My two cents.
The game:
The game:
- I thought the offense looked a bit rusty early, but seemed to knock the rust off by the start of the 2nd quarter. I kind of expected timing to be off early.
- Redding was poised for game MVP had IU won. I think he proved himself to be an effective #1 RB for next year if he's called on to do so.
- I'm thinking less about missed field goals than a dropped pass in the end zone for an easy TD and a fumbled punt return. That was about an 11 point turnaround between the two.
- The D looked about the same as all season. Stout at times, porous at others. Thankfully Duke wasn't too solid with the whole 'catching and throwing the football' thing during big chunks of the game. I'm pinning about 27 of Duke's points solely on them.
- Simmie drops some passes. He also catches a bunch of them. He's a sophomore.
- I thought overall IU looked a lot more competitive in this game than they did in 2007. I know it's probably unfair to compare two teams separated by 8 seasons. I just remember seeing IU try to compete with OkStU in 2007 and thinking we didn't have the skill, ability, or athleticism that OkStU brought. If anything, I thought IU looked like a more fundamentally sound team than Duke tonight.
- Who predicted Luke Timian and Alex Rodriguez would score TDs tonight?
- I hope memories of this season won't hang on a missed field goal, a dropped pass vs OSU, a 4th down TD by Michigan to take a game to OT, and the Rutgers collapse. This was a fun year with more competitive games than I've seen from IU football in years. I was pretty proud of how this team represented my university.
- We had two All-American offensive linemen!
- I know it won't look like a big step forward as a program on paper, but I think the program grew a lot this year. The key will be replacing key members and sustaining the momentum. The bar is now set higher than it was.
