IUFB @ Michigan - Saturday, 10.24.26 @ Noon on Fox TV -- GAME THREAD

[Napleshoosier]

If Cig says to believe, I believe.  Trust in Cig!

[Pagoda]

Not to step on your toes @LamarCheeks… but when you snap a 59 year drought and win at UM… you sing ;-)

 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

1 hour ago, Pagoda said:

Not to step on your toes @LamarCheeks… but when you snap a 59 year drought and win at UM… you sing ;-)

 

Never gets old.  For me at least. 

[DChoosier]

6 hours ago, Golfman25 said:

Observations:

1) We lost a ton of leadership from last years. Cig guys that had been with him at JMU.  He’s going to have to figure out how to install the Cig football mindset into 1 year rentals.  
 

One year rentals….?

Becker, BeBe, 4/5 of the offensive linemen, DL are returnees other than Tobi, both LB’s and most of the DB’s were here last year, as is the kicker, etc.

In today’s football world I think we are FAR  from being a team of one year rentals.

[johnsoniu]

Coffee tastes good this morning, not spectacular, but satisfying.

on your way to 34 wins over 2 1/2 seasons, you’re gonna have to win a couple rock fights. Absolutely nothing embarrassing about getting out of the big house with a W.

Go Hoosiers!

[Stuhoo]

Seems as though Obiazor, Utzinger, Turner, Barker, and Chandler disappeared from the rotation yesterday.

[Gahoosierfan]

15 hours ago, Henryville Hoosier said:

I like to see the tight ends get more involved in the passing game. 

It seems like Hoover isn't going through his reads all the way each time. The O line seems to be giving him adequate time.

[Golfman25]

7 hours ago, DChoosier said:

One year rentals….?

Becker, BeBe, 4/5 of the offensive linemen, DL are returnees other than Tobi, both LB’s and most of the DB’s were here last year, as is the kicker, etc.

In today’s football world I think we are FAR  from being a team of one year rentals.

And as those guys eventually move on who’s going to be there next?  Hoover, Marsh, and Turbo are all on year players.  And it will get worse.  Hard to keep a culture with the roster turnover these days.  

But answer this.  We all remember the “Gold Shoes” incident with Marsh.  Does that happen with last years leaders?  Who’s the guy that goes up to Marsh and says “coach ain’t going to like them shoes?”   IDK, but it just seems this team is missing something.   

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

[Pagoda]

Almost every team has roster turnover issues nowadays.  We're still going to be returning like 55+ players and some of those guys will need to be developed like the JMU days.  

The Marsh shoes thing is so overblown.  We're talking about shoes during spring ball.  On the field he's been very good, including doing all the dirty work blocking.  I'm sure little missteps like this happen all the time on our roster and we just don't hear about it.

As for culture, with Cig here I doubt he lets it drift.

As far as I can tell, the biggest issue on this team is Josh not being very good.  It's a bummer.  I'm not sure he's going to get much better... but who knows maybe he will.

[Stuhoo]

26 minutes ago, Pagoda said:

Almost every team has roster turnover issues nowadays.  We're still going to be returning like 55+ players and some of those guys will need to be developed like the JMU days.  

The Marsh shoes thing is so overblown.  We're talking about shoes during spring ball.  On the field he's been very good, including doing all the dirty work blocking.  I'm sure little missteps like this happen all the time on our roster and we just don't hear about it.

As for culture, with Cig here I doubt he lets it drift.

As far as I can tell, the biggest issue on this team is Josh not being very good.  It's a bummer.  I'm not sure he's going to get much better... but who knows maybe he will.

It’s the end of October; Josh is what he is. But the best defense in the nation sure helps. And Wilson as a dual threat QB lurks.

We are 100% a playoff team as of today. If we win out, and that’s with all games that we’ll be a 5+ point favorite, we’re a first round bye playoff team. Likely a playoff team even with another loss.

We are rooting for Indiana football and these are our problems? It’s surreal and wonderful.

[Home Jersey]

We were a few inches away from still being undefeated and #1 in the nation. This team hasn't blown out the competition, but they're still in position to win every time they take the field no matter who they're playing. The entirety of CFB is very beatable this year. That gives me some hope / confidence if we can just figure out a few things on offense.

Getting healthier should help Hoover. We really need to get through Minny without injury and make it to the bye week. I don't think Cig has ever voluntarily changed QBs mid-season. If we struggle to move the ball with Hoover next week and he's still a little dinged up though, Wilson should play and we will see if that changes anything in the bigger picture.

It's there for the taking this year... we will see if this team can step up and grab it. 

[JSHoosier]

On one hand this team could, maybe should, be better. On the other hand it could definitely be worse. We could be 4-4 right now if a few plays went the other way, so we've still largely made the winning plays when we needed to. The defense deserves a ton of credit for being 7-1 right now, it's rounded into form.

Hoover has definitely had stretches of being awful, but he's made some throws (and yesterday's TD run) when they were needed most. It's maddening that he misses so many throws but at this point in his career he is what he is.

[Brass Cannon]

9 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

It’s the end of October; Josh is what he is. But the best defense in the nation sure helps. And Wilson as a dual threat QB lurks.

We are 100% a playoff team as of today. If we win out, and that’s with all games that we’ll be a 5+ point favorite, we’re a first round bye playoff team. Likely a playoff team even with another loss.

We are rooting for Indiana football and these are our problems? It’s surreal and wonderful.

I’d also say that the math probably favors us making the big ten championship game if we win out.  Need some help there. 
 

[Pagoda]

1 minute ago, Stuhoo said:

It’s the end of October; Josh is what he is. But the best defense in the nation sure helps. And Wilson as a dual threat QB lurks.

We are 100% a playoff team as of today. Maybe even a first round bye playoff team. Likely a playoff team even with another loss.

We are rooting for Indiana football and these are our problems? It’s surreal and wonderful.

Yea, the odds suggest even with another loss we are in.  Though if it was a bad loss of course we could get pushed to the bubble.

Regardless, things are still good.  CFB is has more parity than ever.  We have some issues this year, but pretty much everyone else does too.  Repeating ‘25 was always unlikely.  And this is a helluva lot better than pre-‘24.

Our offense can be better.  Our defense is pretty good.  We’ll see.  And we still have several years of Cig left and more chances at fielding very competitive teams.

[Hoosierfan2017]

6 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

We were a few inches away from still being undefeated and #1 in the nation. This team hasn't blown out the competition, but they're still in position to win every time they take the field no matter who they're playing. The entirety of CFB is very beatable this year. That gives me some hope / confidence if we can just figure out a few things on offense.

Getting healthier should help Hoover. We really need to get through Minny without injury and make it to the bye week. I don't think Cig has ever voluntarily changed QBs mid-season. If we struggle to move the ball with Hoover next week and he's still a little dinged up though, Wilson should play and we will see if that changes anything in the bigger picture.

It's there for the taking this year... we will see if this team can step up and grab it. 

Yeah that’s the thing that still gives me hope. We’ve looked mid a lot this season, but so has every other team in CFB. There’s no 2025 Indiana out there. There’s no team I’ve seen and thought “we can’t beat them.” We have one of the very best defenses in the country. If we can get a little more offensively, it’d go a long way. 

[cthomas]

13 hours ago, Hardwood83 said:

Do we have to pay extra for the happy ending? 

 

Usually.

[Stuhoo]

38 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

I’d also say that the math probably favors us making the big ten championship game if we win out.  Need some help there. 
 

Completely optimal situation would be first round playoff bye and no B1G championship game. One less game and a clear path to the natty.

[str8baller]

1 hour ago, Pagoda said:

Almost every team has roster turnover issues nowadays.  We're still going to be returning like 55+ players and some of those guys will need to be developed like the JMU days.  

The Marsh shoes thing is so overblown.  We're talking about shoes during spring ball.  On the field he's been very good, including doing all the dirty work blocking.  I'm sure little missteps like this happen all the time on our roster and we just don't hear about it.

As for culture, with Cig here I doubt he lets it drift.

As far as I can tell, the biggest issue on this team is Josh not being very good.  It's a bummer.  I'm not sure he's going to get much better... but who knows maybe he will.

I think Hoover is an issue but so is our Oline. Michigan and OSU didn’t really need to bring extra guys towards the LOS to stop our running game because their Dline were pushing us around. 
 

Last year I didn’t think our Oline was very good until about this point in the season. A talented but mediocre PSU team took us to the final seconds, and if you go back and watch that drive they are getting a ton of pressure on Mendoza—he’s just Mendoza though and made throws. But something happened and that Oline really started to gel to the point they were the “MVP” of the Rose Bowl. We need a similar transformation this year to take some pressure of Hoover. 
 

At this point there are 5-10 talented but flawed teams out there. Whomever wins in the end is probably the team that adjusts enough to fix their major flaw. I think (hope) that is doable for IU. 

[realTomCrean]

They have a winning DNA. For some to insinuate IUFB will lose their culture following this year has to be, at best, pessimistic. You have 3 years of evidence to show that the culture is cemented: we are who we are. Hardy, Landino, Savage, Baldwin, Martin, Ajani, Chandler, Bell, Sanks, Smythe, Ndukwe, eg. Disingenuous to think IUFB falls off a cliff because players are exiting the program. I actually believe the best days are ahead for IUFB - we have 5-7 years left realistically in Cig’s career. Would be fair to assume he’s going to ramp it up not dial it back