Lynch and Patterson on Dan Dakich Show

Both Coach Lynch and Will Patterson were on the Dan Dakich show today. Here are a few of the highlights from both of their conversations with Dan Dakich.

Lynch- the staff has also completely moved on from the Iowa game. They came back at it and had a good game plan ready to go early this week. The biggest thing from the Virginia game to now has been the change of attitude for the hoosier squad. The team's intangibles have improved greatly since that game.


Patterson- The team has completely moved on from the Iowa game. They came back and had a very crisp practice yesterday. The team had a good grasp of the game plan for Wisconsin and executed well during the practices this week. The Wisconsin game is going to be a very physical game but they will be ready to go.

Lynch Handling Officiating Situation with Class

I just finished listening to Coach Lynch's weekly press conference. One of the things that really stood out to me was how well Lynch was handling the officiating situation from the Iowa game. Yesterday on his radio show he made a quick note that the university has contacted the big ten and he was confident that it will be handled appropriately. Today in his press conference he was asked many times about the officiating situation.

He first noted that there were 173 plays in the game and that 171 of them were correctable. That is why this year they have stressed to "play the next play" because after the game you don't want to look back and say this was the play that changed everything. One reporter asked Lynch if he ever got to the point that he felt like taking the $10,000 fine and blasting the officials in the media to get his point across. He responded by saying that was not the way he was brought up and would never handle the situation that way. He's not the guy to use the media to grab more attention for himself. He has been handling the situation very well in my opinion. He acknowledged the fact that the university has contacted the big ten but understands that there were so many other plays in the game that were not affected by the officials and the team has completely moved to the Wisconsin game on Saturday.

He talked briefly about not taking the mindset that the hoosiers were just unlucky. That he said leads to sloppy practices and players showing up on Saturday just hoping that things will bounce their way next time. He did say that the interception that bounced off of 4 players was a crazy play but their could have been things done to prevent it. For instance, we could have gotten the throw off a tad earlier or sustained our blocks for a split second longer. I feel like he has taken the right approach this week in handling all the different things going on around IU football.

Fisher to miss game vs. Wisconsin

Yesterday during Bill Lynch's radio show he said that Ray Fisher will miss this week's game against Wisconsin because of a knee injury. Fisher injured it on the opening kickoff against Iowa last Saturday. The good news is that Wisconsin is a pro-style running team and they don't air it out as much. Wisconsin's QB Scott Tolzien has thrown 9 TD's and 8 INT's. Look for Adrian Burks to be starting alongside Donnell Jones at CB.



***Update***
Fisher will undergo surgery on Wednesday. It isn't major surgery and Lynch isn't ruling him out for the rest of the season. He will take another MRI next week and evaluate his knee from there. Adrian Burks is listed as the #1 opposite Donnell Jones and Richard Council and Andre Lagrone are listed as the backups.

Lynch Contacts Big 10 Over Calls

Here was an article written by Dustin Dopirak after he listened in to Lynch's radio show today.

"Indiana’s Bill Lynch said on his radio show Monday night that Indiana has made contact with the Big Ten over the controversial calls in Saturday’s game against Iowa.
“We’ve made contact with the Big Ten,” Lynch said. “We are certainly confident that it will be handled appropriately.”
The key call that infuriated Lynch at the time and Indiana fans was a touchdown catch by Terrance Turner that was overturned by video replay."

I'm glad to see Lynch sticking up for the hoosiers.

A Look at the Badgers

It's time to forget about the past and look ahead to the future. Wisconsin has squeaked back into the top 25 with their crushing defeat over the boilers. The Badgers have a 6-2 record with victories over Northern Illinois, Fresno State, Wofford, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Purdue. Their two losses were against Ohio State and Iowa. They don't have any marquee victories this year but they have played solid throughout.

Wisconsin's running back John Clay is the only running back in the big ten who averages over 100 yards rushing per game. He also leads the conference with 10 rushing TD's. He is a big, physical runner listed just shy of 250 lbs. Scott Tolzien is the QB and he has completed 62.5% of his passes so far this year with 9 TD's. On defense, O’Brien Schofield leads the nation in tackles for loss with 16.5. The badgers have 3 TD's on special teams this year. The AP Poll has Wisconsin ranked 24 while the BCS has them at 21.

This is going to be a huge week for the hoosiers. A win this weekend makes them one win away from bowl eligibility while a loss would pretty much eliminate them from becoming bowl eligible. The hoosiers have come out firing the last two weeks but need to work on finishing games late. The hoosiers need to bounce back after two tough weeks and take down the badgers to get us back on track.

*** Fun Stat of the Day: The hoosiers lead the big ten in turnover margin at +9

Can't Say It Any Better

If you haven't read the OSR report here is an article that sums up the Iowa game better than I can.
Official Sports Report: November 01, 2009A Truly Uphill Battleby Jeremy GrayIOWA CITY, Iowa- This will possibly get me in trouble with my national editor, but I don't know any other way to write this column. I have never done this before, and likely I will never do it again. This line of argument is almost always facile and simplistic. Only rarely does it come off as anything other than whiny and small.
However, to make anything else the focus of this column would be inexcusable. It should be said. In my time of watching football, Indiana's 42-24 loss to Iowa was one of the most grotesquely officiated football games I have ever seen.
It wasn't one bad call. It wasn't two bad calls. There were a slew of them and they were not bifurcated evenly between the two teams. And unlike with modern medicine and av! iation, technology didn't seem to help.
Before I rehash my grievances, let me state and acknowledge the following…
Iowa deserves credit for taking advantage of their opportunities. The Hawkeyes also battled through a litany of injuries to pull out the win and that deserves praise and recognition. The Hoosiers failed to stop misdirection plays throughout the game, and didn't respond when they began taking on water in the 4th quarter. The Hoosiers also failed to capitalize on all of their turnovers.
But…
It's a little tough for an underdog to win a game against a top five team on the road when officials unjustifiably took away two touchdowns, made a phantom pass interference call, made woeful spots after IU offensive gains, and made a questionable unnecessary roughness call on Donnell Jones that prolonged an Iowa drive.
And what did Terrance Turner do to undermine his football karma! ? Did he forget to send his grandmother a birthday card? He makes two brilliant touchdown catches and both of them got wiped off the board.
To their credit, Indiana responded exceptionally well to most of these setbacks.
The bad pass interference call against Adrian Burks in the first half was made irrelevant by a Collin Taylor interception later in the drive.
Turner's first touchdown catch that was rendered an incomplete pass, was quickly made up for by a fabulous touchdown connection between Ben Chappell and Damarlo Belcher.
The Hoosiers also overcame a bad spot in the first half. Running back Darius Willis clearly plunged over the first down marker, but the officials spotted it a full yard behind the marker. They reviewed the spot, and unfathomably upheld the ruling on the field. On 4th and 1, Ben Chappell was able to get the Hawkeyes to jump offside on a hard count and the Hoosiers sustained the drive.
But the other bad spot cost Indiana dearly. In the first hal! f, Damarlo Belcher made a catch and touched the ground with his hand before plunging ahead for a significant gain. The officials spotted the ball where his hand touched the ground, rather than where he actually went down. The Hoosiers were forced to punt. It should be noted that this occurred at a juncture of the game that the Hoosiers were moving the ball fairly easily and the defense was overwhelming the Hawkeyes.
But the real whopper took place in the middle of the 3rd quarter. Indiana led the game 21-14. The offense was in a groove, and Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi looked like Gerry Cooney after taking his first shot from Mike Tyson. The Hoosiers were responding to the most inexplicable only-against-the Chicago Cubs-like interception return in history. They methodically drove down field and were on the verge of levying a devastating blow to the Hawkeyes. The Hoosiers were near the goal line and Chappell unfurled a perfect strike to a darting Ter! rance Turner. Turner hauled it in, drug his back foot two feet inside the endzone, and slid toward the Iowa cheerleaders in exaltation.
The official, standing a scant three feet away and possessing a perfect view of the play, raised his hands to signal the touchdown. The players went bananas, I scared my dog, and the Hoosiers were up 28-14.
But…
The officials decided to review the catch. The ESPN crew replayed the catch over and over again. Iowa fans, Indiana fans, Bob Davie, Lou Holtz, Mark May, Barack Obama, John McCain, Kanye West, my shaken golden retriever, Lady Gaga, and Boilermaker Pete could all see that it was a touchdown.
But after several minutes of deliberation, the officials wiped off the points and deemed it an incomplete pass. Nick Freeland missed the subsequent field goal attempt, and the Hawkeyes were still within striking distance.
The toughest part of that scenario to wrap my mind around&#44! ; was the fact that the play was deemed a touchdown on the field. To overturn, there has to be conclusive evidence. If it was conclusive, why did it take so long to review it? Not even Hawkeye partisans Chuck Long and Tom Brokaw could convince themselves that there was conclusive evidence.
The Hoosiers responded again with another interception. They drove down the field and booted a field goal. But the Hawkeyes were given new life and the rest, unfortunately, is history.
Certainly Iowa's track record suggests that they could have mounted a comeback no matter what the score was.
And just as certainly, the Hoosiers have struggled to hold onto leads in 2009.
Would the Hoosiers have won a well officiated game? I think so, but I'll never know for sure. But I certainly would have liked to have watched that game instead.

Some Final Stats

The hoosiers sit at 4-5 right now. Bowl eligibility isn't out the of question just yet. We have three games left against Wisconsin, Penn State, and Purdue. We must win at least two of them to get to becoming bowl eligible although that doesn't guarantee that we will make a bowl game. A win this Saturday will be crucial and it could come down to the Purdue game again at the end of the year. Here are some notable stats from yesterdays game on both offense and defense.

Offense:

Passing: Chappell 23-41 227 yards, 2 TD and 3 INT

Rushing: Willis 21 carries for 51 yards and a TD

Receiving: Belcher 6 rec. 89 yards and a TD

Defense:

Mayberry led us in tackles with 9. He also had an INT and sack and a tackle for loss

The hoosiers had 5 interceptions in the game (2 from Collin Taylor and 1 from Mayberry, Thomas, Jones)

Freshman Adam Replogle had 1.5 sacks and 2.5 TFL

Tyler Replogle had 7 tackles with .5 sacks and .5 TFL

Jammie Kirlew recovered a fumble and Larry Black Jr added a TFL