Lebowski

The questions you bring up is what I've been trying to explain on here. I appreciate you bringing them up. I really don't put a lot of stock into 4 star vs 3 star ratings. For example Mullen was a 4 star rating on rivals and a 3 star on 24/7. So it appears Rivals might have been a little more accurate on the ratings with Mullen? But, I mean, does it really matter? It's not like OSU or Clemson gave him an offer. Player development is key to a school like IUFB because they just aren't going to have a recruiting class like OSU, PSU and UM. Somewhat going off topic here but personally, I value the character of a player. These players are deemed good enough to play at the next level and having character guys on the team really adds value to all aspects of the game. I'm thinking locker room chemistry, off the field social life, etc. etc..

What he was able to do with those classes was develop the players. The past two seasons have been without Coach Ballou and Dr. Rhea and it's starting to show now. Losing that duo to Bama was a major blow to the program. Hopefully, CTA makes changes here as well.

That's cool man. To each his own. In my opinion I think you might be overlooking Schiano. He's an ex-NFL HC and DC, coached in a CFP playoff game as the AHC/DC, and was named National Recruiter of the Year in 2018. Like it or not, players are attracted to that (ie see MSU). In his second season he's one win away from a bowl (where he currently holds a 5-1 overall record in bowl games) and currently holds a recruiting class ranked higher than IUFB. In that class, 50% of the commits aren't from the state of NJ, one of those being an OL from Leo, IN. All this tells me two things, he's taking potential players out of our home and he's developing his players. He's basically taking a seat at the big boy table and based on his past, I won't be surprised to see him compete in the division.

Sitting at 2-2 I hope I'm wrong and will gladly eat crow if I am. But at this point, they finish the season with 4 wins. What say you. UPDATED after PSU game: Sitting at 2-3 I said on this board the current record isn't a surprise to me. 1-4 wouldn't have been a surprise to me as well. Having said that all losses are to legitimate CFP contenders. The Iowa-Maryland game gives me hope that they might win an extra game I wasn't counting. So that puts them at 5 wins. UPDATED after MSU game: Sitting at 2-4 Same issues. All of it being front 5 related. Going back to predicting 4 wins this season. But that's being generous. All of IUFBs losses are to legitimate CFP contenders. Another top 5 school this Saturday. UPDATED after OSU game: Sitting at 2-5 No real update here. Still predicting 4 wins total. UPDATED after Maryland game: Sitting at 2-6 No real update here. Still predicting 4 wins total. UPDATED after Michigan game: Sitting at 2-7 I'm not sure they win another game. This weekend against Rutgers is probably their best chance to get a W. UPDATED after Rutgers game: Sitting at 2-8 They're not winning another game. UPDATED after Minnesota game: Sitting at 2-9 Losing the bucket game.

You're not lying and some folks would take that to Vegas.

Three main issues in my opinion. That front 5 is awful. I mean, it's really bad. Like atrocious. Like hard to watch. It really doesn't matter who the QB is. It could be Tom Brady or Peyton Manning at QB and they'd struggle to score enough points to win a game with that front 5. Anyone that understands the very basics of the game fully understands the issue on the offensive side of the ball. They've gotten worse on the defensive side as well. (But lack of depth might be the contributing factor for that.) And every team has gotten better to where IUFB hasn't. (Development of players dropped this season.) The other issue that hopefully through time will correct itself is lack of depth. For example, losing DJ Matthews to injury early really hurt the deep ball threat, apparently there isn't anyone on the roster to replace him. (But to be fair if he were playing now I'm not sure he'd even be a threat because the QB has zero time to throw the deep ball. See issue #1.) And there are many more examples at each position that are facing injuries. There's a major talent/skill level difference between 1 on the depth chart to 2 on the depth chart. That's not the case for the rest of the Big Ten teams. Folks, like it or not Rutgers has a good football coach. Get used to the Scarlet Knights winning games. I won't be surprised to see them compete for the division here in the future. I'm not making an excuse for CTA, I'm just pointing out that the division is loaded. Basically, it's the big boy table. Based on CTA's post Rutgers game comments, a change is coming. Hopefully he knocks it out of the park on bringing in staff that addresses the 3 issues I've pointed out. Otherwise we Hoosier faithful will continue to have these types of conversations on here.

Yep, not winning another game.

In my opinion, it all starts and stops with the front 5. It doesn't matter what you call if the front 5 can't execute. And that's been the case for this front 5 the entire season.

Completely fair and no argument from me.

Overall I agree with what you're saying here. However, I don't think competent play calling would help. That front 5 is the reason we're seeing no production from the QB and RBs. Which you pretty much covered in point number two. I would add a new strength/conditioning coach to this list because this team hasn't developed like I've seen in the past.

Losing the dynamic duo Ballou and Dr. Rhea to Bama was a major blow to the development of players. And it's now showing. There's a reason Saban hired those cats and took em from our beloved Hoosiers. Losing Mike Hart was a big blow. Losing DeBoer was a big blow. (DeBoer will end up being a P5 HC and probably a pretty successful one at that. Dude can flat out coach and win.) Success has its pros and cons. IUFB is now getting the cons of being successful and not being able to reload staff. In my opinion a lot of changes of the current staff from top to bottom are coming in the future. The offensive side of things is more than likely going to get shaken up dramatically. As it should. I think this might be the first year that CTA will have to let folks go instead of staff leaving him? Also, there might be something going on with chemistry in the locker room. Because this team is basically the same team minus the DC and Mike Hart. Who knows.

Not sure they're going to win another game.

OU, MSU, Wake and even Cincy can blow this whole thing up to force an expansion of the CFP. Assuming all those schools go undefeated I don't see how the committee would pass up 3 P5 schools over one loss schools like Oregon and/or Bama and Georgia. But then again, I also thought they'd have Cincy in the top 4 right now. Having said all that, I do think the top two schools in the country are indeed Georgia and Bama. Still a lot of football to be played though.

Insert foot in mouth.

I mean one can argue this year is a total fluke. I'm not arguing that but it's plausible. The circumstances last year certainly provided an element of last year's success. But I don't think it was a total fluke. Keep in mind Penix wasn't coming off an ACL injury last year, the running game was much better (see player personnel difference here), a completely different DC calling the games, injuries weren't as bad as they are this year, strength of schedule difference, not a full season and so on. And some have already pointed out that the teams IU lined up against were playing in an empty stadium as well. It's not like they played games against the wind. I'm not making excuses here, I'm just pointing out the circumstances. Every year has a set of circumstances and this year is no different. I think the biggest issue IUFB has is lack of depth (see injuries). The second biggest issue is no production on offense (see player personnel difference). I will be surprised if CTA doesn't make some coaching changes on the that side of the ball during the off season. CTA's record against unranked teams is 18-3 (He had a 13 game win streak prior to this past Saturday). Kevin Wilson was 24-30 against unranked teams (5 of 6 seasons one win was against an FCS school). This tells me things are going in the right direction. We're talking about IUFB here.

Top 25 RB out of Cincinnati, OH CB for IUFB Twitter Rivals 247

If Cincy runs the table they're in the CFP. Even with the SoS argument. They're a good football team and the coaches and AP know this. They're currently ranked 2 in the country in both polls. Even if a team in the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 go undefeated Cincy is still in just so long as they stay unbeaten. They still have currently ranked #19 SMU on the schedule, so we'll see what happens there. They also have to win their conference championship. A lot of football to be played for all of this to play out.

Updated post.

I've been a fan of creating a North-South division alignment looking like this. North: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Northwestern, Michigan and Michigan St. South: Indiana, Illinois, Ohio St., Penn St., Rutgers, Maryland and that other school remaining. While IUFB would still be facing OSU and PSU they'd eliminate Michigan and MSU. Also this type of divisional alignment is a little more aligned full of parity within each division. The current alignment isn't, in my opinion. Regardless, it doesn't appear any kind of realignment is coming in the future, unfortunately. It is what it is. IUFB is just going to have to get better and I think they're on the right track of doing just that. It just takes time.

That's going to be tough hill to climb. I'd be happy if they win 6 games at this rate. But I don't think they'll get that. Maybe 5 wins. That front 5 is the Achilles' heel of this football team. I really hope to eat crow on my season wins thought here.

That's cool man. The only way IUFB is going to make you think otherwise is win football games. Which should be the case. Personally, I like where this program is going and how not only the players are buying into the culture but after only one successful season of beating two of those schools on your list (with zero 5 star and a handful of 4 star recruits) above they've landed some recruits that will add depth. Adding depth is key to the success and being able to compete with the big three year after year. Iowa isn't landing 5 5-star kids year after year either. But they're somehow ranked 2nd the nation. Depth and development. CTA has proven he's been able to develop. Now he just needs the depth. This takes time. Or not, now that there's free agency aka the transfer portal and NIL. And if CTA sticks around just like Iowa's coach has I'm really optimistic for the future of IUFB. But that's just me.

If CTA keeps up with the recruiting and builds depth, 8-4 isn't the ceiling. It would be the norm and the consistent ceiling would be 10 wins or more, in my opinion. IUFB is lacking depth at the moment. But CTA is building something special that takes time and depth. IUFB will be much like Iowa just so long as the recruiting is consistent and CTA stays.

That's cool man. To each his own. But just to give you a little perspective of a 16 team playoff in college football this season. If a 16 team playoff starts tomorrow the #14ish ranked teams are Notre Dame (AP) and Kentucky (Coaches). I would argue that one of these #14 seed teams might end up in the final four. #14 Notre Dame vs #3 Iowa in the first round. Winner of the #11 Michigan State v #6 Oklahoma (AP)/Cincinnati (Coaches) plays the Irish. All doable wins for the Irish. And I'm sure the Irish would love to get another crack at Cincinnati. Sign me up to watch this playoff! If it were up to me I'd make it a 24 team playoff!

You're not wrong. Personally, I don't think it really matters who's the QB. Tuttle might help but that front 5 is the biggest issue. They're unable to run block effectively. They're unable to pass block effectively. They're committing penalties, whether that be a false start or holding, at the most inopportune times. It's the main reason IUFB is losing games, in my opinion. I don't know what kind of depth there is with the big fellas but if there's any at all I think it might be time to shake some things up. Or the staff has to fix it in hurry. I guess the silver lining to all of IUFBs losses is that the losses are to legitimate CFP contenders. Three of the next four games are also against legitimate CFP contenders. So if the trend is correct, which I don't see why it would change, they're looking at 2-5 going into Halloween weekend. And 2-6 or 3-5 traveling up the Ann Arbor the following weekend. I guess my point here is, the coaching staff has to fix the front 5 in order for the bonus checks to come in at the end of the season. This off/bye week couldn't come a better time. Hopefully things get fixed.

A much needed weekend off to heal up injuries and address major issues with the front 5.