To be fair, that Ole Miss team wasn’t bad and ended up being really darn good the next season. Plus, IU was playing their backup QB who also got himself dinged up early.
A disappointing finish to the season for sure, but not a gigantic upset in the grand scheme of things.
There is zero shame in losing to a Lane Kiffin offense. Lane is probably the best offensive coordinator in college football (certainly top 3). His ability to see the game is extraordinary.
I do not believe Tom Allen is the guy. Certainly had high hopes for him, but 5-7, 5-7, 8-5, 6-2, 2-10, 4-8 and whatever this year ends up (trending toward another losing season if things don't change). Wilson inherited a roster that had almost no talent after the Bill Lynch years and made it to two bowl games after essentially building up the program from scratch. (Note- No, I don't want Wilson back, but I think we have to acknowledge that Wilson could coach, recruit a little bit and develop players). Allen inherited a solid roster and struggled for 2 years trying to replicate Wilson's two straight bowls. Then the magic wand was waved, and Wommack took over the defense and Kalen Deboer took over the offense. Wonderful things happened. The covid year is interesting. We did not beat a team with a winning record and half the teams had a bunch of guys sitting out. Not to take away from the season, but we must try and compare apples to apples. Covid year was different for everyone. After Covid, well, it has been an unmitigated disaster.
What has struck me since CTA has been here is that he appears to be a reactive coach rather than a proactive coach. Look no further than the the offense. Indiana has been a passing team for the entirety of Allen's run. Until now when we are a running team with an OL that is clearly suspect. I mean 3 yards per carry against Akron? Well less than 50% completion percentage? Those are insane numbers--and not in a good way. They are insane until you look at the film and just focus on the OL at the point of attack and look at what is happening. Watch the difference between Christian Turner and Lucas. Turner is a running back. What I mean by that is watch the TD he scored. They ran a wide zone and he wanted to get outside, so he dipped his shoulder a bit as if he was going to cut inside then bounced outside for the score. Linebacker went inside, and that was all turner needed. That is great technique--perfectly done. Why we didn't run that more often is beyond me. My point? Allen has made two very expensive hires at OC (Bell) and DC (Warren), that have simply not worked out at all, and we are constantly changing systems (at least offensively).
I also think the rah rah crap takes its toll on the players. You cannot preach and give speeches every day. IT DOESN'T WORK. Make the speeches meaningful and infrequent. Want to know what motivates kids at that age? Playing time and winning. Period.
As for recruiting, it has been a below average effort. I say below average because the guys Indiana gets that are 4 stars haven't panned out--almost ever. Now we are going in a different direction and we are going to try and develop more talent. The problem with that is how do you go to a high school kid and say you are a developmental program and will develop your players if you aren't winning and you have gone to the portal as follows:
2020 class: 3 transfers and 2 JUCOs
2021 class: 9 transfers
2022 class: 15 transfers and 2 JUCOs
2023 class: 23 transfers and 3 JUCOS
Over a 4 year span that is 50 transfers and 7 JUCOs. That is a lot. Maybe that's life now. Or maybe it isn't.
Take the 2020 class (excluding the 3 transfers), only Haggard, Dexter Williams, Barner and Benson made any significant contribution. The others are long gone.
We could go deeper and we will see similar results from prior classes, we see it in the 2021 class as well. We either aren't identifying guys or we aren't developing them. Either way, it ain't working.
Another poor performance this, and there is no doubt that guys are going to leave. That's the nature of the beast right now. Then what? You have no choice but to go back to the portal. I can make the argument that last year's portal class is too soon to tell, but trending very much downward. The significant and meaningful contributors are Andre Carter, Blidi, Tayven, Kobe Minor, Burris, Farrar, Carr, Toomer, Archer (by default) and Turner. Jury is still out on Jamier Johnson, EJ williams, D Carter, Jones and Longman. Throw in the 3 JUCOS in the secondary who appear to be just special teams players at the moment, that gives 26 transfers, of which 10 are significant and meaningful contributors-- or a 38% success rate. Given that we had such prominent needs along the entire defense, that is disconcerting.
All this being said, Allen will in all likelihood be back next year as a lame duck. Not a good recipe for success IMO. In such a critical time period for the Big 10 teams, this is bad news.
One other thing I want to point out is that last year I made two NIL donations that were not insignificant (with the blessing of Mrs. Milton of course). We had received a ton of info and phone calls about NIL stuff, but this year, it has been crickets. Have no idea why, but it is disconcerting.
On a side note of how discombobulated our athletic department is when it comes to football, the game this past weekend was a black out. What does the university do during the game in the stands? They shoot out white t-shirts. Only at IU.....
