1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,520 You're listening to the Back Home Network presented by Home 2 00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:15,040 Field Apparel. Welcome back to Crimson Cast, 3 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:19,240 Galen Clavier joining you. It is Tuesday, October 22nd, the 4 00:00:19,240 --> 00:00:24,080 big week for IU continues as we get ready for ESPN college game 5 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:25,840 day coming to town. We get ready for the Washington 6 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:30,040 Huskies coming to town to take on the seven and O Indiana 7 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:32,320 Hoosiers. And we promised you a lot of 8 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:35,680 content on football this week. We've got Zach Osterman from the 9 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:37,640 Indy Star, IU Insider joining us. 10 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:38,960 We'll get to him in just one second. 11 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:41,320 First of all, just a reminder, we are part of the back home 12 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,280 network here at Crimson Cast and we're brought to you by Home 13 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:46,000 Field Apparel. Your place to go for the finest 14 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,320 in college fashions, the softest fabrics, the coolest designs, a 15 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:52,000 lot of IU stuff. If you haven't been to Home 16 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,040 Field Apparel, go shop it. Get your IU stuff. 17 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:58,000 Plenty of great stuff to to shop for there. 18 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,960 You can use the code home 23. Get 15% off your first order. 19 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:05,360 Home Field Apparel sponsors all of our podcasts here on the Back 20 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:06,800 Home network. We are thrilled to have them as 21 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:08,640 a partner and happen to be working with them throughout the 22 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:10,960 course of this week. We'll have more info on that a 23 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:14,240 little later on today. All right, we want to dive right 24 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:19,080 in and get talking with Zach. Zach, hi, welcome back. 25 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:20,720 Good to see you. We haven't talked since pre 26 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,560 season and it feels like a lot's happened since. 27 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:26,520 Then I just want to know what the scoop is with home field. 28 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:28,320 Where, where are we up to? Where are we going? 29 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,800 I, I am, I am sworn to secrecy. They, they, they have to make 30 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:32,840 the announcements. So. 31 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:35,200 You're going to tell what first? Is that what you're saying? 32 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:37,200 Yeah, well, I'm not going to tell FAML. 33 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:39,720 An unnamed source is going to tell FAML and then we'll leak it 34 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:41,200 to you guys. It'll be great, you know, get 35 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:43,280 this whole operational order going on. 36 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:47,880 But no, it's a fun week, fun couple of weeks here in 37 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:50,080 Bloomington. You've been covering this team 38 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,000 in one form or another pretty much consistently for the last 39 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,680 like, what, 1718 years? Can you ever remember the 40 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,840 atmosphere around IU football from your position as a neutral 41 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:04,720 observer being anything close to this? 42 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,600 And you know, I guess like, you know, what is that? 43 00:02:08,759 --> 00:02:11,480 What does it, what does it appear like to you as someone 44 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:13,880 who's trying to process all this, but also keep it in some 45 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:18,640 kind of national perspective? No, not really is the answer to 46 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:21,200 the first question. Like there have been moments. 47 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,120 I think there was, you know, this sort of groundswell of 48 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:28,080 excitement and pride after they beat Purdue in O 7 because 49 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,960 obviously there was an emotional context to that that was 50 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:33,800 distinct. And, and, you know, I think we 51 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:39,040 all hope we know we never see again for for obvious reasons. 52 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,360 And then, you know, I mean, the, the COVID season was like as 53 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:44,200 much as it could be, but the problem was nobody could be 54 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,440 around. And even the year before, I, I 55 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,640 remarked at this when we were kind of talking about, you know, 56 00:02:49,640 --> 00:02:54,040 the importance on our podcast of some of these, these games in 57 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:58,280 the last few weeks, Maryland, Nebraska, now Washington, even 58 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:02,800 the year before Indiana. Listen, Indiana earned an 8 win 59 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,960 season, but so many of the most important wins came on the road. 60 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:09,600 So like just just by the nature of, you know, the, the Maryland 61 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:11,800 win, the Nebraska win, the Purdue win, just by the nature 62 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,880 of the schedule, all the wins that you sort of remember that 63 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:20,200 season fondly for happened away from Memorial Stadium. 64 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:25,760 You didn't get the scene basically that you got, I mean 65 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:27,720 really to some extent against Maryland. 66 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:29,440 I think that would have been a sellout if not for the 67 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:31,320 hurricane. And it's worth saying there were 68 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:34,480 probably about 48,000 people there, which is, is very close 69 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:38,920 to capacity. And they did not leave, you 70 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,640 know, that they, they stayed, they stayed engaged. 71 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:46,280 They were by and large still there even at the end when, you 72 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:48,120 know, the, the game was long decided. 73 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,080 And then Nebraska, you know, I mean, the, the, The funny thing 74 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:55,280 is like it, you know, it was almost kind of a, you know, the 75 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,440 sort of the sort of grim joke that if you're an Indiana fan, 76 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,000 you're allowed to laugh at. Like the crowd did leave against 77 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:02,640 Nebraska. And they did because it's just 78 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:06,320 like, you know, it's indelicate to just stand there and watch 79 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:12,000 someone get just just just just pounded into the ground the way 80 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,000 that Nebraska was. Like I I've gone back and 81 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:18,519 watched some of the highlights just for my own sort of very 82 00:04:18,519 --> 00:04:22,120 rudimentary film study. And like by by the end, like Gus 83 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:25,120 Johnson is kind of beside himself, Like he's just he says 84 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,440 like touchdown Indiana. Wow, you know what I mean? 85 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:34,640 Just like you know, and, and obviously that performance, I 86 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:37,360 suspect that I, I, I guess I would be surprised if Indiana 87 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:41,560 beats Washington 56 to 7:00 just because you don't beat everybody 88 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:46,880 56 to 7 every week. That performance stands alone in 89 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:49,600 a weird way, but the atmosphere, the energy and then obviously 90 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,480 what has accompanied it, the national attention. 91 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:57,160 You know, I know big new kickoff told IU back in the summer, they 92 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:03,240 thought that either the the Nebraska game or the Michigan 93 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,040 game might be one that they were targeting could be in 94 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:07,960 Bloomington for that depending on how things broke. 95 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,320 But obviously now game day coming into town as well. 96 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:13,440 I wouldn't be shocked if we see big new kick off again. 97 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:17,480 Frankly, I know you, you, you, that's your corner of the story 98 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,080 even more than mine. But I would not be surprised if 99 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:23,760 if they are back in town, maybe for that Michigan game in a 100 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:28,920 couple weeks, we'll see. You know, this is new. 101 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,840 This is different in in and it's not just different to what I've 102 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:35,400 experienced or even what you've experienced. 103 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:37,640 I don't think it's going on a limb to say this is different to 104 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:39,720 the modern IU football experience. 105 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:41,840 I don't think anyone's really seen this. 106 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:45,760 You know, Indiana's only started a season 7 and 0 twice. 107 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:50,560 And one of those times was in 1967, when obviously, you know, 108 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:53,080 this whole experience would be very different because there is 109 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:55,720 no television, there is no social media that, you know, 110 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:58,840 the, the, the sense of community we draw from sports is not 111 00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:01,440 better or worse, but different now than it was then. 112 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:07,280 So I think we are all kind of, you know, sailing into uncharted 113 00:06:07,280 --> 00:06:12,960 waters together here, you know, in our in our various boats, if 114 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,880 you will. And it's fascinating. 115 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:17,680 I mean, it, it like it really is. 116 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:21,840 It really is. As somebody who has been an 117 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:27,000 interested observer of this program for a long time, and I 118 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,480 know you and I have had many conversations about what doesn't 119 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:33,360 work in Indiana and why, why what has failed in Indiana has 120 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:38,520 failed in Indiana. To see it succeed here is is 121 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,160 really something. I was paging back through some 122 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:47,360 old message threads earlier today and I found a story I'd 123 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,000 forgotten all about. I think you either tweeted it or 124 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,560 wrote about it or something. But I believe it was from spring 125 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,240 ball. And the headline was, you know, 126 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:59,840 Signetti was upset because his, he said his players had come out 127 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:02,880 like the old Indiana in practice. 128 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:06,680 And it, it got me thinking and I was curious about your 129 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,760 perceptions on this, especially having talked with Ben Portnoy 130 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,080 about this yesterday on our podcast with him. 131 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,400 The culture change that we've seen with this team and the just 132 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:20,760 the way that they're playing and the the aggressive competency 133 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:23,920 that I keep calling it that they've had in the way that they 134 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:26,040 played both offensively and defensively. 135 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,320 I mean, this is such a huge turn around just in terms of quality 136 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:31,800 of play. I mean, putting the record even 137 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:36,480 aside, how surprised are you that Kurt Signetti has been able 138 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:39,480 to affect this many changes this quickly and that his staff has 139 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:42,160 had this level of effectiveness with what was really a very 140 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,720 cobbled together roster? Like you know, there was some 141 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,560 consistency or continuity from the JMU transfers, but it's more 142 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:50,720 than just those folks that are contributing this and they're 143 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,160 doing it at a much higher level in conference and and just in 144 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:56,280 terms of overall profile than they were last year. 145 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,040 Yeah, I mean, the one thing I'd say is like, I've been kind of 146 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,840 banging this drum for a while now that that with the portal 147 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:08,520 and with NIL, the the NFL sort of formula for building a roster 148 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:10,800 fits in college more than than it really ever has. 149 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:15,480 That you you know, you cluster a lot of your sort of resources 150 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:18,120 around your, your biggest playmakers, your most important 151 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:22,160 players, your quarterback, your tackles, your pass rushers, you 152 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:24,520 know your your 3 or 4 best skill players. 153 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:28,680 You obviously spread a lot of money out in, in smaller amounts 154 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,960 among young players in the NFL, it's draft picks in in college, 155 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:34,400 it's freshman red shirt freshman. 156 00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:36,960 And then you just kind of fill the gaps with guys that only be 157 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:39,760 around for one or two years, but that are just you know that that 158 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,880 you know that the, the in the NFL, it's free agents who maybe 159 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:47,280 can get a A1 year deal, A2 year deal, something like that in 160 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:49,960 college, it's guys who have one or two years of eligibility 161 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:54,040 left. And I bring that up because, you 162 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:55,920 know, the flip side is like we, we do see some of these 163 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:59,000 turnarounds, maybe not quite to this extent, but like we do see 164 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,640 these turnarounds in the NFL where all it takes is a fresh 165 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:07,360 coach with a better approach and a good scheme and and some sort 166 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:11,920 of advantage, whether it's tangible or intangible coming 167 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,520 in. Obviously, maybe the the biggest 168 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,600 difference is you are able to kind of microwave your 169 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:21,600 quarterback position in college. Like you in the NFL, anybody 170 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,480 with a really established quarterback isn't going to let 171 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:28,800 them go. Whereas in college, you know, 172 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:34,360 you you're going to have players like Curtis Rourke or, you know, 173 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,040 Dylan Gabriel has a slightly different journey, but you know, 174 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:40,400 a similar sort of impacted organ where it's like, well, there are 175 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:42,800 these really good quarterbacks kind of out there on the market. 176 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,280 Their previous school just can't keep them, you know that they 177 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:50,240 want to leave. So if you have the means and you 178 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:54,440 can convince them, then you can you can turn around really 179 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:56,360 important positions on your roster really quickly. 180 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:59,120 That is a, a departure sort of in the comparison in college. 181 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:03,880 But what is similar to me is you can turn, you know, you talk 182 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:06,440 about the old Indiana, but like how many players have that 183 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:08,120 practice played for the old Indiana? 184 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:10,800 I mean, less than half of the scholarship players on the field 185 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:13,640 or maybe roughly half, 'cause I guess at that point you're still 186 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:15,400 waiting for your freshman class to come in. 187 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:22,200 But the idea, you know, we do see in the NFL teams that can go 188 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:28,200 from five wins to 10 or 11 wins. And it's just because the right 189 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:31,520 coach is hired, the right coordinators are put in place. 190 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:34,880 The scheme is good. You know, a few clever draft 191 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:39,520 picks, a a couple really astute free agent signings. 192 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:42,400 You get a couple guys that maybe were playing well on a bad team 193 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:45,080 suddenly to be playing well on a good team. 194 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,840 And suddenly you you completely reframe the conversation around 195 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:51,160 an NFL team. We see that happen not all the 196 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:52,960 time, but you know, fairly often. 197 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:57,440 That's that's part of the appeal of the NFL is that that ability 198 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:03,000 to strike parity more quickly than in in, you know, most other 199 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:05,560 sports. You are getting some of that, 200 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:09,160 not a ton, but some of that in college football now. 201 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,800 And I think Indiana is kind of acting as this, you know, 202 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:17,240 example in extremists, if you understand what I'm saying, of 203 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:22,480 when you do make all the right decisions and you are smart 204 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:26,000 about how you identify. This is why we need this player 205 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:28,280 and this is the mentality we're looking for in this player and 206 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:33,000 all these different things. You can flip it around pretty 207 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:37,160 quick. Now you know where the outlier's 208 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:39,120 gonna come. As if in three weeks we're still 209 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:41,040 talking about Indiana being undefeated. 210 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:44,560 You know, if in four weeks Indiana's 11 and O and just beat 211 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:47,680 Ohio State in Columbus, that's that's where you start to get 212 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:52,400 into like these historical extremes of, you know, that 213 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:57,400 doesn't happen anywhere. But I know you and I had these 214 00:11:57,400 --> 00:11:59,280 conversations even in the offseason. 215 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:03,600 Like I wouldn't have predicted they'd beat Nebraska 56 to 7, 216 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,240 obviously, but you didn't have to work that hard to convince me 217 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:08,960 they'd beat Nebraska. You wouldn't have had to work 218 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:12,720 that hard to convince me they'd beat any of the first seven 219 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,240 teams on their roster or really even any of the 1st 9. 220 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:17,000 And I'm not going to predict they're going to go nine and 221 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:18,520 zero. I didn't in the preseason. 222 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:26,360 But my point is, if you, if you had, if you bought into the more 223 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:33,240 optimistic outlook for this, this team, not just the players 224 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:39,440 or the just the transfers or just the staff, but the whole 225 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:44,800 picture, these results are more dominant than what we would have 226 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,920 expected. But the, the, the basic results 227 00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:51,280 maybe shouldn't be that surprising. 228 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:57,040 Or at least it's not like it's happening against all odds. 229 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:00,920 It's, I mean it, you know it. You looked at this team in 230 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:02,400 spring and thought at least I did. 231 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:04,440 That's pretty good football team. 232 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:05,640 How good? I'm not sure. 233 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:10,320 And then you do have, you know, to your point about Signetti 234 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:12,760 with the, you know, the the comment about we were the old 235 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:16,400 Indiana. Then you do have this this sort 236 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:23,280 of, you know, historical context or this this historical tether 237 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:25,680 and you're not really sure. Is Indiana actually still 238 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:28,320 attached to it? Does the portal in the roster 239 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,560 turnover allow you to just sort of like shed that completely? 240 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:35,600 How does that work? Well, so far it it seems like 241 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:40,760 Indiana has really has has left that behind pretty emphatically. 242 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:47,680 And I think the question now justifiably becomes not even, 243 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:50,880 you know, and I mean, I jeez, I wrote this after Northwestern, 244 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,960 much less after Nebraska. You're not comparing this to 245 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:55,480 Indiana football in the past anymore. 246 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:58,280 You know, you asked at the top, have I ever seen anything like 247 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:02,080 this? Well, no, but we're kind of past 248 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:06,000 treating this like, well, compared to Indiana football in 249 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:07,480 the past. What's this like? 250 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:11,800 You know it's time and they may end up in the playoffs, they may 251 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:15,040 not, but it's time to compare this team to the best teams in 252 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:19,280 the country because they are one of them and there is just no 253 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:23,400 real escaping that. How surprised have you been at 254 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:25,600 the dominance they've demonstrated in these games? 255 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,280 I mean, you know, we, we've heard comments about the record 256 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:31,160 being weak. But football's such a small 257 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:33,360 sample size, college football especially. 258 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,320 And the way that these things get metricized is not just who 259 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:41,040 you played, but it's also how much did you beat them by and 260 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:44,240 how much would a, a, a, an average team beat them by? 261 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:47,600 And I, you know, there's some comments about that Nebraska 262 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:50,520 game because predictably, we saw the national narrative shift a 263 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:53,000 bit to, well, Nebraska clearly wasn't that good because they 264 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:57,640 just lost 56 to 7. It does make one think if if 265 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:02,000 most other teams of like a decent or better caliber in the 266 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,960 Big 10, if they're beating Nebraska 56 to 7 at home, 267 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:08,480 there's going to be a lot of stand up and take notice and 268 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:12,320 rightfully so. You know, what do you attribute 269 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,760 their dominance to? Because it hasn't been 270 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,480 necessarily that they've dominated the full 60 minutes of 271 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:18,920 every game. I mean, the Maryland game was 272 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:21,920 close into the third quarter. Northwestern got within three 273 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,040 points in the third quarter. But you know, in those games, 274 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:28,440 Indiana was able to even UCLA was kind of in that pattern to 275 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:30,120 some degree. But they've been able to outlast 276 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:33,120 opponents, really outworked them in the fourth quarter. 277 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,120 And then this Nebraska game felt like it opened almost a brand 278 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,040 new front because, you know, that is a talented team that'll 279 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:40,520 be a almost certainly a bowl team. 280 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:42,200 They'll likely beat UCLA this week. 281 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:45,240 And they just didn't look like they could stay on the field 282 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,520 with Indiana, even with Indiana playing their backup quarterback 283 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:50,600 in the second-half. I mean, you know, when you've 284 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:52,720 watched this team, what has stood out to you as far as how 285 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:54,760 they've been able to get to this level of dominance? 286 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:58,600 I mean, what I think what is, and I've said this and I think 287 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:00,840 you can illustrate this in any number of ways what I've said. 288 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:04,520 I mean, the, the, the, the score lines, you know, I think there 289 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,640 was a stat running around on Sunday that Indiana's got like 290 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:11,120 the, the largest aggregate margin of victory of any team in 291 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:13,800 the last five years, something like that. 292 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:18,360 You know, the score what? And when people have said how 293 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,120 surprised, you know, before the Nebraska game anyway, when 294 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:23,880 people said how surprised are you at this? 295 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:26,440 I said, well, I don't, I'm not terribly surprised at the 296 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:30,560 results because again, I could have been convinced that Indiana 297 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,200 would be any of the first nine teams that it it played. 298 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:35,320 You know, it wasn't until you got to Michigan. 299 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,920 And now maybe we need to reframe the, the, the sort of narrative 300 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:39,280 around Michigan a little bit too. 301 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:41,880 But it wasn't until you got to Michigan when you looked at this 302 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,840 in the spring, in the summer, the schedule and you said, is 303 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,640 there a team here that Indiana just flatly should not expect to 304 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:52,000 beat? It is the nature of these wins 305 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,280 that is surprising and that I think it's turned to people's 306 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:56,960 heads. And I think what what I have 307 00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:07,599 come back to so often is both the efficiency of it and the the 308 00:17:07,599 --> 00:17:10,200 balance of it. And so from an efficiency 309 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:15,800 perspective, it is the fact that like Indiana is one of the best 310 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,599 teams, for example, in the Big 10. 311 00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:21,480 In fact, they are now the best team or, or or still the best 312 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:25,560 team in the Big 10 on 3rd downs. They are arguably the best red 313 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:30,280 zone team in America. They run the ball, they pass the 314 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:32,760 ball incredibly well, but they actually run it a lot better 315 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:35,800 than than even some of Cignetti's JMU teams did 316 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:37,880 relative to conference competition. 317 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:41,320 They lead the conference in long scrimmage plays, which is 318 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:46,520 basically explosive plays. They, and that's the like 10 + 319 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,680 20 plus and 30 plus yards. They lead the conference in 320 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:54,160 sacks, in tackles for loss. Thanks to no small parts of the 321 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:57,600 five turnovers they forced this weekend, they are now third, I 322 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,480 think tied for third in the conference in turnovers forced. 323 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,280 They are something like tied for second now. 324 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:07,000 I'm looking at it now in the conference in turnover margin. 325 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:15,560 And you know, I think back to some like, you know, like for 326 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:21,720 example, when LSU wins that national title in 2019, you know 327 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:25,320 it is because you you you just hit at the perfect intersection 328 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:29,480 of like generational receivers, a good, maybe not great but good 329 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:32,440 offensive line and a Heisman Trophy quarterback. 330 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:38,000 When Auburn wins its national title in in 20 the 20/10/2011 331 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:43,800 season, it is because Auburn finds a generationally an 332 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:47,200 incredible player in Cam Newton and builds the perfect offense 333 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:50,760 around him and goes 14 and O or 15 and O whatever. 334 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:52,000 I guess it would have been 14 and O back then. 335 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:56,920 That was the BCS Harris. Still that's not happening here 336 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:01,240 that you know that this isn't this is not just because you do 337 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:03,520 have two or three. Now India has got some really 338 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:06,160 good players. Curtis Rourke is having a great 339 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:09,440 season. A lot I, I, Elijah Serrat is, I 340 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:13,360 mean, as, even as a football neutral is so much fun to watch, 341 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:18,760 not just the pass catching, but like the physicality, the 342 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:22,800 downfield blocking. You know, I, I mean, if you're 343 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:28,720 looking for moments that define Elijah Sarat, like I think 1st 344 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:32,720 about him trucking a, a defensive back at UCLA or when 345 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:36,120 he's blocking 30 yards downfield, burying a defensive 346 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:41,200 back out of bounds to just, just to hold a block for a running 347 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:45,400 play, whatever. You know, Mikhail Kumar is I 348 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:47,520 think the best pass rusher in this program's had probably at 349 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,120 least 9 or 10 years maybe since Nick Manjiri. 350 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:52,320 You know, you, you've got some other pieces there. 351 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:54,440 They got two really good linebackers and some some 352 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:56,920 promising guys behind them that the offensive line has played 353 00:19:56,920 --> 00:19:58,840 really well. But the point is they're doing 354 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:00,800 this on, on the merits of the whole team. 355 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:05,080 This is not because you just have, you know, a small clutch 356 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,640 of irreplaceable players that you have just sort of. 357 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:13,640 Manage to put in exactly the right spots at exactly the right 358 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:19,560 times to to just sort of create a level of of dominance or 359 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:24,120 unstoppability for yourself. This is the team, you know, 360 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:28,640 winning, but this is the team essentially adding itself up to 361 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:31,440 something greater than the sum of its parts and just 362 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:38,080 consistently being far too much for the Big 10 teams that's 363 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:39,720 playing. And, and in a funny way, like 364 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:42,280 it's almost like, and I'm fascinated to see what these 365 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:46,640 next two weeks hold for Indiana, but it's almost like Indiana has 366 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,000 started at the bottom of the conference and worked its way 367 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:50,400 up. UCLA is one of the worst teams 368 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,880 in the league. And so they go out to the Rose 369 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:55,480 Bowl and they beat them the way they beat them. 370 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:58,680 Then you get a couple teams in Maryland and and Northwestern 371 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:00,480 that are probably in the bottom third of the league. 372 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:03,840 Maybe, maybe one of them will get to a bowl game this season. 373 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,680 You'd be kind of surprised if both did and they, you know, 374 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,200 dispatch of them with relative ease. 375 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,040 Then you sort of graduate to OK, now you're in the middle class 376 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:17,040 of the Big 10, Nebraska, Washington, Michigan State, at 377 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,760 least on the on the road maybe fits that a little bit more. 378 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:23,440 And that's why I found this three-game stretch fascinating. 379 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,920 And for them to start it the way that they did with the Nebraska 380 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:29,960 game, where again, you know, you, you switch quarterbacks 381 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,040 halfway through, multiple running backs have touchdowns, 382 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:36,200 you know, it's a it's a different receiver again, having 383 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:39,640 a career day. Like it's just a really well 384 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:43,160 built, well coached team. I don't know how much you 385 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,600 clocked this, but like Urban Meyer last week when he was 386 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:50,120 doing his, his big 10 network stuff and he was doing when he 387 00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:52,600 talked to us before the, you know, on the Friday before the 388 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:57,440 game with, with the Fox dress rehearsal, like he could not get 389 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:01,400 to a camera fast enough. Been talking about how well 390 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:05,360 coached he thought Indiana was. And, and he said something to us 391 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:07,240 in the reporter scrum. He said, there's times where I 392 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,840 turn on film and I just have to turn it off. 393 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:11,600 Like I just, I just can't watch it. 394 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:14,440 And there's times where I turn on film and I can't stop 395 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:16,320 watching. And he was saying that that is 396 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:18,160 that is where I'm at with Indiana. 397 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:22,680 I can't, I can't stop watching this team play football. 398 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:24,600 And he's highlighting little things. 399 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:27,800 He's highlighting, you know, tons of different players and, 400 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:31,120 and stuff. It just what is remarkable is 401 00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:33,280 the extent to which everyone just seems to be looking around 402 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:37,000 and saying there is nothing. I don't want to say even fluky 403 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:39,720 because like it's not fluky that Joe Burrow turns out to be one 404 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:41,680 of the great quarterbacks, you know, deliver one of the great 405 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:43,680 quarterbacks seasons of of his generation. 406 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:50,720 But there is nothing sort of there's not an outlier here like 407 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:54,240 Indiana's just playing good football and winning games and 408 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:58,160 beating everyone at faces. And in a weird way, the better 409 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,800 you are, the more likely Indiana is to just to batter you, 410 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:06,800 apparently. And I, you know, I mean we. 411 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,000 We talked at the beginning of the season on the podcast about 412 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,040 how important confidence is for a team. 413 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:16,160 And in football. I think it's it may be the most 414 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:20,200 important of all of the sports because it is, it is such a game 415 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:24,320 of momentum and you have to have that baseline of great coaching. 416 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:26,680 I mean, I I thought the same thing with Urban Meyer's 417 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:28,800 comments. I don't hear him gush that much 418 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:31,560 about programs. He'll gush account, but 419 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:34,960 individual coaches occasionally. But he went out of his way to 420 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:38,560 highlight how well he thought Indiana was being coached and, 421 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,320 and how well their players were executing. 422 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,600 But then, you know, I think what stuck out to me being in the 423 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,560 stands at Nebraska and, and even being in the stands at 424 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:49,120 Northwestern and, and in Maryland, like the fourth 425 00:23:49,120 --> 00:23:54,600 quarter, this team just does not seem like they get daunted, I 426 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,640 guess, as the case may be. They they really do feel, it 427 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,040 almost feels like they feed off the crowd, they feed off the 428 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,040 energy, but they feed off of this idea that they're 429 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,000 executing. And there's a belief there. 430 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:07,720 It's a weird thing to say, but it and, and, but it's something 431 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:11,240 that you can visually see. There seems to be a belief that 432 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,360 they're going to execute on those plays. 433 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:15,880 And, and even when they don't, they haven't really gotten too 434 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:19,800 knocked down emotionally. I do wonder, you know, there's 435 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:21,880 something that's talking about like adversity and you know 436 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,400 what, if they what, what do they finally face a good team, a 437 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,480 really good team. We thought that was Nebraska, 438 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:30,080 but it feels like somehow the coaching staff, not as only is 439 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:33,480 coaching them really well, but it's instilled a belief in them 440 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:35,440 that they're going to be successful. 441 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,560 And that probably sticks out to me the most of all. 442 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,280 When I think about all of the former IU teams that I've 443 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:46,000 watched over the course of time, it always felt like IU teams 444 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:50,200 were on the precipice of losing their confidence and therefore 445 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:53,560 losing the advantage in games. And I've yet to see even a a 446 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,560 modicum of that in what we've seen out of IU so far this year. 447 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:58,880 It's it's jarring in a good way. It's just not something that I 448 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:01,560 expected. No, and I think a lot of that 449 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:03,360 does go back to Sigietta. You know, you talked about 450 00:25:03,360 --> 00:25:06,760 football as a game of momentum. I think it's a game of trust and 451 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,680 you know that there's no other game, there's no other team game 452 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:17,160 that asks you to essentially just like to suspend all 453 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:23,760 disbelief and just just accept that at the moment you're asked. 454 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,720 You just have one usually very basic job. 455 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:32,320 And if you do that, then everything will be fine because 456 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:38,080 there's ten other guys on the field and they too will do their 457 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,760 one basic job. And no one will be distracted by 458 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:45,080 what you know by worrying about whether it's that the guy next 459 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:48,560 to him is doing it right or whether the backup that had to 460 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:53,160 come in last week because somebody you know, Torres calf 461 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,880 muscle is going to make a mistake or whether the 462 00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:59,960 quarterback made the wrong pre snap read like you, just you you 463 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,440 like football is the ultimate game of trust, trust in 464 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:07,600 yourself, trust in your coach, trust in your team mates and the 465 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:12,920 ultimate the ultimate test of whether or not you can trust all 466 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:16,600 of those people and I guess to some extent really yourself too. 467 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:21,360 So implicitly that you will not deviate from the plan at all. 468 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:24,600 Most mistakes in football are born of good intentions. 469 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,440 They're born of people thinking, I don't know if he can do that, 470 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:30,440 so I've got to try and do my job and his job. 471 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:34,400 But then what happens is you, you do neither job effectively 472 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:39,320 and the whole thing breaks down. And this team has, yes, earned 473 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:41,280 confidence. It, it took it from its head 474 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:43,120 coach. I think that's been long 475 00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:47,000 established at this point. It took it from, you know, it, 476 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:49,720 the veterans, it came in, it took it from some of the players 477 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:51,360 who stayed. It certainly took it from the 478 00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:54,480 JMU transfers who came in and said like, listen, we've we've 479 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,320 done all this before. We're telling you it works. 480 00:26:57,680 --> 00:26:59,840 Trust it. Listen to what the guy has to 481 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:02,720 say because it's going to win us a lot of football games. 482 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:07,080 But there is also this trust that that this group has 483 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:12,080 achieved that, you know, if if everybody just goes out there 484 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:15,160 and does their job and has faith that the guy next to him is 485 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:18,640 going to do the exact same thing, that they're better 486 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,520 coached, that their scheme is better, that their preparation 487 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:22,640 is better. I mean, I don't know the number 488 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,080 of times I've had a player tell me. 489 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:27,520 I just think we're better prepared than any other team in 490 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,640 the country. You know, that that I just, I 491 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,520 had like just the level of faith they have that, you know, from 492 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:38,840 Curt Signetti on down the the sort of organizational chart 493 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:44,040 that Indiana is the best prepared team in the country. 494 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:45,920 When you have that kind of confidence and you have that 495 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,320 kind of trust. And then obviously the other 496 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:50,000 part of it is it has to be repaid. 497 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:53,760 It has to be paid back in results. 498 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:59,480 And that's where, you know, maybe to some extent seasons 499 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,480 never have happened in a vacuum. That's where maybe Indiana is 500 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:04,840 taking advantage of of the fortunate nature of its 501 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:09,600 schedule. You know, I, I've seen IU fans 502 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,280 saying, oh, if, if it, you know, if it had been Ohio State did 503 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,520 have played this schedule, people wouldn't disrespect it so 504 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:16,600 much. And I'm not completely sure 505 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,280 that's not true. Like, I, I, I think there is 506 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:20,840 some, some vouch for that argument. 507 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:23,960 But the flip side is I I also think this team kind of needed 508 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:27,760 the schedule to play out the way that it did, where you could get 509 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:32,240 a couple of games to get some of the gremlins out and make some 510 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:35,960 mistakes and really gain proof of concept. 511 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:40,240 And then you go to UCLA and, yeah, it's on the road and it's 512 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:42,080 the Rose Bowl. And actually, you wound up 513 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:44,880 being, you know, a better atmosphere from UCLA perspective 514 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,960 than what I've been told by PAC 12 people to expect. 515 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:52,080 But listen, I mean, that's a bad football team. 516 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:54,000 And Indiana made them look like a bad football team. 517 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:58,000 And so then suddenly you come home like, what if, what if 518 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,160 Indiana played its schedule completely in reverse? 519 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:03,600 And Ohio State was its Big 10 opener. 520 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:04,800 Like, what is what does that look like? 521 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:08,440 I don't know, maybe they'd be like, maybe maybe they went 100 522 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:10,120 and nothing. I have no idea at this point. 523 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:12,360 I'm, I, I'm it's hard for me to rule anything out with this 524 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:16,000 team. But, you know, even the schedule 525 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:20,840 feels like it has set up in just the right ways for this team. 526 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:25,160 And they've gotten to a place where there's just there is 527 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,200 supreme confidence, as you said. And I think there is also 528 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:37,120 supreme trust in the whole thing scheme, the staff, teammates, 529 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:42,200 everything to just say, you know, if we all go out there and 530 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,240 do what we know we need to do, do what we're told to do, do 531 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:48,160 what we're capable of, who can stop us? 532 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:52,640 And you know, to this point, Indiana has has not run into 533 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:54,840 anyone who can disabuse them of that notion. 534 00:29:55,680 --> 00:30:00,680 Obviously the big story this week is the temporary loss of 535 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:05,240 Curtis Rourke who suffered an injury in that Nebraska game. 536 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:11,160 Better sounding report coming up today from Pete Thammel about 537 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:14,600 Rourke's status as it was a little ambiguous what was going 538 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:16,800 on. If we take it at face value that 539 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:21,320 he doesn't play this week, what kind of impact does that have? 540 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,000 What kind of confidence should I, you have in Tavan Jackson to 541 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:27,640 be able to step up when and what is, you know, how does it change 542 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:29,800 what Indiana's trying to do offensively? 543 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:33,560 Because obviously, Rourke. It's not just Rourke's throwing 544 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:36,320 ability, but its ability to read the defense that has given 545 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,280 Indiana such a huge advantage so far offensively this season. 546 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:42,800 Yeah, I mean, I'm fascinated by that question. 547 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:44,640 So. So I guess on Rourke, because I 548 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:47,720 got into this a little bit too, I saw Pete's report and I tried 549 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:48,960 to follow up on it where I could. 550 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,760 Like, my understanding is basically they came out of the 551 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:55,760 game on, on Saturday. They weren't exactly sure the 552 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:57,480 extent of the injury. They didn't think it'd be too 553 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,720 bad. You know, I think, I actually 554 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:04,280 think that once Rourke had surgery, I, I actually, my 555 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:08,120 impression is the prognosis got better basically once they went 556 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:11,000 in there and, and they were able to kind of visualize what had 557 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,960 happened and what they were dealing with. 558 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,480 And I, I mean, I think Pete reported this and, and we did 559 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:19,600 too. I think, I think there's a 560 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:21,160 chance he plays against Michigan State. 561 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:24,480 I, I would be surprised if he plays this weekend. 562 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:28,960 I would be pretty surprised at that, not least because I'm not 563 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,640 sure you need him. You know, Washington 564 00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:37,320 statistically is not a terrible defense. 565 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:39,240 They're. They're really, I've been, I've 566 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:41,200 been deep diving into this with Taylor Lehman. 567 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:43,680 They're they're kind of an odd team in some ways because you're 568 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:47,800 right, your defense not quite as good as Nebraska's according to 569 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:50,800 numbers, but it's not that far off from where they were. 570 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:55,080 Their offense is kind of mid pack in college football, but 571 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:57,680 they seem to have largely feasted on teams that can't 572 00:31:57,680 --> 00:31:59,440 score against them. I mean, they're four wins. 573 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:01,800 No, I mean that. I mean, like they have given up 574 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:06,080 their last three games. They've given up 100 and 84174 575 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:10,720 and 220 yards rushing and five rushing touchdowns in those 576 00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,840 three games. Iowa obviously was the one that 577 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:19,760 really kind of torched them. 220 and 2 scores Iowa 140 to 16. 578 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:24,720 You know, I mean, if if you kind of look at it like the, the game 579 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,720 they win in that stretch is a home game against Michigan, that 580 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:29,880 I think a lot of that is reflective of Michigan's just 581 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:31,880 complete inability to pass the ball effectively. 582 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:35,840 So my point is that I I'm not doing Roark a disservice and I'm 583 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:38,880 not even necessarily trying to disrespect Washington. 584 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:42,200 I'm just pointing out Indiana's got one of the best run games in 585 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:43,840 the league and I don't think we talked as much about it because 586 00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:47,440 there's not one stand out player on that side of the ball the way 587 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:50,640 there is sort of this like, like there's Curtis work and then 588 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:53,560 very clearly like his number one target is Elijah Serrat and his 589 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:55,040 number 2 is probably Omar Cooper. 590 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:57,280 And then you have Keyshawn Williams and Miles Cross and 591 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:00,320 Miles Price who all fill these gaps around them and and and 592 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:02,480 make a lot of plays. And Zach Horton's a really good 593 00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:05,520 a really good quarterback. But like, I mean, India are a 594 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:08,920 really good tight end. I'm sorry, but Indiana is, I 595 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:15,160 mean, one of the Indiana is by 10 touchdowns has the most 596 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:17,920 rushing touchdowns in the league this season. 597 00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:19,440 And what's interesting to me too is. 598 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:23,640 Say that again, please. Indiana has 28 rushing 599 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:25,840 touchdowns. The next closest teams each have 600 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:27,240 18. I think there are two or three 601 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,840 teams with 18. And The thing is go look at the 602 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:35,080 at the long scrimmage plays. Indiana also leads the league in 603 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:39,560 rushes of of 10 plus yards. Now they're a little bit more 604 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:42,720 modest, you know, kind of maybe top five to middle of the pack 605 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:45,440 in 20 and 30 plus yards. But the point is we're not just 606 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:47,840 talking about a team that passes the ball down to the three and 607 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:51,720 then pounds it in. Indiana can RIP off big chunks 608 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:55,520 on the ground. We just saw them take, you know, 609 00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:59,440 maybe the best rushing defense in the Big 10 to school for 200 610 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:02,200 plus and five scores. The only other team that's gone 611 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:06,400 for 200 plus on the ground against Tony White, Nebraska 612 00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:07,720 defense. Tony White's been Nebraska's 613 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:09,239 defense coordinator for about a year and a half now. 614 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:12,920 The only team that went for 200 plus as a team against Tony 615 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:15,639 White's Nebraska defense was Michigan last year. 616 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:18,560 And we obviously know, you know how good Michigan was running 617 00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:22,080 the ball last year. So this should be a game, at 618 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:25,000 least on paper, particularly because Washington really got 619 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,560 screwed with the kick off time. I have no idea why this game is 620 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:30,800 being played at noon and Indiana doesn't have to apologize for 621 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:33,199 that. They didn't do it, but you know, 622 00:34:33,199 --> 00:34:35,600 Washington's going to be out there trying to plug holes in 623 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:37,320 it's run and I know they're coming off the buy, but they're 624 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:39,360 going to be out there trying to plug holes in their run defense 625 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:43,280 at 9:15 in the morning like that is that's not helpful. 626 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:49,560 And I, I will say like I went back and watched and I think I 627 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:52,679 found five of the 8 pros Tamon Jackson made, they were pretty 628 00:34:52,679 --> 00:34:57,360 much all 1 Reed throws. And some of that is going to be 629 00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:01,160 reflective of the offense. Like we make a lot about Curtis 630 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,120 Roark and his ability to, you know, make advanced progressions 631 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:06,040 and things. They still call a lot of one 632 00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:08,480 read pros for them. They still call a lot of RPO. 633 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:12,520 Typically most RPOS only have one pass read, maybe two maybe. 634 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:16,280 But the whole point of an RPO is it's supposed to almost act like 635 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:20,000 an option play like it's, it's supposed to happen so fast that 636 00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:24,520 a, a defense doesn't have time to react to both possibilities 637 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:29,920 at the same time #2 you know, you're, you're, you're giving 638 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:32,840 Jackson someone read stuff. They're not just because you 639 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:35,880 want to get his, his confidence and his rhythm up, but also 640 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:37,400 because he didn't prepare for that game. 641 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:41,000 And everybody will say, oh, I, I always prepare like I'm the 642 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:42,840 starter. And you can say that. 643 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:45,720 And that can be your mentality and film study and installing 644 00:35:45,720 --> 00:35:48,080 stuff. But the starter gets 85% of the 645 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:51,480 snaps in practice, you can't prepare as well as the starter 646 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:53,680 can. The stuff that's installed week 647 00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:56,640 to week, the wrinkles, the tweaks, the, you know, the 648 00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:59,960 additions in the scheme are geared toward the starter. 649 00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:01,480 They're not geared toward the backup. 650 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:04,240 And Jackson is a, you know, he's a good quarterback. 651 00:36:04,240 --> 00:36:05,960 He's a slightly different quarterback than Curtis Rourke. 652 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:09,000 The point is, some of that is just going to be about saying, 653 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:12,800 hey, Taven Jackson is is, you know, we just kind of need to 654 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:15,720 give him stuff he can manage. But he is younger. 655 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:20,560 And I do think Indiana's going to want to be in a position 656 00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:23,000 where it's not going to ask too much of him over the course of 657 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:27,000 just one week. And so, you know, I think it's 658 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:29,480 going to be important to be able to run the ball to take some of 659 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:33,800 this pressure off of him and allow Indiana the rhythm within 660 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:37,640 the within the, you know, the scheme to call a little bit of 661 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:39,920 more of that, you know, a little bit more timing stuff, a little 662 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:42,480 bit more rhythm stuff, a little bit more one, maybe 2 read 663 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,280 stuff. On the other hand, you know, I 664 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:47,320 think about this too. I was thinking about this last 665 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:49,160 night when I was watching some of that film. 666 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:55,040 If this was Ohio State or Oregon and the sixth string quarterback 667 00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:57,720 was out or the six year quarterback, the sixth string 668 00:36:57,720 --> 00:37:01,760 6th year quarterback was out. And the guy behind him was a red 669 00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:05,720 shirt sophomore who'd been a four-star top 200 recruit, went 670 00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:08,680 to elite 11, won a couple state titles with one of the 671 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:11,760 powerhouse programs in his in his, you know, state's high 672 00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:14,960 school game. And he came in against Nebraska 673 00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:17,000 and went seven of eight for 91 yards and two touchdowns. 674 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:19,720 We wouldn't be saying, oh, that's a big loss. 675 00:37:19,720 --> 00:37:21,320 We would just be saying, yeah, it's Ohio State. 676 00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:22,840 That's just the next cab off the rank. 677 00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:25,160 Like it's just, you know, that's just what you know, when you 678 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:27,760 when you're playing that program, that's just the luxury 679 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:31,400 you have. So, you know, you can Signetti 680 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:33,400 said this too. And I know we're running out of 681 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:37,800 time, but I I've always found it fascinating that he says this. 682 00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:40,360 It's a level of self-awareness and a coach that I I find 683 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:43,200 fascinating. We've asked him about trap games 684 00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:45,680 and complacency and stuff and he said you're always guarding 685 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:47,000 against it. But he's also said multiple 686 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:50,200 times he's said, but you can also speak that kind of stuff 687 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:52,640 into existence. You can worry so much about a 688 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:54,640 trap game that you turn a game into a trap game. 689 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:57,920 You can worry so much about complacency that you almost make 690 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:00,320 your team complacent by virtue of trying to combat it. 691 00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:02,760 You can worry so much about saying, Oh my God, what are we 692 00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:05,400 going to do with our starting quarterback that you make that 693 00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:09,200 you you make that an emergency when it doesn't need to be. 694 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:12,360 And so I think there's I think there is going to be a, a real 695 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:16,560 ability, I suspect from Signetti and his staff to just kind of 696 00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:21,240 keep the boat, you know, rowing steadily in the same direction 697 00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:23,760 while Curtis works out whether it's one week, two weeks, 698 00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:26,840 whatever. And the more you can give to 699 00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:28,200 Haven Jackson, the better off you'll be. 700 00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:31,640 PJ Flex lawyers are online too now after that. 701 00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:36,440 But I I do think it's worth noting rushing wise, last year, 702 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:41,000 Indiana's top 2 leading rushers in yardage, Trent Allen and Josh 703 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:44,840 Henderson, rushed for 354 yards and 337 yards, respectively 704 00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:47,960 through 11 and eight games. Through seven games, Justice 705 00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:53,000 Ellison's rushed for 514 yards. Tyson Lawton's rushed for 393 706 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:55,680 yards. Justice Ellison's averaging 7 707 00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:58,240 yards a carry so far on the season. 708 00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:01,400 And as you mentioned, 28 touchdowns on the ground. 709 00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:04,520 Indiana had 13 through the entirety of last season. 710 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:07,400 The you're absolutely right, as much as Curtis work in the 711 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:09,600 passing game get so much attention, this rushing attack 712 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:12,800 has been absolutely impossible for teams to handle throughout 713 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:15,960 the course of the season. And obviously, you know, if 714 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:17,440 you're going to go into a game without your starting 715 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:20,320 quarterback, you'd like it to be a team that's had struggles 716 00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:22,280 stopping the run as Washington has here recently. 717 00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:24,360 It'd be interesting to see if they can plug those holes coming 718 00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:27,760 into it. So Zach, any final items you 719 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:30,400 want to hit before we wrap up here and or anything else that 720 00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:32,400 sticks out to you about this team that you think is worth 721 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:35,080 noting? I think I mean it, it really is 722 00:39:35,080 --> 00:39:38,160 just kind of fascinating and and I what you know, what I would 723 00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:42,520 say is and listen, it's a very small sample size. 724 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:46,600 So I'm not just going to act like I have been completely 725 00:39:46,600 --> 00:39:48,800 converted. I was among those that 726 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:52,560 criticized the 12 team playoff and I just, I didn't, I, I felt, 727 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:59,920 I, I felt like the, the, the appeal of college football was 728 00:39:59,920 --> 00:40:01,520 that it was different to the NFL. 729 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:04,880 Then in the NFL, my team could go 10 and six and still have a 730 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:07,920 puncher's chance at, at a Super Bowl appearance as long as it 731 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:10,280 was healthy and playing well at the right time of year. 732 00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:13,440 But the college football was appealing because it demanded 733 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:18,680 perfection, because it demanded this sense of you cannot, you 734 00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:23,720 cannot slip even once or else you know, your chance is gone. 735 00:40:23,720 --> 00:40:26,240 Maybe one, maybe get one chance. That's it. 736 00:40:27,240 --> 00:40:30,160 But what I would say that I don't think I anticipated was 737 00:40:30,720 --> 00:40:33,520 the extent to which the 12 team playoff would actually dovetail 738 00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:38,680 better with a greater sense of parity in college athletics. 739 00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:42,920 And listen, if we had a Group of five coach on here, I I'm not 740 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:47,120 sure he'd agree with my my definition of parity in college 741 00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:48,800 football. And I understand that. 742 00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:52,760 I really do. But I look around at, at BYU, 743 00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:54,800 forget the forget the service academies. 744 00:40:54,800 --> 00:41:00,720 That's a separate conversation. But at BYU, at Indiana, Iowa 745 00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:03,360 State, it's a great example. Miami, frankly. 746 00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:05,520 And like, there's nothing wrong with there are people like, oh, 747 00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:08,000 Miami, it's like, what, what do you, what, what has Miami done 748 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:09,160 to you? They haven't been good in 20 749 00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:12,920 years. Like a, a, a, a good Miami is 750 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:15,640 good for college football. And I look around and I just 751 00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:19,440 sort of suddenly feel like Ohio State's weaker, you know, 752 00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:21,760 Alabama's weaker. And I'm not picking on this 753 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:25,840 program so much as saying the reason they are is not because 754 00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:29,840 of the 12 team playoff. It's because NIL, soon to be 755 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:33,480 revenue sharing and the transfer portal have allowed more 756 00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:38,520 programs to be able to say, actually, if we get the right 757 00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:41,920 things right, we can be better. And just because we have less 758 00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:44,640 money than, for example, Ohio State, doesn't mean we can't 759 00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:47,800 still make the right call on a quarterback or the right call 760 00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:51,080 on, you know, hey, we're going to you're going to come here 761 00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:55,120 because we're going to give you $150,000 more, but you're also 762 00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:59,400 going to get 40 more catches. And so whereas you would just be 763 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:01,760 one of three good receivers at Ohio State, you're now going to 764 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:05,320 get showcased as an absolute. And I'm not, this is not some 765 00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:07,520 inside knowledge of Elijah, Elijah Sarat. 766 00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:09,360 It's just an example or a hypothetical. 767 00:42:10,240 --> 00:42:15,120 I think the 12 team playoff as we as as this season really kind 768 00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:19,120 of matures into November, it looks like it fits really, 769 00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:23,560 really well with an era of of what actually looks like may 770 00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:27,760 well be greater parity in college football, certainly at 771 00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:31,040 the top, certainly in the bigger conferences the the, the power 772 00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:33,760 for again, we can have a separate conversation about what 773 00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:36,240 the heck we're going to do with the group of five, much less the 774 00:42:36,240 --> 00:42:41,320 FCS. But like it it as somebody who's 775 00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:44,920 now at the epicenter of trying to cover a team that has 776 00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:48,240 suddenly has playoff ambitions, you sort of realize actually 777 00:42:48,240 --> 00:42:52,320 this gives more people more reasons to engage with college 778 00:42:52,320 --> 00:42:55,960 football. And to some extent may actually 779 00:42:57,160 --> 00:43:01,280 show people there is a a really, there's a much better way 780 00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:06,240 forward than some sort of 2014 Super League, which I know some 781 00:43:06,240 --> 00:43:11,400 people think is possible. Because actually you can build a 782 00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:14,720 playoff that still gets dominated by the schools that 783 00:43:14,720 --> 00:43:17,160 are going to want the biggest seat at the table. 784 00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:23,400 But actually does give a genuine opportunity to everybody else. 785 00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:27,080 And opens the field up enough that you are capitalizing on a 786 00:43:27,080 --> 00:43:30,040 lot of the eyeballs that you need at the highest level of the 787 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:32,920 sport. While still including, while 788 00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:36,040 still stretching the tent out to be big enough to include enough 789 00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:39,800 people to not feel like we're just kind of balling up 790 00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:43,440 everything that is is meaningful and fun about college football 791 00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:46,560 and throwing it away. I'll give you the last word on 792 00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:48,680 that 'cause I think it's a fascinating topic that we should 793 00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:52,440 return to in about a month. It's a small sample size that 794 00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:53,560 that's the one thing. But you know what? 795 00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:56,080 But no, I think you hit a lot of really important points. 796 00:43:56,680 --> 00:44:00,080 And I think it's it, it is always what I've argued for when 797 00:44:00,080 --> 00:44:03,360 I've asked, hey, let's have an expanded playoff environment. 798 00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:05,120 Let's let's bring a few more teams to the table. 799 00:44:05,120 --> 00:44:07,360 I do think that that matters, but we'll talk about that at a 800 00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:10,760 future date. Zach Osterman, IU Insider at the 801 00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:13,400 Indy Star As always, we appreciate you joining us on the 802 00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:14,800 show. Appreciate your insights. 803 00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:17,680 Be sure to check out Zach's content throughout the course of 804 00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:19,800 the week. And be sure to check out our 805 00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:21,400 content. We'll have more stuff coming up, 806 00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:24,920 including Bison chat tonight at 8:00 PM on the Back Home network 807 00:44:25,720 --> 00:44:28,560 for everybody involved. I'm Galen Clavio saying thanks 808 00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:30,840 for joining us here on Crimson Cast. 809 00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:33,480 We'll catch you folks. On the flip side, bring back the 810 00:44:33,480 --> 00:44:34,880 Bison stay. Never daunted. 811 00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:35,720 So everybody.