theronjohn1

I can't be mad when I get the chance to be on the call. :)

Sure, Indiana lost to Wake Forest on Monday, but Hoosier fans should not fret. I was as shocked as anyone that the Hoosiers fell to the Demon Deacons 82-78 in Maui, Hawaii, but I am here to say that it’s not as big of a deal as everyone thinks. My Twitter feed was full of derogatory tweets directed at the program and at coach Tom Crean, but I had to do everything I could to not yell at everyone to cool their jets. It’s November. IU lost to unranked Butler in December of 2012 and that year the Hoosiers were much more talented in my opinion. They later traveled to the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Sweet 16 and a 15-5 Big Ten record. I’m thinking this is the same kind of situation. Wake Forest did not look terrible on Monday and I would not be surprised if they are close to the Top 25, if not breaking into the polls, come next week. Just to give some perspective, Miami (FL) jumped all the way from unranked to No. 15 in the polls, just from knocking off Utah and Butler, both of which dropped out of the rankings entirely. So let’s look at some positives from Monday night, because I do think that the positive speak about what we can expect heading forward. Max Bielfeldt commanded more in the post than Thomas Bryant did. The transfer from Michigan put up 11 points in 23 minutes down low. I’m jumping on the Bielfeldt bandwagon, because he is going to be a good backup if Bryant is having problems. Troy Williams put up 16 points, which is always fun to see, but I was more impressed with Robert Johnson coming off the bench to record 14. Johnson got 25 minutes of playing time, two more than James Blackmon Jr., who played horrendously throughout. Based on tonight alone, I would like to see Johnson rotate into the lineup a little more often moving forward. The turnover conundrum did not look quite as terrible on Monday, as the Hoosiers only committed 14, which is down from the average of 18 per game. It’s not great yet, but it’s progress. I would however like to see it below the average from last season: 12. If the turnover average were below 12 per game, it would be the best of this millennium and that would be a fun milestone to watch IU make. I would go into depth about the improvements that need to happen, but everyone has read the issues of Monday night at length in Terry Hutchens’ article. So, don’t worry Hoosier Nation, IU will be back to its winning ways soon enough. Let me know what you think this loss means for IU. Leave some comments and we’ll have a discussion!

Here's another point of view on IU's 82-78 loss to Wake Forest on Monday. IU student Aaron Johnson thinks that one loss isn't the end of IU's potentially good season. He explains his thought process here. Sure, Indiana lost to Wake Forest on Monday, but Hoosier fans should not fret.   I was as shocked as anyone that the Hoosiers fell to the Demon Deacons 82-78 in Maui, Hawaii, but I am here to say that it’s not as big of a deal as everyone thinks.   My Twitter feed was full of derogatory tweets directed at the program and at coach Tom Crean, but I had to do everything I could to not yell at everyone to cool their jets.   It’s November.   IU lost to unranked Butler in December of 2012 and that year the Hoosiers were much more talented in my opinion. They later traveled to the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Sweet 16 and a 15-5 Big Ten record.   I’m thinking this is the same kind of situation. Wake Forest did not look terrible on Monday and I would not be surprised if they are close to the Top 25, if not breaking into the polls, come next week.   Just to give some perspective, Miami (FL) jumped all the way from unranked to No. 15 in the polls, just from knocking off Utah and Butler, both of which dropped out of the rankings entirely.   So let’s look at some positives from Monday night, because I do think that the positive speak about what we can expect heading forward.   Max Bielfeldt commanded more in the post than Thomas Bryant did. The transfer from Michigan put up 11 points in 23 minutes down low. I’m jumping on the Bielfeldt bandwagon, because he is going to be a good backup if Bryant is having problems.   Troy Williams put up 16 points, which is always fun to see, but I was more impressed with Robert Johnson coming off the bench to record 14. Johnson got 25 minutes of playing time, two more than James Blackmon Jr., who played horrendously throughout. Based on tonight alone, I would like to see Johnson rotate into the lineup a little more often moving forward.   The turnover conundrum did not look quite as terrible on Monday, as the Hoosiers only committed 14, which is down from the average of 18 per game. It’s not great yet, but it’s progress. I would however like to see it below the average from last season: 12. If the turnover average were below 12 per game, it would be the best of this millennium and that would be a fun milestone to watch IU make.   I would go into depth about the improvements that need to happen, but everyone has read the issues of Monday night at length in Terry Hutchens’ article.   So, don’t worry Hoosier Nation, IU will be back to its winning ways soon enough.   Let me know what you think this loss means for IU. Leave some comments and we’ll have a discussion! [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/more-analysis-fret-not-hoosier-nation-r269]Click here to view the article[/url]

First of all, I'm not saying that no one should have expectations. I'm saying expectations need to be reasonable, while dreams and hopes can be set high. Final Four appearances are not exactly reasonable in most cases for expectations.   Secondly, KenPom's system is based on winning projections. It's all percentages to win. It's probability, chance and statistics. It's not expectations. I have a lot of respect for the KenPom system because it is statistically based. Everything in that program is based on numbers and probability, which I admire.   That said, Wake Forest is not a bad team. You claim they are "bottom of the ACC" but according to KenPom they are still a top-70 quality team, which makes me believe that the ACC is deep from top to bottom. It's stacked at the top, that's no question. But down at the bottom there are programs that have done well in the past (i.e. NC State) and I see no reason to think that Wake isn't a team that can make some noise in their noncon season, which they have already done so.

I think expecting a team to reach the Final Four is too much to ask for. Hoping for that is fine, but expecting that is a little excessive if you ask me, even for the best programs. Upsets happen all the time (UK last year?) and crush dreams, but those dreams should never be expectations.   In terms of the expectations of IU at the beginning of the season, I never had the Final Four on my radar. I didn't think that the addition of Bryant and a year of practice would fix the defensive issues that exist in Bloomington.

I see your point, but Vonleh's team had a whole other set of issues. It went 3-10 on the road. Its road wins were Washington, Northwestern and Penn State. That screams "yikes" to me. If that team would have won two more road games it would have been a tournament team.   Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State are all road games for IU this year, and I say win two of those three and it makes up for a "bad loss" to Wake in Maui. Duke is also a true road game, and if IU can get its stuff together by then, I could see both powerhouse offenses running down to the wire. And even a close loss in Durham would look better than nothing.   In terms of tournament play, I don't think that people should be expecting IU to make a Final Four unless there are some major changes on both sides of the floor. Even the No. 1 seeded IU team with Zeller and Oladipo couldn't do that and they were arguably the most talented team since 2002. They spent a lot of that season ranked at the top, and things didn't work out. I think expecting any team to be in the top four of the 351 programs is a stretch.

There will be plenty of Big Ten teams to get quality wins off of. I'm thinking Maryland in Assembly Hall in particular. To your second question, I would rather IU go into the NCAA tournament with a lower seed (anywhere from 5-11) because then they would need to prove themselves in the NCAAT. I think IU is more of an upset type team than a ride the high ranking team, and it's been that way for the majority of the years since the '76 team, with the exception of the '87 squad of course.

Ok, yes IU loses some of its SoS because of this. But Duke and Notre Dame are still on the noncon schedule. If IU manages to beat even one of those two, the Hoosiers are back in the mix.

Sure, Indiana’s offense was great as usual, but I want to talk about how good I thought the defense played. For a team that put up 51 points in the first half, the Hoosiers did a good job at causing problems on the defensive end in their 86-65 win over Creighton on Thursday night. First of all, I would like to say there is still plenty of room for improvement on the IU defense (seems to be a trend with a lot of IU Athletics does it not?). That said, holding Creighton to 65 points was a good start to that change for the better. The Hoosiers forced 10 turnovers in the first half, which was obviously the better half in basically every term available. Five more turnovers came in the second half, but by that point, the eventual winner was already clear. The turnovers sparked the offense as well, resulting in 19 points off turnovers. I saw these 15 turnovers as a big jump from the 23 the Hoosiers forced against Austin Peay. Those numbers cannot really show what I mean, but Creighton’s offense is and will continue to be much more potent in this season, I have no doubt, so I would like to put more value on the turnovers forced on Thursday. To give some context, Creighton’s offense is the 63rd best in the country (better than five Big Ten teams) while Austin Peay comes traipsing in with an abysmal 279th offensive ranking (two spots behind Rutgers). So if the transitive property holds true, Indiana will be able to force 15 turnovers in seven of the Big Ten games on the schedule. A big part of the defensive proficiency in my opinion came at the hand of Thomas Bryant, who has already become a fan favorite based on the crowd reactions on Thursday. Bryant’s energy and excitement on both sides of the floor got the fans excited in Assembly Hall and four blocks and a steal from the freshman showed me his potential to be a big factor on the defensive end. Not only was Bryant a big factor; Troy Williams and his fresh buzz cut added a block and a steal. The Hoosiers also held the Bluejays to 16 percent from deep, including a goose egg’s percentage in the second half. Nine 3-point shots from Creighton in the second half resulted in no points. Talk about some stingy guard defense. Credit needs to be given to Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell, Robert Johnson, Nick Zeisloft and James Blackmon Jr. for their performances as well. After Indiana’s win, its adjusted defensive efficiency ranking moved up to 60th according to kenpom.com. I think this is a fantastic sign for Hoosier fans. Granted, the IU defense is not anywhere close to competing with Kentucky’s defense, but it’s progress. And what else could a fan really hope for? The 65-point effort from Creighton tells me a few things. Should the offensive well ever run dry for Indiana (I speak for Hoosier fans when I say “let’s hope not”), I think the defense can be there to spark something, or at least stall until the offense can get going. Finally, the defense could be a good indicator of how far Indiana could really go. I could predict, if the defense continues to improve, an Elite Eight or even Final Four caliber team could emerge out of Bloomington.

I think it could be argued that Vonleh was a good post presence, but there wasn't anything surrounding him to make the team look good as a whole.

And tooting my own horn here, but you can hear my call on the IPFW game with a btn plus account!

If you get a BTN+ account today, for example, you would get the game vs. IPFW as well since that would be in the month span. You would just have to cancel your account after that so you wouldn't get charged again.

As I sat on the sidelines at Hoosier Hysteria, I got those chills that roll down my spine every time I see the Indiana men's basketball squad enter Assembly Hall. I was on the call for the Big Ten Network with the BTN Student U program, alongside Ben Wittenstein and Karley Marotta. I saw Thomas Bryant, Juwan Morgan, O.G. Anunoby, Josh Newkirk, Max Bielfeldt and Harrison Niego enter Assembly Hall to be formally introduced as Hoosiers to fans and I have to say I was impressed. Thomas Bryant looks massive up close. No question on that one. He's a 6-foot-10, 245 pound monster who will be a big impact immediately in the Hoosier post. Juwan Morgan and O.G. Anunoby are not quite as big of surprises, but they will certainly deliver. The real surprise of the night, however, had to be Troy Williams in the 3-point and dunk contests. A lot of fans believed that Williams was going to take the dunk contest easily, which he did, but the junior also took the 3-point challenge over the prolific shooters on the team. The junior from Hampton, Va. took down Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell, Nick Zeisloft, Robert Johnson, and James Blackmon Jr., the sharp shooters who all averaged 38 percent or better from behind the arc last season. Williams was victorious in both, becoming the first player to win both Hoosier Hysteria events. Williams' outstanding performance in the dunk contest proved his athletic ability for the umpteenth time. A between the legs dunk sealed the victory for Williams, but I was more impressed by his first attempt; a 360-degree windmill slam that brought Assembly Hall to its feet. In the scrimmage, the Cream team came away with the win over the Crimson with a 35-28 win. Bryant, the freshman out of Rochester, N.Y., led the Cream with 13 points in the post, proving that he will quickly jump into the rotation, serving as the center that IU has needed since Noah Vonleh departed for the NBA. Bryant also attempted the infamous Michael Jordan dunk from the free throw line during the dunk contest, but could not quite throw it down. His athleticism was amazing to watch. I could not resist enjoying the introduction of the newcomers. Bryant started off his career at IU in the right way; a dance performance that could not be matched. His personality and charm instantly won over thousands of fans in Assembly Hall. Bielfeldt, the transfer from Michigan, knocked down a guarded three-pointer late in the scrimmage, so I can only hope that he will be a dual threat kind of reserve player. Morgan and Anunoby, a pair of high school foes turned into teammates, will also act as key reserves in the post, as they averaged 18.5 points per game in their senior seasons. Overall, I have good thoughts about this IU men's basketball squad. Bryant will be a great addition, and he has the backups of Morgan, Anunoby, and Bielfeldt. Of course, the shooters have all returned, and we can all trust that all four veteran guards will come back ready to go. The Hoosiers will start off their exhibition season on Nov. 3 against Bellarmine at 7 p.m. on BTN Plus before opening the regular season on Nov. 13 at home against Eastern Illinois.

Aaron Johnson served as the play-by-play broadcaster for the Big Ten Network Plus stream, and here is his account of Hoosier Hysteria for BtownBanners.com. As I sat on the sidelines at Hoosier Hysteria, I got those chills that roll down my spine every time I see the Indiana men's basketball squad enter Assembly Hall.   I was on the call for the Big Ten Network with the BTN Student U program, alongside Ben Wittenstein and Karley Marotta.   I saw Thomas Bryant, Juwan Morgan, O.G. Anunoby, Josh Newkirk, Max Bielfeldt and Harrison Niego enter Assembly Hall to be formally introduced as Hoosiers to fans and I have to say I was impressed.   Thomas Bryant looks massive up close. No question on that one. He's a 6-foot-10, 245 pound monster who will be a big impact immediately in the Hoosier post.   Juwan Morgan and O.G. Anunoby are not quite as big of surprises, but they will certainly deliver.   The real surprise of the night, however, had to be Troy Williams in the 3-point and dunk contests.   A lot of fans believed that Williams was going to take the dunk contest easily, which he did, but the junior also took the 3-point challenge over the prolific shooters on the team.   The junior from Hampton, Va. took down Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell, Nick Zeisloft, Robert Johnson, and James Blackmon Jr., the sharp shooters who all averaged 38 percent or better from behind the arc last season.   Williams was victorious in both, becoming the first player to win both Hoosier Hysteria events.   Williams' outstanding performance in the dunk contest proved his athletic ability for the umpteenth time.   A between the legs dunk sealed the victory for Williams, but I was more impressed by his first attempt; a 360-degree windmill slam that brought Assembly Hall to its feet.   In the scrimmage, the Cream team came away with the win over the Crimson with a 35-28 win.   Bryant, the freshman out of Rochester, N.Y., led the Cream with 13 points in the post, proving that he will quickly jump into the rotation, serving as the center that IU has needed since Noah Vonleh departed for the NBA.   Bryant also attempted the infamous Michael Jordan dunk from the free throw line during the dunk contest, but could not quite throw it down. His athleticism was amazing to watch.   I could not resist enjoying the introduction of the newcomers.   Bryant started off his career at IU in the right way; a dance performance that could not be matched. His personality and charm instantly won over thousands of fans in Assembly Hall.   Bielfeldt, the transfer from Michigan, knocked down a guarded three-pointer late in the scrimmage, so I can only hope that he will be a dual threat kind of reserve player.   Morgan and Anunoby, a pair of high school foes turned into teammates, will also act as key reserves in the post, as they averaged 18.5 points per game in their senior seasons.   Overall, I have good thoughts about this IU men's basketball squad.   Bryant will be a great addition, and he has the backups of Morgan, Anunoby, and Bielfeldt.   Of course, the shooters have all returned, and we can all trust that all four veteran guards will come back ready to go.   The Hoosiers will start off their exhibition season on Nov. 3 against Bellarmine at 7 p.m. on BTN Plus before opening the regular season on Nov. 13 at home against Eastern Illinois. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/aaron-johnson-my-impressions-of-hoosier-hysteria-r239]Click here to view the article[/url]

You're not wrong on this one. Ottawa was 16-12, but the record didn't show their quality.

the defense looked ok, but honestly a little difficult to say because of the offensive power.

  Hoosier Hysteria is on Saturday the 24th. I'll be the host broadcasting it for BTN+. There is also a replay option if you have a BTN+ subscription; you can watch it at any time while you still have an active subscription. That said, they haven't announced a set start time for it yet.

For Indiana fans, it seemed a bit like a pipe dream. A date with No. 1 Ohio State in Bloomington and the Hoosiers led on Saturday heading into the locker room for halftime. And Indiana ran it down to the wire. The Buckeyes took the eventual 34-27 win after a big scare in the final Hoosier drive in front of an announced crowd of 52,929. The Hoosiers took a shocking 10-6 lead in the first half, with a field goal from Griffin Oakes in the first quarter and a touchdown from Devine Redding in the second. Once Ohio State (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) returned from the locker room, it was a different ball game. Two touchdowns from Ezekiel Elliot in the third quarter started the OSU run. Indiana (4-1, 0-1) held tough late, with a 79-yard touchdown run from Zander Diamont in the fourth quarter that brought the Hoosiers within seven. A forced OSU punt late in the fourth put IU down seven with possession, pushing the last drive to the 9-yard line. An incomplete pass from Diamont on a misplaced snap at the buzzer gave Ohio State the win. “We’ve got a lot of strengths, and we’re just trying to build on them,” IU coach Kevin Wilson said. “Offensively we’ve got to keep coming along.” Nate Sudfeld was benched in the third quarter after tweaking his ankle and Diamont burned his redshirt to fill in against the Buckeyes. Diamont threw for 76 yards and ran for 79. “I’ve been ready to go,” Diamont said. “I’ve felt confident since training camp. The experience from last season really prepared me for this situation.” Elliot’s 286 total yards let the way for the Buckeyes, after starting cold, running for only 31 yards in the first half. A bulk of his yards came from his three touchdowns, which were 55 yards, 65 yards and 75 yards respectively. This was the first sellout crowd in Memorial Stadium since 2010, which gave Indiana the strength they needed to push the top team in the country to its limits. “It means a lot to finally get a crowd out here,” Diamont said. “But we don't want that just to be for this week coming off an undefeated game. We appreciate it; it really makes a difference in how we play.” Jordan Howard, the usual powerhouse running back, was taken off the field in the second quarter due to an ankle injury. Howard saw a few plays here and there after returning in the second half, but only gained 34 yards on 14 attempts. Regardless of the score, Hoosier fans and players noticed how good the IU squad was. “I think we can play with anyone in the country,” Diamont said. “I think people around here are starting to realize that this is a very good football team and a good football program, and we've known that for the past few years. When we play as a team we are really good. We came here to win." The closeness of this matchup sprung up a lot of questions regarding Ohio State, Indiana and the Big Ten. Was Ohio State overrated? Was Indiana really good enough to hold with the Buckeyes until the end? Is the Big Ten deeper than everyone thought? All of these questions will, of course, be answered during the coming weeks when the Big Ten teams face off against the rest of the league. With No. 2 Michigan State only escaping a Purdue visit with a 24-21 victory, Ohio State leaving Bloomington with a scare and Iowa securing a 5-0 start, the Big Ten looks wide open. The Hoosiers will be on the road against Penn State for their next contest on Oct. 10 and will come back home for the matchup against Rutgers for homecoming on Oct. 17.

Indiana held with top-ranked Ohio State until the very end, falling 34-27 on a tipped pass in the end zone at the end of the fourth quarter. For Indiana fans, it seemed a bit like a pipe dream.   A date with No. 1 Ohio State in Bloomington and the Hoosiers led on Saturday heading into the locker room for halftime.   And Indiana ran it down to the wire.   The Buckeyes took the eventual 34-27 win after a big scare in the final Hoosier drive in front of an announced crowd of 52,929.   The Hoosiers took a shocking 10-6 lead in the first half, with a field goal from Griffin Oakes in the first quarter and a touchdown from Devine Redding in the second.   Once Ohio State (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) returned from the locker room, it was a different ball game. Two touchdowns from Ezekiel Elliot in the third quarter started the OSU run.   Indiana (4-1, 0-1) held tough late, with a 79-yard touchdown run from Zander Diamont in the fourth quarter that brought the Hoosiers within seven.   A forced OSU punt late in the fourth put IU down seven with possession, pushing the last drive to the 9-yard line. An incomplete pass from Diamont on a misplaced snap at the buzzer gave Ohio State the win.   “We’ve got a lot of strengths, and we’re just trying to build on them,” IU coach Kevin Wilson said. “Offensively we’ve got to keep coming along.”   Nate Sudfeld was benched in the third quarter after tweaking his ankle and Diamont burned his redshirt to fill in against the Buckeyes. Diamont threw for 76 yards and ran for 79.   “I’ve been ready to go,” Diamont said. “I’ve felt confident since training camp. The experience from last season really prepared me for this situation.”   Elliot’s 286 total yards let the way for the Buckeyes, after starting cold, running for only 31 yards in the first half. A bulk of his yards came from his three touchdowns, which were 55 yards, 65 yards and 75 yards respectively.   This was the first sellout crowd in Memorial Stadium since 2010, which gave Indiana the strength they needed to push the top team in the country to its limits.   “It means a lot to finally get a crowd out here,” Diamont said. “But we don't want that just to be for this week coming off an undefeated game. We appreciate it; it really makes a difference in how we play.”   Jordan Howard, the usual powerhouse running back, was taken off the field in the second quarter due to an ankle injury. Howard saw a few plays here and there after returning in the second half, but only gained 34 yards on 14 attempts.   Regardless of the score, Hoosier fans and players noticed how good the IU squad was.   “I think we can play with anyone in the country,” Diamont said. “I think people around here are starting to realize that this is a very good football team and a good football program, and we've known that for the past few years. When we play as a team we are really good. We came here to win."   The closeness of this matchup sprung up a lot of questions regarding Ohio State, Indiana and the Big Ten.   Was Ohio State overrated?   Was Indiana really good enough to hold with the Buckeyes until the end?   Is the Big Ten deeper than everyone thought?   All of these questions will, of course, be answered during the coming weeks when the Big Ten teams face off against the rest of the league. With No. 2 Michigan State only escaping a Purdue visit with a 24-21 victory, Ohio State leaving Bloomington with a scare and Iowa securing a 5-0 start, the Big Ten looks wide open.   The Hoosiers will be on the road against Penn State for their next contest on Oct. 10 and will come back home for the matchup against Rutgers for homecoming on Oct. 17. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/football/indiana-goes-toe-to-toe-with-the-top-ranked-tea-r227]Click here to view the article[/url]

Game Recap The Indiana defense was abysmal to say the least during the first half on Saturday, and nowhere near par late in the game, but it got the one stop that mattered. Indiana beat Southern Illinois 48-47 after stopping a Saluki two-point conversion attempt with 18 seconds to go. Everyone can agree that this matchup was a lot closer than predicted, and it started with very poor defense on the Indiana side. Southern Illinois University, a Football Championship Subdivision school, ran a Big Ten school down to the final seconds with a chance to win. A pair of major stops from the Indiana defense in the third quarter made the difference, allowing the Hoosiers to score 17 unanswered points in the third stanza. On the offensive end, UAB transfer Jordan Howard lived up to the hype, recording 145 total yards and three touchdowns. Nate Sudfeld threw for 349 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions, proving to all the doubters that he was ready to come back to play for the Hoosiers. Touchdowns and field goals were traded back and forth for almost the entire game, save for the 17-0 run by Indiana in the third. Indiana finally got the stop they needed in the final seconds of the game on the two-point conversion attempt. Player of the Game Howard, the UAB transfer, showed that he was ready to play at a Big Ten school. While Ricky Jones had a great game of 186 receiving yards, Howard found the end zone three times. In his debut for the Hoosiers, Howard averaged 7.3 yards per carry, with a long of 35 yards, leading both squads. He also caught two passes for 25 yards. Play of the Game There could be several candidates for the play of the game. The 57-yard deep ball from Nate Sudfeld to Ricky Jones early in the third quarter would have to be in the conversation. Indiana trailed 32-21 coming out of the halftime locker room and had to score on the first series in order to regain some momentum. That happened quickly when Jones faked to the left and made a quick move across the middle and Sudfeld hit him in stride. Even more impressive was that a strong wind had come up to begin the third quarter and it was blowing in Sudfeld's face but it didn't faze him on the TD strike. Another could be the play by Andre Brown Jr. at the goal line on the two-point conversion attempt. But perhaps the biggest play of the game came early in the fourth quarter after Southern Illinois threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 38. On the ensuing point after, SIU was called for illegal substitution as it had 12 men on the field. The extra point attempt was moved 5 yards back and Austin Johnson hooked the attempt wide left. That kept the score at 38 all instead of 39-38 Southern Illinois. And its significance at the end is that instead of attempting a two-point conversion to win, the Salukis should have been kicking an extra point for the victory. Turning Point Again, there could be several candidates here. How Indiana came out at the half has to be one of them. At halftime, the Hoosiers trailed the Salukis 32-21. Indiana started a rampage in the third quarter. The halftime speech from coach Kevin Wilson must have been the words the Hoosiers needed. Indiana scored seven off a TD from Jones with a Griffin Oakes extra point. IU forced a punt on the next SIU series, and put three more on the board with an Oakes 45-yard field goal. The defense forced another stop and started another touchdown series. Devine Redding scored the final 3-yard touchdown rush and Oakes capped off the 17-point quarter with an extra point. Best Offensive Unit The running backs of Indiana were truly putting on a show on Saturday night. Howard and Redding combined for five of the six Hoosier touchdowns. Since the offensive line provided such great opportunities, the running back staff was able to capitalize, putting the Salukis in their place. Indiana ran for 246 yards on 42 carries as a team led by Howard with 145, Redding with 57 and even Sudfeld with 46 yards. Best Defensive Unit Let’s be honest here, there is no part of this game where one could say there was great defense. There was a mediocre defensive crew at best in the third quarter, but the majority was simply abysmal. The best of the worst is arguably the linebackers. Marcus Oliver had the two forced fumbles of the game, which was the shining light of the defensive darkness. Nick Mangieri had the only sack of the game from either team in a critical spot in the fourth quarter when he sacked Mark Iannotti for 3 yards on a third-and-nine play. IU was clinging to a 41-38 lead at the time. Aside from those two performances, so many football fans would have trouble finding anything else to praise. Kicking Game Griffin Oakes had two field goals in the second half with distances of 45 and 22 yards respectively. The kicking staff had six extra points made after six Hoosier touchdowns, three in each half. There were five punts taken by Erich Toth on Saturday, one of which was blocked. The other four totaled 162 yards, the long reaching 46 yards. The kickoffs averaged 64.1 yards, resulting in seven touchbacks from the Salukis. Biggest Surprise It is pretty obvious that the biggest surprise for most who watched this game was how close it really was. Indiana struggled to beat an FCS team, and would have lost the game if the final two-point conversion had been made. IU was a 21-point favorite at kickoff, but that was quickly thrown out the window when SIU scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion to lead the Hoosiers 11-7 in the first quarter. There was no point in the game when somebody could say that IU had it locked up until there were only 18 seconds left. True Freshman Tracker Every week there will be a blurb describing which true freshmen are coming into their roles and making plays for the Hoosiers. Below are all the statistics that freshmen recorded. Jacob Robinson – 1 tackle Jonathon Crawford – 8 tackles Devonte Williams – 4 kick returns, 78 yards Nick Westbrook -- 1 catch, 10 yards In addition, the following true freshmen were listed in the participation list Saturday but did not accumulate statistics. Donavan Hale, Jameel Cook, Mike Majette and Leon Thornton. Up Next The Hoosiers will face Florida International University (1-0) on Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. in Bloomington. The Panthers beat UCF on Thursday 15-14, scoring a touchdown in each the third and fourth quarters after a 14-3 halftime deficit. FIU is located in the greater Miami area and is one of the largest universities in South Florida with more than 55,000 students.

IU a three TD favorite at kickoff time.

You're missing a Thon Maker in there.

Erich Toth, a senior from Indianapolis, punted the ball 77 times last season, setting a school record. The kicker also had 34 of his punts result in a fair catch, often times giving the Hoosier defense an advantage on the next drive. Toth was a strength that many Hoosier fans overlooked last year, but still have the chance to notice in the 2015 season. His preparation with the special teams was key in being able to perform when he was needed. “The team only sees us for 20 minutes a day so they may not think we do a whole lot,'' Toth said. "But we’re always doing muscle memory stuff, working on our timing, just doing little stuff to help us perform on the field.” He may spend limited time with the team during practice, but Toth’s efforts have not gone unnoticed by IU coach Kevin Wilson. “We’ve done a lot of coverage work without doing a lot of full cover,” Wilson said Tuesday. “A lot of fundamentals of protection. I think Toth’s looked awesome.” The Hoosier kicking team, led by Toth, started practicing 11-on-11 kicking drills on Monday. Redshirt sophomore Griffin Oakes has been taking more snaps in practices due to redshirt sophomore Aaron Del Grosso’s aggravated groin injury. While Toth works to push himself to a consistently competitive level, he is also trying to pass on his own knowledge to his younger teammates. Toth is working with fellow punters Joseph Gedeon and Nick Campos to solidify a game plan. Gedeon is a redshirt freshman and Campos is a redshirt junior. “Muscle memory is critical, that’s something that I’ve been trying to instill in these younger guys who are kind of up and coming,” Toth said. “I do that every single day. I do muscle memory, I do drops, I do my steps, everything is so critical.” Toth also wants them to realize that quickness for a punter is a necessity. “When you have 1.25 seconds to catch the ball and get it off, you don’t have time to think about the drop needs to be here and my step needs to be here,” Toth said. “It’s all about what you’ve taught yourself.” Indiana and its fan base would like to see Toth on the field as little as possible, simply because IU can't win while the punter is out setting records. That's where quarterback Nate Sudfeld and company enter the picture. Sudfeld is back from a shoulder injury and is ready to put Indiana in the end zone. In the 2015 campaign for the Hoosiers, Toth trusts that his fellow Hoosiers will deliver on the offensive end. “Last year I was on the field a lot, and that’s not always the best thing for the team,” Toth said, “but I have high expectations for the offense. Sudfeld is looking better than ever and is more confident than he has ever had. The offense has so many weapons, so many guys at each position.” While Toth hopes to see the offense perform well, he is also ready to accomplish his own goals. “I don’t expect to be on the field as much as I was last year,” said Toth. "But if I do get called out I’ll be ready to go and I’ll try to put the defense in the best spot I can.” The Hoosiers look to keep Toth off the field beginning Sept. 5 against Southern Illinois. @theronjohn1

The storylines of last year’s Indiana team were pretty simple. Tevin Coleman ran for miles, Nate Sudfeld got injured, and the defense struggled. Behind the scenes, however, there was Erich Toth, the Hoosier punter. Erich Toth, a senior from Indianapolis, punted the ball 77 times last season, setting a school record. The kicker also had 34 of his punts result in a fair catch, often times giving the Hoosier defense an advantage on the next drive. Toth was a strength that many Hoosier fans overlooked last year, but still have the chance to notice in the 2015 season.   His preparation with the special teams was key in being able to perform when he was needed.   “The team only sees us for 20 minutes a day so they may not think we do a whole lot,'' Toth said. "But we’re always doing muscle memory stuff, working on our timing, just doing little stuff to help us perform on the field.”   He may spend limited time with the team during practice, but Toth’s efforts have not gone unnoticed by IU coach Kevin Wilson.   “We’ve done a lot of coverage work without doing a lot of full cover,” Wilson said Tuesday. “A lot of fundamentals of protection. I think Toth’s looked awesome.”   The Hoosier kicking team, led by Toth, started practicing 11-on-11 kicking drills on Monday. Redshirt sophomore Griffin Oakes has been taking more snaps in practices due to redshirt sophomore Aaron Del Grosso’s aggravated groin injury.   While Toth works to push himself to a consistently competitive level, he is also trying to pass on his own knowledge to his younger teammates. Toth is working with fellow punters Joseph Gedeon and Nick Campos to solidify a game plan. Gedeon is a redshirt freshman and Campos is a redshirt junior.   “Muscle memory is critical, that’s something that I’ve been trying to instill in these younger guys who are kind of up and coming,” Toth said. “I do that every single day. I do muscle memory, I do drops, I do my steps, everything is so critical.”   Toth also wants them to realize that quickness for a punter is a necessity.   “When you have 1.25 seconds to catch the ball and get it off, you don’t have time to think about the drop needs to be here and my step needs to be here,” Toth said. “It’s all about what you’ve taught yourself.”   Indiana and its fan base would like to see Toth on the field as little as possible, simply because IU can't win while the punter is out setting records. That's where quarterback Nate Sudfeld and company enter the picture.   Sudfeld is back from a shoulder injury and is ready to put Indiana in the end zone.   In the 2015 campaign for the Hoosiers, Toth trusts that his fellow Hoosiers will deliver on the offensive end.   “Last year I was on the field a lot, and that’s not always the best thing for the team,” Toth said, “but I have high expectations for the offense. Sudfeld is looking better than ever and is more confident than he has ever had. The offense has so many weapons, so many guys at each position.”   While Toth hopes to see the offense perform well, he is also ready to accomplish his own goals.   “I don’t expect to be on the field as much as I was last year,” said Toth. "But if I do get called out I’ll be ready to go and I’ll try to put the defense in the best spot I can.”   The Hoosiers look to keep Toth off the field beginning Sept. 5 against Southern Illinois.   @theronjohn1 [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/football/news-notes/erich-toth-a-player-looking-to-spend-less-time-r167]Click here to view the article[/url]

First Day of Full Pads Monday was the first day of full pads in practice for the Hoosiers and Tuesday they had one practice in the morning and one in the evening. IU practiced Thursday and Friday with helmets only and practiced in shoulder pads over the weekend. In addition to full pads, Tuesday was the first day of 11-on-11 tackling in practice. Coach Kevin Wilson spoke about the development of the team moving into the full pad practices. “Progression’s been kinda good, kinda normal,” Wilson said. “Could be a little tired a little sluggish, but we’re a stronger team and we’ve got a long way to go, but we’re learning how to practice hard.” IU has upped the intensity of practices this year to prepare for its first matchup of the season. “With the way we do practice, it can be hard for them to play at an 80, 90, 100 percentile,” Wilson said. “We’ve tried looking at ways in practicing that we don’t overdo it.” Newcomers Now that Indiana has started full contact practices, the freshmen and transfers have a new element of IU football to worry about. “Some of them want to get hit once and start adjusting their chin straps or they get those big eyes, but they’re doing good,” Wilson said. The addition of new players has deepened the IU roster across the board. The linemen and defensive backs have many options moving forward. “Tyler Green has a lot of notoriety coming in but Andre Brown has been as impressive as anyone,” Wilson said. “Devonte Williams has been as impressive as anyone because he’s a runner. He’s used to getting hit.” August Camp The month-long camp before the season starts can be a very long and draining experience for the team and its coaching staff, but the way it is structured this season will help break it up. The organization of the August camp has given the Hoosiers plenty of time to get the necessary work done, but not feel overwhelmed. “The nice thing is that I don’t think we feel as rushed as we used to,” Wilson said. The time spent together as a team helps gel the players and coaching staff together because it gives time for everyone to get acquainted to each other’s quirks and styles. “Tomorrow’s an off day, so we’re going to do some team things,” Wilson said. “You want to build some team chemistry.” Running Backs The IU running backs have been thrown into the spotlight after the Atlanta Falcons drafted Tevin Coleman in May. Tuesday's first day of tackling pushed them to another level. “They ran a lot harder in the tackle drills than the non-tackle drills because I think that fear makes you run a little faster,” Wilson said. The backs have been working to tighten up their game moving forward in August. “We have not taken care of the ball,” Wilson said. “In the plays I see the ball get a little loose, but the core of the group has been pretty good.” Update on the Week IU has had six straight days with a practice, with Tuesday being a two-a-day. Thursday will be a light day where they can get back in the groove of practice after an off day on Wednesday. Friday will be another two-a-day. There will be an inter-team scrimmage on Saturday Aug. 15 after the Monroe County Youth Football Day. The Hoosiers will help out with the Youth Football Day, signing autographs and talking with the youth leagues from across the county.