You're listening to the back home network presented by
home-field apparel. Welcome back to Crimson Cask ale
and clavius got Caulfield joining.
You. It is the 6th of November of
2022, Indiana 3 and 6 on the football season as they lose
depends. State yesterday, 45 to 14.
We're going to talk about that. And that might be all that we
talked about today. But anyway, good to see you or
hear you folks, or have you folks here.
Also, I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with that.
It's good to see Scott as well. It's been a couple weeks.
Got we took the bye week off. Yep, which meant we didn't talk.
So how are you doing everything? Okay.
Yeah I'm great that back and refreshed and ready to talk to
you about basketball podcasts. Just delightful.
Yes. Definitely basketball season in
full effect before we get to that.
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Collegiate apparel. You know I'm gonna jump in right
when you finished. Have you seen the bomber jacket?
Yeah, releasing. Yeah, I just had to jump in like
I wanted to get the jump on this.
It is. It's awesome.
So I will be wearing it. Probably in Vegas, they can ship
it to me. In time.
It is, you know, you get to a point where like I have enough
hoodies. I'm going to need some kind of
killer logo to get another hoodie.
You know, I like the stickers, they have this.
Like, this bomber jacket is like, all right, just I wanted
to choke on Twitter as I say it the right way.
But it's almost like just like this is almost like stealing at
this point because like, you just, you are rating my wallet
because there is I have to buy this anyway.
I just I saw that I'm like I cannot wait to talk about that
in the Pod way more than the IU Penn State.
I mean home field announce the Announced it yesterday on
Twitter. Then you need to be following
home-field on Twitter, and it was the one bright spot of the
whole day. I feel like it was and it was
and it honestly, I think I had six different people text me and
say did, dude, did you see this? This is so sick.
And yes, I did see it. And yes, it is indeed sick as
the kids say. And the mean we need.
Now like we need this means. If somebody, please as you know,
kids meme this please, we need like the ERM and meme pointing
at each other with with two people wearing the IU bomber
jacket because that's going to happen.
Like that's gonna happen multiple times at IU games or
it's like Galen Scott like oh hey hey Barbara Jack yeah that's
what else. Oh hey Crimson cats guys.
Oh Barbara jacket like oh that's like this gonna see a lot of
though, this may disrupt the Bison hoodie hegemony that has
established over our podcasting presence.
So yes. No.
But anyway, that kind of thing that Innovative like bring the
past the good. About the past back is what
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And and look this is November Scott.
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I'm assuming it's going to happen again.
Great time to buy from home field apparel as well.
So again, home field apparel.com, be sure to check
them out. Anyway, let's get into the meat
of the podcast, you know, a few weeks ago.
Scott. I remember where I think it was
the is probably the Nebraska podcast.
We, we were like, you know, we were pretty sure how this is
gonna play out the rest of the season, we're pretty sure how
this is going to go. And, you know, it's weird
because at that point, you know, I mean, And lost to Michigan.
They hadn't lost to Maryland. They hadn't lost to Rutgers yet
and someone could be like, wow, you guys are really - like they
could surely do some things in any of the games that are coming
up in the month of October. You guys are just being jerks,
or, you know, whatever and know. It's like, we're not,
purposefully fading Indiana football.
We've just seen this so many times and it's clear that,
unfortunately, the there's no Steam.
In the, the Tom Allen machine at this point, like I've said we've
seen coaches Kevin Wilson. Being a great example, you know,
back in 2015, that team started really well, they started 4 and
0 and then they lost six in a row but that team never felt
like it had given up or that it was completely out of contention
you know that team had some bad luck in some of those games that
they played, you know famously. You know that was that was that
year that they lost to Michigan. Again in double overtime.
You know, they were competitive at home against Iowa.
They were competitive and then lost to that bizarre game
against Rutgers. So it wasn't like, you know,
even the even the, Ohio State game that year at home was a
pretty close one. This see this team does not feel
like that team did. And so when they lost that
Nebraska game Scott, I really internally I was like, here we
go again, you know? It's it is is clear that this
the wheels are going to fall off this bus again and it's not
totally clear. Sure.
That the wheels were ever put back on the bus from when they
fell off last year. And sure enough, that's
essentially what's happened and really, you know, yesterday was
almost anticlimactic because I think anybody that was paying
attention saw that 13 and a half point line and was like, let me
put as much money as humanly possible on Penn State because
this isn't even like dead cat bounce, territory with IU at
this point. It's like, there's just, there's
no response to in the system at this point.
It's like the plugs been pulled out of the wall and they looked
Not just like the inferior team yesterday.
Scott, they looked like a team that should like this.
Look like a pre-conference game for Penn State, not a conference
game for Penn State. I'm really, really happy that we
cleared out all the bad apples last year.
Like that, that I'm glad that we took care of that.
We got that resolved and two new coordinators.
And you know, at least you feel like the ship is at least
pointing in the right direction. Yeah, it's it's, that know the
Fourteen and a half if So quick plug.
If you listen to Crimson cash, James has what he calls a
harmonica bet that I have to make each week?
10 bucks it was on Penn State to cover the 13 and a half point
line I gladly did it. I also made my own personal bets
on that. Yeah.
It's just it's I don't like betting against, I you but it
happened last year having this year's Pride.
Its Pride sadly profitable when you get to this point of the
Season. What now?
And now we're in the point year, we had it lashes.
Look at this is like the sequel movie where it's like, oh, you
know, we got it. You know, it's like, you know,
back The future to is like oh we gotta go.
We gotta see Biff again when this going to show up, this is
the Biff mom was like, oh now we're going to have the the wild
quarterback Carousel where nobody looks prepared.
Nobody looks ready. The only thing we're not going
to get, I was thinking about you last year.
You had the you can least had the excuse Alan, could have put
the excuse of it. There's guys who aren't trying
and we've lost the locker room and all that.
I was thinking, you're not going to get that this year because I
can't really tell if we're not trying anymore because Penn
State is so much. Better at like next week there
will be no like these guys like Ohio state is just in another
galaxy like that's a different sport, they're playing and
Michigan. State has a lifeblood again and
Purdue will be playing for a bowl.
Like they lost the ability to have the game where it's like,
damn, they could have one but they're just not trying.
It's like, no, they they kind of lost that ability this season,
maybe it was Nebraska game. No, it's It's rough.
Here's the question I have for you Galen go on I'm gonna pose a
question to you. This is the part where I'm just
like what the f is going on. I'll try not to cuss as much.
I know I've gotten yelled at for that but here's what I was
thinking is and I'm a couple little, you know, last year we
played penix and we started him, we played him a little bit
longer than even. I thought we should have.
And I was saying that on this podcast, but the narrative out
there is kind of like look, he's the starter.
He's he, you know, gal got to stick with his Eyes.
And he, you know, he's the leader of the locker room and
you really can't just pull a starter like that.
And you know, what would it do for recruiting?
Like how are you going to recruit another quarterback when
you if you pull your strut like it just looks, it's a really bad
look like, okay. And then they made the choice
inside. We turned into like Quarterback,
free fall. So as best I can tell, and
again, this coaching staff gives us like zero information, right?
But as best, I can tell pays like wasn't hurt.
Well, now they smell it. They said that they would that
he was hurt. Sorry, go on Conveniently he
became her right now. That's a good point at the end
of even forgotten, most of the Season, at the end of the
Rutgers game, it wasn't Bays lacks her tits it.
We're looking at a change of quarterback, that's not guys,
her that's looking to replace them.
So you replace him without really saying he's hurt.
You basically, then you've already made all your changes.
You can make you kind of throw base like under the bus.
Like we've got to make some changes, so you change the
quarterback, he's banged up, but he's like, he's not so banged
up. You're going to go ahead and
throw against Ohio State next week, but then you put in Tuttle
a guy who's in the transfer portal.
I must say he's unplayable, but it's like there are any get, I
don't know what that shirt out. The guys in the broadcaster.
Like he's a real leader in this locker room if that's AI, don't
know what the case is but it's like it's right this will go on
for a second. I'll stop.
It's like if total really is the leader of your of your locker
room if you're out and like that's a problem because you
guys transferring like if a guy who is has a foot out, the door
is also So, a leader in the clubhouse.
That's not great. But so like if, if he's gone and
you don't want to play bass like why the hell are you starting
Toto? Nothing gets Tuttle.
It's just like this is not the direction of the program.
Now like you're not going to beat Penn State.
Like give give somebody a shot and then it's like after total
gets injured which is like, again your preview it's like,
give me the smelling salts. Like I'm not shocked at all.
The tunnel gets hurt because not because he's injury-prone.
It's like I would also be injury-prone.
If you If you remember the old commercial Terry?
Tate office linebacker like a Terry.
Tate was walk around my house. Yes, attacking me everyday and
sacking me. It's like, I would be injured
not because I'm prone. Then you play Brendan Source V
and it's like, like, oh, that doesn't work when I tried extra
Williams and extra Williams has little life.
That's why did you play stores? We first.
It looks like you have no idea what you're doing with who your
quarterback should be. You have no plan.
And now it's told Bay's like a little banged up, but he's gonna
go against Ohio State. So it's like now you're
basically telling Bay's, like, hey I'm going to And the off
week, like pushing you under the bus, getting in the bus,
reversing it driving over you. But then, hey the carrot at the
end is I'm going to throw you up against the best team in the
country so you can get completely demolished.
And so, here's my question, I know Scott don't even question.
Here's, my question is, how is this like, if doing that
dependence last year was bad for recruiting?
How is this good for a? Who wants to transfer in now?
It's like oh this is awesome like well phase, lag is had a
faint. Like does he get to at least
walk away with it, you know. Home field are you her boop?
Boop. You know, bomber jacket.
It's like hey that was, that was awesome.
And I get the jacket like this is why you should transfer here.
Like I don't think CJ Trout's gonna be like, hey, I want to
transfer to. I you not that he would anyway,
but it's like you're going. It's everything you did last
drug. It's just, it looks like a
complete team that has zero leadership and zero idea and
it's like, we're throwing players into bad situations.
It's but it's like, how do you get another transfer
quarterback? Now after you do this to
Baseline well the look, they'll always be people who Who will be
lured by the promise of playing time?
And starting, I mean, that will always happen.
I, but I get your point. I mean, my big concern, or my
big complaint, I guess is if Bay's lack was injured.
Just say that basil. Acts injured, Jess.
Don't, I mean, the the fact that it takes until after the game to
find out that information assuming it's true and I don't
100% just automatically assume that it's necessarily true.
It, you know, the fact that that ends up being a mystery for two
weeks, it didn't help your team and we've seen this over and
over again. My Tom Allen seems to think that
his team's success lies in the other team, not knowing what
they're doing. And as we've seen over and over
again, that does not matter. Maybe, Illinois, maybe, I don't
know maybe. But again, I keep coming back to
this idea of how you? I mean, the, the Problem here
versus that is that basil act has been under criticism from
certain circles, especially in the fan base, people like a base
like out of there. You got to get you know, put
Tuttle in and that frankly is not great for Basil act.
I don't I mean he is you know he has he been perfect this year?
No. But to allow it to appear that
he got benched for two weeks, essentially, because that was
the talk of that press conference coming out of that
room. There's game.
I mean, that that I think is what impacts and if I'm a
quarterback and I'm like, well gosh, my coach isn't going to
just have my back and say, well, you know, Connor can't play in
this upcoming game because it's more important for us to think
that somehow the subdue views of Penn State, not knowing who our
quarterback is going to be is going to matter when regardless
of who is quarterback. Like it could be Augustus Caesar
back there. The offensive line is not going
to be able to block for them which is what Got total injured.
It's what directly led to two of the interceptions that got
thrown in the game. It doesn't matter.
Like so to me it's like a far worse thing for us to have
essentially put basil act in a position where it's like well
you know we're going to make it seem like they's like lost his
job due to poor performance. Not that we had to sit him
because he was injured all because we were pursuing, you
know, some weird idea that somehow it was going to help us
win this game, against Penn State by Penn State.
And I know our quarterback is it stupid.
And as you said, that was actually the plan, if you, if
that was actually, you're planning on doing the, you know,
the fact that they didn't seem to know who to put in after
title got hurt his, a real problem, I mean nobody had bread
in sores be on the radar. Dexter Williams wasn't even
talked about in the pregame from a depth chart position as being
available then suddenly he was out there playing.
I mean it was the whole thing was handled so bizarrely but
it's exactly what I've come to expect out of this coaching
staff where there just doesn't seem to be a lot of logic or a
lot of Rhyme or Reason. I'm sure it makes sense to them,
but I don't know. Scott, you go back and read the
post game quotes about why they played swords be initially
instead of Williams. And you tell me if it makes any
sense to you, because I've read it like 20 times and it still
doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
So, and again, the, the the points on base like, don't make
sense either. It's like so on and he's not
injured after Rutgers, but an off week gets him injured, but
he's not so into the can't play next week against Ohio State.
It's like, but he but he couldn't dress this.
It's and everybody is like, you know, So, again, I'm didn't
think this season. I'd be in the base, like,
defense business, but for everybody was like, he's the
problem. It's like, all right, well, he
didn't play this game. Let's Play, Let's Play The Drive
shark game. Here's your drive chart punt,
touchdown punt, punt punt, punt punt, half punt, interception
punt, interception, interception punt, touchdown it sounds like a
normal eye. You game this season where you
have that one drive where I always joke.
It's like, you know, why don't they make the plane out of the
black box? Like, let's just make all the
drives like that drive, but you can't because other teams Just
and there's a lot of punts, a lot of three and outs, and you
change the quarterback, you have basically the same thing.
Here's so during the game the second half, here's what I did.
I got weird with stats but I started going at and looking at
because I was thinking to myself, what was the last like,
how many times have we started and ended the season with the
same quarterback? It hasn't happened.
A lot that I went through and I figured out the percentage of
attempts, the quarterbacks had made each year under the Allen
and Wilson regime. Mmmmm and shocking.
It's not good Galen, it's not good at all, this season.
It will change this season base, like has taken, you know, the
majority of the snaps but that's going to change.
I'm assuming that's I thought that was going to change because
base like wasn't playing. It was MIA but now it seems like
he's the leader of the team again but last year number one
throwers Michael penix. He only threw 42% of all
available attempts the year before Michael panics, do 75% of
all available to them. So that was that this is a 20 20
year. It's also a weird, you know,
six-game year, but whatever. That's the only.
There's only one other time under Alan you've had over 75
attempts by the starter. 64%, the year before was Peyton
Ramsey in 2018 Ramsey, threw 93 percent of the available snaps
and Allen's, first year, Richard Lego through 59%, Ramsey,
through the other, forty one percent, the previous couple
years with Wilson, it was 96 percent for Lego 89% for
subfield. Also, the years, we went to back
to back. Bowls, you go look at a team
like Michigan state, who's not like analogous.
But again, if we're and I know divisions are going away but
it's like we're not Penn State, Ohio, State, Michigan Pence.
Michigan state is kind of that level we should be at.
I'm just going to go through here is the starter in Michigan
State, the number of available attempts, they've thrown year
over year, this year, 93 percent last year, 97 percent year
before 65, 20 1994, 20 1869, the year before 1799, 72 93-91 89
90. It's 94 93.
There's a lot of 90% that's a stable program that has kind of
a funnel of quarterbacks and that's a program.
That's had complete disaster Seasons like tire fire seasons
in between. It's frightening that we're
going with another year here or Allen's going to probably be sub
70% of our starter, throwing the available swell for the
available templates. Like that's that's not a team
that has like their shit together.
Well, there was a quote in the postgame press conference that I
I want I just, it really struck me and it's the following, I
mean, Alan was asked what went wrong with tonight's offensive
game plan and here's a quote. Well, I think the bottom line is
no matter how much time you have or don't have you have to
execute. And I just want to stop right
there. It's like know, if you if your
quarterbacks have no time to even look through their
progressions. If you're running backs, have no
time to carry the ball like Back to the line of scrimmage because
the blocking is so bad, you can't execute, I'm sorry.
No. Like I've I'm not an expert in
football but I've watched a lot of it over the years.
College Pro high school and generally speaking.
If you don't have time you can't execute.
I'm and we're not talking about, oh well there just wasn't time
on that play. You mentioned the number of
three and outs. I mean there were several drives
that weren't three and outs only because I you had a turnover on
the third place. So that doesn't technically
count as a three and out. Out, but we got you there.
But but his quote that be this quote, I feel like it's really
difficult upfront, not being able to give our backs a chance
to get seems to run through in the quarterback time to throw.
Well, no kidding. That to me is really the bottom
line. I think we have to really focus
on getting ourselves continuing to work to get better there
because it's not good enough and it's killing us right now.
It's making it very very difficult for our offense.
It's like no it's it's not making it difficult for your
offense. That is your offense.
This is the like this is this is the thing I think.
That I've become the most frustrated with without is that?
He, he does not appear, just based on his words, he does not
appear to understand how offense actually works, which is wild to
me that you could be a head coach.
Now, for seven years, I mean he's said, like, I have to have
a CEO on the offensive side of the ball, but he doesn't seem to
acknowledge the things that make offense actually work.
And it's hard for me to escape as much as people point back to
20. 19 and 20 20 as like, well how could you be critical of Tom
Allen? Because he did those two
seasons. But it's hard to get away in my
head from thinking he still had that Kevin Wilson's
infrastructure from the offensive line in those Seasons.
He still had like the vestiges of the program that had been
built up over the course of the previous decade, and once that
was gone, I don't know if he just thought that was like, a,
you know, a goose that just consistently laid, the golden
eggs that it was going to keep playing the Eggs.
And when I mean the fountain dried up with I use offense and
you know last year they couldn't even score. 20 points a game
there on that track this year. I think they're they're they're
points per game. Average has dropped to 23.3, you
know, outside of that Maryland game.
Where Marilyn just didn't want to play defense.
They haven't scored more than 24 points in a game since the
middle of September. This is exactly what happened
last year and as you pointed out, they replace the It's of
coordinator, then replace the offensive line coach, which all
of the people that said, hey what are you doing?
How could you like do you not see what the actual problem in
the offense is here? And we were all shushed and
whatever but it's like this has essentially ruined the second
season and what faith do you or anybody else have that Alan will
suddenly figure out. Oh you know what?
I really need to focus on this and get this fixed because
ultimately it undoes whatever Indiana's trying to do.
Whoever the quarterback is what They're trying to do whatever
the game plan is supposed to be the core of the team.
The offensive line is just incapable of doing their jobs
and it's not just against Penn State, it's against Rutgers,
it's against Nebraska, it's against Western Kentucky.
I mean, it was against Idaho that, you know, you had similar
issues. I mean, it's it's just wild that
we keep coming back to this same situation over and over again.
Scott and changing the quarterback is just window
dressing I mean, there's a core issue with the basis of this
offense and it's been that way really for three years.
Not just to and as I talked about in the pregame podcast,
2020, you go back and look at those numbers from an offensive
line perspective. They were horrific that team
survived on the fact that Michael penix is a otherworldly
talent and was able to essentially get them out of a
lot of jams by being able to throw incredibly quickly.
And I just happened, I read that quote by Alan and I'm like, Alan
thinks that Michael penix. Like that that level of being
able to make quick decisions and make great throws that everybody
is able to do that. That's just the normal case of
being and it's like that's not how it works.
Like that was an extraordinary guy who transferred because he
thought he was going to die under the current blocking
system not literally, but you know what I mean?
So I don't know. I I look at this game, Indiana
only, they couldn't even get to 200 yards of total offense at
halftime. They were big -6, in rushing
yards. They ended up the Game 131
passing yards, three interceptions, four point, five
yards per pass. One point nine yards, per rush.
Like this is not a big ten level offense, it's barely an FBS
level offense and it like the fact that there isn't more -
being written or said about how bad like what a terrible shape.
This offense has been allowed to get into over the course of just
a few years, is really disappointing to me.
And honestly, I think Alan doesn't get Sized enough for how
much the offense has devolved over this time, but at least,
you know, he's in charge of the defense and that's a rock solid
piece of the know that we can feel good about and that's good.
At least know we have the second worst rated defense in the Big
Ten. Our run defense has you know
it's fifth in the Big Ten that's respectable we are the worst
graded on tackling the worst graded on pass rushing and the
second tour Saint conversion but the second to worst rated
defense. I'm Pro Football Focus.
So that side of the balls bad to know here.
Here's my here's where I'm going to start getting annoyed moving
forward is they put themselves in a very interesting position
that you know I agree with everything you said and I agree
that Alan is not taking enough criticism but also we're in a
spot where he's not going to be, he will be the coach next year.
It's just based on finances based on by up based on his
contract fine but there really are no other moves to be made,
right? You Guess you could change
coordinators again, so you have three and three years in the
offense, but, two, and two years on.
Do you have brand-new coordinators?
You could, you know, you're going to change the o-line
coordinator, which needed to be done.
But again, I don't think that's like, I don't look it.
You know, I always joke. I don't look at Nebraska
basketball, and I think we got it, they just changed their
third assistant. They're going to be at the final
four team. It's like that's there's so many
bigger issues, but to me, the problem with him not replacing
Hiller, is it tells me that he doesn't?
I'm not sure. Alan knows how to solve these
problems. It looks like a team that
doesn't know how to solve the problem.
Here's where I'll come. Eat that come at you but go
against something. You said a couple weeks ago to
me. I don't trust.
It Allen has the answers, and it definitely feels the Press
covers. He's just like, I don't, he's
basically saying, I don't know what to do.
Like, I don't know what to do, and he doesn't know what to do
in the offseason because he didn't fire Hill or last year,
he's not making the Right Moves, I don't trust him to figure this
out in this offseason. It's also a very bad look if you
just do nothing. And so to me it's like well you
can go up a step. This now becomes a Dolson
problem and to me it's the sum of this goes.
Dalton's feet and, you know, we talked about it last time and
you're like well, hey, if you know, Dolson starts meddling
what coordinators want to come there.
I would say it's the exact same thing with like what transfer
quarterbacks don't want to come here.
And your point is, there's always going to be somebody.
I would say the same thing here like to me if I'm Dolson you
can't just do nothing. I honestly don't know what the
answer is. I'm just a podcaster like I
know. But like maybe you do replace a
coordinator and you just overspend for somebody or you
hire a football assistant coach or a football vice president?
Like I don't know, you But to me last year, you had a lot of
expectation. You finished your two and ten
you lose out this year. You have very little
expectation, you fail to meet it, you want a Big Ten game
which feels like eons ago and you lose out and you have no
idea quarterback. You're gonna have a bunch of
people transfer to just run this back again with all of the same.
Hey, we got the whole cast back for season 5, it's like I don't
know if you're Dolson, how you do that?
Like how do you not show? I'm going to be annoyed at this,
at least, if Tulsa, Doesn't lie say hey I'm going to start
putting my hand in things because honestly I don't trust
if Allen's the one doing everything this offseason like I
think he needs supervision and if Golson doesn't see that and
Dolson doesn't at least do something to publicly be like
hey I'm aware of this and we are going to try and solve it if he
just sits back and everyone just runs this shit back.
I'm going to be very disappointed in everybody.
I mean, yeah, II just, you know, my thing is, there seems to be
something fundamentally broken not just about the offense, but
about the about the team, and I don't say that broke it.
I broke it. Well, I know you're broken.
We've, I mean, we've known for years.
I'm broke. You are fundamentally broken
Scott. That is that is not breaking
news, but that isn't how you football fan, like I'm broken
and I didn't exist in general, you're broken.
I mean, it's not just, I you football fan them but, but no,
the I'm kidding, but they'll very fair, very fair.
The I mean I'm broken too and then certainly broken is an IU
football fan but when it I don't I think there was a real
argument in 2017 and 2018 that Allen had not fully taken over
leading the whole team and 2019 and certainly 2020.
It did feel like the team had taken on his person at the best.
Ality traits of Tom Allen. They were they were enthusiastic
they they were fired up all the time.
They made big plays. Yes, they gave up big plays, but
it was like, hey, we can do this kind of Riverboat Gambler kind
of thing because that's, you know, it was a different version
of what we'd seen in like, 2013, 2014 2015 with the Kevin Wilson
teams. Now, what's happened, the last
two years, I don't think it negates what we thought was
going on during 2017. And 2018, 2019 2020, but it's
almost like Alan lost the ability to have the team take on
his personality, or his characteristics.
And I look at mostly on the defense where, I mean, the
defense is sniping at each other.
You know, Devin Matthews is blowing tackles and blowing
coverages, you know, Taiwan Mullen hasn't looked himself,
you know, most of the Play on defense has, as has been pointed
out. I think has been really
disappointing. Especially since, you know, you
know, it's like well, okay. Alan might sacrifice his overall
leadership abilities on for the team because he's going to
refocus on the defense. And that's going to be the
thing. That's the calling card for
better for worse for IU, but that looks awful and it looked
awful even when Indiana was winning.
I mean, you know, Illinois. Probably should have won the
game. Idaho was able to drive on
Indiana and the first half Western, Kentucky should Beaten
Indiana. And it really took kind of a
couple of miracles on special teams for that not to happen.
And then every game since then that they've lost, yes, the
offense has looked awful, but the defense is also not looked
good and when Alan can't connect with his players on an emotional
level, he doesn't really bring a lot else to the table, because
we know he's not an excellent tactician.
We know he's not like an ace developer of talent because
we've seen the players that have come through his I mean they
just generally haven't developed.
So if a yeah so it really does feel, you know, you know, and
all the things you talked about all of the quotes that we're
seeing in the press conference. You keep coming back to this
notion. That Alan doesn't seem to have
any answers and it just feels like he's kind of lost the team,
which is wild to think about because everybody still got that
image of the players running off the field yelling, you know,
best coach in the country after the Wisconsin game in 2020.
Everybody still thinks that but what you see on the field now
and what you saw in the field, all of last year, It looks like
a team unmoored from their coach, looks like a coach that's
out there. You know, pushing every button
in a control facility, that's had the power cut, you know,
where it's at? It's wild to me and I mean, this
is where you can, you know, two things can be true at once.
You know, Alan did have that team in 2019 and 2020 and he can
coach and to people who are like what I'm saying.
Now, I don't think he's doing a great job on the as answer is,
not sure he can, he can turn the ship people like, well, he did
it to year two, three. It's like okay, but this is what
happens. Like, you know, Bill Mallory had
a great run and then he didn't write and that mean, you know,
95 96. Well, his ties to a 93 at a time
and but you can sometimes lose the ability to do what you did.
Yeah. Or you don't get the right
recruits and it doesn't mean that you were bad, you were good
in that period like things have now changed and now you're not
doing well and honestly doing get changing and like this is
what Bill Belichick is awesome at what he then.
X and does it again. This is a really hard job to do
and it's like, you can, you can definitely suck now.
Even though you were good before, it happens all the time
in coaching, I just don't, it feels like, and I was even
thinking this, it's like, Alan does seem to learn all the wrong
lessons from everything. Like, I wonder if he look at
that Illinois game and thought the reason we won is we were
really cagey about who our quarterback was.
So we're going to go into Penn State and do the same thing and
just be like we're not gonna, you know, you're not going to
who are core. Back is, unfortunately, it
seemed like nobody after Tuttle knew who the quarterback was
going to be including the IE team.
But I mean, I think two things can be true at once.
Alan was a good motivational coach in 2019 and twenty now
he's not he's lost. I think you hit it on.
Unmoored feels very true. This team seals feels completely
adrift and I think it's it's very weird to me that again.
If Tuttle is a leader in the clubhouse and he already She has
his foot out the door, that's a weird spot.
And then to be like, we're going to start him in and one of our
last hope games it, I could see Mass transfer out of this team
and, you know, at the end of the year.
Yeah, I mean, I don't think that we'll see, who knows?
I mean, we saw a lot of transfers last year to lose that
we saw what we saw a lot of transfers last year and a lot of
transfers in and again it's just it feels like papering over.
What is Surely a really serious like wound with this IU program
right now. And you're right.
I mean the people that keep pointing back to 2019 and 2020.
I think have the wrong impression for those of us who
are like this. What's going on now is just
absolutely unacceptable. I'm not here to minimize 2019
and 2020. I celebrate those.
I, we've talked over and over again about how those two
seasons back to back or among the most successful seasons in
IU history, but I think the narrative as we get a little
further. Her away from it really is Tom.
Allen was able to take what was a pretty good infrastructure and
push it over the hump. It took him two seasons to get
to the point where he could do it and it took hiring the right
offensive and defensive coordinators, but he did push it
over the hump and it's funny, like you said did Allen learn
the wrong lesson from the Illinois game.
I would actually blow it up in the macro.
I think he learned the wrong lesson from 2019 and 2020.
He didn't learn that. I have to hire the absolute
right. Offensive coordinator and right
defensive coordinator because that's how I unlock the
potential of my roster and unlock the potential of these
recruits that I'm getting that that have been, you know, really
highly rated comparatively speaking in IU history.
It almost instead is like the lesson he seemed to learn was
I'm good at what I do and my instincts are the things that
matter and that's what God has those big.
Winds. And it's like, that's, that does
not appear to be how it actually worked out.
Because if you look at every move, he's made frankly since
the Outback Bowl since like a week before, the Outback Bowl,
every move has been wrong. And those moves have resulted in
the record that they have racked up over the course of these last
two seasons where they're, you know, they're two and ten last
year, they go winless in the conference and they're three and
six this year, I mean to go No to, to be staring down the
barrel of as you said, 5 and 19 over a two-season, stretch is
unacceptable for any program. And it it's hard to reconcile
that with what happened in 2019 and 2020.
Unless you look at it and say, all of the lessons that were
learned from 2019 and 2020 were wrong and it wasn't building on
top of a great infrastructure, that was the last gasp of the
infrastructure before it dissolved and was replaced with
something that wasn't sustainable.
And that's what Indiana looks like right now.
They look like an unmoored program, they look like a
program that doesn't have a center.
They look like a program that's desperately clutching at
whatever Solutions might present themselves on a week-to-week
basis. They feel like they have to rely
on subterfuge to have enough of an advantage to be competitive
in these games. And it's like that's never
worked that never, I mean that works.
If you're if you're a baseline 7 win team but this is like a
baseline three wind team right now and that's where this Graham
appears to be and it's just it's wild to see how it got that far.
That fast. Yes, it is.
It's I don't think any. Yeah I mean after the end of
2020 I never would have thought. It's like art we're about to
end. The narrative was never were
staring down a hard reboot in the face.
It just wasn't like it was like this is we're bringing back that
we're bringing everybody back. That was the idea.
It wasn't like oh we're about to do a hard reset and the
troubling thing for all these Moving forward is, you know,
this isn't basketball, obviously, but what I mean it's
like the program was stuck in neutral with Archie Miller.
You hire a new coach you get a couple.
Good recruits like Hey we're ranked 12th in the country and
then we're going to have what should be a good season football
you and I have been fans for 30 plus years, IU football has
never worked. That way mean, you can, no
matter what you say, we are near the bottom of the bottom right
now. We are in a Reset Program mode
right now. Ever ever in IU football, has it
been like, Hey, we're going to go from Two and ten to seven and
five like that just doesn't happen that if Alan does that,
then he is the best coach in IU football history.
If he takes next year's team to a bowl that has never been done.
Every coach who comes in, whether it's Mallory or Cam
Cameron or, you know, Terry Heppner or, you know, Kevin
Wilson anybody who's come in when the program's DOA.
And at the bottom, it's taken them two or three years to like
slowly. Turned around.
It just has never happened in a one year.
Period. That's not what happens here.
And those are coaches who had all, you know, hey, good, new
coach smell on them. I mean, well, I mean for Alan to
turn this around. Would be a Herculean effort.
Unlike the likes of which we've never seen an eye.
You yea no and look up there. There was there was a piece
today that talked about the goalposts moving and
expectations of fans and things like that.
And I there were some parts of the piece that I agreed with.
There were some parts that I didn't.
But one thing that I really Vietnamese disagree with
conceptually and I've heard this from other other sources, is
this idea that I you fans like their expectations are.
Now unreasonable about the football privacy.
No, like the expectation for IU football is not that.
A win nine games or ten games every year and nobody i-i've
been an eye football fan, as long as you have.
I talk without you football, fans all the time.
I know this group of people, no one sits there and says we
should be a 9 or 10 when program every year, what they want to be
as competitive. They want to have a team that's
enjoyable to watch. They want to have a team that
fights, you know? And, and that's essentially what
they had become conditioned to from about 2013 until 2020, but
that was what? Deanna had been, they didn't go
to bowls every year, but they had been provided what neiu fan
ever wanted and what they had in the Mallory era, a team that
might get blown out some weeks, but was probably going to be
competitive in most games and not embarrass themselves.
What is being put on the field right now by you football, is
embarrassing. It is embarrassing to have an
offensive line. That is pathologically incapable
of blocking for the Run, blocking for the pass.
It is embarrassing. That the defense is essentially
incapable of generating turnovers is not capable of
stopping drives. You know, when they need to make
important plays does not appear to be able to make plays.
And I don't think that any fan is being unreasonable by saying
this is not worth supporting right now.
And we've seen this before and this was essentially what
happened in the 2000s under Jerry Denardo.
It's what happened in the two thousands of their Bill Lynch.
It's what happened under Cam Cameron.
Or a decent amount of that tenure, like it's IU football
fans. Just want a competitive team.
They would like to go to Bowls because they look around and
they see pretty much everybody else going to bowls and they see
Duke able to, you know, hire a new coach and bounce back and go
to a bowl. They see Missouri, they see
Kansas, they see. Kentucky.
This is not God. Why can't we be Ohio State?
This is, why can't we be any of those programs?
Yes, I mean fuckers. Yeah.
And Um, you know, I mean, all of this wouldn't be good for any
program, right? Any yeah, I don't know, I don't
know. I mean, I don't know what at
this point, the problem is, like, just real quickly.
The problem is, you, you mentioned like this happen to
her Cameron happening in our do, it happened under Lynch, but
well, those happened. And then you had an out, you had
an out like this is where again, it's like this comes to do
something you got to figure. I don't know what the answer is,
but we can't just run this back for two and a half more years or
else you're really going to see. Like, all right, how many
die-hard? Hard literally find out how many
die-hard fans there are because you're gonna find out what a
really empty Memorial Stadium. Looks like for two and a half
years. If you.
That's the really most depressing part is, at least
when you started to get to this point with those coaches, you
mentioned, it was always like, all right, well, they'll be
fired this year next year. And this is like, no, we're not
going to change any of our coaching infrastructure for
probably two and a half or three years.
Well, honestly, if we do change it, it's just going to be more
churn. Like we need things that it's
they put themselves. In such a tough, they bought
themselves into such a corner, there's no moves the moves.
They make could actually hurt more by changing more coaches,
and it's like, you need more time to figure out the new
offense and I honestly have no idea what to do, but you can't
just run it back. I know and I don't really, I
mean the it's funny because you know, we keep seeing that, you
know, and this was a part of the piece as well.
This idea that like 0iu hasn't invested in the football
program, which I've I think we've talked about enough on
this program. It's not that they haven't
invested in the program. It's Unfortunately, they
invested wrong they and it's in, this is a long-standing issue
with IU football and I you Athletics where they hire the
wrong people. And, you know, look, I don't
think that anybody and we talked about it before.
I don't think anybody thought that this was the wrong higher
or thought that this was the wrong extension when it was
made. And so it's not necessarily even
being critical. It's just being realistic in
retrospect. This was the wrong guy to give
an extension to. I don't know that there was a
way that you couldn't have, but it was take the extension was,
right? I think the guaranteed portion I
was wrong. You're probably, you know,
that's true. I don't know that you were going
to be, you know, in that era in this area that we're in.
Now we see buyouts getting bigger and bigger.
This is going to be part of the cost of doing business.
I do think though, like, the problem that IU is had
historically, is that they have consistently across multiple
athletic directors, multiple formations of the athletic
department, have consistently hired the wrong coaches.
And then, you know, you think about all the momentum out of
the hip Era and they hire Bill Lynch.
And they felt like they had to because Lynch was the interim
coach in the year that Hefner died.
And so it was justifiable. But it also essentially put IU
football back to square one. They fire Cameron probably a
year, too late and they replace them with dinardo and that
kills, whatever momentum, they had coming out of, you know,
beating Purdue and going five and six in 2001, you know,
they've and I just keep thinking back to The it's unfortunate and
I get, I don't think it's something that you can
necessarily point the finger at the athletic department and
blame them for other than the amount of the buyout that they
gave. Yes, I do think that that's
something that you can be critical about, but it is to
some degree. Some bad luck, that Tom Allen,
when he looked like he was the right choice.
He looked like he was, you know, the Mallory 2.0 just does not
appear to be capable of creating the right culture.
Long-term Have a winning football program and I would
love that to be wrong because as we said last time, we podcast
that, he's an easy guy to root for.
He sells Indiana football, very well.
But when you look at what's going on on the field, it just
looks like a program that is going nowhere, except backwards
and I don't know what, how do you like what, how could you
have predicted that two or three years ago?
I don't think you could have but it doesn't negate the fact that
it's an awful situation and either are you end up spending a
lot of money trying to Educate themselves from it or they the
program basically does what it does your did what it did like
at the end of the 2000 s you know you are 100% right?
And like to play big-time College.
This is where I you frustrates me and then we can probably wrap
this up. Yeah, that leg down.
Yes. But this is where I get
frustrated is like they're trying.
They kind of have it both ways. And one hand, they pay Alan and
it's like, all right. Well, you got it.
This is what real programs do is they do.
Big guaranteed contracts like, okay, and your power five
conference and you're part of the Big Ten.
This big media Network and tons of money.
It's like, all right. So on one hand, they do with the
big boys schools do, but then, when it comes to, you know, if
this was, I'm not and I'm not at all making the comparison, but
I'm just saying, look at this was happening at Notre Dame, or
Ohio, State or Michigan. It's like buyout wouldn't really
matter like they the bit a real program would just pay this out,
deal with it and figure it out. So it's like on one hand, we get
the bad of all the being a good program of being a big program,
you've got to pay a huge by, that's what you'll melt.
Tucker's. Do we got to do it but then now
that we're stuck staring at like this really sucks.
It's like well we don't have the money, we're not really a big
program like and that's the frustrating part is that you and
I both know they're not going to pay this out for two years but
you know we joke if Mel Tucker had continued to lose for two
straight years, Michigan state would have done something like
and the his buyouts massive but you know real programs have big
buyouts because they know in the end it's like, alright from
Notre Dame, it's a guy. I can get 40 million guaranteed
because I could give Child will find donors to buy it out.
And that's the problem was like Indiana is playing at the big
kids table but they don't have the stack of chips and they're
not playing like everyone else and then now that it's time to,
all right? Like now you're do something.
You gotta you basically, either got to like higher for Alan and
figure it out or you got to buy him, you gotta do something.
But he just going to be like, what we know the money it's
like, well then you we honestly shouldn't be playing in the Big
Ten. It's just that's what's
frustrating is. They made the big boy move that
everyone else did. And it's like now, okay, now,
Now, and that's where I agree with you saying we haven't
invested in the program is wrong, but I do think this is a
case where it is slightly, right?
And that, like, what other top five, you know, power Conference
teams would do here is, they would eat the buyout and move
on. Like that is to your point that
they would give the buyout. They would give the contract
with the extension, but then if the shit hit the fan, this hard
they would buy them out and move on and honestly it's like we're
not ready. Second part.
So honestly, when the to go back, what the calculus should
have been is like if your dogs are, if we can't afford a 40
billion dollar buyout, then honestly, we probably should let
Alan walk and just try again, we're not at a point where we're
at, we're a program that can offer this kind of money.
If things go wrong, we got to let him walk and we got to hope.
We can hire the next week. That's honestly where this
program is. That is they are the stepping
stone to other. Programs were not a real program
that can offer a 40 50 million million dollar contract
guaranteed because Cuz we're not willing to pay it out.
I just keep coming back to I just, I don't see the route back
from where they're at right now. I just don't, I and it sucks.
It really does. I just now see the route for
next year or the year after that's the thing.
It's like, I mean, you're going to get most of this team back of
- the ones that transfer and you don't have a lot of emerging
young talent and you don't have a clear quarterback, you know,
that and you don't have a line and you don't like you said,
you're kind of locked in with this coaching staff because you
can't keep Assistant coaches. And you're, you know, you're
gonna have to rebuild the offensive line from scratch with
a new coach. Like, I don't, where's the route
to respectability? I mean, you look at the schedule
next year and it's no better. And, and, you know, the people
looking at it and saying, oh, well, they should win all their
non-conference games. Like they had a Louisville on a
neutral site and Louisville's, not great, but Louisville's bed
in Indiana, you know, I mean, you've, we talked about Mel
Tucker and it's like, well, least Indiana is not Michigan
State. I got news for you guys.
Michigan, State's going to make a bowl.
Make a bowl. They're gonna go at least 66 be
beating. Yeah, they're going to get
Bolder ability probably by beating Indiana two weeks from
now a do the same. Like, we choking.
I got prettier like, you know, they get this Blood up II with a
guess, what? They're gonna beat us and get to
a bowl on that wind. Yeah, it's, it's really, it's
really Disturbed and actually a pretty will already have bowls
ability because they're going to beat Northwestern at home.
Yeah, two weeks. So they will be playing for a
better Bowl in the game that they play against us.
But we're still, hey, we're still theoretically Oil.
Jewel, Gala we are still theoretical for and actually,
even if even even when not if you even when Indiana losses to
Ohio State next week, which by the way, is Big noon kickoff on
Fox? It's the no better game.
Like that's funny. I was texting with might be a 40
James and I were joking that's on Crimson cash.
Like it could be a 40 point, spread it may actually there
might be some good value because a lot of people took a beating
because I think I think Ohio State was like a 38-point
favorite against Northwestern and they only won by 14.
So I bet they'll be some gun-shy wines there.
That people will take advantage of I don't even I don't even
think that's got a forecast on it yet.
But yeah, I mean it's really no better games like Washington
Oregon, but that you can't play that game at 9 a.m.
Pacific Time LSU Arkansas would have been good, but Arkansas had
to go and then obviously Fox doesn't have the SEC contract,
so that wouldn't have mattered. I mean /, do it.
Noise is probably a better football game, but neither of
those teams have any fans. Whereas, Ohio state has, like,
half the Eastern Seaboard watching them.
So, yeah, there really isn't a better game to put on
television, but it's just wild. But anyway, even when I do an
NBA game, but be like before the yeah, I got sidetracked, the
reason I was saying that it's technically Indiana could still
be, could still go to a bowl at 5:00 and 7:00.
Rutgers did it. Last year?
We Yukon could do it this year. It's just not gonna happen.
They're not going to win any of their remaining games.
They just, I mean, there's nothing they're not playing like
they're even going to be competitive and it's hard for me
to look at Michigan State and say, oh well, Michigan, State's
and travel agencies walked in and beat Illinois yesterday that
game that East Lansing. And that's see.
That's the thing that we're going to stop.
After this, which has become like a bitching session, but
that's the thing that pisses me off like that Michigan State
team. By all accounts should have
gotten run against Illinois. Illinois had all the momentum
Michigan State at just suspended eight of its players for that
crap that they pulled in. In the tunnel at Michigan, you
know, Michigan State and everything's gone wrong for
them. This year yet, they were able
somehow to pick themselves up off the carpet and, you know,
they walk into Illinois who was a top 15 team and they beat them
by 8 and it's like the fact that they're able to do that kind of
highlights the problems with infrastructure at IU, where it's
like once we saw that I you was incapable of winning at
Nebraska, it was very clear that that was it.
It where is it? Where is even just three or four
years ago? I would have felt somewhat
confident that Indiana could have gotten obliterated in the
game and then turned around pick themselves back up and be
competitive in the next. And I just I don't see it with
this system commission. Say they lost four in a row
after that Washington game and they came back and Beat Dat
Wisconsin. Like do you think we could play
Wisconsin home and beat them this year?
No, no anyway, all right, yeah, well we found out we were hoping
this would be quick and then we discarded complain or these or
these Yeah. Hey, one of us has to do the
preview podcasts to so delightful stuff.
Hey, we can hold on real quick. We can do the Ohio State won
now. Hey, thanks for joining Crimson
cast to play at Ohio State on Saturday, were going to lose
have a great time. It's not here.
Big news Saturday, check it out on Fox at noon.
I've no idea who the quarterback is going to be our team is know
who the quarterback or cornerbacks don't who the
quarterback is gonna be. So yeah, go ahead and bet the
Ohio State. The point to see you guys on
Sunday talking to Scott, right? Thanks so much.
Bye home fields. We can 50% off home from a code.
Wow. That's, I love the efficiency.
This is great. You solved.
My weakest is delightful anyway. All right.
Well, folks, you have a safe and healthy and happy next week and
hopefully Indiana, figure something out.
Basketball starts on Monday. We're going to talk some
basketball soon as we get some initial Impressions underway and
I don't know, we'll see what happens with everything here for
Scott. I'm Galen.
This is Crimson cast. We appreciate you listening, as
always be sure to In in, throughout the course of the
upcoming month, lot of fun stuff going on with IU Athletics, as
basketball gets underway and football stops.
Anyway, we'll catch you folks on the flip side.
Bring back the Bison. So long, everybody.