@yothn I would like to agree with this but we have really struggled in road games against hostile environments on the offensive side of the ball. Its crazy we dont let Mendoza audible. Its even more baffling how we have one of the worst silent counts in the country, OSU and Iowa had it timed practically from the jump
I think we are more than talented enough to compete (and beat) Oregon, on a neutral or home field I would pick us to win 7/10x. There just needs to be serious adjustments that we have not yet seen from the coaches if we are going to win this game, Autzen gets up to 127 decibels and will be the loudest stadium we have played in yet
Hopefully we can pull it off. A win here will have us ranked somewhere in #1-3 range, which has never happened for a single week in IUFB history.
As great as this coaching staff has shown to be, those 2 issues are definitely worrisome and surprising.
The staff has gone out the last 2 off-seasons and brought in a veteran QB...but they can't trust the QB to call an audible as needed?
If they can't figure out how to address loud environments for road games then maybe we need to hire a Road Noise Analyst consultant or something.
I agree we need to fix the silent count stuff. I'm sure the staff knows that.
Interestingly in the last presser Cig says they don't audible much regardless of if the game is home or away.
@hurryinghoosiers For all the experience Cig and this staff has, they didnt come to IU having experience playing in environments like that. The last time Cig was on a sideline with big crowds, he was a positional coach, and that was 15 years ago. If they dont get it fixed in-season this year, its definitely something where we need to bring in consultants in the off-season, we are going to have tough sledding in this conference otherwise.
Its just frustrating to see so many other teams seem to handle the noise/pressure of road games better than we do. If Vanderbilt can handle the pressure of Williams-Brice or Bryant-Denny, there is no reason we shouldnt be able to handle venues like Kinnick or Autzen
@tammany The audible thing makes no sense to me. When Iowa stacked the box on short yardage situations, an audible out of a run to a quick slant would have given us a lot more success. We also haven't really had to audible at home, every game at home has been a blow out other than Michigan
@hoosierdaddy I don't get it either, but I know about 0.01% about football compared to this staff.
I'm just praying they fix it. It's the only thing that frustrates me about IUFB, which I give a 99.9% approval rating. Even this staff has weaknesses they have to learn about and address.
@yothn What are you basing on, that we have better wins... UCLA? I watched part of that PSU v UO game and I thought both teams looked bigger and more athletic than us. I think we've narrowed the gap on these teams (and ND and OSU), but the reality is all of those teams 2nd teams probably have more stars than our starters. I know stars aren't everything, but both PSU and UO looked bigger and faster to me, with UO having the better skill players. I think UCLA was more about PSU just being totally unprepared and not ready to play, but I don't think their players magically got less athletic in a week or 2. I think we have a great shot to beat either team, but we are clearly the underdog this week.
I am basing it on what the entire nation is. Penn State isn't ranked because they lost to arguably the worst P4 team in over a decade. Illinois is 17th. Oregon needed double OT to beat PSU by 3, while UCLA beat PSU by 7, in regulation. After that, who else has Oregon played? Old Dominion is getting AP votes in honorable mention and I don't see any other Oregon opponents listed.
What you see as being bigger and faster with your eyes can be warped by your presumption, they're both top end teams. When one of them isn't, then the standard in which the comparison is being determined is flawed.
I know anything can happen and its possible Oregon is a top team. What I am saying is they haven't proven anything yet, meanwhile people are crowning them based on the name. I refuse to believe they have proven they are more talented than IU.....yet. At this point, I think its the other way around.
It's easy to get pessimistic going to Oregon, I honestly fall into that bucket.
It's harder to take and defend a more positive view going into this game. Credit YOTHN for doing that. I hope he's right.
ESPN FPIOregon total defense rank is #7 and IU is #5. Oregon SOS is 48 and IUs 70. Both teams rank pretty much next to each other in rushing offense. The key difference is IUs rush defense is top 15 and Oregon is right around 40.@yothn None of this matters much if Cig and staff can't get the line and Mendoza on the same page with an effective silent count. Giving a team like Oregon, with the speed they have, any sort of jump or head start... we won't have a chance to win this game. We'll see similar ineffectiveness in short yardage situations, Mendoza will get hit, we'll turn the ball over.
I do think neutral field, or in Bloomington, Indiana might be as good as any team in the country. But this game is about as far from those situations as a game could possibly get.
So, IF... IU can vary up the snap effectively, I agree with you. It should be a very good game, and IU might be better enough to overcome the energy and crowd. But man, its hard to get the OSU, ND, and even Iowa performances out of my head. Gonna have to see it.
Against a really good defense, I agree with your logic. Oregon D hasn't yet proven to be at that level vs. very mild schedule. If Oregon is preparing for IU to be equal to what we all thought was a good Penn State team, they may find out we are much better than that.
IU will need to run the ball and run the ball well in this game.
Where are you seeing IU’s SOS at 70?
Cig says they're big, fast, and talented, at every position he was asked about. And a QB who he says is really good. I'll go with his eyes.
But, I agree with 'prove it on the field'. We have a good team that's talented at every position too. We have a real chance to win. I still think we're underdogs though.
@mrhighlife The way ESPN creates their "SOS" is ridiculous and devoid of reality. We have played a much harder schedule than them, by their own rankings.
FPI opponents for IU:
Illinois - 28
Iowa - 35
ODU - 46
Kennesaw State - 118
For Oregon:
PSU - 19
Northwestern - 67
Oregon St - 96
OK State - 113
Also, SOS is a really sensitive metric and honestly there isn’t a huge difference from like #15-70. People see the large difference in numbers but it can be misleading.
Also agree with HoosierDaddy’s point above.
@tammany I dont know how its possible we could be "70th" in SOS when we have played 3 top 50 teams.
Michigan State has the "20th" SOS when they have so far played:
#10, #22, #88, #99
Hard to see how that is a 50 spot gap between our teams in SOS. Especially when you consider the "#28" we beat, beat "#10"
Good thread. Love to see it. We have the Know Your Opponent posted and TJ and I will be recording our podcast today.
There are a lot of great points in here.
@mrhighlife The way ESPN creates their "SOS" is ridiculous and devoid of reality. We have played a much harder schedule than them, by their own rankings.
FPI opponents for IU:
Illinois - 28
Iowa - 35
ODU - 46.
Kennesaw State - 118For Oregon:
PSU - 19
Northwestern - 67
Oregon St - 96
OK State - 113
But factor in Indiana State and Eastern Washington. I'm not saying that's the difference, but those schools are noticeably missing from your lists.
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