12-0
HOOOO HOOO HOOO HOOSIERS
UNDEFEATED
PURDONT GOT NO GAME
As soon as the naming rights deal is over, the field HAS to be renamed Cignetti Field at Memorial Stadium
Keep selling the field rights. Needs to be Cignetti Stadium, the house Cig built
cig has now passed fielding yost for the most wins in first 2 seasons in the B1G. When we win the CCG, he will tie Urban. Playoff win will push him into 1st
Fernando had a rough game.
It was perhaps his worst of the year. Repeatedly threw into double and triple coverage all throughout the 1st half.
That said, the more I see little Mendoza, the more I think he can be special here. That guy has wheels.
We had zero sacks tonight but Purdue had zero run game and we dropped their RBs for multiple TFLs.
I don’t know if the cold weather made Fernando throw like his arm was a brick but it certainly was a stark contrast. Fortunately, our coaches are extremely savvy and knew we could run on them like a meat grinder and so we just backed off the intermediate routes. We should have dinked and dunked throught the first half’s. We had guys open on very short routes all throughout the first half but Fernando forced it downfield.
Fortunately the rest of IU’s games will be indoors or in warmer weather venues.
@big-red-cb-v-2-0 I didn't get the opportunity to ask why he struggled throwing the ball
@big-red-cb-v-2-0 I've thought we have had a couple weaknesses, or opportunities for improvement. Despite a better arm and legs, I don't think Fernando is as good at reading the field as Rourke was. I feel like he often locks onto a target, even though there might be a better option. Secondly, I would really like to see us utilize the underneath game to our RBs and TEs more. Both are great runners after the catch and I'd like to see us utilize them more. Think this would be a relief valve for FM under pressure (which you know is coming with better opponents) and also pull the defenders up a little and free up deeper routes. To me, the more we get Nowakowski the ball, the better. As good as Cooper is at breaking tackles, I think Riley is the player most likely to turn a 5-10 yard catch into a 35+ yard reception.
@big-red-cb-v-2-0 I didn't get the opportunity to ask why he struggled throwing the ball
I know Sammy noticed this, but just for the sake of discussion, in Cig's big Q&A yesterday he said it may have been the cold.
IMO that makes sense. It was freezing out there.
@tammany rewatching the first half and there were a a bunch of throws that he normally hits, but he didn’t put the ball where they needed to be.
The point about Rourke is a good one, he was elite at running the PRO offense. Mendoza is a tick slower, but on Friday night it looked more like an issue with the cold than bad reads.
@tammany Plus Coach Shanahan did Fernando no favors by initially calling for down the field passes. After a couple of short pass plays connections, he gained his confidence for longer throws.
I’m not quite as down on Fernando as you are but there have been a few times when a much shorter pass was available and he tried to throw it down field. He does go through his progressions and often times hits the second or third check but having time to do that is at times a problem.@big-red-cb-v-2-0 I've thought we have had a couple weaknesses, or opportunities for improvement. Despite a better arm and legs, I don't think Fernando is as good at reading the field as Rourke was. I feel like he often locks onto a target, even though there might be a better option. Secondly, I would really like to see us utilize the underneath game to our RBs and TEs more. Both are great runners after the catch and I'd like to see us utilize them more. Think this would be a relief valve for FM under pressure (which you know is coming with better opponents) and also pull the defenders up a little and free up deeper routes. To me, the more we get Nowakowski the ball, the better. As good as Cooper is at breaking tackles, I think Riley is the player most likely to turn a 5-10 yard catch into a 35+ yard reception.
Of course it is easy to be Monday morning QBs and talk about the play calling and that they should have called more short passes early but there is a lot of experience and knowledge about the participants and situation that we do not have.