It's a long shot but I would find the old JMU narrative humorous, if in a few years, we lose a coordinator and Coach hires a high achieving and trajectory G5 HC as a replacement and he brings his best 8-10 players with him here which continues a cycle of absorbing the best of the G5 and dominating the CFB landscape.
Think the defense as a whole will lead us this yr, can’t see that group giving up up more than 20 pts on average. Think the LB/Def line will be special. The biggest question mark I have compared to last yr is the attitude of playing for each other which is always hard to gauge and takes the longest to come together. Think the JMU thing was important the first yr to help with the transition of a new coaching staff but 3 yrs in, not as much
The JMU thing is oversold. It was huge in 2024 because those guys helped set the standard and knew Cig and that staff well. They have had two seasons to instill all those traits into the current team. They have their recruits and their transfers, so the culture shouldn't take a step back.
The IT factor for me was their ability to just take punch after punch in big games and respond and how they created their own luck.
@thehoosierhuddle Yeah, that entire drive vs PSU was a thing of beauty... and resolve! As IU fans, that was something we'd never seen before. I kind of hate when the only highlight that's shown is Cooper's catch. That was the cherry, but that entire drive was golden. Heck, Becker's catch just before was to me, one of the top 5 of the season. Just off the top of my head, top 5 of: 1) Cooper PSU TD catch, 2) Becker 4th down back shoulder vs Miami, 3)Cooper 1 hander @ OR 4) Sarratt OSU TD and 5) Becker catch going OOB vs PSU? What am I forgetting?
Sarratt's TD catch at Iowa:)
@red-hornet Big moment, but I didn't think it was a very high degree of difficulty on the catch itself from memory, he just broke a tackle and was gone. I think Sarratt made about a dozen tougher catches during the year.
@kkott Omar's one-handed catch and spin out of a tackle at Oregon was pretty spectacular
@thehoosierhuddle Damn. My old brain forgot that one and I had to rewatch. Yeah, in terms of difficulty with it being one-handed, it's definitely top 5. I guess I'd bump the first Becker OSU back shoulder and keep the one that iced the game. Edited my list to include this!
I’m pretty stoked about our 29-yr old Aussie punter … his age alone will make heads explode 😂
Never mind that he averaged 46/yards per punt last yr at Hawaii
Thanks for your shots. Pretty much my thoughts too. Biggest caretaker of the team mindset is continuity of staff. New roster additions will eagerly crawl on board with their prodding.
@the-watson Funny, I was just taunting an OSU fan, who was complaining that we had a 4th year QB competing against their RS Freshman. I said talk to your coach. Then I shared with him that we had a 29 yo punter this year... and that they could have had him too!
@hoosier-clarion Their complaints are just weird. Like IU is somehow cheating by getting more experienced guys that were available to everyone and ignored by the blue bloods. When I coached my sons bball teams we did evaluations on all players and came up with a score for each player. I always took the oldest third and multiplied their score by 1.1, the middle third stayed the same and the youngest third I'd multiply their score by .9. We always had good teams.
Heard an interview with Zack Osterman and he talked with the current IUP coach, who had coached under Cig and he theorized that spending those years at IUP helped Cig navigate the current environment because he had to determine how to divide scholarships and deal with a roster where some weren't paying their way, and others were getting a quarter, half or full scholarship. Thought that was an interesting take.
Who watches just 'the catch"?@thehoosierhuddle Yeah, that entire drive vs PSU was a thing of beauty... and resolve! As IU fans, that was something we'd never seen before. I kind of hate when the only highlight that's shown is Cooper's catch. That was the cherry, but that entire drive was golden. Heck, Becker's catch just before was to me, one of the top 5 of the season. Just off the top of my head, top 5 of: 1) Cooper PSU TD catch, 2) Becker 4th down back shoulder vs Miami, 3)Cooper 1 hander @ OR 4) Sarratt OSU TD and 5) Becker catch going OOB vs PSU? What am I forgetting?
I've probably watched that entire drive 100 times so far. If I come across a highlight showing the catch (and you are right, saw a 20 minutes of highlights of the game recently, I think it had just the initial sack, Becker's grab, one batted pass, then the catch) I immediately go find the entire drive.
I missed about a minute or two of Penn States previous drive as far as video. I was so bummed that we were going to lose... I felt like we had had so many chances especially on offense, but now were just gassed, the defense just too worn out. I listened to the audio only for a bit. Then about the time we might have a chance to get the ball back I started watching again as well. So watched their last two or three plays as the dee got that stop we needed. So I at least heard the entire game.
I think I was more happy for Cig for getting that win in his home state, then Indiana keeping it perfect. I had never seen him give a yell at that level after a game, that he gave to the Indiana fans that day. He had done it before but this was a guttural roar.