mean, that's going to be tough for an NFL
12:37
Speaker 2: scout to be like, I don't know if we want him.
12:39
Speaker 2: They are monsters of human beings, and they are really,
12:43
Speaker 2: really good pass catchers with great radius. We've seen Charlie
12:46
Speaker 2: Becker multiple times this year. We saw it on the
12:49
Speaker 2: first throw of the season from Nick Marsh, his catch
12:52
Speaker 2: against North Texas. So I think these guys are top 20,
12:57
Speaker 2: but they need to prove themselves against really good defenders
13:02
Speaker 2: starting this week.
13:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, a year ago at this time, we weren't even
13:05
Speaker 1: talking really about Charlie Becker, and now he's regarded as
13:08
Speaker 1: a top 10 pick. What's In your mind, you know,
13:10
Speaker 1: you covered the team closely last year. You kind of
13:12
Speaker 1: saw that rise and we've seen him continue to kind
13:14
Speaker 1: of raise his level of play this year. What's driving that?
13:18
Speaker 1: Was he always this talented of a player, just needed
13:22
Speaker 1: the opportunity? Or do you think it's a combination of
13:24
Speaker 1: that and just him, you know, getting better over this
13:28
Speaker 1: last year or so as well?
13:29
Speaker 2: I think it's the combination, but it's someone that Kurt Cignetti,
13:34
Speaker 2: it's the perfect fit for Kurt Cignetti of, You're going
13:37
Speaker 2: to work your butt off in special teams, and if
13:40
Speaker 2: there's an opening, we're going to try to plug you in,
13:42
Speaker 2: and here's your chance, kid. Go ahead and do something.
13:46
Speaker 2: The Penn State game, the Maryland game. Every game from
13:50
Speaker 2: that point on, it was, why has this kid been
13:54
Speaker 2: downing punts all year long rather than being in the
13:57
Speaker 2: slot for wide receiver one? So I think he's worked
14:02
Speaker 2: really hard. He did a great job working with, Fernando
14:05
Speaker 2: and Alberto Mendoza. I think he lived with them last year.
14:07
Speaker 2: So he gained that trust with his quarterback. He gained
14:10
Speaker 2: that trust by working hard on special teams with the
14:13
Speaker 2: coaching staff. And then he finally got his opportunity and
14:15
Speaker 2: broke through. And I think a lot of people in
14:19
Speaker 2: this day and age could be really happy with how
14:22
Speaker 2: they did last year. And he got all the fame.
14:25
Speaker 2: He got all the notoriety. And he can kind of
14:27
Speaker 2: coast to the next season. He didn't do that. Right away,
14:30
Speaker 2: right after the national championship, he was working with Josh Hubert.
14:34
Speaker 2: He wants to get better. He wants to be that
14:36
Speaker 2: fourth overall pick. He wants to be the highest drafted
14:38
Speaker 2: white wide receiver in gosh knows how long. So I
14:43
Speaker 2: think that his work ethic has driven him to this
14:46
Speaker 2: point and is the reason why he's so good.
14:49
Speaker 1: In terms of the defense, just big picture, how do
14:52
Speaker 1: you feel like that's progressed over the first five weeks
14:55
Speaker 1: and what challenges do you see them having this weekend
14:59
Speaker 1: against Nebraska? We obviously know they have a mobile quarterback
15:02
Speaker 1: that can kind of throw and run. And we saw
15:05
Speaker 1: Indiana have some problems with Aiden Childs in the Northwestern game.
15:09
Speaker 1: So another challenge, Zach Horwitz over on Inside the Hall
15:12
Speaker 1: wrote a really good piece this morning. If you haven't
15:14
Speaker 1: had a chance to check that out, just about the
15:16
Speaker 1: challenge that Anthony Calandra is going to pose for the Hoosiers.
15:21
Speaker 1: But Do you think they can take something maybe from
15:24
Speaker 1: that first matchup, playing Aiden Childs, and maybe make some
15:28
Speaker 1: corrections and make some changes as to how they fare
15:30
Speaker 1: this week? Obviously a different quarterback, not exactly the same,
15:33
Speaker 1: but kind of some of the same tendencies.
15:36
Speaker 2: I think what Northwestern brought, and Aiden Childs has really
15:38
Speaker 2: been an issue for Indiana the three times that he's
15:41
Speaker 2: played them with Kurt Cignetti. He was great in the
15:45
Speaker 2: first couple drives against Indiana at Michigan State. Cignetti's first year,
15:49
Speaker 2: they took that lead. It was the first time Indiana
15:51
Speaker 2: trailed that season. And then last year, they took a lead.
15:55
Speaker 2: It was Nick Marsh, and we got that famous Cignetti
15:58
Speaker 2: looking up at the scoreboard at Nick Marsh picture. So
16:02
Speaker 2: Aiden Childs is one of those freaks of an athlete
16:07
Speaker 2: that I kind of mentioned a couple minutes ago. And
16:11
Speaker 2: adding him and Chip Kelly, that was like a match
16:14
Speaker 2: made in heaven. And it seems to be working at Northwestern.
16:17
Speaker 2: As for Nebraska... they are a really dynamic offense. And
16:21
Speaker 2: once they start moving, they don't stop moving. We saw
16:24
Speaker 2: it last week, they went down early to Maryland and
16:26
Speaker 2: then for 45 minutes, they dominated a very bad Maryland team.
16:31
Speaker 2: But they have the opportunity, they have the talent to
16:36
Speaker 2: pass and then run the ball, not just with Calandria,
16:39
Speaker 2: but also their running back. I think it's ruled, it's
16:41
Speaker 2: spelled differently. His name's escaping me right now. But They're
16:45
Speaker 2: a very dynamic offense, and Indiana's front seven really has
16:48
Speaker 2: to show up because once Nebraska starts, it's hard for
16:52
Speaker 2: them to stop.
16:53
Speaker 1: So how do you see this game playing out ultimately? Obviously, Indiana,
16:56
Speaker 1: I think, 7.5-point favorite. I haven't looked at the SP-plus
17:00
Speaker 1: projection yet, but I think it's probably in that same neighborhood.
17:04
Speaker 1: So Indiana, just a little bit over a touchdown favorite.
17:07
Speaker 1: But I feel like every time Indiana has been... gone
17:12
Speaker 1: into a game under Cignetti kind of been doubted a
17:14
Speaker 1: little bit with a couple exceptions obviously the first season
17:17
Speaker 1: they went up against the best two teams in the
17:19
Speaker 1: country and came up short in those games but every
17:23
Speaker 1: other challenge they've kind of answered the call and I
17:25
Speaker 1: feel like there's been a little bit of of doubt
17:29
Speaker 1: on just how good this team is right now based
17:31
Speaker 1: on the schedule they played you can kind of say
17:32
Speaker 1: the same thing for Nebraska though they haven't really been
17:34
Speaker 1: tested so it's a real interesting matchup just in terms
17:38
Speaker 1: of it being a closer spread maybe than what we're
17:41
Speaker 1: used to seeing. And which is crazy to think Indiana
17:43
Speaker 1: going on the road to Nebraska, uh, seven and a
17:45
Speaker 1: half points doesn't seem like a lot, but that's just
17:47
Speaker 1: how dominant this program has been over this 21 game
17:50
Speaker 1: win streak. So curious just how you see this game
17:54
Speaker 1: playing out. Is this a, you know, kind of a
17:56
Speaker 1: game where we're all being tricked into thinking Indiana is
17:58
Speaker 1: going to get a test and they come out and
17:59
Speaker 1: make a statement. Or do you think Nebraska is a
18:02
Speaker 1: team that can really put up a fight and make
18:03
Speaker 1: this interesting?
18:05
Speaker 2: I think everybody points back to that 2024 game. It
18:08
Speaker 2: was big noon. Nebraska fans were up on their high horse.
18:11
Speaker 2: They're a top 25 team. There was a lot of
18:14
Speaker 2: smack talk on social media. There was a lot of
18:16
Speaker 2: hype surrounding the game. Indiana won 56-7. I don't see
18:21
Speaker 2: that happening this time around. I think Memorial Stadium in Nebraska,
18:26
Speaker 2: the one of seven Memorial Stadiums in the Big Ten,
18:30
Speaker 2: is going to be jumping. And especially... if Nebraska can
18:34
Speaker 2: get going offensively, if they can get a turnover defensively,
18:37
Speaker 2: that place will be rocking. And to Indiana's benefit, it's
18:41
Speaker 2: an 11 a.m. game local time, so they won't have
18:43
Speaker 2: all day to be getting the juices flowing out there
18:47
Speaker 2: in Lincoln. And I think that this game will be closer.
18:52
Speaker 2: I still think Indiana wins, but I think it's dependent
18:55
Speaker 2: on Indiana's run game. I was There's a lot of
18:58
Speaker 2: Nebraska fans out here. I'm about two and a half
19:01
Speaker 2: hours from Lincoln, so they're all on my case this week.
19:05
Speaker 2: And one of the guys said, well, Turbo Richer had
19:08
Speaker 2: seven yards on four carries the last time he faced Nebraska.
19:12
Speaker 2: I went and looked at the stat sheet, and he
19:14
Speaker 2: also had two catches for 62 yards.
19:16
Speaker 1: He was also on Boston College. That's the thing.
19:20
Speaker 2: He was running behind Boston College's offensive line, and they
19:24
Speaker 2: still only lost by five in the pinstripe bowl. not
19:28
Speaker 2: necessarily worried about that. But I think that if he
19:30
Speaker 2: has a good game and Lee Beebe Jr. has a
19:33
Speaker 2: good game, that'll open up the RPO for Indiana and
19:37
Speaker 2: Indiana will take advantage of Nebraska not being ready for
19:41
Speaker 2: the quality opponent that Indiana is. And I think Matt
19:45
Speaker 2: Rule has beaten a top 25 team in his tenure.
19:49
Speaker 2: If he has, it's been one or two. This is
19:52
Speaker 2: a prime time game for them. This is a do-or-die
19:57
Speaker 2: type of game for Matt Rule. He's not going to
19:59
Speaker 2: get fired if he loses this game, but people need
20:02
Speaker 2: to get back on Matt Rule's bandwagon in Lincoln, and
20:05
Speaker 2: this is the game that he needs. He needs a
20:08
Speaker 2: field storm. He needs all that kind of stuff. And
20:10
Speaker 2: it's really funny to say that if Nebraska wins, there
20:12
Speaker 2: likely is a field storm given the program's histories. But
20:17
Speaker 2: I'd like to have people remember that back in 2019,
20:21
Speaker 2: and Indiana's 5-0 right now, and bowl eligibility isn't really
20:25
Speaker 2: a thing anymore for Indiana. Like, being excited about that,
20:29
Speaker 2: but it was October when Indiana went into Lincoln and
20:33
Speaker 2: became bowl eligible in that 2019 season. I'm not saying
20:36
Speaker 2: that These two teams are similar. Indiana ended up going,
20:39
Speaker 2: I think, 8-4, 8-5 that year. But there's history to
20:44
Speaker 2: a game in Nebraska in October with five wins for Indiana.
20:48
Speaker 1: It's crazy we've gone from hoping from the fan base
20:53
Speaker 1: that Indiana can get the bowl eligibility to now if
20:55
Speaker 1: they made a bowl that wasn't the CFP, people would
20:57
Speaker 1: be finding that hard to believe.
21:00
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
21:01
Speaker 1: I mean, everything. Kurt Cignetti, what we talk about is
21:04
Speaker 1: just like, the change that he's made to this culture
21:07
Speaker 1: of the fan base and the program, the results is
21:10
Speaker 1: just unmatched ever in the history of sports. So I'll
21:14
Speaker 1: leave it there on football for now. I do want
21:15
Speaker 1: to talk briefly with you on basketball because Indiana goes
21:20
Speaker 1: to Butler on Sunday night, obviously at three straight Sundays here,
21:23
Speaker 1: we've got one of the changes in the rules this
21:27
Speaker 1: year for college basketball is you can play an extra
21:29
Speaker 1: exhibition game. You can play an extra regular season game.
21:32
Speaker 1: So non-conference game, added to the schedule, and also an
21:35
Speaker 1: extra exhibition game. So we've got this coming Sunday, we've
21:38
Speaker 1: got Indiana at Butler the following Sunday, Indiana, North Carolina,
21:42
Speaker 1: and Indianapolis. And then I think it's October 25th, which
21:46
Speaker 1: is the last Sunday of the month. They're going to
21:48
Speaker 1: be playing Western Kentucky down at the Ford Center in Evansville. Indiana, interestingly,
21:52
Speaker 1: has not played in that building since the opening game
21:55
Speaker 1: of that building, which was against Evansville, Cody Zeller's freshman year.
21:58
Speaker 1: I was at that game. It was a really strong
22:02
Speaker 1: performance game. uh, for Indiana to get a chance to
22:04
Speaker 1: go down there. I think part of the reason they
22:05
Speaker 1: played that game was because the proximity, proximity of, you know,
22:09
Speaker 1: Cody being from Washington, Indiana and having a chance to
22:12
Speaker 1: go down there and open the building. Uh, that was a,
22:14
Speaker 1: you know, a fun game, uh, to be an atmosphere
22:16
Speaker 1: to be a part of, but you know, the focus
22:19
Speaker 1: right now on this game on Sunday night at Butler,
22:23
Speaker 1: don't know a lot about Butler at this point. Obviously
22:25
Speaker 1: the results of this game don't matter, matter too much.
22:27
Speaker 1: Indiana obviously wants to go up there and win, but
22:29
Speaker 1: Butler's got a new coach, uh, Ronald Norwood, you know,
22:32
Speaker 1: the program legend there. I believe they have a heavy
22:36
Speaker 1: international flavor to their roster, so hard to get a
22:38
Speaker 1: lot of information on these guys. Not looking specifically to
22:41
Speaker 1: talk too much about this matchup, but Josh, you covered
22:44
Speaker 1: hoops last year too. And, you know, we talked so
22:47
Speaker 1: many times throughout the season just about Indiana only having,
22:50
Speaker 1: you know, one or two guys that they can lean on.
22:52
Speaker 1: I think the biggest difference that I saw this offseason
22:56
Speaker 1: going to, you know, three open practices, watching an exhibition game,
23:00
Speaker 1: there at Assembly Hall, watching their games, obviously down in Peru,
23:04
Speaker 1: weren't competitive given the competition, but they've just got so
23:08
Speaker 1: many more options. I feel like they're going to be
23:10
Speaker 1: able to lean on, not saying it's going to translate
23:12
Speaker 1: into better results, but I think the talent and the
23:15
Speaker 1: roster balance is a lot better for this season. What
23:19
Speaker 1: have just been your thoughts on IU basketball, watching from afar,
23:23
Speaker 1: how this roster has come together? And if you get
23:25
Speaker 1: a chance to watch Sunday night, what will you be
23:27
Speaker 1: looking to see with this first exhibition game?
23:30
Speaker 2: Well, it's nice of you to say that you watched
23:32
Speaker 2: the games in Peru even though they were in stop
23:34
Speaker 2: motion the entire time. So credit to you there.
23:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, the first one was touch and go, but I
23:43
Speaker 1: feel like once we got... It got better as it
23:46
Speaker 1: went along, but yeah, it wasn't the greatest.
23:48
Speaker 2: But what I'm looking for is kind of what you're
23:51
Speaker 2: looking for. I want to see the five guys on
23:54
Speaker 2: the floor work as one to beat the best they
23:58
Speaker 2: can be. Last year, it just felt like Lamar Wilkerson
24:01
Speaker 2: just had to take over and Sam Alexis had to
24:03
Speaker 2: go 20 for 20 from the field over three games
24:06
Speaker 2: for them to look like they're clicking and a Nick
24:09
Speaker 2: Dorn going on a three-game hot streak from deep and
24:13
Speaker 2: then just going ice cold. It has to be five
24:16
Speaker 2: guys or really it should be eight guys, eight to
24:19
Speaker 2: 10 guys that should be working together. There shouldn't be
24:23
Speaker 2: a guy that's head and shoulders above everyone, although it'd
24:26
Speaker 2: be nice to have a superstar like Lamar Wilkerson was
24:29
Speaker 2: last year, but they can't be so dependent on a
24:33
Speaker 2: guy like that. Will we know what this team will
24:36
Speaker 2: look like after Sunday?
24:38
Speaker 1: No.
24:38
Speaker 2: Will we know what they look like after next Sunday?
24:40
Speaker 2: Absolutely not. And so on and so forth. It's going
24:43
Speaker 2: to be a little bit until we realize what kind
24:45
Speaker 2: of basketball team we're looking at. But all signs to,
24:50
Speaker 2: at least from what I've read, what I've seen, they've
24:52
Speaker 2: been really good with the open practices. Everything seems to
24:54
Speaker 2: be a little different this year. There seems to be
24:57
Speaker 2: a little bit of a positive vibe compared to last
25:01
Speaker 2: year and how it ended. It kind of ended bitterly.
25:05
Speaker 2: So I'm looking forward to seeing what this team can be.
25:12
Speaker 2: Their starting point on Sunday to, say, Thanksgiving break or
25:17
Speaker 2: maybe even the Christmas break.
25:19
Speaker 1: In terms of just what needs to happen this season
25:24
Speaker 1: for this team, to feel like it was a successful
25:27
Speaker 1: run you know I've kind of said getting back comfortably
25:30
Speaker 1: into the tournament with a you know a protected type
25:32
Speaker 1: seed I'm not saying like a top four seed but
25:35
Speaker 1: a seed where you're favored in the first game give
25:37
Speaker 1: yourself a chance to advance do you think that's kind
25:38
Speaker 1: of a fair baseline expectation for this this season and
25:42
Speaker 1: this program going into the year.
25:44
Speaker 2: I think unfortunately the program has lowered its expectations out
25:48
Speaker 2: of that to just barely being safely in the field
25:51
Speaker 2: they don't want to see their name in the last
25:53
Speaker 2: four and they don't want to go to Is it
25:55
Speaker 2: Wichita this year? Wichita and Dayton for the first whatever,
25:59
Speaker 2: first eight, first 12, whatever, however many games there are
26:02
Speaker 2: in this expanded field. They need to be playing. They
26:05
Speaker 2: need to go and have a practice and they need
26:07
Speaker 2: to go straight from Bloomington to say, name the site.
26:12
Speaker 2: That has to be the expectation this year. And maybe
26:15
Speaker 2: that is a five seed, five to eight seed or
26:18
Speaker 2: five to nine seed. But I think that getting in
26:22
Speaker 2: and not having to sweat out selection Sunday or not
26:25
Speaker 2: having to sweat out the conference tournament week, that's the
26:28
Speaker 2: most important part this year. That's where we'll see a
26:31
Speaker 2: step above because Indiana basketball has kind of been mired
26:34
Speaker 2: in this, oh, let's wait and see what happens in
26:37
Speaker 2: the Big Ten tournament. Let's see what happens at the
26:39
Speaker 2: ACC tournament. We need help. We need help. That can't
26:43
Speaker 2: happen this year. The expectations have to rise in year
26:46
Speaker 2: two under Darren DeVries. I'm not saying it's a prove-it year,
26:49
Speaker 2: But you've got to be a little bit better every year,
26:51
Speaker 2: and that means making the tournament and not seeing your
26:53
Speaker 2: name on the last floor end.
26:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, at this point, especially with the expansion of the tournament,
26:58
Speaker 1: more teams getting in. They definitely have to be in,
27:01
Speaker 1: and they can't be one of those first four games
27:04
Speaker 1: where now you're kind of just hanging by a thread
27:07
Speaker 1: to get in there. The other thing, obviously, that happened
27:09
Speaker 1: this week, which I think was... kind of it didn't
27:12
Speaker 1: fly under the radar until it happened but obviously there's
27:15
Speaker 1: not as much emphasis now on high school recruiting with
27:17
Speaker 1: the transfer portal and that's just kind of been a
27:19
Speaker 1: shift over the last three or four years it used
27:21
Speaker 1: to be high school recruiting was everything uh to the
27:25
Speaker 1: how you built a program and sustained it because but
27:28
Speaker 1: now with the the transfer portal and the ability to
27:30
Speaker 1: just kind of go get guys who are more proven
27:32
Speaker 1: that are older that can make an instant impact it
27:35
Speaker 1: hasn't really you know been as prominent and we've kind
27:38
Speaker 1: of seen that with Indiana's roster the last couple years,
27:41
Speaker 1: but we've also just talked about Indiana needing to be
27:46
Speaker 1: able to recruit the high school ranks in order to
27:48
Speaker 1: build a program and sustain it over multiple years. You've
27:51
Speaker 1: got to bring in some guys and develop them over
27:53
Speaker 1: the course of time. I think that was one reason
27:56
Speaker 1: that bringing back Trent Sisley for another season was so
27:59
Speaker 1: important because you want to have those guys that are
28:01
Speaker 1: established in your culture who get better over time. Indiana
28:04
Speaker 1: obviously had a really solid foundation for this class Prior
28:08
Speaker 1: to this week with Chase Branham, who's been committed for
28:10
Speaker 1: over a year now as a part of the two-man
28:13
Speaker 1: class that they had before this week. But then picking
28:15
Speaker 1: up a five-star kid, Darius Wobbington, earlier this week. A
28:21
Speaker 1: huge headline, obviously, in national high school recruiting. He's a
28:24
Speaker 1: top 15 player, a five-star player. To be able to
28:27
Speaker 1: go out to Arizona and get him to pick the
28:29
Speaker 1: Hoosiers over Arizona and Illinois, it was a big deal. Obviously,
28:34
Speaker 1: as I said, we don't make as big a deal
28:35
Speaker 1: out of high school recruiting, but I think it still
28:37
Speaker 1: says something about the appeal of Indiana, the fact that
28:41
Speaker 1: they're still committed to putting in significant resources to this program.
28:45
Speaker 1: We saw with the transfer portal last spring, going out
28:48
Speaker 1: and getting guys like Aiden Shirell, Marcus Burton, who are
28:50
Speaker 1: obviously not cheap when it comes to NIL and RevShare.
28:55
Speaker 1: The same thing kind of applies to getting a guy
28:57
Speaker 1: like Chase Branham and also Darius Wobbington bringing them in.
29:00
Speaker 1: It shows to me that the people in charge at
29:03
Speaker 1: IU are still serious about committing the resources to make
29:07
Speaker 1: this program elite once again.
29:09
Speaker 2: I think as long as Scott Dolson's the athletic director,
29:12
Speaker 2: I think basketball will still not be rule as king
29:18
Speaker 2: because football winning national championships is always going to be
29:22
Speaker 2: a bigger deal, unfortunately. I think that the resources that
29:27
Speaker 2: are pouring back in to basketball, plus having a guy
29:31
Speaker 2: like Ryan Carr kind of shifts the people's thoughts about
29:36
Speaker 2: a guy that's coming in. If you look back at
29:39
Speaker 2: the last few years, and you bring in a, the
29:40
Speaker 2: highly touted transfer, people are like, well, we just paid
29:44
Speaker 2: him a bunch of money. He's not going to fit. Well,
29:47
Speaker 2: I think he's going to fit now. Um, and you got,
29:52
Speaker 2: like you said, Shirell and Burton, and now you have
29:55
Speaker 2: a five star, you're building a foundation to success. And
29:58
Speaker 2: that's what, everyone thought Darren DeVries would do. And it
30:02
Speaker 2: was going to be difficult year one. You get hired
30:05
Speaker 2: late in the process. People are already in the portal.
30:07
Speaker 2: People already committed under the table and you're behind the
30:11
Speaker 2: eight ball. Now you're in front of it. You have
30:13
Speaker 2: the resources, you have the staff, you have the, you
30:16
Speaker 2: have a full staff this time around in, in the
30:18
Speaker 2: transfer portal in high school recruiting. So I think that
30:22
Speaker 2: the foundation is being laid in for success for Darren DeVries.
30:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, Kenny Johnson, I'm told, did a tremendous job with
30:29
Speaker 1: the recruitment of Waddington. He's done really a phenomenal job
30:31
Speaker 1: since coming onto the scene. I think all of their
30:33
Speaker 1: coaching staff, you throw in the fact that you have
30:36
Speaker 1: now a GM in Ryan Carr. I think Darren DeVries
30:38
Speaker 1: is really a guy that trusts his assistant coaches, too.
30:43
Speaker 1: He wants them to be able to... There's a lot
30:45
Speaker 1: of head coaches that want to do everything, and I
30:47
Speaker 1: think those guys sometimes kind of either burn out or
30:53
Speaker 1: they don't... you know, allocate their time as well to
30:58
Speaker 1: certain things. And I think DeVries has done an excellent
31:00
Speaker 1: job of putting together a staff that he trusts to
31:03
Speaker 1: go out and recruit. And they've had pretty strong success,
31:06
Speaker 1: both in the portal as well as the high school
31:09
Speaker 1: trail so far. Now it's about putting those results on
31:12
Speaker 1: the court and, you know, everyone can sit here and
31:15
Speaker 1: make projections every season. That's what we do. And we
31:19
Speaker 1: got to see it all play out. Right. And I
31:20
Speaker 1: think you're right. It's maybe not a proven year, but
31:23
Speaker 1: I think for a lot of people, who want to
31:26
Speaker 1: dive back in fully to IU basketball, they want to
31:29
Speaker 1: see something, you know, last season people were in until,
31:33
Speaker 1: you know, the Minnesota and the Kentucky games. And then
31:37
Speaker 1: they lost those games and then football did what it did.
31:40
Speaker 1: And by the time people really got reengaged, Indiana was,
31:45
Speaker 1: you know, on the fringe of the tournament. And then
31:48
Speaker 1: they had, you know, the, the, the stretch where they, uh, had,
31:52
Speaker 1: you know, for, several losses in a row in February
31:55
Speaker 1: and really shot themselves in the foot. This season, the
31:59
Speaker 1: schedule sets up as such where you've got early opportunities
32:02
Speaker 1: against Syracuse. You've got Kentucky and Arkansas in one week
32:06
Speaker 1: later in the month of November. And then you have
32:08
Speaker 1: two non-conference home games against Missouri and UCF, which were,
32:12
Speaker 1: you know, you know, solid programs. I think Missouri is
32:15
Speaker 1: obviously going to be a really good team this year.
32:16
Speaker 1: They got a couple of really good freshmen. They got
32:18
Speaker 1: Mark Mitchell back as of now, and UCF's been a
32:21
Speaker 1: team that's been in the tournament. So they've got these opportunities.
32:24
Speaker 1: Indiana's got to be able to take advantage of some
32:26
Speaker 1: of those and give people a reason to buy back
32:29
Speaker 1: in because, you know, people think now, well, football's, you know,
32:34
Speaker 1: everything people care about. If Indiana basketball starts winning again
32:36
Speaker 1: at a high level, people will support both. I mean,
32:39
Speaker 1: it's not, it doesn't have to be one or the other,
32:41
Speaker 1: just like, you know, when basketball was, you know, quote
32:44
Speaker 1: unquote on top, people wanted to support football, but football
32:47
Speaker 1: didn't give people a reason to support right now. Basketball
32:50
Speaker 1: has to have a better level of performance on the court,
32:54
Speaker 1: win more games and people will come back in.
32:56
Speaker 2: And I think it starts with playing games in Bloomington. Uh,
33:00
Speaker 2: that that's been my biggest frustration looking at the schedule.
33:03
Speaker 2: is that all these neutral site games, even the ones
33:06
Speaker 2: in Indy, the Syracuse game, that should be played in Bloomington.
33:08
Speaker 2: And I understand that there's other factors that go into it.
33:12
Speaker 2: And trust me, I understand the money aspect. But there's
33:17
Speaker 2: something about giving the students, giving the Bloomington fan base
33:22
Speaker 2: the opportunity for a big game. The Kentucky game obviously
33:26
Speaker 2: was scheduled when John Calipari didn't want to come back
33:30
Speaker 2: to Bloomington when he was coaching, and he knew he
33:32
Speaker 2: wasn't going to be in Kentucky at that point, but
33:36
Speaker 2: so on and so forth. I just think that there
33:39
Speaker 2: should be more games in Bloomington over the next few years.
33:43
Speaker 2: Darren DeVries wants to build a relationship with the students.
33:46
Speaker 2: That's the first thing he wanted to do when students
33:49
Speaker 2: stepped on campus in the fall last year. Well, there's
33:54
Speaker 2: no better opportunity than winning the big game at home.
33:56
Speaker 2: He saw after the Purdue game. He got to be
33:58
Speaker 2: with the students afterwards. He thanked them. He cheered with them.
34:03
Speaker 2: That needs to happen more for more buy-in. The neutral
34:07
Speaker 2: site games, yeah, they're going to be a pro-Indiana crowd
34:10
Speaker 2: on November, was that 9th or 6th or 9th?
34:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, 9th.
34:16
Speaker 2: It needs to be a Bloomington crowd rather than an
34:18
Speaker 2: Indianapolis crowd.
34:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, you've got the whole NIL component of those neutral
34:27
Speaker 1: games I think that's kind of the backstory a little
34:28
Speaker 1: bit on why that happens and also I will say
34:31
Speaker 1: to Indiana's credit that the quality of the non-conference home
34:37
Speaker 1: games that they've been able to add this year UCF
34:39
Speaker 1: and Missouri again I'm not saying those are great opponents
34:43
Speaker 1: at least on paper but those are solid teams it's
34:45
Speaker 1: better than Kansas State last year it's better than South
34:47
Speaker 1: Carolina the year before so having two of them is
34:49
Speaker 1: a little bit better Also, this is the best Big
34:52
Speaker 1: Ten home schedule that they've had in a really long time.
34:55
Speaker 1: So I also think it's very important that they have
34:57
Speaker 1: a strong start because then all of a sudden those
34:59
Speaker 1: January and February games where you're having these marquee games
35:02
Speaker 1: come in, chances for huge wins if you can get
35:06
Speaker 1: the fan base completely bought in. That's all I got
35:09
Speaker 1: for this week's episode. Josh, I do want to ask
35:11
Speaker 1: you one more thing. Big game tonight up in.
35:16
Speaker 1: Chicago. White Sox took their first loss in the playoffs
35:21
Speaker 1: on Wednesday. I feel like they need to get this
35:23
Speaker 1: one tonight. I never want to go on the road
35:26
Speaker 1: for an elimination game. I will say, if you're still listening,
35:34
Speaker 1: sorry if you're a Cubs fan, but we are White
35:36
Speaker 1: Sox fans, both Josh and I. Josh is the biggest
35:39
Speaker 1: White Sox fan that I know besides my dad, who
35:41
Speaker 1: I think Famously watched pretty much every game through the
35:46
Speaker 1: three 100 plus lost seasons, which at that point, you know,
35:50
Speaker 1: I watched occasionally, but I was there was no way
35:52
Speaker 1: I was watching some of those games. Josh, I think
35:54
Speaker 1: you watched a lot of those games, too. But just quick, quickly,
36:00
Speaker 1: how are you feeling going into tonight?
36:02
Speaker 2: Sick to my stomach. That's the three words I'll give you.
36:05
Speaker 2: Sick to my stomach. I want to win. I just
36:09
Speaker 2: don't want to go back to Cleveland. Uh, the last
36:12
Speaker 2: time I was on this podcast was actually when I
36:14
Speaker 2: was like, Hey, maybe they could win 75 games this year. Well, yeah.
36:18
Speaker 2: Look where one went away from the ALCS.
36:20
Speaker 1: Exactly. Hopefully they get it done. Thanks everybody. As always, uh,
36:24
Speaker 1: for listening. Thank you, Josh, for making the time. Really
36:26
Speaker 1: appreciate you coming back on. Good to see you. Even
36:29
Speaker 1: if it is, uh, from several States away, continue to
36:33
Speaker 1: enjoy your time out there in South Dakota. Thanks, everybody,
36:37
Speaker 1: as always, for listening to the show. If you enjoy
36:39
Speaker 1: the show, leave us a five-star rating review over on
36:42
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you're watching on YouTube, like
36:45
Speaker 1: the video, subscribe to the channel, and we'll be back
36:47
Speaker 1: soon with another episode of Podcast on the Brain.