1 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,480 Welcome back to the Tuesday night Bison chat. 2 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:30,240 We're back again. We're talking IU football little 3 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:33,640 later than normal, as normally we're doing this at 6:30 in the 4 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:36,640 evening. But Joe Cronin, we are in prime 5 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,080 time. We are going right up against 6 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,960 the vice presidential debate. I'm hoping that people use the 7 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,120 same choice and decide to watch us instead. 8 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:47,840 I I think. Yeah, unquestionably. 9 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,520 Anyway, I'm Galen Clavio. That's Joe Cronin. 10 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,200 We got Emily Fox pushing the buttons and making the magic 11 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:55,920 happen behind the scenes. We might have Zac Browning on 12 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,040 later. It's kind of a coin flip at this 13 00:00:58,040 --> 00:00:59,000 point. He's been having some mic 14 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,200 issues. But whether or not we have Zac 15 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,040 on, we are here to provide you with a solid 30 plus minutes of 16 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,880 IU football talk as your five and O Indiana Hoosiers head into 17 00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:13,640 a rarity, a chance to get bowl eligibility before Columbus Day. 18 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,240 I think it's it may never have happened actually in IU football 19 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,960 history, but IU certainly in some good shape as they head 20 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:23,440 into this game. And Joe, first of all, great to 21 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:24,600 see you. How are you doing? 22 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,200 How's the week been so far? We're good. 23 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:29,000 Yeah. A little bison chat under the 24 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,360 lights is what we'll call this week's been week's been starting 25 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:34,840 off strong. Classes going well. 26 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:37,840 Glad that the rain kind of stopped after, you know, 27 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:41,040 Hurricane Helene. That was kind of wild that how 28 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,720 strong the rain was here. Can only imagine what it was 29 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:47,800 down South, but we're here. Football, football season is 30 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:49,720 rolling along 5 and a start for Indiana. 31 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,440 I mean, I've only been here for a short amount of time and and 32 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,280 this is my third year at Indiana and this is the best year at 33 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,160 Indiana that I've ever seen. So at a football standpoint. 34 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,800 So it's been exciting so far, exciting to see like where this 35 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,680 team is able to able to go from here. 36 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,040 I mean, if it makes you feel any better, I've been here a lot 37 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:08,639 longer than you and this is already close to the best team 38 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,400 I've ever seen. So I think, you know, we're 39 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:13,760 you're you're getting spoiled early is what I would say. 40 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,080 Joe Cronin. But that's the kind of spoiling 41 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:19,880 I like to see Lot to talk about In this episode. 42 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:22,080 We're going to talk a little bit about the Maryland game and what 43 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,320 we saw out of that. We'll talk about the Donovan 44 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,480 McCullough news. We'll also talk about the match 45 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,640 up coming up this weekend as Indiana takes on Northwestern 46 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,400 and a lot to really tackle in this. 47 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:34,520 So we'll go ahead and dive right in. 48 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:39,480 First of all, let's go ahead and talk a bit about what happened 49 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,040 in that game against Maryland. Indiana winning that game 42 to 50 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:48,400 28 and one of those games where it felt like for a while this 51 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,160 was going to be a game Indiana struggled in Curtis Rourke early 52 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,600 struggles had two interceptions. You're seeing both of them here 53 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:57,240 in short order. That second one, I was right in 54 00:02:57,240 --> 00:02:59,000 line for Joe. I was like, what on earth 55 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:01,920 happened to Curtis Rourke? But you know the thing about 56 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:05,680 this IU team, they just don't let things get them down. 57 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,640 They score, you know, to make it 7, nothing. 58 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:12,480 And then late in the first half, Omar Cooper junior with a great 59 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,640 catch off, an even nicer throw by Curtis Rourke. 60 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,720 And then in the second-half, Indiana really just started to 61 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,400 pour on the gas. And even though Maryland kept 62 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:25,960 touch with them for a little bit, it was really all Indiana 63 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:27,320 as you got into the fourth quarter. 64 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:32,440 You see here Elijah Serap able to pick up the touchdown catch 65 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:37,960 and of course Donovan Mccully pour one out as he leaves his IU 66 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:40,520 career on a positive note with that touchdown and Indiana puts 67 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:42,360 the capper on it with about four minutes to go. 68 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:47,360 Joe, it was just an an awesome performance by an Indiana team 69 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:48,640 that looked like they were going to struggle. 70 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:53,000 Look like this might be the game that you know, the the preseason 71 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,680 predictions of them maybe being kind of mid table or lower than 72 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:00,600 that would catch up with them. They really, when it mattered, 73 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,560 played some incredible football and that was really, really 74 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:06,520 gratifying to see. Yeah, this was really the first 75 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,920 time all year that they've had to face any adversity on either 76 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:11,880 side of the ball really. Because you mean you saw 77 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,080 Maryland was strive to strive for them up until the score was 78 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:19,160 2121 and then it was that what, last 40 seconds of the third 79 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:24,160 quarter and into the 4th where IU just had that extra extra 80 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:26,560 gear in front of them. And and I think for Rourke, what 81 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:30,200 it showed is just how mature he is as a quarterback is like you 82 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:34,200 start that poorly with two picks on your first five throws, you 83 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,400 have two interceptions. And then from there, he was 84 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:40,080 still able to get a 300 yard game, put together 3 touchdowns. 85 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:42,800 And yes, he had some great receiver performances around 86 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,960 him, but I think tip tip of the cap for him on the ability to 87 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,040 respond from that moment. And yeah, this team is rolling 88 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:54,160 at really all three levels, too. Yeah, it's it's a really 89 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,600 fascinating team and we keep finding new layers to the Onion 90 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,520 every time they go out there. One of the folks that's been 91 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:02,760 covering this team pretty regularly that we wanted to 92 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:04,040 bring on. I think we've got the mic 93 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:08,880 problems taken care of. Zac Browning from all over the 94 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:10,240 place. You know him from Indiana 95 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,760 Rivals, you know him from NBC Sports, you know him from WIUX, 96 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:16,960 you know him from Big 10 Plus. And now he's on Bison Chat for 97 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:18,960 the first time. Zac Browning, welcome to the 98 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:19,800 show. Good to see you. 99 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:22,920 Thank you guys so much for having me, looking forward to 100 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:25,840 it. So Zach, we got Joe's thoughts 101 00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:27,600 on that game. What were your overall 102 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,120 reflections of Indiana's performance as they take down 103 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,040 Maryland for their second Big 10 win of the season? 104 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:35,160 You guys touched one of the fact that Curtis Work was able to 105 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:37,160 respond after those two early interceptions. 106 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:39,640 That was great to see. But I really what stuck out to 107 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:42,440 me was the complimentary football that Indiana played 108 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:44,000 throughout that game. Whether it was the two early 109 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,920 interceptions where the defense picked up the offense or whether 110 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:49,320 it was late in that third quarter and the defense gave up 111 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,160 back-to-back scores against Maryland, the offense was able 112 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:53,960 to respond and put some points in the board themselves. 113 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:55,440 I think that's what really stuck out to me. 114 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,920 I mean, after Indiana's turnovers last Saturday, 115 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:01,120 Maryland was unable to get a first down. 116 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:04,480 It was 3 announced after each of Indiana's turnovers last 117 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:05,800 weekend. And I think that's really what 118 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:07,280 stuck out to me, the complimentary football. 119 00:06:07,280 --> 00:06:09,360 It's not an offensive team, it's not a defensive team. 120 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:11,240 It's an offense and defensive team. 121 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:14,080 Yeah. It's one of those things where 122 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,720 we're used to Indiana being OK in one phase and maybe not OK in 123 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:19,840 another phase. And this team continues to 124 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:26,400 demonstrate that the it's not just one facet or one aspect 125 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:29,240 that's hold like holding the team up and and dragging 126 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:32,280 everybody else behind them. Instead, it really does feel 127 00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:34,560 like a team effort. And Joe, I think the thing that 128 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,720 strikes me the most about this team is something we've talked 129 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,360 about before on the podcast is how interchangeable the parts 130 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:42,680 appear to be in many different places. 131 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:45,720 You know, you see, I mean, Aidan Fisher leads the team in 132 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:47,960 tackles, but it always feels like there's a different guy 133 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,240 who's in second, another different guy who's in 3rd 134 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:53,520 receivers. You've got, you know, different 135 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:55,440 leaders in pass catching. You're starting to see a little 136 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:59,200 bit of separation with Sarat and Omar Cooper as like the top 2, 137 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:02,360 but there's always other players that are contributing. 138 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:03,880 You see the same in the running backroom. 139 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:09,440 It's really cool and and fresh by you to have this breadth of 140 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,720 options and guys who are contributing to a common cause. 141 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,880 It sounds hokey, but it's really seeming to work for them up to 142 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,520 this point. Yeah, it's not just one guy in 143 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:22,040 one position really outside of quarterback, obviously. 144 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,280 But I mean, like you mentioned with Aiden Fisher, this is 145 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:27,240 something that we were talking about after that Maryland game. 146 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:29,040 It's the guy right next to him, Jalen Walker. 147 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:32,840 His his presence in the passing game has just been electric. 148 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:36,640 And his ability to just cut off these screens and and negate any 149 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,160 of these short pass situations has been huge for that IU 150 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:42,560 defense. And it's just kind of an unsung 151 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:44,720 hero so far because obviously Aiden Fisher, like you said, he 152 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,080 leads a team in tackles. He leads the Big 10 in tackles, 153 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:51,120 14 by the way, he has 50. The next best is 36. 154 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:53,720 So he's been everywhere. But I think Jalen Walker, that 155 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,880 too, that pair right there. I, I mean, haven't seen a lot of 156 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,520 a lot of those top dogs in the Big 10 quite yet, but I, I, I'd 157 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:04,680 be surprised if there is a much better duo than those two at the 158 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,320 middle linebacker spots. Yeah, it's the, the, the 159 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:10,360 collection of personnel is really fascinating. 160 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:13,440 And, and Zach, we've talked about this a little bit on the 161 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:17,760 show before, but it's amazing how many of these were pieces on 162 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:21,800 other teams that were allowed to be let go, maybe weren't 163 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,960 considered that important. Like Signeti is doing a really 164 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,920 fascinating job of, of bringing all these different pieces 165 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:30,560 together and having them work. And, and I keep saying that 166 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:32,320 every week and it becomes more true. 167 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,520 You know, I, I kind of was asking myself going into this 168 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,640 Maryland game, is this the game game where we start to say, 169 00:08:38,799 --> 00:08:41,480 well, maybe there's some limitations to this and maybe 170 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:43,440 Maryland may, you know, Maryland that looks like a team is going 171 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,240 to be in the 567 win range. Like they're definitely very 172 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:47,640 much in the middle of the Big 10. 173 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:51,920 But this is still a, a bona fide Maryland team. 174 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:56,640 That's a good defensive team. And Indiana just figured out a 175 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,920 way to be better than them over the course of the 60 minutes and 176 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:04,120 especially the last 25 to 30. I'm just really impressed. 177 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:06,560 You know, and, and I'm curious from your perspective as someone 178 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:09,480 who's covered the team for a while, like what is the vibe 179 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,960 difference between this team and what we saw on the roster last 180 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:16,280 year? It's not necessarily even a 181 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:18,720 talent disparity this year, just more so the confidence. 182 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:20,440 And I think that obviously starts at the top with Curt 183 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:22,720 Signetti and it kind of trickles down to come some of the 184 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:24,920 position groups and then some of the players within those 185 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:26,920 position groups. But I think it was Miles Cross 186 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:28,840 who last week said something that really stood out to me. 187 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:30,920 He made the comment of, you know, he was asked something 188 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:33,560 along the lines of how Indiana is able to compete with some of 189 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:36,600 these Big 10 schools to fight a lot of these guys coming from 190 00:09:36,680 --> 00:09:39,400 lower level college programs, a lot of the transfers coming in. 191 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:42,960 And he said there's not really a big difference talent wise, 192 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:45,520 especially in the skill group. You've got power 5 level 193 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,800 athletes and Power 5 level talent guys at every level of 194 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:51,680 college football, even the FCS. He said that's not the biggest 195 00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:53,600 difference. So he's and that's why this 196 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,280 Indiana team hasn't necessarily struggled against a lot of these 197 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:58,120 teams, especially as they've gotten into Big 10 play. 198 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:00,440 They have power 5 level athletes. 199 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:02,840 They just weren't playing at Power 5 level schools again. 200 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:04,160 And I think that's on Curt Signetti. 201 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:06,960 That's on the entire coaching staff of Indiana to identify 202 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:09,680 those guys, whether they were at James Madison with Signetti or 203 00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:12,120 whether they were at another conference school or that they 204 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:14,560 were in the Sunbelt, maybe in the ACC at a lower school like 205 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:16,480 Wake Forest. We see a couple of guys from 206 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:18,640 there with Indiana. I think that's the about the 207 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:21,000 talent identification that this staff has shown. 208 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:22,760 They brought in all the right pieces. 209 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:24,880 Yeah. I want to add on that a little 210 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:29,320 bit, if that's OK. And just we when we talked to to 211 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:33,160 Cignetti on Monday and even after the game on Saturday, it 212 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,640 was kind of like I asked him what the growth from fall camp 213 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:38,480 to now. The biggest thing that he's 214 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,400 seeing and it was the mentality of his team and how these guys 215 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:43,840 in this is something he'd love to say is they're humble and 216 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:45,680 hungry. These guys want to get better 217 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:47,960 each week. They're not satisfied with just 218 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:50,000 winning. They want to beat the crap out 219 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:51,360 of things. They want to shut them out and 220 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:54,160 put up 50 on them. And it's just week in, week out, 221 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,480 like they're upset that Maryland scored 28 on them and they still 222 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:01,720 won by multiple scores. So I just think there is a clear 223 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:03,880 shift, especially from these new guys. 224 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:05,800 You can see they're the ones kind of the driving force, 225 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,600 whether VA Fisher leading the charge, talking like that or 226 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:11,360 some of the guys on other guys on the defensive end, Curtis 227 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:13,880 Shorick even. And it like Zach says, it starts 228 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:17,400 on the top because Signeti, he just he has so much confidence 229 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:19,480 to him. Sometimes it's a cockiness, but 230 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:21,840 it's a cockiness that has worked up this point. 231 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:24,760 Yeah, you mentioned Aiden Fisher, and you know, we often 232 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:27,680 think about explosive plays when it comes to offense. 233 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:30,760 But this is a guy who's also very much thinking that we met. 234 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,400 It got to make explosive plays, impactful plays on defense, too. 235 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:35,440 Let's hear a little bit of what he said earlier this week. 236 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:36,920 I thought. We left a lot of explosive 237 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:39,160 opportunities on the field, me and myself. 238 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,680 I know there have been a couple. You know, the UCLA game, there's 239 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:43,720 a SAG and interception in there that I think I left on the 240 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:46,040 field. And you go to each position 241 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:48,640 group, everybody will come and tell you first hand there's 242 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:50,440 there's been opportunities that they've missed that they wish 243 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:52,720 they could have back. But you know, that's part of 244 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:53,960 football. That's part of getting into the 245 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,880 the film room, improving and capitalizing those opportunities 246 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:00,120 next time you have them. Yeah, you also mentioned 247 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,640 Signetti and just his kind of overall approach. 248 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:05,080 And, and this is a guy who's got a serious demeanor on the 249 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:07,240 sideline. You know, he's constantly 250 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:10,520 pushing his guys to think like Aiden Fisher just verbalized 251 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:12,080 there. But he's also having some fun. 252 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:15,160 You know, we got into a bit of a debate last time on the show 253 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:17,520 about what the heck Curtis Rourke's nickname is. 254 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,200 I, I correctly noted it is actually the Maple Missile. 255 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:23,240 It's not Canadian baked. And I would like to. 256 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:23,920 I like that one. Better. 257 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:26,520 Thank you. I appreciate that you finally 258 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:28,080 came around to my side on that, Joe. 259 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,440 But the, you know, the other, the other person's nickname 260 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:34,280 that's kind of popped up and I guess it's got a connection on 261 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,280 the breakfast front at least, is, is Elijah Serrat. 262 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:40,600 Let's hear a little bit about what Coach Sig had to say on 263 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:44,160 that front as far as how Waffle House is doing and how that's 264 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:45,680 fitting into the overall landscape. 265 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:49,520 I heard that he had created that name. 266 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:55,000 I can't attest to the validity of Waffle House always being 267 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:59,840 open, but even when he's not, he'll find a way to come down 268 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:02,560 with a ball. He absolutely does. 269 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:05,760 I, I it's fat. You know, Sirat obviously comes 270 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:08,840 from James Madison to Indiana and you're like, OK, can this 271 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:10,000 guy really compete at this level? 272 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,680 This, he looks like a dude out there, like he looks like the 273 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:16,320 most put together wide receiver I've seen so far this season, 274 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:19,240 like on either team. But what's fascinating Zach 275 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,880 about his story is like he didn't start at James Mattis and 276 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:23,440 he started at a much lower level. 277 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:26,120 That guy has worked his way up the ladder here in college 278 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:27,640 football over the last few years. 279 00:13:28,680 --> 00:13:30,760 You're exactly right, Galen. I mean, you start at Saint 280 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:33,080 Francis, Pennsylvania, then you make your way to James Madison, 281 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,800 now in his third season with a third different program, still 282 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:37,720 with the same head coach that he had at James Madison. 283 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:40,120 But it's not just that he's been at three different levels. 284 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:42,800 It's the fact that he's dominated at three different 285 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,600 levels. He was a guy that caught north 286 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,320 of 1100 yards receiving last season. 287 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,160 He was top 25 in the nation and receptions and receiving yards 288 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:52,760 and receiving touchdowns last year. 289 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:54,960 He dominated. And that's exactly what he does. 290 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,280 And I think the best part of that quote from Signetti is the 291 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,320 fact that he may not always be open to 100% of the time. 292 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:03,320 But even if he's not, if there's a ball in his area that Curtis 293 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:06,080 Work throws to him, there's a better than not chance that he's 294 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:07,360 going to be able to come up with that football. 295 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:09,720 And I think that's really the big thing that separates himself 296 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:12,360 from maybe some other guys. It doesn't necessarily have to 297 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:14,840 be that's the rats always open because it's going to come up 298 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:19,560 with so many contest catches. There was a there was a play, I 299 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:22,440 forget what quarter it was, Maryland had punted down it on 300 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:27,240 the one and the first play that IU ran was back shoulder Roark 301 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:30,320 to Sarat for 25 yards. And it was just that connection 302 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:32,760 right there that kind of spoke volumes to pretty much exactly 303 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:34,440 what you said is the confidence of both of them. 304 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:37,080 And it's like if you get the ball to Sarat, he's going to 305 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:39,080 have a chance to make a play on it. 306 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:43,480 Yeah, and it's a good thing. I mean, you know, IU, as we 307 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:46,440 mentioned, some real depth at a lot of their their different 308 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,960 spots. But some sobering news today for 309 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:53,440 people who've been following the program for a while as we got 310 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:57,000 the news that Donovan Mccully had put his name into the 311 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,080 transfer portal. We had talked over the weekend 312 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:01,680 on the show about how it looked like Indiana had gotten clear 313 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:05,160 that, you know, the players who potentially might be thinking of 314 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,160 leaving, as we've seen in a couple of other spots did not. 315 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:11,480 But we had the tweet earlier on today from many other spots, but 316 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,040 including Zach Osterman from the Indy Star that Mcculley was 317 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:18,000 entering the transfer portal. You know, we had a couple of 318 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:21,120 comments in the in the chat kind of, I guess the touch on the 319 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:25,240 duality of this. Stephen Dunn noting, sorry, 320 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:27,000 there we go. I don't know why they didn't 321 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:29,600 want to play Donovan after he healed up 'cause he obviously 322 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,200 had the injury earlier on in the season. 323 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:35,280 But then Luke noting, I think it speaks volumes to this team and 324 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:37,920 coaching staff that we just lost our leading receiver from last 325 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:40,880 year to the transfer portal. And there's no panic from the 326 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:43,320 fan base. I mean, Joe, I guess first of 327 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,640 all, I mean, obviously I think everybody wanted it to work with 328 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:50,400 Donovan Mcculley that, you know, was was clearly one of the few 329 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:52,880 bright spots last year for Indiana. 330 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:55,320 But I think it's important for people to remember the the 331 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,960 sequence, you know, Tom Allen leaves, Donovan Mcculley goes 332 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:01,880 into the transfer portal, ended up getting talked back out of 333 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:07,160 the transfer portal and then has the injury earlier on this this 334 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:09,760 season and now back in the portal again. 335 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:13,680 It's it's unfortunate, but it's also one of those things where 336 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:18,200 sometimes for whatever reason, you just don't have the same 337 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:22,480 level of of either buy in or interest from players who were 338 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:24,760 in the previous regime. It's not necessarily that 339 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:25,760 there's a villain. I know it. 340 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:28,200 We saw assembly call tweeted that earlier. 341 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:30,040 Like there's not always a villain and a transfer portal 342 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:31,400 story. Sometimes it's just not working 343 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:32,800 out. It seems like one of those 344 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:35,800 situations here, perhaps with Mccully and the Signeti era. 345 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:38,120 Yeah, I mean, this is a talented guy. 346 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:42,480 He's A-65 receiver that led IU in all receiving categories last 347 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:44,200 year. And yes, that was very, you 348 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:47,040 know, traditional IU season going 3:00 and 9:00. 349 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:51,640 But this was something kind of dating back to spring camp, even 350 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:57,040 that Coach Signeti alluded that Donovan's play, he needed to 351 00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:58,240 step up. And I remember it was like 352 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:00,440 practice 2. We had talked to him and he was 353 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:01,640 like, yeah, he just needs to step up. 354 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:04,280 And someone had mentioned. And so that was all the way back 355 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:07,560 in March. Flash forward to fall camp and 356 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:09,480 especially he gets hurt in that FIU week. 357 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,560 And then you see some of these other guys step in like Miles 358 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,599 Cross, you see Keyshawn Williams, guys like that that 359 00:17:15,599 --> 00:17:20,000 are making plays at UCLA, FIU game, Charlotte game. 360 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:22,760 This is a very deep receiving room. 361 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:27,000 And I think if the margin for error to get your reps is very 362 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:30,160 slim and they're going to play the guys that are best fit and 363 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,320 ready to play. And like you said, I don't think 364 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:35,560 it's a villain story at all. I just think it's tough to find 365 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:38,800 your role when the talent is so high because Sarat and Price are 366 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:40,920 going to be getting their reps every single game. 367 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:43,400 And then whether it's Miles Cross, Keyshawn Williams, then 368 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:46,400 Omar Cooper Junior has exploded onto the scene this year. 369 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:50,240 So it's just, it's a, it's a congested wide receiver room and 370 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:53,240 if you're not up to speed with some of those, some of those 371 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:54,840 guys in the middle, it's going to be hard to get your reps. 372 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:57,880 So I, I think in the end it'll be a smart decision for Mercola 373 00:17:57,880 --> 00:17:59,960 because this team is loaded in that room. 374 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:02,360 I don't think they needed any more weapons as it is. 375 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,240 Yeah, and it's it's fascinating because, you know, you look at 376 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:08,760 what Omar Cooper's been able to do this year and really kind of 377 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:10,920 been the breakout star of the returning players. 378 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:14,440 And I think everybody had that hope with Mccully, Zach, but for 379 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,640 one reason or another, it just kind of wasn't meant to be. 380 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:21,120 And, and I know there's some disappointment among the 381 00:18:21,120 --> 00:18:25,960 fanbase, but it's kind of a testament to how good Indiana's 382 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:27,600 looked so far that they've accomplished everything they've 383 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:29,680 accomplished, especially offensively, essentially without 384 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:32,520 Donovan Mccully so far. The touchdown in the Maryland 385 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:36,640 game was a nice exclamation point, but the sentence wasn't 386 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:38,080 very long that it was on the end of. 387 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:40,280 I mean, they've, they've gotten most of their production from 388 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:41,920 other receivers so far this year. 389 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:45,400 And, and most of that production has come from receivers that 390 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:48,320 weren't necessarily as highly touted as Macaulay coming out of 391 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:49,600 high school. I mean, Macaulay obviously a 392 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:52,000 four-star recruit that was for quarterback coming out of high 393 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,320 school, transition into more of a wide receiver ahead of his 394 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:56,360 sophomore season. But this is one of the most 395 00:18:56,360 --> 00:18:58,240 talented recruits Indiana football has ever landed. 396 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:00,360 You've got a guy like Dassan Mccola, Samson James. 397 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:03,200 Those are I think the only two recruits that have ever been hot 398 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:05,920 more highly rated out of high school than Donovan Macaulay 399 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:08,520 coming to Indiana from the high school ranks. 400 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:11,360 And to lose that guy and not really skip a beat necessarily. 401 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:12,920 And we haven't seen it take place in the field. 402 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:15,000 But so far the season they haven't had him on the field and 403 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:16,440 the Hoosiers offensive seemed fine. 404 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:19,200 I think that is, again, as you said, speaks to the amount of 405 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:21,680 production that Indiana's getting, not necessarily from 406 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:23,360 the guys that were the highest rated recruits. 407 00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:25,920 I mean, you think about Miles Price, he was a decently highly 408 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,720 rated recruit went to Texas Tech Keyshawn Williams was decently 409 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:31,080 highly rated. But Elijah Strout, we already 410 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:34,240 mentioned he started his college career at Saint Francis, PA. 411 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:36,840 That is not a highly touted recruit coming out of high 412 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:38,520 school. So it's what this Indiana 413 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:41,400 coaching staff has been able to do to turn guys that weren't 414 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,200 necessarily super high star prospects out of high school. 415 00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:46,840 They've been able to get the absolute most and develop those 416 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:49,160 guys into the guys that we see today on the field. 417 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:52,720 Yeah, it's gonna be interesting moving forward to see how 418 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,360 Indiana continues to fit these pieces together. 419 00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:58,120 I mean, I I'll be surprised if there's any other defections, at 420 00:19:58,120 --> 00:20:00,160 least among the regular players right now. 421 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:03,920 But again, a lot of it really comes down to there are some 422 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:06,920 culture shifts that happen and and not everything necessarily 423 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:08,160 works out the way that it needs to. 424 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:11,200 But the production Indiana has had so far, I do think if you're 425 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,200 concerned at all about the news today, I wouldn't be too 426 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:15,440 concerned yet. We'll see. 427 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,520 I mean, obviously you like to have a 65 target out there that 428 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:20,960 you can regularly go to with the athleticism of Mccully. 429 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:23,520 But Curtis work has been so good. 430 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:25,480 The running game's been consistently very good. 431 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,480 The passing game's been so good that it's probably not something 432 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:30,720 to hit the panic button about or anything like that. 433 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,520 And I, and to the credit and, and what the comment the 434 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,560 commenter said earlier, nobody really seems to be hitting the 435 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:38,280 panic button. That's more of a head scratcher 436 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:42,600 than anything else. So Joe, anything, any final 437 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:44,640 thoughts there? Well, I just wanted to add like 438 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,400 this receiving room, it was just kind of a fun stat that I found. 439 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:50,840 I use the only school in the Big 10 that has three receivers in 440 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:52,760 the top 20 in yards up to this point. 441 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,560 Only school so it it just goes to show the depth of this team 442 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:59,320 and like teams are going to struggle on the defensive end 443 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,880 having to guard these guys and and the three are Sarat Omar 444 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:06,760 Cooper and Miles Price. So Ox cross not even in that mix 445 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:10,040 and for a wide receiver 4 to be Miles Cross a trusted receiver 446 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:14,520 of Kurdish work it just there are real dogs as he would say on 447 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:16,920 this in this receiver. Yeah, no. 448 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,360 And I mean, you even you even get beyond that group. 449 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:21,760 I mean, you're you know, we you can't talk about the receiving 450 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,360 core without talking about Zach Horton, who's made a number of 451 00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:26,920 key catches so far this season, is a great safety valve. 452 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,440 Keyshawn Williams is tied for the most touchdowns among the 453 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:34,200 entire receiving core. It is a lot of it is the play 454 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:36,040 calling. You know it it is the way that 455 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:39,320 this offense is set up and it's the ability to leverage 456 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,440 different parts of the field and different receivers. 457 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:44,240 And that is really exciting to think about as we move forward 458 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:46,880 through the rest of the season. Even the running backs have been 459 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:50,040 used sparingly but effectively in the passing game. 460 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:54,320 It it really is kind of the offense we've always wanted to 461 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:57,680 see out of this Indiana team and we've only gotten glimpses at 462 00:21:57,680 --> 00:21:59,600 what it could be. Even in the Kevin Wilson era, 463 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:01,440 which was very much an offense first era. 464 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:03,840 It it wasn't this good every game. 465 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,080 It may not be this good every game. 466 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:08,560 And in fact, a really fascinating test I think for 467 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:13,280 this Indiana team is going to be what happens in this next game 468 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,360 is they take on the Northwestern Wildcats. 469 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,040 Coach Signetti had some thoughts about Northwestern in his press 470 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:20,320 conference. Let's hear what those were. 471 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,800 Northwestern, very tough challenge. 472 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,680 This will be the best defensive team we've played. 473 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:34,040 Really extremely well, coached in the right places. 474 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:38,360 They know what they're doing. Make you earn your points. 475 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:41,560 They're not going to lose the game. 476 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:45,400 You're going to have to win it. Offensively, struggling a little 477 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:50,560 bit to get their rhythm going. Quarterback positions been low 478 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:56,080 in consistent form, but have some dynamic guys. 479 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:01,680 Coach Signetti being very kind when he talks about Northwestern 480 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:06,440 offensive issues so far this season only averaging 17.3 481 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:11,840 points a game and they only scored five points total in 482 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:14,040 their game against Washington a couple of weeks ago. 483 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:18,840 Now, that said, the defense has been pretty consistently good. 484 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:22,480 Even in the games they've lost. They only gave up 26 points to 485 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,040 Duke. They gave up 24 points to 486 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:28,240 Washington. So it's one of those situations 487 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,400 where Northwestern has has caused Indiana problems for a 488 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:33,040 long time. Like, this has been a series 489 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:35,120 that's been surprisingly lopsided in favor of 490 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:38,360 Northwestern. Indiana hasn't won in Evanston 491 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:41,680 since 1993. Northwestern loves to skunk 492 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:44,440 things up and make it difficult for you to do what you want to 493 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:46,320 do. And you know, you look at what 494 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:49,680 they've done so far this season, they're only allowing their 495 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:52,280 opponents to rush for 2.8 yards per game. 496 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:56,720 Their opponents have have thrown 6 touchdowns, 4 interceptions. 497 00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:58,880 It hasn't been the easiest sled for teams to try to move the 498 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:01,960 ball in the air either. So it's certainly A-Team that's 499 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,200 capable of doing things. They won eight games last year. 500 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:08,680 They won a bowl game last year, but they're also a team that 501 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:13,160 looks very limited offensively. And I'm certainly curious to see 502 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:16,760 how IU, coming off a big emotional win against Maryland, 503 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:20,000 travels to a lesser opponent that they're still going to have 504 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,480 to take seriously. And what their offense, 505 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,600 Indiana's offense, can do against Northwestern because 506 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:28,080 that looks like it's the the match up that matters the most, 507 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,000 Zach. Yeah, and I think the biggest 508 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:32,960 thing that we know from this team is that they're going to 509 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:34,440 take care of business. That's what they've done all 510 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:36,160 season long. You talk about a big emotional 511 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:37,640 win. How about that UCLA game and 512 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:40,200 then coming back a week later and taking care of business 513 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:42,800 against a lesser Charlotte team. That's a similar situation to 514 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:44,960 what the Hoosiers are facing this weekend. 515 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:46,840 And you touched it. You nailed it right on the head 516 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:48,960 there, Galen. With all the stats that really 517 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,680 reflect the awkward start to the season for Northwestern both 518 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,000 offensively and defensively, they've really got to figure out 519 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:55,920 what they're going to do moving forward with their quarterback 520 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:57,920 situation. It appears like Jack Lausch is 521 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:00,160 going to be the guy for the Wildcats moving forward for the 522 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,280 rest of the season as far as the quarterback situation is 523 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:05,400 concerned. But even in that last game, he's 524 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,240 struggled so far. He went eight for 27 with 53 525 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,080 yards and two interceptions in their last game against 526 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:12,320 Washington. He really struggled. 527 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:15,560 He's much more of a past first quarterback, much more than Mike 528 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:17,800 White, who was the original starter for the Wildcats this 529 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:19,320 season. But then you talk about another 530 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:20,840 reason their offense might struggle. 531 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,040 They're running back Cam Porter. He's a little banged up. 532 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:24,800 He's been dealing with some injury issues. 533 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:27,160 He's a leading rusher. He has 2 and 34 yards on the 534 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:31,320 season. But he missed NW Northwestern's 535 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:32,840 most recent game against Washington. 536 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:35,080 So it'll be interesting to keep an eye on his health situation 537 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:38,840 because that severely limits an already limited offense if he's 538 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,360 not able to go. Joe, I mean, obviously for 539 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:46,200 Indiana, getting their offense in rhythm early is going to be 540 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:49,720 important, but they're playing in a unique situation to say the 541 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,720 least. A a lacrosse field that's had 542 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:54,760 temporary bleachers set up around it. 543 00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:58,840 Only 10,000 plus fans going to be able to watch this game in 544 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,000 person. You've got the wind coming off 545 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,000 of Lake, MI. Like, there's a lot of weird 546 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:07,040 factors to this game that are going to be interesting things 547 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:08,120 for Indiana to have to deal with. 548 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,080 Yeah, and like you mentioned with the wind, we got to talk to 549 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:15,000 Zach Horton and Fisher today and that was brought up and they had 550 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,920 real good answers and just said, hey, Northwestern has to play on 551 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:19,720 it too. So I don't think it's anything 552 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:22,640 special that we're playing there and it's going to be windy. 553 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,840 But yeah, I mean, 10,000 fans, it's going to be weird. 554 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,520 I mean, I imagine with the start that I just had, the contingent 555 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:29,800 of fans are going to be traveling. 556 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:31,760 There was a strong contingent at UCLA. 557 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:34,280 So Northwestern's not that far of a drive either. 558 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,160 And Northwestern start of the season has been weird like 559 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,400 you've mentioned. And I just it will be 560 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:41,960 interesting with some of the weather things. 561 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,240 I think IU they're going to want to start on the ground early 562 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:48,880 like they have already. And it if they're able to get 563 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:51,440 their offense rolling score on that first possession. 564 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:53,400 I mean, this Northwestern offense is still shaky. 565 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:56,240 They're still figuring out their quarterback like Zach mentioned. 566 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,800 So if they're able to take care of business on the offensive 567 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:02,200 end, I think the defense should be able to just pick up from 568 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:04,520 where they've been going for these first five weeks. 569 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:08,840 I will note, as I always do, that despite the marketing 570 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:13,400 slogan, Indiana is truly Chicago's Big 10 team and has 571 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:16,200 demonstrated that over and over again every time Indiana plays 572 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:20,560 at Northwestern in any sport. As Ryan Cotter points out, not 573 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:21,960 Curtis Pork. I don't know why that was 574 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:24,120 called, but there we go. Should be you crowd. 575 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:28,400 I mean, it should be now even even with we had a whole we, 576 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:30,760 we're we'll do a whole episode eventually on the Curtis pork 577 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:31,600 phenomenon. I don't. 578 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:33,600 Entirely. I don't entirely. 579 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:34,760 Get it. But it's fine. 580 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:38,080 I'm just letting it go. But there should be a lot of IU 581 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:39,160 people there. I've talked to. 582 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:43,240 I think that I know 20 people just me and I don't know that 583 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:44,960 many people. I know more people than many, 584 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:48,080 but I, I know a lot of people who are going to be there at 585 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:53,400 that game and you know, it's, it's going to be a game where IU 586 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,560 fans are going to look at the, I mean the ticket prices. 587 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:58,960 Last I checked I think it was like the get in price about $165 588 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:01,880 which is not that bad at the at the end of the day, especially 589 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:04,920 for a game I'm. Thinking from a college budget 590 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:08,040 perspective. So I guess that's why, you know, 591 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:10,240 got a little like, Oh my, 160 dollars. 592 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:13,560 Sounds like a great advance holiday present would, would be 593 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:17,280 what I would say like, hey, mom, hey dad, if, if at all possible, 594 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:20,960 you know, but but the one I was going to say it's, it's, it's a, 595 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:24,560 it's a decent amount of money. But for the opportunity to 596 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:28,480 potentially go and watch Indiana get bowl eligible the first week 597 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:31,560 of October on somebody else's field. 598 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,160 I, I do think there's some value in that. 599 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,160 And I think the IU fans that are going to be there going to be 600 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:39,120 pretty fired up. It's going to be fascinating to 601 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:40,520 watch. I mean, we talked about this 602 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,200 before the UCLA game. How well would Indiana travel as 603 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:46,880 a team? How would they play in a, a a 604 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:50,400 different environment? And I would take if I had to 605 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,360 line the rosters up, I would take the UCLA roster from a 606 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:56,200 talent perspective over the Northwestern roster 10 times out 607 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:59,160 of 10. Coaching, maybe not, but from a 608 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:03,040 talent perspective, you know, that UCLA team, I feel like 609 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,640 certainly I think blow by blow is a better team than 610 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:09,320 Northwestern And Indiana was entirely unintimidated by the 611 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,000 Rose Bowl, entirely unintimidated by having to 612 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:16,000 travel. So I, I'm not nearly as I guess 613 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,400 trepidatious, I don't wanna say concerned 'cause I don't know 614 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:20,520 that I was truly concerned going into that UCLA. 615 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:22,480 But I'm not, I'm not looking at this. 616 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:24,600 I'm like, God, I hope Indiana shows up on the road. 617 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:27,760 Cause they've already done it once and, and against the team 618 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:31,320 that arguably was a bit better, you know, but they still have to 619 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:33,360 take care of business, Zach. And, you know, I guess if you're 620 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:37,200 thinking about it like, where do you see the potential pitfalls 621 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,520 for Indiana being like, is there something that they should 622 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,040 really be focused on and concerned about going into this 623 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,040 game, in your opinion? It's going to be about the 624 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:46,880 sloppiness. If Indiana can make this not a 625 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:49,600 sloppy a game, as Northwestern wants to make it, then I think 626 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:52,160 the Hoosiers will be fine. Northwestern, as you mentioned, 627 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:54,840 allowing just around 15 points per game so far this season. 628 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:56,720 They want to force you into turnovers. 629 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:58,640 They want to force you into penalties. 630 00:29:58,640 --> 00:29:59,880 They want to make this game ugly. 631 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:01,920 They don't want it to be pretty. They want to get your offense 632 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:04,680 out of rhythm and then maybe keep they can sneak a point up 633 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:06,840 there or two on the board. Their offense has struggled so 634 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:09,440 far this year, but I think we have to kind of throw out 635 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,080 everything that we know so far or have known at least in my 636 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:14,840 lifetime about Indiana football. In years past, this is an 637 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,160 Indiana football team that would have struggled in the game like 638 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,080 we saw against Charlotte after coming off that big win against 639 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:21,720 UCLA. This is an Indiana football team 640 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,920 that when they get that turnover against UCLA on the 1st 641 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,760 possession of the game for the Bruins offensively, there's no 642 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:30,400 way any football teams of the past are capitalizing and 643 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:33,200 scoring 7 points off of that. So this Indiana team though, 644 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:35,320 it's different. The word has been thrown around, 645 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:37,800 they're calling it new Indiana. This is not the same Indiana 646 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:40,280 team that we've seen in years past, or at least for sure in my 647 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:42,080 lifetime. So I think we have to understand 648 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:43,560 this is a different Indiana team. 649 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:46,760 It's coached a different way. It is led by different players. 650 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:49,680 And I think so far as to what we've seen this season, we have 651 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:52,400 to take with what we've seen and all we've seen is success and 652 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:55,280 that business like mentality being carried out on the field. 653 00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,800 It reminds me of those like, you know, infomercial commercials 654 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:01,840 from the 80s, like forget everything you knew about 655 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:05,440 carpeting or something like that about Indiana football. 656 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:07,000 That's essentially where we're at right now. 657 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:11,800 And I agree with you 100%. So, any final thoughts on the 658 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:16,760 game as we head into it, Joe? Yeah, I mean, first I will get 659 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:18,960 you up to speed on Curtis Pork. Don't you worry. 660 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,960 I want. To take you saying that actually 661 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,040 does make me worry, but please go on. 662 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:31,440 It's it's just a a positive meme community on Indiana's 663 00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:33,120 quarterback. But interesting comment right 664 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:35,800 here. I did 56 at Northwestern. 665 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:38,680 I think is bold. But no, like you mentioned with 666 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:41,440 the road trip and the implications of going to UCLA, 667 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:44,000 that's a whole nother type that's you're jumping a few time 668 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,560 zones going across the country in a place that this team like 669 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:50,960 none of the players were even alive when the last time Indiana 670 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,720 played in that venue. And they took it like a business 671 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:57,920 trip, arrived the night before the game, got in and left after 672 00:31:57,920 --> 00:31:59,880 the game to go back to Bloomington and had a red eye 673 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:02,840 flight that it was all business for them. 674 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:05,760 This is a bus ride or I don't know if they're doing a short 675 00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:09,080 flight, but I imagine a bus ride up to Northwestern and it's 676 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:10,480 going to be the same kind of mentality. 677 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:14,280 Go in, do what they've been doing and get on out of there 678 00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:17,200 because I don't know if they're going to want to stick around 679 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,600 Northwestern all that much. I think they're going to want to 680 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:24,040 celebrate being 6 and O into a bye week, bowl eligible into the 681 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:26,680 bye week. And like you said in the first, 682 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:31,920 first weekend of October is unheard of for Indiana football. 683 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:36,920 Quite literally, I will note to Stevens projection of 56 to 10. 684 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:40,280 The last time somebody hung 56 on Northwestern, that wasn't 685 00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:44,000 that long ago, but still it was it was October 2nd of 2021 and 686 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,560 they were at Nebraska. I'd have to go back even further 687 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:48,960 to find the last time they got 56 hung on them at home. 688 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:53,240 So I love the optimism, Steven, but that might I Northwestern 689 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:56,400 will do everything they can to try to gum up the works on this. 690 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:58,840 And I think that that's an important thing to keep in mind. 691 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:01,120 You almost have to judge the offense, I think in this on a 692 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:03,320 little bit of a curve until we see how they're able to perform. 693 00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:05,480 Zach, any final thoughts from you on the game? 694 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,120 I think we're going to get to see some more of what this 695 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:11,960 Indiana football is about and what Curse Agnetti is all about. 696 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:13,560 I think it'll be interesting to see. 697 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,880 We've talked about how this Northwestern defense likes to 698 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:18,600 muddy up the game. They like to make it ugly. 699 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:21,080 I think that'll present a unique challenge for offensive 700 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:23,360 coordinator Mike Shanahan because up to this point he's 701 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:25,640 been flawless, averaging north of 40 points per game. 702 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:29,040 The Indian offense has been excelling at All in all facets. 703 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:30,840 The running game, the passing game, the short passing game, 704 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:32,640 the long passing game, intermediate stuff. 705 00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:35,360 Everything that Indiana's offense has done so far this 706 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:38,640 season has been great. It's been a different look each 707 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:40,360 and every week. There's been a combination of 708 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:41,720 different things. So I think this will be 709 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:45,120 interesting to see what Mike Shanahan and this Indiana 710 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:48,880 offense can do against the team that wants to make this game 711 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:50,880 ugly. Can they kind of do their own 712 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:52,840 thing and not necessarily get sucked into that? 713 00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:57,240 All good points, gentlemen. It'll be fascinating to see what 714 00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:00,320 happens with this contest. I'm going to go up there and see 715 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,520 the game in person as well. I'm looking forward to it. 716 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:07,000 Should be a lot of fun. Before we wrap up, just a quick 717 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:09,639 update from elsewhere in the IU Athletic Sphere. 718 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:14,639 Our good friend Josh tweeting out Indiana beating Wisconsin on 719 00:34:14,639 --> 00:34:16,159 the road. Wisconsin 8th ranked in the 720 00:34:16,159 --> 00:34:18,840 country. Indiana wins three to two, A 721 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,440 huge win on the road for an IU team that had really been 722 00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:24,280 struggling, but a couple of good results in a row for Indiana on 723 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:28,760 the road, first at Ohio State and then here at Wisconsin. 724 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:31,560 So great job for Todd Gigli and the guys as they start to 725 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:33,639 hopefully pull things together as we move forward here into the 726 00:34:33,639 --> 00:34:36,080 rest of the season. So anyway, we're going to go 727 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:37,960 ahead and wrap up as we are at time. 728 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:41,440 My thanks as always to the lovely Emily Fox in the 729 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:43,800 background who's making the videos work for us and 730 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:47,120 everything else. Zac Browning, great debut on 731 00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:48,600 Bison Chat. We look forward to seeing you 732 00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:52,120 again on here soon. Joe Cronin is always a pleasure 733 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:56,400 and looking forward to renewing all of this next week as we 734 00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:59,400 recap what happened in this game coming up this week against 735 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:01,240 Northwestern. So thank you all and thanks to 736 00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:04,200 all of you for tuning in. Whether you're watching live or 737 00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:07,640 whether you're watching on delay, be sure to check out all 738 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:11,440 of the shows on the back home network via the YouTube channel. 739 00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:15,960 You can also check out the wide array of materials and content 740 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:19,280 being produced not just by Zach over at Rivals and NBC and all 741 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:23,200 the 9000 other places that he's working, but across the IU 742 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:27,720 sports media spectrum with IUSTV, Hoosier Network, WIUX, 743 00:35:27,720 --> 00:35:30,600 Indiana Daily Students. So much great content covering 744 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:33,160 IU football. Go check it out for all the 745 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:35,120 folks involved. I'm Galen Clavio, thanks for 746 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:37,960 joining us here on the show once again Tuesday night Bison chat. 747 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:40,200 We will catch you folks on the flip side. 748 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:41,320 So everybody.