Hoosier Huddle

[Jssanto]

I am not trying to plug these guys, I don’t even know who they are. But I have been reading their “IU opponents summaries” articles.
So far it looks like our first two games are against weaker teams. If we are an improved team I believe we could win big twice. Perhaps score more than 30 and give up fewer than 10.
I assumed we would lose game three on the road at UCLA. But in just reading that article, we may have a much better chance at a W than I thought. Tough game- big school, road game, west coast time zone, long flight, etc. But rather than an old IU 40-3 loss we may have a chance to fly home 3-0.
Not sure when fall practice starts, but for those of us who still live close enough to tailgate (I am 5 states away) have fun.

 

[IU_Hickory]

I am not trying to plug these guys, I don’t even know who they are. But I have been reading their “IU opponents summaries” articles.
So far it looks like our first two games are against weaker teams. If we are an improved team I believe we could win big twice. Perhaps score more than 30 and give up fewer than 10.
I assumed we would lose game three on the road at UCLA. But in just reading that article, we may have a much better chance at a W than I thought. Tough game- big school, road game, west coast time zone, long flight, etc. But rather than an old IU 40-3 loss we may have a chance to fly home 3-0.
Not sure when fall practice starts, but for those of us who still live close enough to tailgate (I am 5 states away) have fun.

This is Deshaun Foster's first year as a head coach. They probably have a talent advantage but I think cig's experience would help have us better prepared.

 

[vesuvius13]

Depending on how the coaches pull this team together, so far very good, IU can get a winning stretch in the first nine games. It could be a very good season that we will enjoy.

 

[Tammany Hall]

The UCLA game is big. It’s winnable — UCLA crowd is pretty docile and IU will have better than usual turnout with the novelty of going to the Rose Bowl. Would be a nice statement win if IU can pull it off.

 

[Jssanto]

If we have two bigger wins (40 plus to fewer than 10?) maybe more will travel. The rose bowl venu could be a draw.

 

[Rags to Roses]

Some UCLA observations:
- New head coach, a first time head coach
- New offensive coordinator is Eric Bieniemy, so a good OC...but has been in NFL since 2012 so could be a bit of an adjustment dealing with average talent college players
- New defensive coordinator internal promotion
=> the lack of experience coaching together tends to be a negative, especially early in the season...not insurmountable, but glad that is the case
- returning their starting QB so a +, sounds like a good game manager who makes good decisions (i.e., few turnovers), not athletic, no big arm
- Top 3 receivers return
- Experienced OL, but they had a tough time with pass protection last year
- Sent 2 DEs to the NFL...difficult to replace
- LBs look good
- Used portal upgrade DB group
- They have one game before we play, a road game at Hawaii on August 31st...so they will have had 2 weeks to work out the kinks in practice before playing us
- They play LSU the week after us, so quite likely many players will be looking past us

They definitely look beatable

 

[Jssanto]

Some UCLA observations:
- New head coach, a first time head coach
- New offensive coordinator is Eric Bieniemy, so a good OC...but has been in NFL since 2012 so could be a bit of an adjustment dealing with average talent college players
- New defensive coordinator internal promotion
=> the lack of experience coaching together tends to be a negative, especially early in the season...not insurmountable, but glad that is the case
- returning their starting QB so a +, sounds like a good game manager who makes good decisions (i.e., few turnovers), not athletic, no big arm
- Top 3 receivers return
- Experienced OL, but they had a tough time with pass protection last year
- Sent 2 DEs to the NFL...difficult to replace
- LBs look good
- Used portal upgrade DB group
- They have one game before we play, a road game at Hawaii on August 31st...so they will have had 2 weeks to work out the kinks in practice before playing us
- They play LSU the week after us, so quite likely many players will be looking past us

They definitely look beatable

2 weeks prep time seems a big advantage to me.
The newness of the coaches could help us.

 

[76-1]

Some UCLA observations:
- New head coach, a first time head coach
- New offensive coordinator is Eric Bieniemy, so a good OC...but has been in NFL since 2012 so could be a bit of an adjustment dealing with average talent college players
- New defensive coordinator internal promotion
=> the lack of experience coaching together tends to be a negative, especially early in the season...not insurmountable, but glad that is the case
- returning their starting QB so a +, sounds like a good game manager who makes good decisions (i.e., few turnovers), not athletic, no big arm
- Top 3 receivers return
- Experienced OL, but they had a tough time with pass protection last year
- Sent 2 DEs to the NFL...difficult to replace
- LBs look good
- Used portal upgrade DB group
- They have one game before we play, a road game at Hawaii on August 31st...so they will have had 2 weeks to work out the kinks in practice before playing us
- They play LSU the week after us, so quite likely many players will be looking past us

They definitely look beatable

I see this as a Really Tough game... They'll want to make a statement by winning their first team official Big Ten game...

They were good thru the last half of the season last Fall on Offense after they settled on a QB and were very good on D all season... Fortunately for us they sent two key defensive players to the NFL but they did replace them with a couple of other decent players via the Portal so their D is expected to be good to very good again (even with a new DC)...

Our best hope is that our new staff is functioning better than their new staff this early in the season... On paper I think it appears they out talent us but if we function better as a TEAM we'll have a solid chance...

D Coord Info:

UCLA Football: New Defensive Coordinator Explains This Year's Shifting Approach

New UCLA football defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe is leading the Bruins defense for the first time as spring practices have gotten underway. Malloe is well

www.si.com

Starting QB Info:

UCLA Football: DeShaun Foster Makes Final Decision on Day 1 Starting QB

As expected, Ethan Garbers will be UCLA's starting quarterback in 2024. After a couple of early season quarterback changes last year, Garbers secured the starti

www.si.com

 

[Jssanto]

I see this as a Really Tough game... They'll want to make a statement by winning their first team official Big Ten game...

They were good thru the last half of the season last Fall on Offense after they settled on a QB and were very good on D all season... Fortunately for us they sent two key defensive players to the NFL but they did replace them with a couple of other decent players via the Portal so their D is expected to be good to very good again (even with a new DC)...

Our best hope is that our new staff is functioning better than their new staff this early in the season... On paper I think it appears they out talent us but if we function better as a TEAM we'll have a solid chance...

D Coord Info:

UCLA Football: New Defensive Coordinator Explains This Year's Shifting Approach

New UCLA football defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe is leading the Bruins defense for the first time as spring practices have gotten underway. Malloe is well

www.si.com

Starting QB Info:

UCLA Football: DeShaun Foster Makes Final Decision on Day 1 Starting QB

As expected, Ethan Garbers will be UCLA's starting quarterback in 2024. After a couple of early season quarterback changes last year, Garbers secured the starti

www.si.com

Thanks. Nice articles.