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Naturalhoosier

IU vs Iowa Game Day Thread

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Convington honestly started to warm up a bit. Started gaining some confidence and had a few nice throws in the 4th. Let's see what he can do these next couple weeks.


Fine...I just think it'd be awesome watching Shane, Tev, and DeAngelo run a 3 man option game. Poor Covington is really getting thrown to the wolves next week if he thought Iowa was good.

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I don't know guys, I don't feel horribly bad about the loss personally. It is terrible we don't have a solid passing backup quarterback but that was looking like a very competitive game with Sudfeld in the fold. Isn't this at least much easier of a team to watch than previous years? I would say so. Of course, I'm not a football expert so there could be a lot I'm not seeing but this is a more developed squad than we have had in several years so I'm just quasi enjoying it. At least other fan bases I talk to say IU can't be taken lightly at this point. For a long time rough program, I would just enjoy the ride and hope we are still climbing the mountain. 

 

Let's be honest, wouldn't you all at least be pleased with a middle of the pack IU squad every year? I know I would and we look closer to that from my couch than in many o' years. 

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Isn't this at least much easier of a team to watch than previous years? 

 

I don't think so. Our offense is worse than last year and the defense is only slightly better, and that's probably being generous. We haven't stopped a Big Ten offense yet and we got humiliated by a MAC squad that was missing its starting QB. 

 

 

It just doesn't feel like we've really gone anywhere since Wilson's second season. He's been here for three and a half years and his teams are still incapable of playing well in back to back games. I can handle a team that doesn't win all the time as long as it plays smart, fundamental football and makes good decisions. Do you think this team is well-coached? They don't play like it. 

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 Mike Miller@MikeMillerHT · 1 hr1 hour ago

Wilson says Sudfeld has a shoulder separation. No timetable

 

Mike Miller@MikeMillerHT · 57 mins57 minutes ago

Wilson said Zander Diamont isn't ready yet, they don't want to burn a redshirt until they know how long Nate Sudfeld will be out

 

Wilson added that if Sudfeld's timeline is long, they'll work in Diamont as a QB2 and likely play him at some point.

 

So between Diamont and the Stevens kid coming, which one is the future?  If it's Stevens, get Diamont ready while the season still has something to salvage.  Heck, get kid Cameron ready if need be.  

 

I'm sure that the young Mr. Covington is a fine young man and a credit to Indiana University, but I don't see us having a lot of success with him.  

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Who knows about shoulder separations? anybody????

I think they linger pretty badly. Was it his throwing shoulder?

Edit: Everyone is saying between 2-6 weeks on twitter. Leaning closer to 6 than 2.

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Depends on the degree of the separation and which shoulder but 4-6 weeks sounds about right.

One shoulder really affects the whole upper torso. Lots of torn muscles and pain when using said muscles. Generally a lacking of strength for a long period too.

Not a good forecast, but again, it really boils down to what degree of separation.

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I don't think so. Our offense is worse than last year and the defense is only slightly better, and that's probably being generous. We haven't stopped a Big Ten offense yet and we got humiliated by a MAC squad that was missing its starting QB. 

 

 

It just doesn't feel like we've really gone anywhere since Wilson's second season. He's been here for three and a half years and his teams are still incapable of playing well in back to back games. I can handle a team that doesn't win all the time as long as it plays smart, fundamental football and makes good decisions. Do you think this team is well-coached? They don't play like it. 

 

I'll agree our offense is tougher to watch aside from Coleman's heroics because our passing game has taken a big step backwards, and Suds being out will just magnify that problem now.  Defense is better to some extent, yes.

 

I'm with you on the desire to see us play smart, fundamental football.  I still think we suffer from too many self-inflicted wounds on the field most weeks.  But to be honest, that has been a trademark of IU football for a solid 20 years going back to my freshman year at IU. 

 

Do I feel like we are well-coached?  Depends on which team shows up any given week...yes consistency is definitely something we have not attained yet.  In terms of overall improvement, the needle has been slowly but surely moving upwards going into this season....if you look at the raw results from the first 3 seasons:

 

Indiana Hoosiers (Big Ten Conference) (2011–present) 2011 Indiana 1–11 0–8 6th (Leaders)       2012 Indiana 4–8 2–6 5th (Leaders)       2013 Indiana 5–7 3–5 4th (Leaders)       2014 Indiana 3–3 0–2 (East)

 

Now obviously the upward trend might stall out this season.  I'd take 3-5, 6-6 with a bowl game and call it another step forward but it is going to be tough sledding.

 

On the other hand, while the needle was headed upward from 2011 through 2013 in terms of bottom line W/L, we all certainly remember the opportunities we let slip away in both 2012 and 2013 that could have resulted in even better results and bowl appearances. 

 

The current team isn't "hot dumpster fire garbage" bad or anything, the inconsistency is just frustrating.  That Missouri win felt so GOOD but losing to Bowling Green was so FRUSTRATING and then basically not showing up against Maryland in the conference home opener.  I was hoping the inconsistency needle to swing back to the "pleasant surprise" range today but...oh well.

 

I'll say this much, while I'm not 100% sold on CKW at this point, I think if/when he does leave town the next coach will be left with a better starting point than CKW had when Lynch got canned. 

 

I don't have monumental expectations for this program, I just want to go to some bowls, ANY bowls.  Like maybe go bowling 3 times out of any given 5 years, maybe have a team that can compete for the division lead once every 5 years.  I don't think those are mind-blowing expectations  But consistent bowl appearances would do a ton of good for my own resolve and morale as an Indiana football fan dating back to1986. 

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Man.. gotta feel bad for sudfeld and the team. Let's hope Covington has more in the passing bag to show.

I will defer to u guys on the football smarts front. I honestly don't know enough deep level stuff to see what is good or bad coaching in football with any certainty. Basketball is my thing. But anyway the offense is definitely about to take a step back at this point.

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I don't consider myself an expert on "deep level stuff" by any means. I actually think my ability to recognize Wilson's shortcomings so early in his tenure is kind of an indictment of his coaching acumen. I've been hoping I'd be wrong for the last two years now, but nothing appears to be changing. Some may still be drinking the kool-aid but the other IU fans I've talked to agree that the bloom is definitely off the rose now. 

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I was at my brother in law's house in south Georgia during the game.  The house was full of Georgia and Florida State fans arguing over which game to watch.  The argument kept going back and forth until I grabbed the remote and declared that we would watch the IU game until everybody shut up.  

 

Everybody was slightly amused since they had never met an IU football fan before.  We actually watched for a bit and fit the game into a peaceful three game rotation.

 

We picked up some extra fans yesterday.....now we just need to work on the wins!

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Defense is definitely improving, although one area that has not at all is Red-zone defense. IU currently ranks 79th in total defense, 89th in scoring defense, 34th in tacles for loss, and tied for 120th in Red-zone defense. 3rd down defense IU is ranked 26th among FBS schools. Tackling is definitely a area of improvement. There is a LOT of room for improvement, but the fact that we have improved that much while playing freshmen on D as much as we do, bodes well for the future. 

 

The offense has been the side of the ball that is the most head scratching. I wondered before the season who was going to step up at wide receiver. So far, it has not been overly encouraging. Simmie Cobbs, Booth, and Harris all show promise for the future, but look like the freshmen they are at the moment. All right, freshmen, I get that, what has been worse is that Sudfeld has been flat several times this season and just hasn't performed well several times. That's hard to overcome, we needed real leadership from that position. That being said, if Sudfeld is out for the rest of the season, it will be a very hard row to hoe to get to 6 wins. I am not going to pay much attention to Covington's performance yesterday as indicative of his ability at QB. He too is a true freshman and looked nervous to me, but as the game went on that he started to get some feel and comfort for leading the offense. If it falls to him to lead the offense the rest of the year, I expect him to struggle, but I doubt that yesterday was very revealing of his abilities. 

 

As far as the coaching staff, I could complain about different things, and have. But I've noticed that fans of highly successful teams with excellent coaches do the same, and I have seen little or nothing in complaints about this staff that stand out as significant. Everybody's a armchair QB (or coach) and after a loss some of them seem to come out of the woodwork with all the reason's about how the coaching staff just isn't getting it done. Most of the comments I see are ridiculous and reflect more on the commentator, than they do on the coaches.

 

On another note, the backup QB is almost always the most popular player on the team. Hopefully, we don't have to burn Diamont's redshirt this year, but if we do, don't be surprised if we see the same struggles from him that we'll see from Covington. You never really know, some guys just have the right nerves and don't feel the intimidation. They come out and just fit in right away.

 

All in all, my expectations are not real high midway through the season. 6-6 is still a real possibility, if tough. I have to say however, I do not see the doom and gloom that so many IU fans seem to keep wanting to revert too. There is plenty to be positive about in IU football. If you are negative about it, that's just your choice.

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