DChoosier

Exciting game but after the initial joy of the go ahead touchdown who here thought we could actually hold them from tying the game with 2:52 to go? Having the opposition make big plays, wide open receivers, making 2nd and 29/ 3rd and 13/ 3rd and 10 etc etc first downs is as common as the sun coming up in the morning. It is staggering how often teams convert on third and long. Many talk about the defense getting gassed but UM scored after three plays at the start of the game. A big positive was how the line helped Howard shred the UM defense which meant, of course, we did not use him the last two plays of the game. The bummer, and I hate being so negative, is that Howard will go pro, Suds graduates and we are looking at an average offense next year. A number of defensive players come back but as has been the case for years....who cares if the returnees are the backbone of a hideous defense.

Wilson now has a lower Big Ten winning percentage than Lynch (let that sink in) but for some inexplicable reason I am going: IU - 38 UM - 35

I was recently in Mississippi. It is Nirvana if you are extremely obese, ride a scooter with a big gulp cup holder and chain smoke.

I was one that yelled at the team to get Cody the ball but........ If TB looks at the stats he will see: 2012-2013. Cody LED BT big men in scoring at 16.5 a game. He led BT big men even though IU had a lot of perimeter scoring. He had zero 3 pointers while all other top 15 scorers had 20 or more 3 pointers (ie mostly perimeter players) and 10 of the 15 had over 40. Cody at 16.5 outscored future NBA players like VO (13.6), Gary Harris (12.9) and Hardaway (14.5) After his year of "extreme mis-use" he went 4th in the NBA draft. Again, I yelled at the TV numerous times to "get the ball to Cody" but the results were not as bad as we remembered. AS far as NV....he had no idea how to post up effectively and never learned (maybe was not properly taught) how to post up. The passing angles he presented to the guards were horrible.

PU and MD are both on the road. Hope we win both but in 5 1/2 years Wilson has won one BT road game (against an IL team that went winless in the BT). Two road wins in a row might get him a statue and 20 year extension.

Agree 100%

Not that hard for you to figure out. The topic is about whether or not rankings matter and some of us "get it" that getting highly ranked players helps even though many cling to thinking that in the past we won with one eyed, slow players that were mystically turned into studs.

No I do not think expectations should be high. My point is that Sud's said expectations are low and I am agreeing with him (and you ) and people leaving at half confims that. Somehow that always turns into "people are blaming the fans" but that is not the intent.

My eyes tell me we are better than 5 years ago but the bottom line is that BL was fired with a putrid 6-30 conference record and Wilson's is now 6-31 and actually getting progressively worse as he is 1-12 in his last 13 conference games.

Another way to look at it is that Wilson has won 6 BT games in 5 1/2 years. He is averaging roughly 1 BT win per year which means he has "earned" about 1.3 mm per BT win making him, on a per win basis, probably one of the highest paid coaches in the country (the PU contract is, of course, a train wreck).

I am not blaming the fans but he said expectations were low at IU and people leaving a very close game,at the time, confirms his feeling that expectations are low. Do you think everyone left because they had high expectations of the program/game/result??

This is not a knock on RMK, as I think he is one of the best ever and I was lucky to be at IU during his glory years, but I disagree in regards to him not needing or caring about highly recruited players when he was coach. In 29 years at IU he was in 4 FF's winning, of course, three. The FF years were: '75-76 - team was LOADED with talent with Buckner, Benson and May being among the most coveted recruits in the country. '80-'81 - team was LOADED with 3/5 starters being McDonalds All Americans plus Wittman who played in the NBA for a decade. '86'--'87 - in my opinion his best NC coaching job as IU's talent did not compare to other top tier teams. '91-'92 - team was LOADED with 4 McDonalds All Americans, plus a Parade All American plus Calbert who was (even though many call him an unknown) top 50 player that was hurt his senior year in HS. Yes, in every year you can find 5 stars that bombed and 3 stars that surprise but the odds of success are much higher, but not guaranteed, if you have class after class of highly rated recruits rather than hoping diamonds in the rough work out. '

Not a great comment but after a while it is hard to blame him when you look at the stands. Perfect football day, plenty of Iowa fans to help increase the crowd and a 3:30 start which should not interfere with the night time student partiers or the alums that are worried about getting back to Carmel before 10. On top of that we are points away from a top ten team and a ton of people leave at the half. I do not see that anywhere else. Even the announcer said he felt sorry for the players.

3rd and 8,9,10,14 etc etc,,,it does not matter. Very frustrating (for the last 40 years)

3rd and long......:(

Even before the miss it was hard to understand why the river boat gambler would not go for two in that situation.

The worst thing an IU fan can hear are the words " it is 3rd and long" for the other team.