Reader's Thoughts

Now that I-core midterms are over I will have a lot more time to focus on the blog. We come to a very critical part in the season that will show us what kind of football team were are. We still have time to turn it around and become bowl eligible but it has to happen soon. If you have any questions regarding the hoosier football team, specific players, match ups, or anything feel free to write your question in the comment box below the post. I would like for everybody to have a chance to ask anything that has been on their mind about IU football.

If I were the Coach...

and we were just destroyed by a 1-3 team I would be furious. In my post-game press conference I wouldn't be giving the same old speech about how we just didn't play good enough to win today. I would be outraged. Personally I absolutely hate losing at anything. I would have been disgusted in what I saw on the field and would have let everybody know about it.

What gave me some excitement this year was seeing Coach Lynch furious on the sidelines when the hoosiers were getting screwed by the officials. I felt like his Michigan post game press conference was a lot more of what I was hoping for out of our football coach. I wish he would've sat down after the Virginia game and didn't accept what just happened. It seems like we just sort of accept losing and that it isn't something that lights fire under us. We have a ton of potential and it would be nice to see our team not accept what is happening and come out fired up and ready to play week in and week out. Next week will answer a lot of questions about this team and where the season is headed.

We have the potential to change most people's attitudes towards Indiana football. We have a lot of potential with this years squad and the future squads, and if we face some adversity we can't need to just roll over and let it happen. Although I love IU basketball dearly there is no reason why we can't also have a successful football program. This is where our senior leadership needs to step up and get this ship back on track. So let's not accept our performance yesterday and come out extremely emotional and energetic against the Illini and show everybody what kind of football team we can be.

Complete Disappointment and Embarrassment

Coming into Saturday I couldn't wait for the game. This was a great opportunity to start the year 4-2 and get some momentum going into a stretch of very winnable games. There were so many times during the game that I couldn't believe my eyes. Virginia's offense came into the game ranked 117th out of 120 division 1 teams in total offense. They managed to put up 47 points, 536 total yards and 337 in the first half. Outside of the first drive that ended up with a Terrence Turner fumble, the offense couldn't move the ball at all. Chappell was under a lot of pressure, our running backs had no holes to run through. Ben finished the game 22-33 for 177 yards and an INT. Willis was questionable going into the game and did not play. In his spot Mccray rushed for 47 yards on 13 carries. The hoosiers only score came late in the game on a Bryan Payton ran for 12 yards up the middle. Jammie Kirlew and Adam Replogle both recorded sacks on defense. There isn't much more I want to say about the game because of how ridiculous it was.

There are only two ways I can see the rest of the season. The optimistic one is where we bounce back next week to beat a 1-4 Illini team. We gather some momentum to also beat Northwestern and Purdue to finish the year 6-6 and become bowl eligible. The other route is where the hoosiers start out the year 3-0 and get our hopes up then crumble the rest of the year in big ten play. The hoosiers maybe win 1-2 games at best and finish the year on a sour note. This game reminded me a lot of the Purdue game last year. If we come out and play like this ever again this year I don't expect to see Coach Lynch back next year. Next week will be a make or break week to determine which Hoosier team will come out and play for the rest of the year. What do you guys think about the outlook for the rest of the year?

Getting to know the Cavs

Virginia got their first win last week at North Carolina to improve to 1-3. Last year the Cavs started the year 1-3 only to go 4-0 in October. Here are some of their strength's and weaknesses.

Strengths- they have a dual threat QB in Jameel Sewell. He has rushed for 3 TD's on the year and has more than twice as many carries than anybody else on the team. Virginia RB Mikell Simpson is coming off of a 100 yd game over UNC. Virginia's secondary ranks 8th nationally in pass defense with 156.5 yards per game. Cornerbacks Chris Cook and Ras-I Dowling have a combined 11 career INT's. Virginia now has a little bit of momentum that it can bring into its game at home against the hoosiers.

Weaknesses- The biggest weakness is that Virginia ranks dead last in sacks allowed with 4.25 per game. This is great news for the hoosiers with Greg Middleton and Jammie Kirlew. Generally UVA's offense has been pretty quiet this year scoring just 14 points in their first two games against William and Mary and TCU. They did bounce back against SMU putting up 34 points in a loss but managed just 16 against UNC.

This is a pivotal game for the hoosiers if they look to get to 6+ wins and bowl eligibility this year. On a good note though, the hoosiers have played some of their best football on the road this year.

Disgusted in IDS article

I was reading all the IU football related articles published this morning and was really disappointed in a specific article written in the ids. Here is the link. http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=70628

I understand that the hoosier fans got a bit excited after how well we played against Michigan. It certainly drew many people's attention who figured this year would be a losing season for the hoosiers. I have been a proud supporter for this team and strongly believe that they will become bowl eligible this year. I said that before the year when every single "expert" was picking us dead last.
When reading this article it makes me feel that some of the columnists don't understand too much about IU football. I understand that people were excited for the game and the student section sold out and it was our biggest crowd of the year. I to thought about how cool it would be if could pull off the upset but I didn't go into the game expecting to do it. I just want to see the continuous improvement that this team has made from week to week. Saying that IU fans were "ashamed" after the loss is absolutely ridiculous. If Murray State walked into the stadium Saturday night and beat us I think that would've been the correct word to use. However, it was the #9 ranked team in the country who hadn't given up a point in 2 straight weeks. A team who every year is considered to be a favorite to play in the rose bowl or national championship game. The author of the article made it seem that the hoosiers just came out and rolled over in a game that we should've won. "As it has been for decades in Bloomington, no one will buy the tickets if the show isn’t worth attending. It doesn’t help that no one likes to be shamed like the IU faithful were last weekend, either." I know the argument about winning brings fans into the seats and I believe that it almost always works. It would also be nice for people to show their support regardless but I know that doesn't always happen. But the author makes it seem like we just played god awful and all hope is now lost for the season. It was the best team in the big ten and it's over now. We have a much more winnable stretch of games coming up.

Looking back so far this year we are 3-2. This is much better than almost every single expert predicted. Most people had us at 2-3 or possibly worse. I was a believer in this team from the get go and knew the predictions were extremely low. This is a good hoosier team who has an important string of games coming up. I don't think any games are "gimmes" but I think we will beat Virginia, Northwestern, Purdue and possibly Illinois.
Just because the outcome wasn't in our favor doesn't mean their isn't anything to be excited about with this year's team. If we can win this weekend and get some momentum back you will all see what I have seen in the team from last spring.

Reaction to OSU game

I'm going to keep this post brief. I've been very busy with i-core midterms. The OSU game is over now. They played better than us in pretty much every facet of the game. They are an extremely tough team and have a lot of depth at every position. Pryor is a very good QB as we all know and OSU's defense is very big and quick. We moved the ball a little bit but had some turnovers. The defense fought tough in the second half but the first half OSU did what they wanted. On the bright side, we did score 14 points and OSU hadn't given up a score in two weeks. Outside of the fumble, Tandon Doss was a bright spot. Many people felt very good about this team because of the way we played against Michigan but OSU is a much better team. I'm still pretty confident in this hoosier team. Next week will be crucial to our season, especially if we want to become bowl eligible. Virginia got their first win this weekend at North Carolina. It should be a good road game for our hoosiers.

Looking at the Buckeyes

This is the game that many people have been looking forward to since the schedules became public in the spring. It has been stated that the student section has been expanded a few thousand seats as has been sold out as of yesterday. This will be the best atmosphere this year and it will be nice to see Memorial Stadium rocking.

Ohio State started out the year a little rocky barely getting by Navy. Then the loss to USC nearly put their BCS title hopes in jeopardy. However, they have bounced back in a huge way. The last two weeks they have given up 0 points. Their defense has held opponents rushing to 95 total yards the last two weeks and registering 7 sacks and 4 INT's. This OSU defense is playing extremely well and will create some problems for the hoosier offense. Although the Buckeyes don't expect to miss any players from the flu it was announced that 6-7 players on the team have come down with the flu. All-American candidate at safety Kurt Coleman will be sitting out this game due to a suspension after his hit against U of I. Here are a few keys for the hoosiers if they want to pull off the upset this Saturday.

1. Stopping the run- OSU has been killing people on the ground. If their running backs don't get the job done then Pryor has the ability to make the big play. Their offense line is gelling really well and creating lots of holes to run through for the backs. The key is to stop then run as best you can and force them to beat you through the air. Pryor hasn't really put up tremendous passing numbers yet this year so look for the hoosiers to load up the box and focus on the run.

2. Don't trade 7 for 3- if we get into the red zone we have to come away with a TD. This has been a point of emphasis all year and should be even more important this week. OSU's defense is playing very well and likely will pose some problems for our offense.

3. Come back strong- last week was a thriller up in Ann Arbor and the hoosiers played their hearts out. I think they made a statement and surprised a ton of people. We have to come out with the same level if not more intensity and energy as we did last week. Hopefully running out on to Memorial Stadium with fireworks and a packed house will help.