Game Thread: 10/12 12:00PM ET Indiana vs. Rutgers BTN

[Walking Boot of Doom]

2 hours ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

We have a defense that hasn't shown up when we've played any team .500 or better. There's really no argument that they have. We most certainly didn't have one in the Michigan State game. Any ratings system is going to be skewed by the results we had against the 3 teams that have went 2-17. Sure, it's great that they played well against those teams, but it tells us next to nothing about how they'll do against legitimate competition. In fact, we know how they've done against legitimate competition, because they're giving up over 450 yards per game against teams that are .500 or better. That would put us dead last in the Big 10.

Concluding we "have a defense" would be like concluding "IU basketball has an offense" after scoring 100+ ppg in games against directional schools and then averaging 40 ppg against, say, Duke, Butler, and Purdue. Even if the rankings "control for opponents" as you say, they are still going to be skewed because the defense was so dominate in those three wins. In half of our games the defense has given up fewer than 150 yards. You can only adjust so much for competition, so that's going to skew the results. They haven't shown up in a single game this year against even a decent team, and you know that. We don't get to play another winless FCS school this year.

Indiana does not have a defense that's going to standup to OSU (categorizing OSU as a team that is .500 or better is misleading) who is one of the best teams in the country.

They flopped against MSU. Certainly not making excuses there.

Based on your categorization, we have two meaningful samples to analyze, and in one of those games our offense was crippled without Penix. I'd like to see this defense against more B1G teams.

An objective statistical measure says our defense is pretty decent - not non-existent as it has been in the past. I really don't expect our defense to do much against the OSU's and other National Title contenders of the world.

I'm not even saying we have a good defense. I want to see them hold their own in the next 6 games, but it's not accurate to say we don't have a defense. They just certainly are not anywhere near a top tier or capable of competing with the best teams.

[Hoosierfan2017]

1 minute ago, Walking Boot of Doom said:

Indiana does not have a defense that's going to standup to OSU (categorizing OSU as a team that is .500 or better is misleading) who is one of the best teams in the country.

They flopped against MSU. Certainly not making excuses there.

Based on your categorization, we have two meaningful samples to analyze, and in one of those games our offense was crippled without Penix. I'd like to see this defense against more B1G teams.

An objective statistical measure says our defense is pretty decent - not non-existent as it has been in the past. I really don't expect our defense to do much against the OSU's and other National Title contenders of the world.

I'm not even saying we have a good defense. I want to see them hold their own in the next 6 games, but it's not accurate to say we don't have a defense. They just certainly are not anywhere near a top tier or capable of competing with the best teams.

I'll concede on Ohio State, but Penix played against both Michigan State and Ball State and the defense was really bad in both games. The next 6 games will tell us whether we have a defense or not. We have a solid quarterback and an offense that can put up points. Our record over the next 6 games will be determined by which defense decides to show up. 

[Walking Boot of Doom]

59 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

 I'll concede on Ohio State, but Penix played against both Michigan State and Ball State and the defense was really bad in both games. The next 6 games will tell us whether we have a defense or not. We have a solid quarterback and an offense that can put up points. Our record over the next 6 games will be determined by which defense decides to show up. 

I'm not impressed by our defense, but nothing about a team whose only goal is to get to a bowl game will likely be all that impressive. I think our defense is good enough, and statistically much better than last year. Our home versus road defense is also significantly different which worries me for the next 6 games.