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How good are we?

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96gradGUS

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Dec 11, 2018
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I am pumped that IU is ranked and off to a 7-2 start but....

How good are we really?
Who have we beaten that is good?
- Non conference cupcakes (3)
- everyone is beating NW, Rutgers, Maryland and Nebraska this year.
- We should of beaten MSU but didn't...Illinois beat them and it turns out that MSU is not very good.

Ready to beat a team that we are not supposed to win. PSU and UM are great opportunities to do that. We will also find out how good we really are.

Either way I am hoping we can build off of this year and attract more top players and a fan base that gets interested in filling up Memorial Stadium.
 
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This is an IU team that needed experience in playing in the B1G. Each week after OSU they have improved. We beat NU worse than anyone but OSU to show the improvement. Hopefully, that translates into a team that can beat one or more of the better teams on the schedule that is left.
 
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96gradGUS said:
I am pumped that IU is ranked and off to a 7-2 start but....

How good are we really?
Who have we beaten that is good?
- Non conference cupcakes (3)
- everyone is beating NW, Rutgers, Maryland and Nebraska this year.
- We should of beaten MSU but didn't...Illinois beat them and it turns out that MSU is not very good.

Ready to beat a team that we are not supposed to win. PSU and UM are great opportunities to do that. We will also find out how good we really are.

Either way I am hoping we can build off of this year and attract more top players and a fan base that gets interested in filling up Memorial Stadium.
Click to expand...

It's an uphill climb to beat and excellent team like PSU in their crib but it's a hill well worth climbing to see whats on the other side. #LEO
 
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96gradGUS said:
I am pumped that IU is ranked and off to a 7-2 start but....

How good are we really?
Who have we beaten that is good?
- Non conference cupcakes (3)
- everyone is beating NW, Rutgers, Maryland and Nebraska this year.
- We should of beaten MSU but didn't...Illinois beat them and it turns out that MSU is not very good.

Ready to beat a team that we are not supposed to win. PSU and UM are great opportunities to do that. We will also find out how good we really are.

Either way I am hoping we can build off of this year and attract more top players and a fan base that gets interested in filling up Memorial Stadium.
Click to expand...
I don't know good we really are because there are still three games to go, but I do know that we're a heckuva lot better than we've been. Sure, maybe everyone's beating the teams you mentioned, but it wasn't long ago that everyone was beating us.

IU plays in a conference. Our performance on the field needs to be good relative to the conference teams we face. In a way, it's immaterial how good or bad the other conference teams are, as long as we're capable of beating most of them. That's how winning seasons happen.

Most of us, prior to the season, viewed six wins as the goal this year. We've already exceeded that. Our success this season (and this has already been a successful season by any measure) will lead to what I think will be Tom Allen's best recruiting class for 2021, perhaps a Top 25 class. And better recruits mean more talent, more depth and more winning seasons, with an increasing likelihood of being able to go toe-to-toe with the big boys.

Let's enjoy what's happening now. It's a great time to be a Hoosier football fan.
 
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96gradGUS said:
I am pumped that IU is ranked and off to a 7-2 start but....

How good are we really?
Who have we beaten that is good?
- Non conference cupcakes (3)
- everyone is beating NW, Rutgers, Maryland and Nebraska this year.
- We should of beaten MSU but didn't...Illinois beat them and it turns out that MSU is not very good.

Ready to beat a team that we are not supposed to win. PSU and UM are great opportunities to do that. We will also find out how good we really are.

Either way I am hoping we can build off of this year and attract more top players and a fan base that gets interested in filling up Memorial Stadium.
Click to expand...

We would beat Michigan State if we played them today. MSU has had all sorts of issues since September 28th.
 
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It is really hard to tell, as someone else mentioned the next two games will be a real measuring stick. Sure we've beat some cupcakes, but in most cases we either won on the road or beat them handily at home (neither are things we historically do).
 
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vesuvius13 said:
This is an IU team that needed experience in playing in the B1G. Each week after OSU they have improved. We beat NU worse than anyone but OSU to show the improvement. Hopefully, that translates into a team that can beat one or more of the better teams on the schedule that is left.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'd like to have another shot at MSU now that we've improved and they've fallen into a funk. We may lament losing to them, but I think that game taught our young team a lot about how to win.
 
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11-2 10-3 9-4 8-5 7-6 was there anyone who can say this was a possibility with 3 games left in the season before it began ? Of course not new territory for IU football and fans. I know this Coach ,Staff,and players have had and do have belief in each other they are and will be in a special place in IU football history!SSH at Indiana.
 
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We may never know how good we were this year. Against three of thet four teams we really needed MP, we won't have had him. If we win either of the last two difficult games with PR, I think we were really quite good. Either way, for the first time in a generation, we have won every game we should have won. That's a GIANT step for a young team. Now the question is can we develop the young kids on our roster better than our rivals can recruit.
 
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Stlgator2223 said:
11-2 10-3 9-4 8-5 7-6 was there anyone who can say this was a possibility with 3 games left in the season before it began ? Of course not new territory for IU football and fans. I know this Coach ,Staff,and players have had and do have belief in each other they are and will be in a special place in IU football history!SSH at Indiana.
Click to expand...
OK, I have to ask...what does SSH mean?
 
Before the season began, I thought IU going 5-7 was a real possibility with 6-6 also possible, but not probable.

3-0 against non-cons, losses to MSU, UM, Nebraska, Maryland, OSU, PSU, and Purdue. Wins against Rutgers and Northwestern.

As tempting as it is to discredit some of the wins due to teams struggling this year, I just keep seeing the numbers 7-2. And I'm not going to let that record be soiled in my mind.

But like others have said, we are going to learn a lot about this IU team the next three weeks.

Worst Case 7 - 5 Best Case 10 - 2 My Guess 9 - 3 (loss to PSU)
 
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96gradGUS said:
I am pumped that IU is ranked and off to a 7-2 start but....

How good are we really?
Who have we beaten that is good?
- Non conference cupcakes (3)
- everyone is beating NW, Rutgers, Maryland and Nebraska this year.
- We should of beaten MSU but didn't...Illinois beat them and it turns out that MSU is not very good.

Ready to beat a team that we are not supposed to win. PSU and UM are great opportunities to do that. We will also find out how good we really are.

Either way I am hoping we can build off of this year and attract more top players and a fan base that gets interested in filling up Memorial Stadium.
Click to expand...
We are one of the 25 best college football teams in America.
 
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Daydreamer said:
Strange situation, isn't it? When you start winning, people usually come out of the woodwork to jump on the bandwagon. We have people coming out of the woodwork to try to run the bandwagon off the road.
Click to expand...

Been a long time lurker and very occasional poster. This is the first time in a long time most threads aren't overrun by those who share optimism being run down by the "realists" who "tell it like it is".
 
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I couldn't care less about the team's opponents' records right now. That can be judged at the end of the year once all of their games are complete.

But rankings are funny. If the year had started off with Nebraska in wk 1 and Maryland in like wk 4, IU would've beaten two ranked teams and have been top 25 much earlier and at this point in the year (assuming the rest of the schedule played out like it has) would be sitting at like #17-21.

Similarly, if IU had made a few more breaks for themselves at MSU, they would've gotten that #25 after that game and if the rest of the season had played out as it has, would be sitting top 15 by now IMO.

Rankings are so little about who you beat and more about who you beat when.

Before the year, I thought 4-8 was just as realistic as 9-3. In fact, my thought was that it would be 4-8 OR 9-3, like they'd either turn the corner or collapse. The team has certainly been fortunate that they didn't get the MSU/UM/OSU/PSU meat grinder in successive games. But the fact is they've been winning and MANY of us have been waiting for a reason to be this optimistic for many years, might as well enjoy the ride.
 
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You can only beat the teams on your Schedule and play the next team on your Schedule. You can't control how good or bad the opponents on your schedule will be in any given year. Strength of Schedule is only important if you are vying for a National Championship, or perhaps vying for a bid to a Bowl Game against another team. I can see a situation where Michigan loses its' last three games to MSU, IU, and OSU, has a worse record than we do, and ends up in a more prestigious Bowl Game than we do. Why? Well because they are Michigan, and the Big Ten Office will stick their hands into this and make sure it happens.
 
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IU plays three B1G West teams each year. Who did we draw? The defending division champion, the preseason division favorite, and our arch rival: the latter 2 on the road.

Who thought this was weak at the beginning of the season? How about the end of September? IU owes no apologies for beating teams and making them look bad!
 
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ESalum86 said:
IU plays three B1G West teams each year. Who did we draw? The defending division champion, the preseason division favorite, and our arch rival: the latter 2 on the road.

Who thought this was weak at the beginning of the season? How about the end of September? IU owes no apologies for beating teams and making them look bad!
Click to expand...
Best post of the week!
 
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ESalum86 said:
IU plays three B1G West teams each year. Who did we draw? The defending division champion, the preseason division favorite, and our arch rival: the latter 2 on the road.

Who thought this was weak at the beginning of the season? How about the end of September? IU owes no apologies for beating teams and making them look bad!
Click to expand...
Yeah for real and we should have scheduled Alabama, Georgia and Clemson also according to a lot of people. I personally am not apologizing for the way the way the schedule worked or for our record I am just going to enjoy and hope we get 3 more wins.
 
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96gradGUS said:
I am pumped that IU is ranked and off to a 7-2 start but....

How good are we really?
Who have we beaten that is good?
- Non conference cupcakes (3)
- everyone is beating NW, Rutgers, Maryland and Nebraska this year.
- We should of beaten MSU but didn't...Illinois beat them and it turns out that MSU is not very good.

Ready to beat a team that we are not supposed to win. PSU and UM are great opportunities to do that. We will also find out how good we really are.

Either way I am hoping we can build off of this year and attract more top players and a fan base that gets interested in filling up Memorial Stadium.
Click to expand...
Maryland at home had not completely imploded at the time we played them. It is a game past IU teams that lost their starting QB during the game would have lost. We probably ended Maryland's hopes after our win.

Nebraska still had a heartbeat and were in position to beat us and fight for bowl eligibility. It is the type of game past IU teams would have lost. I think we broke Nebraska and they have not been the same since. They should have beaten purdue.

NW is a bad team that had a chance to have some success. We beat them badly and it could have been much worse. purdue struggled the next week with them. I had expected the same effort NW gave purdue. We didn't let it happen when past teams might have allowed a purdue-like performance.

I would expect a different outcome if we played MSU after the confidence and experience we gained on the road at Maryland and Nebraska. Our game against MSU was the beginning of their struggles. I like to tell myself that despite the loss, we broke MSU like we did when we beat them at home a few years ago. A win against them would have us 8-1 right now!

Our 10 points against OSU is a small victory.. Several teams would have taken that.

We deserve our 7-2 record and shouldn't apologize for beating teams beneath us. It only proves we are worthy of our B1G standing. We should end up 8-4 or 9-3. We have a 3 game season that we should win at least one more.
 
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iubud said:
Maryland at home had not completely imploded at the time we played them. It is a game past IU teams that lost their starting QB during the game would have lost. We probably ended Maryland's hopes after our win.

Nebraska still had a heartbeat and were in position to beat us and fight for bowl eligibility. It is the type of game past IU teams would have lost. I think we broke Nebraska and they have not been the same since. They should have beaten purdue.

NW is a bad team that had a chance to have some success. We beat them badly and it could have been much worse. purdue struggled the next week with them. I had expected the same effort NW gave purdue. We didn't let it happen when past teams might have allowed a purdue-like performance.

I would expect a different outcome if we played MSU after the confidence and experience we gained on the road at Maryland and Nebraska. Our game against MSU was the beginning of their struggles. I like to tell myself that despite the loss, we broke MSU like we did when we beat them at home a few years ago. A win against them would have us 8-1 right now!

Our 10 points against OSU is a small victory.. Several teams would have taken that.

We deserve our 7-2 record and shouldn't apologize for beating teams beneath us. It only proves we are worthy of our B1G standing. We should end up 8-4 or 9-3. We have a 3 game season that we should win at least one more.
Click to expand...
you are what your record says you are.
 
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Crossblock said:
You can only beat the teams on your Schedule and play the next team on your Schedule. You can't control how good or bad the opponents on your schedule will be in any given year. Strength of Schedule is only important if you are vying for a National Championship, or perhaps vying for a bid to a Bowl Game against another team. I can see a situation where Michigan loses its' last three games to MSU, IU, and OSU, has a worse record than we do, and ends up in a more prestigious Bowl Game than we do. Why? Well because they are Michigan, and the Big Ten Office will stick their hands into this and make sure it happens.
Click to expand...

maybe you should beat them more than once every 50 years. A lot of confidence and shade about trying to see Haley’s Comet again
 
To answer the question, I don’t think we are a top #25 team. I expect to lose by three scores against both Penn State and Michigan. That said, we will likely beat Purdue to get to 8-4. Allen has done a fine job with a young football team. He has set us up to raise the bar next year. They have taken the first step to being a legitimate football program.
 
cshartle123 said:
To answer the question, I don’t think we are a top #25 team. I expect to lose by three scores against both Penn State and Michigan. That said, we will likely beat Purdue to get to 8-4. Allen has done a fine job with a young football team. He has set us up to raise the bar next year. They have taken the first step to being a legitimate football program.
Click to expand...
You have pretty low expectations. This team is better than your predictions.
 
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cshartle123 said:
To answer the question, I don’t think we are a top #25 team. I expect to lose by three scores against both Penn State and Michigan. That said, we will likely beat Purdue to get to 8-4. Allen has done a fine job with a young football team. He has set us up to raise the bar next year. They have taken the first step to being a legitimate football program.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your opinion
 
iubud said:
Maryland at home had not completely imploded at the time we played them. It is a game past IU teams that lost their starting QB during the game would have lost. We probably ended Maryland's hopes after our win.

Nebraska still had a heartbeat and were in position to beat us and fight for bowl eligibility. It is the type of game past IU teams would have lost. I think we broke Nebraska and they have not been the same since. They should have beaten purdue.

NW is a bad team that had a chance to have some success. We beat them badly and it could have been much worse. purdue struggled the next week with them. I had expected the same effort NW gave purdue. We didn't let it happen when past teams might have allowed a purdue-like performance.

I would expect a different outcome if we played MSU after the confidence and experience we gained on the road at Maryland and Nebraska. Our game against MSU was the beginning of their struggles. I like to tell myself that despite the loss, we broke MSU like we did when we beat them at home a few years ago. A win against them would have us 8-1 right now!

Our 10 points against OSU is a small victory.. Several teams would have taken that.

We deserve our 7-2 record and shouldn't apologize for beating teams beneath us. It only proves we are worthy of our B1G standing. We should end up 8-4 or 9-3. We have a 3 game season that we should win at least one more.
Click to expand...

Great post and you list the reasons the negative people don't seem to understand why this year is the breakthrough season. I am sure 2021 recruiting will be even better than the two class now helping the team win games.
 
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