akhosrof

Yes what good is a strong arm if you're under-throwing every deep ball? We certainly have the speed at WR to run under balls. I would rather see Cameron as the starter. I don't think it is a coincidence Cameron and Diamont are listed as joint backups on the depth chart each week. If Diamont was the overall better QB he'd be the backup straight up. But they are listed as the joint backup because Zander has situational packages. Makes me believe that if CKW was to make a full time change, Cameron would be the starter, Zander would stay the backup to come in for his packages, and Lagow would drop to third string. As far as making a change: last year was a successful season because we had the B1G's best turnover differential. That hasn't been the story this season. We cannot afford to have our QB throwing INTs at the current rate. So whether it's Zander or Cameron, we need our QB to take care of the ball.

Hmmm interesting point on the offensive coach. I know this past offseason CKW decided to help out the offense so we can have the extra assistant on defense. I am not familiar with what the assistant coach limits are. Regardless, here's a thought: what about bringing back Cam Cameron to be a QB coach/offensive quality control? He's already getting guaranteed money from LSU after being fired so we'd only be responsible for a smaller offset amount, I believe. Maybe he's interested in coaching his son.

Unless you have boosters lined up to pay Les Miles big money firing CKW makes absolutely ZERO sense. What P5 coordinator or MAC/C-USA head coach is going to do a better job?

You'd think with how much CKW has screamed at Lagow the past few weeks he'd be done. IMO the kid's confidence is shot. CKW must not have much confidence in Diamont/Cameron/King if he continues to stick with Lagow despite continually tearing him a new one.

So what's the alternative? We looked at Chad Voytik, grad transfer from Pittsburgh, but he can't even start for Arkansas State. You know the kid we faced this weekend, Clayton Thorson, was a top target of ours for the 2014 class? Damn good QB, arguably the best in the B1G and a for sure NFL prospect. 2014 wasn't just a disaster because we lost Tre and Coffman, we also lost Seth Litrell. Dismissed as a factor by most IU fans, Litrell was the reason Sudfeld attended IU and was our lead recruiter for Thorson and the few other top QB targets for the 2014 class. Zander as a result was our only QB recruit for the 2014. I believe Litrell is destined to be a P5 head coach some day. 2014 was a lost year for more than one reason. You don't recover from that in one or even two years. 2015 we were a finalist for Chad Kelly, he liked us but didn't want to compete with Sudfeld. We also thought we had Tommy Stevens. Luckily, CKW was able to flip King on signing day from NC State. I like King better than Stevens anyways. 2016 class we put a lot of time into recruiting Brandon Peters. What QB recruit in his right mind would turn down an offer from Harbaugh? Peyton Ramsey is a smart kid who played against top competition in Ohio. There are high hopes for him. Bottom line, QBs take time to develop. The problems we have today stem back to 2014. Whether or not we fixed that problem will depend on the development of King and Ramsey going into next season. We also need to get a quality QB recruit for 2017. Heck, even Lagow has a lot of room for improvement with a full offseason with the program. CKW and Johns will have plenty of time to work on his flawed mechanics which lead to inaccuracy (specifically, lower body movement. Lagow is currently a thrower and not a passer).

I agree with your point but just as an FYI Cameron is not a drop back passer. He played DB in high school, he's a pretty athletic kid. He didn't become a full time QB until his senior year. If Cameron is the starter, we'd have to call a lot more roll outs and moved pockets. Cameron does well throwing on the run and has a quick release. He's only 6'1", so seeing over the line on traditional drop back could be a problem (remember we saw this from Cameron during the PSU game and he had some struggles. It was unrealistic to have a game plan ready to fit his strengths mid-game, but hopefully CKW could do so with a week's worth of practice with Cameron as the starter.) Nonetheless your point remains, I'm leaning toward Cameron as well. I think he has enough arm strength. Most importantly, he has a high football IQ. General football awareness is an area Lagow is lacking which has hurt us.

Well, Waters deleted his Twitter while IU was a leader. I think we can all confidently assume Marni would have unfollowed prior to the CB migration to Georgetown[emoji1][emoji23]

Cameron is a RS sophomore.

I hear ya, I'm in the same boat. Have to hope he continues to improve. Austin King was a highly rated recruit and has lots of talent, maybe it's worth giving him a shot? If we stick with Lagow, maybe Zander becomes the red zone QB? I think Zander's mobility opens up the play calling and the arm strength isn't an issue in that short space. Zander in the past has had success in the red zone.

So what does everyone think happens at QB? Does CKW make a change?

I understand your criticism but "not having a QB ready" falls under the "much easer said than done" category. It's the most difficult position to recruit in CFB. Four and five star QB recruits bust all the time. Today we played a top ten four star QB recruit, whom we offered by the way, that is an excellent player. After the 2014 QB fiasco, in 2015 we thought we had Tommy Stevens. Wilson then recovered nicely and switched high three star Austin King from NC State. That same class IU was a finalist for Chad Kelly as a JUCO transfer. Kelly took an official visit for the Purdue game. Wilson brought in his Oklahoma buddy WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross who was on the sidelines. Kelly took his picture with Good Ol' JR and looked to have a great time as we came back and beat Purdue. Bottom line: he didn't want to compete with Sudfeld. Kelly has torn up the SEC the past year and a half and will play on Sunday's. The next year Wilson once again went after the top JUCO QB recruit, of course being Lagow and got the very promising Peyton Ramsey. Of course, Wilson put a lot of time recruiting Brandon Peters, whom we would have had a great chance at if it wasn't for Harbaugh. Hard to blame the kid. If you want to fault Wilson for 2014, for not having a QB recruit that class (outside of Zander) and maybe not doing a better job of convincing Tre or Coffman to stay, fine that's fair. Wilson will be the first person to take responsibility for that. But after that, Wilson hasn't done anything different than any other coach. Finding a stud QB is extremely difficult.

Wilson has this program going in the right direction, no doubt. Recruiting is improving. We finally put the investment to get the right coaches. The southern end zone facility will be finished in 2018. Play calling can be baffling at times, but we've always had excellent line and skill position play under Wilson. The defense has finally caught up, we just have to keep Coach Allen. If we can find our next Sudfeld, this team has serious 9 win potential. Outside of hiring Les Miles, starting over would be completely insane. Any new head coach coming in as a P5 coordinator or a G5 head coach would take two to three years just to get to where Wilson is now. Sure, a new guy might be an improvement from Wilson in some areas, but would most likely have weaknesses elsewhere.

Errant pass, run for short gain, errant pass/check down, punt... rinse and repeat Not how you win games. I've been a Lagow defender but he's making it very difficult...

This NW offense is very good. Offense is going to have to be very aggressive to have any chance in this game. No room for errors with errant throws.

Errrr that throw really got me frustrated. That was a big gain and led to a punt.

Sorta reminds me of JaQuan Lyle last year. We missed out on some top recruits, Lyle's situation opened up where it looked like it could be a mutually beneficial situation. He came to HH, had an awesome time and got the star treatment. It just didn't end up being a good fit for either side. Like Lyle, as supremely talented as Preston is, I'm not sure if he's a Crean type player.

While many picked IU to win the scores were very close. This was a tough pick for me. Up until the last second I was going with NW. Their offense scares me, especially their playmaking triplets. It also scares me that they beat Iowa and overcame an early deficit to crush MSU. Of course, Coach Fitz is a excellent game planner. This is truly a game of two passing ships. If we come out flat it will be very bad news. However, our defense is legit. I think their offense comes back to earth a little against our defense. Our offense is hardly anemic. We've played two top ten teams the past two weeks. I think that drop off in competition against a weaker NW defense allows our offense to return to levels of production we have been used to in the past. Not to mention getting Freeney back. I truly think this game is a 50-50 toss up.

24-21 IU

Same high school as Jonathan Crawford, 2016 commit Brandon Drayton and 2017 DE Bobby Roundtree (100% IU crystal ball currently). Nice pipeline there.

UCLA coming in to visit Wilkes... Maybe UCLA is making one last ditch effort?

Otto Porter was the third pick a few years ago. I think some are underestimating the pull of a school like Georgetown in the mid-Atlantic. I heard an interview with Jason Williams of Duke who said in the northeast John Thompson was a coach every father wanted his son playing for. Williams said he grew up wanting to go to Georgetown but when JT retired he went to Duke. JT2 is a similar role model for young men. A tight family like Waters probably was attracted to that. Especially Waters being from Connecticut, Georgetown is a short plane flight or train ride, or a manageable bus ride/drive. Also, games at St. John's, Villanova, Providence, and Seton Hall are all easily attended. Of course, the Big East tournament being in MSG is another opportunity for Water's family to see him play. Villanova's national championship will help a lot of Big East schools in recruiting.

Pelini is a hell of a coach. I'm sure he would relish being able to face Nebraska every year. Can Purdoo afford Pelini and the quality of assistants he would require?

Good post, Luce. I don't think the negativity was as bad this week as it has been in the past (Wake). Everyone here wants to see us win, but we were not expected to win against top ten teams in OSU and Nebraska. There is no denying the one position holding us back is QB. Yes, some of the criticism of Lagow isn't fair given his lack of game experience, however, this team is built to win NOW and we can't be held back by one player. He has missed a lot of throws, to which Lagow himself has taken responsibility which is what one wants to see. There is nothing wrong with discussing options at QB. I still think Lagow is by far our best option and he has lots of room for improvement. These next few games against less competition will be critical for his development. If he continues to sputter, the team cannot afford to wait for him and a change may need to be made. This is not a bad thing. He has another year of eligibility and a full offseason in our program watching film, lifting and working on his mechanics will pay huge dividends for next year regardless of what happens this season. However, I am expecting Lagow to show improvement and put up some solid production these next few weeks. As you said, we are right where most expected us to be: 3-3. An 8 win season is no stretch, especially with how good our defense has been playing.

Nothing new really, mentions Wilkes would be a great fit alongside T.J. Leaf and Thomas Welsh in the front-court. Gave a Wilkes quote: "They tell me I can go play my position and I would make a great impact for them.” Article also mentions the Indiana connections with Alford and Schilling. In comparison, the article pointed out that Wilkes would play in a small ball lineup at IU. Also that he attended the IU/Nebraska game this past weekend with who a friend is being recruited by IUFB.

Being from Maryland, I'm going to throw out a comparison for OG. Let me know what you think. Len Bias Like OG, Bias was an elite raw athlete who was a late bloomer. Bias was a powerful, long limbed 6'9" 210 pounds. OG is listed at a similar 6'8" 215 pounds. As a kid I remember seeing highlights of Bias exploding flat flooted off of two feet for thunderous dunks, if he was anywhere near the basket. Didn't matter how many guys were draped on him. OG has that similar two foot explosiveness. Many wings in the NBA are one foot jumpers. Give them a head of steam toward the basket and they'll dunk over anyone. However, it's rare to see guys who can explode right back up after grabbing a rebound near/under the basket flat footed for a dunk. Dominique Wilkins, Len Bias and Blake Griffin are guys that I think of off the top of my head. Bias was a raw shooter early in his career, and had a slower release, but had sound form and a high release point. Left open for a long two and he knocked it down. Similar to OG. Bias couldn't create his own shot early in his career but eventually learned to do so. I see OG's game so far developing similar to how Bias's did. I can't wait to see OG this season!