Aaron

They are going to get smoked tonight by Nebraska. Iowa is winnable since they are not good but we threw away two winnable games on road last week and a home game against mediocre Santa Clara early in year. Hopefully being at home finally gets them a win tomorrow. This year is a step backwards so far. Beating Nebraska is to much to ask but they got to seven conference wins last year by beating pretty much all the teams they could on the same level (basically what IU football has done so far). This year they have thrown away three winnable games as I just mentioned. To take the next step you need to beat the teams you are capable of beating constently and this year that has not happened. Hopefully its just a bump though as a young team and ultimately we are on right track which is TBA. Like I said when I listening to the other newer coaches speak I hear a visionary who sounds like the right person. Aird talks a good game but not sure how good of a coach he is just yet as some of his words sound like that a used car salesman ALA Tom Crean. Not sure he is bad or good yet as a coach. We will see. He has brought me more hesitation then some other Glass hires though in Olympic sports which for the most part I have liked.

All concussions are different. Some guys clear it in a few days and practice all week and some take weeks. I have heard it is a concussion he has but have not confirmed. Him practicing this week would not confirm whether he has a concussion or not although it would be a good sign it is a very mild one and will be cleared pretty fast.

I know who he is. He has an IU radio show he does each day online and on a few stations in Southern Indiana and is part of the IU media. How good his sources are I have no idea.

From what I hear Moren is not for everyone and can be a bit difficult to deal with. She is a very good coach (maybe the best the program has had) but if you get on her bad side she will make your life miserable which probably happened here. Someone not playing a lot who feels they should is not gonna be happy here.

Yup. Yeagley isn't exact but the way he handles injuries is more or less the same as other college teams while IU's other programs protect them like the plague.

I am not advocating a position on Allen but does anyone think his obsession with red shirts has hurt us with a few guys? First example is obviously Penix. He was so content on getting him a red shirted last year he didn't play clearly the better QB. What could be ironic here is if Penix stays healthy he could be in pro's after his junior year and this red shirt was never needed. Example two is Matthew Bedford the new offensive tackle. He is clearly our best lineman already even as a freshman replacing Cronk and line is a lot better recently. One wonders if the O-line would of been stronger from beginning if Bedford had taken one of the tackle positions opposite Cronk to start the year rather than Caleb Jones. Example three is Tiwan Mullen. While he was never red shirted he is clearly our best corner already and Allen has been working him in slower then he should over the year in favor of veterans. I can't help but wonder how many other better freshman are on bench because of Allen's obsession with red shirts and working freshman in slowly. Obviously if this is case we will see these guys next couple years and it will be fine. However, one cannot help but wonder if Allen had played some of his top freshman already rather then work them in slowly if we may have been to a couple bowl games given the the end of the Wilson era having inferior talent to the last couple recruiting classes.

I've heard concussion through some back channels but I can in no way confirm this is accurate. I've also heard arm. IU and their mysterious injuries. Why can't everyone be Todd Yeagley and give out for the most part the exact injury and a more formal timeline?

He teases himself and others in jest and doesn't take himself to seriously which is what I like. I wish he tuned down the pop culture a bit but overall he is great and the best show in Indy by far and the only one I will listen to.

JMV. Terrific show. Very level headed and not over dramatic. Really really nice guy also.

Could be. Not doubting at all its the Romeo thing. I have no idea. Just throwing other ideas out.

It also could be him reporting Brohm was leaving PU for Louisville and saying it was an absolute fact. That is certainly missing the mark with reporting and journalistic integrity.

I never said that. I don't know how the Big 10 schedules.

IU NW gets 7pm primetime which says networks maybe believe in IU a bit now?

Pretty sure Penix is in concussion protocol as was said earlier on here. Assuming that is the case knowing IU's overly careful (but not unjustified) mantra with head injuries I would not expect him back until after bye. This is nothing I have heard (the concussion is something I have heard through back channels, but timeline is a guess and absolutely nothing I know at all about) but bracing for dealing with IU and head injuries I would not expect Penix back right away.

Trust me this is the last thing you want. IU is overly protective with head injuries and any concussion will be at least 3-4 weeks. You are much better off with an arm or shoulder injury if its not serious and he misses maybe a week or two or nothing at all. With Penix we easily get a sixth win. With Ramsey its a tossup at best if we win any of the remaining games. Hopefully Ramsey can beat maybe NW if Penix is out in a defensive struggle since NW is horrible offensively. If not hopefully Penix is back after bye (if he misses time) and can lead us to a win over Michigan and PU for either gravy or bowl eligibility. We will not face another team this bad again this year but we have five chances for bowl eligibility which is most since Kellen Lewis days. We've figured out how to beat Maryland and Rutgers with two road wins against them each and a combined 8-4 record since they joined Big Ten. Its four out of five vs. Maryland and four in a row vs. Rutgers so eight of last nine against these two. Now need to beat someone else not named Illinois since they are not on our schedule and look better this year.

Only advantage to Ramsey this game is that with all his dump offs drives will take a lot longer and keep gaming lower scoring. If we can finish drives we will be right there in end but it will be 34-31 instead of 49-42 as we were headed with Penix. D will get longer rests which may help this game only but also puts more pressure on them with fewer opportunities.

Ramsey can make a good throw at times and keep you in games and beat bad teams but will not win you games against decent teams which is what gets you to bowl games. There is a reason Ramsey keeps us competitive but just short of a bowl games. Penix can win you games. With all that said really nice play to end half.

No he is really not. He's OK but he's not a guy who will get you to a bowl game. Dump off central is not going to win you enough. Need a guy like Pigrome (and yes he is a backup) who can either run great and throw on run or a guy like PU has who is a good thrower. Those are good back ups. Ramsey is OK but I wouldn't call him a solid backup.

If Penix is done for the year (and who knows) we will lose out and start hearing the same stupidity we heard the year Sudfeld was hurt how this was a sure fire 7-8 win team but injury cost us. You can only play with what you have and injuries are part of the game and with what we have there is no guarantee what would of happened without injuries. We will be much more competitive then with Diamont because Ramsey is not that bad but we will lose competitive games rather then blowouts.

If Penix is our QB longterm have to find a solid backup whether that is Tuttle or someone else. Guy is way to injury prone.

0-0 tie with Maryland. I give van Benekom credit as he is really building a defense and we have given up just one goal in the last six games. The problem with that is we are just 3-1-2 during that stretch with three 1-0 wins, two 0-0 ties and a 1-0 loss. I like what I am seeing and clearly an improvement but the offense is really anemic. Its not that they are building and missing chances. Its that they can't connect on passes or even get an attack started. Not a bad result on the road though.

And we completely gagged that away. They say you have to crawl before you can walk and right now we are not even crawling. Maryland is an equal (mediocre to bad) team to us and the type you need to beat (especially when you put them in a big hole) if you want to move up in the Big Ten much like Football. So far Aird has yet to impress me. Van Benekom (Women's Soccer), Yeagley, Mercer, Stanton (softball) have all really impressed me. Aird has yet to but he still might. He is very charismatic and talks a good game but doesn't strike me as someone who knows the game quite like the others I just mentioned but we will see what happens. He has a beautiful facility now and the advantage he needs with that. Now he needs to deliver and has not yet.

What a surprising and incredible win.

Good to hear that Allen was being truthful and Penix is indeed throwing. I got the vibe last week from a couple people I know it was going to be a while (at least after the bye) but you are more plugged in them I am so it is good to hear your update:).

We have no evidence he's practicing yet other than Allen saying he would (and that could be a bluff to get MSU thinking he is playing). Something could of changed, but as of last week the vibe I heard behind the scenes is this is more serious then IU is telling us. Hoping he plays but not counting on it till at least after the bye if not longer.