I’m not sure what to think. Among IU fans there seemed to be a lot of optimism that Shivers would be a major RB upgrade. Maybe his bell never stopped ringing after that first hit, but I saw none of the speed, quickness, shiftiness or ability to break tackles I was hoping for. I do give him props for not fumbling and hanging in on pass protection (even though he frequently got destroyed), and I totally get that the O line is an issue. Just expected to see more, even against a decent Illinois team. Go Hoosiers!

Not sure if there's a place to look this up, but I was wondering about these 3 guys. Obviously, they've gotten a fair amount of preseason press for various reasons. I saw Cooper do the usual "let the ball sail over your head for a touchback" multiple times on kick returns. Didn't notice if he got any snaps at WR. Same with McCulley. Did he see the field at all? And McCullough? TIA.

Thought Illinois looked like the team with a game under their belt early. For a minute it looked like they might run wild all night and Indiana might be in trouble. Illinois has shot themselves in the foot several times and in the last part of the 2nd quarter Indiana siezed momentum despite Illinois dominating yardage and ToP.
Indiana needs to do a better job against the run in the second half. There have been a few missed tackles that led to extra yards and first downs so that needs to be cleaned up. Look for the Illinois QB to scramble more when we show man coverage and nobody gets open. I don't think I would do a spy or anything but definitely have the guys watch for that.
Indiana had success getting pressure up the middle 3 or 4 times so maybe try some more of that.
Honestly I think the Illini got jipped out of a TD but usually it seems likes it's Indiana that gets screwed over like that.
Baz has missed some throws. When he's had a clean pocket he's thrown some darts. When he's been pressured he's been off. I loved that deep ball to Matthews, beautiful throw, beautiful route, beautiful play. I love that it was a post in the middle of the field and not a go route down the sidelines. I know I've been harping on that a little bit but it gives you a much greater chance to make a play since you don't have the boundary acting as a second defender.
I loved the way Indiana ended the half. They got the field goal, stopped Illinois and then got another field goal. But after the second they didn't leave Illinois enough time to do anything - I thought that was good game management. In the past I have complained about a lack of awareness here but good job in this case. I
Indiana gets the ball first so a great opportunity to stretch the lead and really get Illinois on their heals. I thought Illinois out-played Indiana in much of the first half yet Indiana is in the lead and gets the ball first. If they make some good adjustments in the locker room and don't turn the ball over in the second half they should be in a pretty good position. Go Hoosiers!

Additional update on 2024 top-30 wing Liam McNeeley and his upcoming IU visit. Story from Rivals National Recruiting Director Rob Cassidy.

Per tonight’s vrs Notre Dame broadcast.

The State of Ohio’s Pro franchise.

Hank Aaron facing Don Larsen with Yogi behind the plate.

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This account a is a good follow.

2024 guard Daquan Davis starting to hear from Indiana. Had a really good summer.

Had 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 4-of-7 from three in the 16U Peach Jam Championship.

Update from Rivals’ Rob Cassidy.

that ran up the score on us was none other than the fat jerk that now coaches Illinois. IU wasn't even that bad in 2010 as we went 5-7. Around that same time Bielema went for the 2 point conversion against Minny when leading by something like 30 in the 4th quarter. He then got into a verbal confrontation with the Minny coach at midfield, and postgame said he was just going by the "chart" coaches uses to determine the 1 or 2 point conversion. From what I have heard, he's not the best-liked coach in the B1G. There were no tears shed when he left Wisconsin for Arkansas where he failed miserably.

Anyway, It was a joy watching him pace the sideline having to eat this game. I was in schadenfreude heaven.

two months before the season starts 😄

Hope the football team can hold my interest for another month or so 😅. Want them to do well, but I haven’t been this amped up for bball in a long time.

Where was Jaylin Lucas last night? injured?

Either the South Dakota State Jackrabbits got hood, or Iowa has The Struggles

5:00 minutes to play

As I've taken some time to digest, I'm so frustrated because this team looks considerably better in nearly every aspect from last year...except O-line. Again, we're one game in so we have a very small sample size for this team, but the D-line looked like they could actually generate pressure, the secondary looked very strong, albeit against a pretty mediocre QB and as a whole the defense seemed to play with much more of an edge than last year(not blaming last year's defense considering what the offense looked like).

Camper was a delightful surprise and Idk about y'all, but I can see why DJ Matthews was a top 60 recruit coming out of HS. Bazelak also looked really solid in his first start, able to make most throws accurately but more importantly, didn't panic and throw the ball at the first target he sees when under pressure(only interception bounced off the wide receiver's hands). There were some questionable calls from Bell, I hated the read option call on 3rd and 7 in the 4th quarter with an O-line that's been dominated the entire game and a pocket passer at the helm. But overall, I thought the offensive looked far more creative and cohesive than they did all of last year and that is a really well coached Illinois defense.

Now the elephant in the room, the O-line. At best, the pass protection was mediocre and the run blocking was just pathetic. I said Illinois has a solid defense and I meant it, but they don't have a talented enough front seven for it to be acceptable to average 1.67 yards per carry(not including Bazelak's runs/sacks). That's not losing the line of scrimmage, that is simply being dismantled to a lower tier conference opponent. Almost everyone on this board said it at the end of last year, and even casuals are asking, WTF is wrong with this O-line.

It's really a bummer because I think every change Allen made looked like it panned out in week one, but what felt like the most obviously needed change(outside of getting rid of Sheridan) didn't happen and there was no improvement year over year. When I say this team is an O-line away, I don't mean that we would be playoff or B1G title contenders, but I could absolutely see an 8-4 or 7-5 season with a few surprise upsets. As it is, I still feel like we'd be lucky to make a bowl game. I keep saying we'll see, but we all know Allen would've been well within his rights to fire Hiller after last season. If Ryan Day or Nick Saban were our HC, Hiller would've been gone the night of the Purdue game. Such a strange hill for Allen to die on, but here we are nine months later, shaking our heads and thinking the same thing, how could Hiller be brought back?!?!

Have to earn the trust and get people to stay, but I was pleased.

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Bedford was walking without a limp after the game. Hope that is a good sign.
Jones played, but was grimacing.
Barner looked like he had an upper body issue.

Looking at the scores so far…this may end up being a really strange year for the conference outside of OSU and UM.

Iowa barely got by South Dakota State (won with 2 safeties?!?!?)

Scott Frost may not make it past tomorrow as Neb coach as they’ve let North Dakota tie it up 17-17 with 4:00 left in the 3rd

Rutgers somehow managed to beat BC.

I know it’s week 1, but it’s looking like a weird one already.

The Fighting Ilini SMACKED a decent Wyoming team 38-6, and considering they missed two field goals & had a TD called back by penalty, was not even as close as the score....

IU has a mystery offense (fish or fowl?) driven by a new OC with a record of coaching on losing teams, 7 of 11 new starters on offense (according to Phil Steele & others), a new DC (tho fortunately CTA will be back to calling plays), and a team that was 2-10 last year ! (Phil S predicts IU will DOUBLE its wins, but that is still - uh - 4....)

Yet, IU is favored by 2.5 (down from 5.5 or so, but STILL !), despite the fact that head coaches improve MOST between their first & second year, as Bielema is...

Unless this is 1966-to-1967 all over again (PLEASE GOD !!! 🙏) IU should be strong underdogs in this one...

Does the betting industry have spies at IU practices and/or know something we DON'T...?!??? 🤷‍♂️

I read that Penix has been named the starting QB for Washington. We'll know that IU Football is truly cursed if he stays healthy for more than 8 games!

Seriously though, I hope he does well. He is very talented and seemed like a good kid.

….so going to catch some of the Washington game here coming up at 10:30 to watch Penix.

Anyone shocked from Putin's lap dog?

Bailey shares the teams letting him know early in the 2022 season that he is a priority in their 2024 class.

So according to the NBC, 74,200,000+ voted for Trump.

Question 1 - how many have been persuaded by the Democrats - all they have said and done to/for/about their neighbors and fellow Deplorable citizens about whom they care deeply since the election - to change their hearts/ minds and stop supporting Trump? 10? Dozen? Millions?

Question 2 - am I reading The NBC chart correct? Are they saying 89,000,000 mail in ballots were requested/sent out and 101,000,000 were sent back in? Or is they confusioning me on the purpose?

I know it’s only week 1 but already looks like another all SEC championship could be brewing…. I’ll expend every ounce of fan energy rooting against that travesty