Notes and Observations

[daddyhoosier]

It's a new season. It's game one. Arguably the best team iufb will play all year. So no need to rush to judgement. These are just some of my notes from the game.

QB Situation - Jackson and Sorsby split the snaps pretty evenly. Sorsby went out first but looks like the matter is still undecided. I look for this to continue in to next week against Indiana St. I wouldn't be surprised if Jackson starts the first half and Sorsby starts the second half against the Sycamores. We'll see if there is any separation that happens. To me by the Louisville game you have to make a decision and go with it unless they are planning to split it all year and basically ride the hot hand game by game. I don't think Allen wants to do that but we'll see.

Play calling - I saw quite a bit of hand-wringing and consternation on Twitter...I mean X lol. And in light of what we watched last year I get it. But I want to give it a couple more games to see what happens. Look at Ohio State. They were breaking in a colt at QB today and they only scored 23 points. I'm sure the BuckNut fan base is a little uneasy about only scoring 23 against Indiana. The point is even OSU doesn't just throw a guy to the wolves, it's a process and you have to bring him along according to where they are in the process. It's no different for Sorsby and Jackson. And the opponent was one of the best teams in the country. So let's not freak out yet.

Offensive Line - We can say that they are not blatantly a liability. Which we could not say for much of the year last year. Bedford at Guard I was not expecting. I honestly wasn't watching super close...seems like at the very end it started to break down a little bit. I don't even know if the starters were still in or not.

Lucas - news flash, he's one of the best kick returners in the country. The broadcast said his injury issue was cramps. If that's the case nothing to be concerned about.

WRs - Overall I need more data. Camper made a couple nice plays which was encouraging. On one of the later drives I thought maybe some chemistry between Sorsby and McCulley was starting to develop maybe.

RBs - There wasn't much there. It was almost triple option at times - I didn't see that coming. Next week there will probably be some yards on the ground but that won't really be a reflection of what we have either.

TEs - Not much to say except I saw 2 TE formations several times, which I am all for.

Defense - Again it's just week one but it appears this will be the strength of this team. I thought they had good looking players on all three levels. The linebackers we free to make plays which reflects well on the DL. Casey was awesome and 7 was flying around making plays too. I thought the secondary was physical and there weren't any catastrophic breakdowns which happened repeatedly last year. But to be fair OSU definitely did not have the pedal to the metal.

Special Teams - Evans has turned into a good punter. Remember how shaky he was in his first year? That has worked out after all. Freeman doinked in that 42 yarder but they all count the same. I know he's got a good leg, hopefully accuracy doesn't end up being an issue.

Game Management - I didn't like going for it on 4th down just a little beyond midfield at the end of the 1st half. I think the message to the team was we are here to win this, and I get it, but you have to read the game as well. Based on what the offense was doing in the game I'm not sure that was the time to go for it. If the offense was rolling and being effective I don't mind being aggressive like that. But you end up giving away 3 points and almost 7. It should have been 7-3 at half time.

I'm actually excited to see both of the QBs again next week because it looks like CTA hasn't been just blowing smoke, that's a very close race. I'm leaning Sorsby right now but let's see what happens next week and beyond. I didn't plan to write this much but it is what it is. Thank you for reading if you made it this far.

 

[daddyhoosier]

 

[TMFT]

Random thoughts after a long day to/from Bloomington.

I’m still all in on Sorsby. If we’re going to run the option, I think he just runs it better than Jackson. I also think he throws a better ball and makes better decisions.

Steinfeldt whiffed a block on one option run where Jaylin would have been sprung.

The offensive game plan was too conservative for me. Double tight, double back, 1 WR is not what we should see. Big BUT, while that was not going to grind out 80 yd drives against OSU, it might be able to do some damage against other teams on the schedule. I still wished to have seen more passes early before it was late & obvious passing situations.

Impressed with OL.

Super impressed with DL.

Super duper impressed by Jaylin and the return units in general (except for the penalties).

Evans was really wonderful today. His worst punt was the touchback.

 

[TomEric4756]

OSU 2-12 on 3rd down (4-12 when 4th downs are considered).
IU 5 TFL
Near FF by Carter (credited with defended pass)
Efficient tackling: only a few missed/broken tackles
OSU only 2 TDs
2 all American WRs got a total of 4 catches.

There’s a lot to like in this game‘s defensive performance

 

[jlasson]

There's plenty to say after that one, obviously it's important to acknowledge that OSU is one of the top defenses Indiana will face this year. Next week will be a more interesting test for the QBs because our offense should be able to function correctly, but both of those QBs have a long way to go if they want to secure the job before Dexter Williams comes back and takes it from both of them.

It's just a shame for our defense who played very well and fought hard the whole game, they deserved for this to be a closer score line than it was.

 

[ElMeson]

We can’t throw the ball downfield. No there way to spin it. How was the OL better? This offense is absolutely dreadful!!

 

[TMFT]

We can’t throw the ball downfield. No there way to spin it. How was the OL better? This offense is absolutely dreadful!!

The QBs had time to throw, until late when it was obvious passing. They picked up blitzed well. They weren’t getting stuffed for a bunch of losses on runs.

Idk, from where I was sitting they looked better than last year for sure.

 

[Hoosiers47614]

We can’t throw the ball downfield. No there way to spin it. How was the OL better? This offense is absolutely dreadful!!

Pretty much every run at least got back to the line of scrimmage, and most gained at least a couple yards, except some of the QB runs, and they only gave up one sack. And really, they didn't even give up much pressure until it was an obvious passing situation where OSU could fully pin their ears back at the end of the game,

 

[Baller23Boogie]

We can’t throw the ball downfield. No there way to spin it. How was the OL better? This offense is absolutely dreadful!!

The receivers have to get open when we called passing plays.

That wasn't happening.

People can say we should have been more aggressive, and I agree to a point, but if the qb has nobody to throw it to, that's on the receiving core and tight ends as well.

Against Ohio State, our line played much improved.

 

[vesuvius13]

IU has some good things to build upon from this game. The defense looked good most of the game with DBs playing very well most of the time. IU needs to learn to cover a TE better; the defensive calls need to develop rushes that help out our DEs rushing the QB.

IU needs to take advantage of a better OL with RBs that can run effectively and Lucas that can be a HR any time he touches the ball. Bell needs to come up with a passing game that threatens defense looking to crowd the LOS against IU.

 

[midwolfe]

The receivers have to get open when we called passing plays.

That wasn't happening.

People can say we should have been more aggressive, and I agree to a point, but if the qb has nobody to throw it to, that's on the receiving core and tight ends as well.

Against Ohio State, our line played much improved.

Got to mix it up more….. can’t just stand back and try to throw every down at the end of the game. I wouldn’t mind never seeing that triple option or Jaylin up the middle again ever.

 

[midwolfe]

IU has some good things to build upon from this game. The defense looked good most of the game with DBs playing very well most of the time. IU needs to learn to cover a TE better; the defensive calls need to develop rushes that help out our DEs rushing the QB.

IU needs to take advantage of a better OL with RBs that can run effectively and Lucas that can be a HR any time he touches the ball. Bell needs to come up with a passing game that threatens defense looking to crowd the LOS against IU.

That blown TE play was a linebacker who was peaking in the backfield

 

[TMFT]

The receivers have to get open when we called passing plays.

That wasn't happening.

People can say we should have been more aggressive, and I agree to a point, but if the qb has nobody to throw it to, that's on the receiving core and tight ends as well.

Against Ohio State, our line played much improved.

I’ll have to watch my DVR, but I do recall some open receivers a handful of times but the ball wasn’t quite there.

Sorsby overthrew Steinfeldt along the sideline for what would’ve been a good gain.

Jackson overthrew a deep shot by about 5 yards.

 

[Baller23Boogie]

Got to mix it up more….. can’t just stand back and try to throw every down at the end of the game. I wouldn’t mind never seeing that triple option or Jaylin up the middle again ever.

We were down by double digits and needed point at that time.

Time was running out.

I'm with you on the dive. If we're gonna keep running that, have Turner as the dive man and keep Jaylin as the pitch.

I loved the way Turner ran yesterday in his limited opportunities.

 

[TMFT]

Got to mix it up more….. can’t just stand back and try to throw every down at the end of the game. I wouldn’t mind never seeing that triple option or Jaylin up the middle again ever.

I actually like the concept of using an option here and there. I like it far more than Jaylin between the tackles.

I’ve said all along, September 16th vs Louisville is gonna be where we know what the season will look like. We’ll have a sufficient sample size by then

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

Got to mix it up more….. can’t just stand back and try to throw every down at the end of the game. I wouldn’t mind never seeing that triple option or Jaylin up the middle again ever.

Glad you’re not our OC then

 

[Baller23Boogie]

I’ll have to watch my DVR, but I do recall some open receivers a handful of times but the ball wasn’t quite there.

Sorsby overthrew Steinfeldt along the sideline for what would’ve been a good gain.

Jackson overthrew a deep shot by about 5 yards.

Yeah, the overthrow to Steinfeldt was bad.

If you're talking about Jackson's first quarter shot down field, it's probably best it was overthrown. He had two defenders flanking Camper I believe (could be wrong on that one). That had a better chance of being picked off then being completed if it had been thrown properly, IMO.

 

[TMFT]

Yeah, the overthrow to Steinfeldt was bad.

If you're talking about Jackson's first quarter shot down field, it's probably best it was overthrown. He had two defenders flanking Camper I believe (could be wrong on that one). That had a better chance of being picked off then being completed if it had been thrown properly, IMO.

That’s probably the one I’m thinking of because I remember there being two DBs there. Watching the DVR now to confirm.

 

[Victorbmyboy]

I’ll have to watch my DVR, but I do recall some open receivers a handful of times but the ball wasn’t quite there.

Sorsby overthrew Steinfeldt along the sideline for what would’ve been a good gain.

Jackson overthrew a deep shot by about 5 yards

Yep. IU had guys open deep. No continuity at game speed yet. That’s why they need to pick one and stick with him. This offense will be a grind it out and then pick some downfield plays. If you hold people to under 25 points it gives you a shot. Just can’t have bonehead taunting plays.

 

[abraxis]

Yeah, the overthrow to Steinfeldt was bad.

If you're talking about Jackson's first quarter shot down field, it's probably best it was overthrown. He had two defenders flanking Camper I believe (could be wrong on that one). That had a better chance of being picked off then being completed if it had been thrown properly, IMO.

It was one of those throws you knew had too much velocity as soon as it left his hand. No man could run that fast from the line of scrimmage to catch up to it. Too much “juice” in the form of adrenaline coursing through his veins would be my guess.

 

[abraxis]

It's a new season. It's game one. Arguably the best team iufb will play all year. So no need to rush to judgement. These are just some of my notes from the game.

QB Situation - Jackson and Sorsby split the snaps pretty evenly. Sorsby went out first but looks like the matter is still undecided. I look for this to continue in to next week against Indiana St. I wouldn't be surprised if Jackson starts the first half and Sorsby starts the second half against the Sycamores. We'll see if there is any separation that happens. To me by the Louisville game you have to make a decision and go with it unless they are planning to split it all year and basically ride the hot hand game by game. I don't think Allen wants to do that but we'll see.

Play calling - I saw quite a bit of hand-wringing and consternation on Twitter...I mean X lol. And in light of what we watched last year I get it. But I want to give it a couple more games to see what happens. Look at Ohio State. They were breaking in a colt at QB today and they only scored 23 points. I'm sure the BuckNut fan base is a little uneasy about only scoring 23 against Indiana. The point is even OSU doesn't just throw a guy to the wolves, it's a process and you have to bring him along according to where they are in the process. It's no different for Sorsby and Jackson. And the opponent was one of the best teams in the country. So let's not freak out yet.

Offensive Line - We can say that they are not blatantly a liability. Which we could not say for much of the year last year. Bedford at Guard I was not expecting. I honestly wasn't watching super close...seems like at the very end it started to break down a little bit. I don't even know if the starters were still in or not.

Lucas - news flash, he's one of the best kick returners in the country. The broadcast said his injury issue was cramps. If that's the case nothing to be concerned about.

WRs - Overall I need more data. Camper made a couple nice plays which was encouraging. On one of the later drives I thought maybe some chemistry between Sorsby and McCulley was starting to develop maybe.

RBs - There wasn't much there. It was almost triple option at times - I didn't see that coming. Next week there will probably be some yards on the ground but that won't really be a reflection of what we have either.

TEs - Not much to say except I saw 2 TE formations several times, which I am all for.

Defense - Again it's just week one but it appears this will be the strength of this team. I thought they had good looking players on all three levels. The linebackers we free to make plays which reflects well on the DL. Casey was awesome and 7 was flying around making plays too. I thought the secondary was physical and there weren't any catastrophic breakdowns which happened repeatedly last year. But to be fair OSU definitely did not have the pedal to the metal.

Special Teams - Evans has turned into a good punter. Remember how shaky he was in his first year? That has worked out after all. Freeman doinked in that 42 yarder but they all count the same. I know he's got a good leg, hopefully accuracy doesn't end up being an issue.

Game Management - I didn't like going for it on 4th down just a little beyond midfield at the end of the 1st half. I think the message to the team was we are here to win this, and I get it, but you have to read the game as well. Based on what the offense was doing in the game I'm not sure that was the time to go for it. If the offense was rolling and being effective I don't mind being aggressive like that. But you end up giving away 3 points and almost 7. It should have been 7-3 at half time.

I'm actually excited to see both of the QBs again next week because it looks like CTA hasn't been just blowing smoke, that's a very close race. I'm leaning Sorsby right now but let's see what happens next week and beyond. I didn't plan to write this much but it is what it is. Thank you for reading if you made it this far.

Regarding “Game Management”, the general post-game consensus has been our overly conservative offensive scheme. Going for a first down on a fourth one near half’s end contradicts that thought. Punting would illicit cries of chickensh*t from the more aggressive nature of the greedier.

Always play to win, not to not lose by not a lot!

 

[daddyhoosier]

I’ll have to watch my DVR, but I do recall some open receivers a handful of times but the ball wasn’t quite there.

Sorsby overthrew Steinfeldt along the sideline for what would’ve been a good gain.

Jackson overthrew a deep shot by about 5 yards.

Yeah that Jackson deep ball was 'just a bit outside' 😂

 

[daddyhoosier]

Yeah, the overthrow to Steinfeldt was bad.

If you're talking about Jackson's first quarter shot down field, it's probably best it was overthrown. He had two defenders flanking Camper I believe (could be wrong on that one). That had a better chance of being picked off then being completed if it had been thrown properly, IMO.

Good point, it was bracket coverage - ball shouldn't have been thrown at all.

 

[eastcoasthoosier]

Pretty much every run at least got back to the line of scrimmage, and most gained at least a couple yards, except some of the QB runs, and they only gave up one sack. And really, they didn't even give up much pressure until it was an obvious passing situation where OSU could fully pin their ears back at the end of the game,

Averaged 2.2 yards per carry. I get its against Ohio State but that stat needs to improve. And Camper you can tell by comments and throwing his helmet is not happy with the conservative play calling. I do get why this game the Coaching staff did that. Now Lets see IU score at least 30 and blow out Indiana State. They dont and its a close game it will be the same old concerns.

 

[Bligedy]

View embedded media

They’re way better at 21 spots. But it’s a QB game and they don’t have one.

With a decent QB this is a bowl team. But….

 

[Vern Pain]

I’ll have to watch my DVR, but I do recall some open receivers a handful of times but the ball wasn’t quite there.

Sorsby overthrew Steinfeldt along the sideline for what would’ve been a good gain.

Jackson overthrew a deep shot by about 5 yards.

True, he overthrew that one, thank God. There were three defenders and zero separation.

 

[abraxis]

Yeah that Jackson deep ball was 'just a bit outside' 😂

It was one of those “throw the ball as far as you can while hoping for the best”. If Jackson could have delayed his throw about 5 sec. the receiver might have had a chance at scratching the pigskin with his fingernails.

 

[DThompson]

TEs were open several times…just not ready to check down that far yet.

 

[TomEric4756]

I think Evans will win a game with his punting after yesterday’s performance … only two of six punts were returned, and the coffin corner job at the 11, put the defense at an advantage.

“[Evans] holds the program record for punt average at 43.1 yards and he continued to build on that, averaging a whooping 54.2 yards per punt.

His long punt of the day came at the end of the fourth quarter. It was a 60-yard roller downed at the Ohio State 11-yard line. He booted four punts over 50 yards.

“He was excellent today. He works his tail off. Every year he just keeps getting better. So I'm really proud of him.” Allen said. “(He’s a) big weapon for us. And obviously he's got to do his job consistently well. And it helps us flip the field. So we got to have everybody doing their job at a high level to win in this conference.”

http://hoosierhuddle.com/hoosier-bl...teams-bright-spot-against-ohio-state/2023/9/3

 

[Coach Geez]

We can’t throw the ball downfield. No there way to spin it. How was the OL better? This offense is absolutely dreadful!!

Offensive line is noticeably better than last year. However, and as you admitted, it doesn’t matter if you can’t throw the ball down the field. Not going to have much success consistently running the ball against 8 in the box.

 

[TomEric4756]

Offensive line is noticeably better than last year. However, and as you admitted, it doesn’t matter if you can’t throw the ball down the field. Not going to have much success consistently running the ball against 8 in the box.

In spread offense schemes, 8 in the box is commonly an audible to a pass … apparently we aren’t that far along to execute such an audible.

 

[abraxis]

In spread offense schemes, 8 in the box is commonly an audible to a pass … apparently we aren’t that far along to execute such an audible.

If an audible falls on deaf ears, is it really an audible, or just confusion by the illusion?

 

[iubud]

It's a new season. It's game one. Arguably the best team iufb will play all year. So no need to rush to judgement. These are just some of my notes from the game.

QB Situation - Jackson and Sorsby split the snaps pretty evenly. Sorsby went out first but looks like the matter is still undecided. I look for this to continue in to next week against Indiana St. I wouldn't be surprised if Jackson starts the first half and Sorsby starts the second half against the Sycamores. We'll see if there is any separation that happens. To me by the Louisville game you have to make a decision and go with it unless they are planning to split it all year and basically ride the hot hand game by game. I don't think Allen wants to do that but we'll see.

Play calling - I saw quite a bit of hand-wringing and consternation on Twitter...I mean X lol. And in light of what we watched last year I get it. But I want to give it a couple more games to see what happens. Look at Ohio State. They were breaking in a colt at QB today and they only scored 23 points. I'm sure the BuckNut fan base is a little uneasy about only scoring 23 against Indiana. The point is even OSU doesn't just throw a guy to the wolves, it's a process and you have to bring him along according to where they are in the process. It's no different for Sorsby and Jackson. And the opponent was one of the best teams in the country. So let's not freak out yet.

Offensive Line - We can say that they are not blatantly a liability. Which we could not say for much of the year last year. Bedford at Guard I was not expecting. I honestly wasn't watching super close...seems like at the very end it started to break down a little bit. I don't even know if the starters were still in or not.

Lucas - news flash, he's one of the best kick returners in the country. The broadcast said his injury issue was cramps. If that's the case nothing to be concerned about.

WRs - Overall I need more data. Camper made a couple nice plays which was encouraging. On one of the later drives I thought maybe some chemistry between Sorsby and McCulley was starting to develop maybe.

RBs - There wasn't much there. It was almost triple option at times - I didn't see that coming. Next week there will probably be some yards on the ground but that won't really be a reflection of what we have either.

TEs - Not much to say except I saw 2 TE formations several times, which I am all for.

Defense - Again it's just week one but it appears this will be the strength of this team. I thought they had good looking players on all three levels. The linebackers we free to make plays which reflects well on the DL. Casey was awesome and 7 was flying around making plays too. I thought the secondary was physical and there weren't any catastrophic breakdowns which happened repeatedly last year. But to be fair OSU definitely did not have the pedal to the metal.

Special Teams - Evans has turned into a good punter. Remember how shaky he was in his first year? That has worked out after all. Freeman doinked in that 42 yarder but they all count the same. I know he's got a good leg, hopefully accuracy doesn't end up being an issue.

Game Management - I didn't like going for it on 4th down just a little beyond midfield at the end of the 1st half. I think the message to the team was we are here to win this, and I get it, but you have to read the game as well. Based on what the offense was doing in the game I'm not sure that was the time to go for it. If the offense was rolling and being effective I don't mind being aggressive like that. But you end up giving away 3 points and almost 7. It should have been 7-3 at half time.

I'm actually excited to see both of the QBs again next week because it looks like CTA hasn't been just blowing smoke, that's a very close race. I'm leaning Sorsby right now but let's see what happens next week and beyond. I didn't plan to write this much but it is what it is. Thank you for reading if you made it this far.

I would disagree this is the best team we will play this year. It might be the third best behind UM and PSU. Will we employ the same rope a dope strategy against these teams?

This wasn't a game. It was a scrimmage for both teams. Let's hope Bell and Allen have learned that the offense has to score.

Allen said the play calling was too conservative. If only there was something he could do about it. Wait .... there is something he could do. He is the head coach. Act like one or move on!

 

[ribbont]

We can’t throw the ball downfield. No there way to spin it. How was the OL better? This offense is absolutely dreadful!!

No QB got hurt. That's how this OL is better.

 

[IndianaEd70]

After what I saw, I'll stick to a 3-9 season. This was not an impressive effort only one in which IU played not to lose. I blame the coaching staff on that. The defense did look better, but OSU has their problems, especially at QB. Disappointing.

 

[kmathum]

Random thoughts after a long day to/from Bloomington.

I’m still all in on Sorsby. If we’re going to run the option, I think he just runs it better than Jackson. I also think he throws a better ball and makes better decisions.

Steinfeldt whiffed a block on one option run where Jaylin would have been sprung.

The offensive game plan was too conservative for me. Double tight, double back, 1 WR is not what we should see. Big BUT, while that was not going to grind out 80 yd drives against OSU, it might be able to do some damage against other teams on the schedule. I still wished to have seen more passes early before it was late & obvious passing situations.

Impressed with OL.

Super impressed with DL.

Super duper impressed by Jaylin and the return units in general (except for the penalties).

Evans was really wonderful today. His worst punt was the touchback.

Hope we see some of Lowry the next few games

 

[TMFT]

Hope we see some of Lowry the next few games

I hope he at least gets some mop up duty over the next few games. Other than that, barring him moving ahead of the others in practice I imagine they’re waiting for Dexter to get healthy and really make the QB competition interesting.

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

After what I saw, I'll stick to a 3-9 season. This was not an impressive effort only one in which IU played not to lose. I blame the coaching staff on that. The defense did look better, but OSU has their problems, especially at QB. Disappointing.

 

[Coach Geez]

After what I saw, I'll stick to a 3-9 season. This was not an impressive effort only one in which IU played not to lose. I blame the coaching staff on that. The defense did look better, but OSU has their problems, especially at QB. Disappointing.

Ehh, if we get a consistent defensive effort like we saw yesterday, this team wins 6 games even with a struggling offense.

I get the frustrations with the conservative play calling, but in all honesty that was the only chance IU had of competing. Play calling going forward is going to depend on the maturation of the two young QB’s.

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

Ehh, if we get a consistent defensive effort like we saw yesterday, this team wins 6 games even with a struggling offense.

I get the frustrations with the conservative play calling, but in all honesty that was the only chance IU had of competing. Play calling going forward is going to depend on the maturation of the two young QB’s.

All this game did for me is further expose the absolute dumbasses that are part of the Indiana University football fan base. At least those that participate on this message board. Absolute dumbassery.