cthomas

Didn't watch the game, only followed along in this thread. As we've seen in football, coaching matters. This season is a reset. I want to see consistent effort, smart basketball plays, and playing like being on this team is a privilege. Crean's early teams had no talent but they played their ***** off. I watched every game and rooted like hell for those guys. This, to me, is a foundational year with better things to come.

I feel like I'm watching the '74-'76 IU basketball team, except it's football. This two year run is special in every way. Never in my 77 years did I ever expect to see anything like this. I flat out love this football team.

Odd to say after putting up 35 in the first half, but the offense hasn't looked as sharp as usual today.

Seems like a lot of nervous energy around the UCLA game because they've beaten some middle tier teams recently. Do you think if they were playing at OSU this weekend that anyone in their fan base would be the least bit worried? We either belong up there with OSU or we don't. If we do we should start acting like it. IU by a million.

Cigs - 45 UC of/at LA - 10

The defense needs to stay elite. The balance we have has been impressive. I don't want to get into shootout situations with teams, even though I would like our odds. I get hung up on that old adage that defense wins championships.

Cignetti is a unicorn. Right coach at the right time at the right school. The odds of someone replicating this is really small. He came to Indiana right when we were tired of being the losingest team in football. He came to Indiana when we finally had an Athletic Director AND a President who were aligned in purpose. Without that, this doesn't happen. As unbelievable as it sounds, IU football is about to be the number two football team in the country.

The Dude always abides!!

We will win every game left on our schedule if we play the way we are capable of playing. This is where Cignetti has to work his magic. Plenty of challenges left on the schedule and we are a marquee game for everyone now. We can laugh at Purdue all we want, but our game with them will be their Super Bowl. They have ruined our season more than once over the years. No self imposed limitations! Let's go win it all.

Cigs - 56 The other Michigan team - 6

The extension was a statement of relevance. It said we are not only here, we are here to stay. The traditional 'good ol' boys' club needs to get used to it. In racing they always say, 'speed costs money, how fast do you want to go'. Apparently, in football, we want to go pretty fast!

IU has had a lot of exceptional players but they were never on great teams except for maybe the Rose Bowl team. And even then it wasn't sustainable. The Cignetti era feels different. That IU could have arguably the best coach in college football is insane for me. I have a soft spot for the guys who played on the Rose Bowl team. They took down a very highly rated Purdue team and I listened to it on the radio while harvesting corn. Great team, great times. As far as players go, I'm going with AT and Trent Green.

As good as Cig is at keeping the team focused, human nature tells me there will be a let down. The last three games have been marked and talked about as season defining games. We won all three. It's only natural to relax a little bit after what was an incredible accomplishment. I expect a slow start but think they will eventually get back to game mode. The weather may be a bit of an issue but will be a factor for both teams. If we play to our ability, we should win going away. As much as I enjoy the offense, our defense will determine how far we go.

I hate these types of conversations. Different players at different times. AT was an awesome player. I loved watching him and believe he should have won the best player that year. Fisher is the heartbeat of this years defense and also a great player. Can we just celebrate what each of them brings/brought to their respective teams without comparing them? I love what each of them brought to their respective teams.

It's Indiana.