Mixed emotions

[IUNY]

I don’t know what the consensus is on here, but I don’t feel as good as I should after this win over Penn State, although I guess the college football gods decided it was finally our time after decades of futility.

First off, on the winning two-point conversion, everyone is focused on the pylon, but if you just wave the ball over the very beginning of the goal-line chalk, it counts. So that was good, and certainly not overturnable. Although would we have gotten that call if we weren’t in Bloomington?

I guess I’m a little nonplussed because had the Penn State running back not scored that touchdown and they ran out the clock, we would not be euphoric.

By the way, I think that Penn State team we played on Saturday is really good. I think they could upset Ohio State this weekend.

Honestly, I felt had we won that game last year in State College, that would have been a true IU football classic for the ages. By the way, I was in the stands at State College in 1993 when we lost 38-31 in a phenomenal game. Penn State intercepted us on their own 10-yard line in the last minute as we were driving for the tying TD.

I think some of the more rah-rah element of our fans, not on this site but on Twitter, are ready to put Saturday’s win up there with the last-second one over Kentucky in basketball in 2011.

I also am a little less enthused because of the stat line in our game. Often in our previous games when we came so close, we usually were deserving, particularly in the past few years when fans from other teams would come on this board and say you guys deserved to win. But on Saturday, we were pretty lucky, and Penn State helped us with turnovers and penalties.

Let’s look at our overall performance.

Mike Penix had a few passes dropped on him, but he also overthrew some guys. I think he may need to take a little off some of his throws. Also, have we ever considered going to a two-back set in the backfield? As soon as the defense sees you’re going to run the ball, they can all key on your one back, who in this case is Stevie Scott. He is a great back, as we know. But why not team him up with Sampson James for a few sets? Both guys can catch the ball out of the backfield. Remember, Sampson almost transferred. Is he going to be content with one carry a game?

And while I know Peyton Hendershot had that one drop, shouldn’t we be going to him more?

I think our defense’s bend-don’t-break approach worked for the most part, other than when we let Sean Clifford run wild on us like we did last year. That is baffling.

I still think it was great that we beat the No. 8 team in the country, which falls under the adage that good teams find a way to win; we usually have been on the wrong side of that equation. But we still have a lot to prove.

I don’t know how many of you watched Rutgers at Michigan State, but I would say based on that one game that Rutgers is the most improved team in the Big Ten, if not the country. Greg Schiano went out and got a bunch of transfers. He is running that team like an NFL GM. They threw, they ran, they forced turnovers, they rushed the quarterback. They pretty much did everything a good football team does. We need to win this game otherwise our Penn State buzz is going to wear off pretty fast.

For the glory of old IU.

 

[vesuvius13]

IU needs to improve for this game against Rutgers but things aren't so bleak. Despite giving up a TD in the first drive IU controlled the 1st half. Yes PSU screwed up when the RB scored but IU went on an epic drive to score and got the 2pt play to tie the game. The OT was IU's with a better play to win that PSU had.

Rutgers looked good but how bad is MSU who still hung close despite committing 7 turnovers. I was surprised at how bad the MSU defense was.

 

[TMFT]

All valid concerns.

The way I see it is:

1) Other than the last 2 minutes & OT, the offense played at a "C-" at BEST.
2) Other than a couple slips, the defense was a B+/A-

As a team, it was clearly not IU's best effort. It was not PSU's best effort. But when the chips were down, they pulled it out. IU certainly would not have beaten PSU if PSU had an B+/A- game overall. But a win's a win.

I DO think it was a program-changing win. If nothing else, for the way the offense tied it up in regulation with that last drive. They're deadly when they're on. PSU's defense was still pretty fresh and got carved up. I'm not convinced that if IU had played their A+ game that they still wouldn't have beaten a much better PSU performance.

Sheridan took a lot of fault for offensive performance on himself. I actually disagree. Players have to execute. There were probably some times he was out-schemed. But too much of the offensive woes were plainly poor execution. And it's hard to get into a rhythm with so few extended drives.

I think the Wat-Shot comparison is apt. It's not like that IUBB team ran to the Final Four. But it was program-changing. I don't expect IUFB to end up in the CFP, but it's still a huge team win.

 

[Hoosier009]

I don’t know what the consensus is on here, but I don’t feel as good as I should after this win over Penn State, although I guess the college football gods decided it was finally our time after decades of futility.

First off, on the winning two-point conversion, everyone is focused on the pylon, but if you just wave the ball over the very beginning of the goal-line chalk, it counts. So that was good, and certainly not overturnable. Although would we have gotten that call if we weren’t in Bloomington?

I guess I’m a little nonplussed because had the Penn State running back not scored that touchdown and they ran out the clock, we would not be euphoric.

By the way, I think that Penn State team we played on Saturday is really good. I think they could upset Ohio State this weekend.

Honestly, I felt had we won that game last year in State College, that would have been a true IU football classic for the ages. By the way, I was in the stands at State College in 1993 when we lost 38-31 in a phenomenal game. Penn State intercepted us on their own 10-yard line in the last minute as we were driving for the tying TD.

I think some of the more rah-rah element of our fans, not on this site but on Twitter, are ready to put Saturday’s win up there with the last-second one over Kentucky in basketball in 2011.

I also am a little less enthused because of the stat line in our game. Often in our previous games when we came so close, we usually were deserving, particularly in the past few years when fans from other teams would come on this board and say you guys deserved to win. But on Saturday, we were pretty lucky, and Penn State helped us with turnovers and penalties.

Let’s look at our overall performance.

Mike Penix had a few passes dropped on him, but he also overthrew some guys. I think he may need to take a little off some of his throws. Also, have we ever considered going to a two-back set in the backfield? As soon as the defense sees you’re going to run the ball, they can all key on your one back, who in this case is Stevie Scott. He is a great back, as we know. But why not team him up with Sampson James for a few sets? Both guys can catch the ball out of the backfield. Remember, Sampson almost transferred. Is he going to be content with one carry a game?

And while I know Peyton Hendershot had that one drop, shouldn’t we be going to him more?

I think our defense’s bend-don’t-break approach worked for the most part, other than when we let Sean Clifford run wild on us like we did last year. That is baffling.

I still think it was great that we beat the No. 8 team in the country, which falls under the adage that good teams find a way to win; we usually have been on the wrong side of that equation. But we still have a lot to prove.

I don’t know how many of you watched Rutgers at Michigan State, but I would say based on that one game that Rutgers is the most improved team in the Big Ten, if not the country. Greg Schiano went out and got a bunch of transfers. He is running that team like an NFL GM. They threw, they ran, they forced turnovers, they rushed the quarterback. They pretty much did everything a good football team does. We need to win this game otherwise our Penn State buzz is going to wear off pretty fast.

For the glory of old IU.

Many great points and I love your passion for IU. #1 You should feel very good about this win. As you pointed out we need to think back to past years where we played well but ended up short on the scoreboard. I totally agreed with CTA's thinking that we are sick of losing the close ones. None the less we should be very pleased with coming out with a W when our offense did not play well most of the game. But at the end of the day we got a little lucky. Something that hasn't happened very often in IU football history.

#2 OL played just OK. The move for Jones from RT to LT is somewhat of an adjustment. I'm sure the thinking is MPJ is a lefty and our RT (Bedford) will be protecting his blind side. Though most teams will position their top rushing DE over the LT since most QB's are righties. I don't believe most teams move their D ends because the QB is a righty or lefty??? Therefore, Jones will be blocking their best speed rusher on most downs. Will need to adjust to the speed of the rushers.
My personal opinion is I like the idea of Bedford going against the best opposing DE speed rusher on most downs even if it isn't MPJ's back side. Felt Jones did a fine job at RT last year.

#3 Yes you are correct the Clifford hurt us a number of times on scrambles. We seemed to be sending both of the LB's on blitz packages on most every down. With little to no effect on many downs. If our LB's weren't blitzing our LB's would have been in better position to limit his scrambles to fewer yards. It was a credit to our DB's for locking down the PSU receivers for most of the day. This is the strength of our D. Of course our Achilles heel is our pass rush. Doesn't seem to be much unless we blitz and even then PSU seemed to be ready for it and picked it up.

#4 Yes keep throwing to Hendershot and the rest of our TE's.

#5 Yes Rutgers seems to be improved from last year. Tons of transfers. They had no place to go but up. Will need to bring our A game to ensure a W. Now is not a time for a let down. #LEO

 

[RBB89]

I don’t know what the consensus is on here, but I don’t feel as good as I should after this win over Penn State, although I guess the college football gods decided it was finally our time after decades of futility.

First off, on the winning two-point conversion, everyone is focused on the pylon, but if you just wave the ball over the very beginning of the goal-line chalk, it counts. So that was good, and certainly not overturnable. Although would we have gotten that call if we weren’t in Bloomington?

I guess I’m a little nonplussed because had the Penn State running back not scored that touchdown and they ran out the clock, we would not be euphoric.

By the way, I think that Penn State team we played on Saturday is really good. I think they could upset Ohio State this weekend.

Honestly, I felt had we won that game last year in State College, that would have been a true IU football classic for the ages. By the way, I was in the stands at State College in 1993 when we lost 38-31 in a phenomenal game. Penn State intercepted us on their own 10-yard line in the last minute as we were driving for the tying TD.

I think some of the more rah-rah element of our fans, not on this site but on Twitter, are ready to put Saturday’s win up there with the last-second one over Kentucky in basketball in 2011.

I also am a little less enthused because of the stat line in our game. Often in our previous games when we came so close, we usually were deserving, particularly in the past few years when fans from other teams would come on this board and say you guys deserved to win. But on Saturday, we were pretty lucky, and Penn State helped us with turnovers and penalties.

Let’s look at our overall performance.

Mike Penix had a few passes dropped on him, but he also overthrew some guys. I think he may need to take a little off some of his throws. Also, have we ever considered going to a two-back set in the backfield? As soon as the defense sees you’re going to run the ball, they can all key on your one back, who in this case is Stevie Scott. He is a great back, as we know. But why not team him up with Sampson James for a few sets? Both guys can catch the ball out of the backfield. Remember, Sampson almost transferred. Is he going to be content with one carry a game?

And while I know Peyton Hendershot had that one drop, shouldn’t we be going to him more?

I think our defense’s bend-don’t-break approach worked for the most part, other than when we let Sean Clifford run wild on us like we did last year. That is baffling.

I still think it was great that we beat the No. 8 team in the country, which falls under the adage that good teams find a way to win; we usually have been on the wrong side of that equation. But we still have a lot to prove.

I don’t know how many of you watched Rutgers at Michigan State, but I would say based on that one game that Rutgers is the most improved team in the Big Ten, if not the country. Greg Schiano went out and got a bunch of transfers. He is running that team like an NFL GM. They threw, they ran, they forced turnovers, they rushed the quarterback. They pretty much did everything a good football team does. We need to win this game otherwise our Penn State buzz is going to wear off pretty fast.

For the glory of old IU.

We haven’t beaten a top 10 team in 33 years, and you have mixed emotions? Only at IU...

 

[Bowlmania]

I don’t know what the consensus is on here, but I don’t feel as good as I should after this win over Penn State, although I guess the college football gods decided it was finally our time after decades of futility.

First off, on the winning two-point conversion, everyone is focused on the pylon, but if you just wave the ball over the very beginning of the goal-line chalk, it counts. So that was good, and certainly not overturnable. Although would we have gotten that call if we weren’t in Bloomington?

I guess I’m a little nonplussed because had the Penn State running back not scored that touchdown and they ran out the clock, we would not be euphoric.

By the way, I think that Penn State team we played on Saturday is really good. I think they could upset Ohio State this weekend.

Honestly, I felt had we won that game last year in State College, that would have been a true IU football classic for the ages. By the way, I was in the stands at State College in 1993 when we lost 38-31 in a phenomenal game. Penn State intercepted us on their own 10-yard line in the last minute as we were driving for the tying TD.

I think some of the more rah-rah element of our fans, not on this site but on Twitter, are ready to put Saturday’s win up there with the last-second one over Kentucky in basketball in 2011.

I also am a little less enthused because of the stat line in our game. Often in our previous games when we came so close, we usually were deserving, particularly in the past few years when fans from other teams would come on this board and say you guys deserved to win. But on Saturday, we were pretty lucky, and Penn State helped us with turnovers and penalties.

Let’s look at our overall performance.

Mike Penix had a few passes dropped on him, but he also overthrew some guys. I think he may need to take a little off some of his throws. Also, have we ever considered going to a two-back set in the backfield? As soon as the defense sees you’re going to run the ball, they can all key on your one back, who in this case is Stevie Scott. He is a great back, as we know. But why not team him up with Sampson James for a few sets? Both guys can catch the ball out of the backfield. Remember, Sampson almost transferred. Is he going to be content with one carry a game?

And while I know Peyton Hendershot had that one drop, shouldn’t we be going to him more?

I think our defense’s bend-don’t-break approach worked for the most part, other than when we let Sean Clifford run wild on us like we did last year. That is baffling.

I still think it was great that we beat the No. 8 team in the country, which falls under the adage that good teams find a way to win; we usually have been on the wrong side of that equation. But we still have a lot to prove.

I don’t know how many of you watched Rutgers at Michigan State, but I would say based on that one game that Rutgers is the most improved team in the Big Ten, if not the country. Greg Schiano went out and got a bunch of transfers. He is running that team like an NFL GM. They threw, they ran, they forced turnovers, they rushed the quarterback. They pretty much did everything a good football team does. We need to win this game otherwise our Penn State buzz is going to wear off pretty fast.

For the glory of old IU.

Here's my take. We played nowhere near a perfect game yet still pulled off a victory against one of the best teams in the country. And, when the game was on the line, Michael Penix engineered a 75 yard scoring drive that was as efficient and effective as any I've ever seen at IU. His throws on that drive were incredible - - delivered like lasers in tight windows.

We were the talk of the college football world Saturday night and Sunday. This was our biggest win in 33 years. If you're worried about the next game, like I am, that's one thing. But if you're not feeling great about the Penn State upset, I don't know what to tell you.

 

[IUNY]

We haven’t beaten a top 10 team in 33 years, and you have mixed emotions? Only at IU...

Top 10 in a preseason poll. I don't care about the rankings, that's for the media. I care about the teams. I would take a win over Ohio State or Michigan any year regardless of their ranking. We also beat Penn State in 2013. I really don't pay attention to "haven't won a bowl since blah blah blah." What counts is now.

 

[still4IU]

Good teams find ways to win. Going forward we will see if this holds for IU.

Better to play poorly and win than play great and lose.

 

[IUNY]

Here's my take. We played nowhere near a perfect game yet still pulled off a victory against one of the best teams in the country. And, when the game was on the line, Michael Penix engineered a 75 yard scoring drive that was as efficient and effective as any I've ever seen at IU. His throws on that drive were incredible - - delivered like lasers in tight windows.

You don't have to tell me anything. I would take nine wins like this in 2020. I am just saying I would have preferred to win with 500 yards of offense.

 

[Bowlmania]

"You don't have to tell me anything. I would take nine wins like this in 2020. I am just saying I would have preferred to win with 500 yards of offense. "

You can have the last word but, dude, seriously? This was the first game of the season, Penix's first game in a full year, the first game for Sheridan as OC, and against one of the better defenses around. We won! We looked like a real football team, unlike a team that - - not many years ago - - had to put up 500 yards of offense just to have a chance at winning.

 

[Courtsensetwo]

IU got a few breaks and got a win. IU didn't play great but did what they needed to do at the end to get it done.

They won

The team that wins any game usually got a few breaks and could have played better.

Go beat the Fighting Snookies!

 

[Tsnider30]

PSU played terrible and we did as well and we won thats all that needs to be said.

 

[ce36ei]

I look at it simply like this. We’re finally good enough to win games when we don’t bring our A game or even B game against a really good team. That was C at best...and we won. Every single one of us knows the old IU would’ve folded up like a tent.

 

[hoosier roadtrips]

I don’t know what the consensus is on here, but I don’t feel as good as I should after this win over Penn State, although I guess the college football gods decided it was finally our time after decades of futility.

First off, on the winning two-point conversion, everyone is focused on the pylon, but if you just wave the ball over the very beginning of the goal-line chalk, it counts. So that was good, and certainly not overturnable. Although would we have gotten that call if we weren’t in Bloomington?

I guess I’m a little nonplussed because had the Penn State running back not scored that touchdown and they ran out the clock, we would not be euphoric.

By the way, I think that Penn State team we played on Saturday is really good. I think they could upset Ohio State this weekend.

Honestly, I felt had we won that game last year in State College, that would have been a true IU football classic for the ages. By the way, I was in the stands at State College in 1993 when we lost 38-31 in a phenomenal game. Penn State intercepted us on their own 10-yard line in the last minute as we were driving for the tying TD.

I think some of the more rah-rah element of our fans, not on this site but on Twitter, are ready to put Saturday’s win up there with the last-second one over Kentucky in basketball in 2011.

I also am a little less enthused because of the stat line in our game. Often in our previous games when we came so close, we usually were deserving, particularly in the past few years when fans from other teams would come on this board and say you guys deserved to win. But on Saturday, we were pretty lucky, and Penn State helped us with turnovers and penalties.

Let’s look at our overall performance.

Mike Penix had a few passes dropped on him, but he also overthrew some guys. I think he may need to take a little off some of his throws. Also, have we ever considered going to a two-back set in the backfield? As soon as the defense sees you’re going to run the ball, they can all key on your one back, who in this case is Stevie Scott. He is a great back, as we know. But why not team him up with Sampson James for a few sets? Both guys can catch the ball out of the backfield. Remember, Sampson almost transferred. Is he going to be content with one carry a game?

And while I know Peyton Hendershot had that one drop, shouldn’t we be going to him more?

I think our defense’s bend-don’t-break approach worked for the most part, other than when we let Sean Clifford run wild on us like we did last year. That is baffling.

I still think it was great that we beat the No. 8 team in the country, which falls under the adage that good teams find a way to win; we usually have been on the wrong side of that equation. But we still have a lot to prove.

I don’t know how many of you watched Rutgers at Michigan State, but I would say based on that one game that Rutgers is the most improved team in the Big Ten, if not the country. Greg Schiano went out and got a bunch of transfers. He is running that team like an NFL GM. They threw, they ran, they forced turnovers, they rushed the quarterback. They pretty much did everything a good football team does. We need to win this game otherwise our Penn State buzz is going to wear off pretty fast.

For the glory of old IU.

I have always missed that we went away from having a fullback in the offense. Players like Terry Cole and Cal Miller were very valuable to the offense. The fullback can be a blocker, receiver or running back and can help a lot on

 

[Jssanto]

I don’t know what the consensus is on here, but I don’t feel as good as I should after this win over Penn State, although I guess the college football gods decided it was finally our time after decades of futility.

First off, on the winning two-point conversion, everyone is focused on the pylon, but if you just wave the ball over the very beginning of the goal-line chalk, it counts. So that was good, and certainly not overturnable. Although would we have gotten that call if we weren’t in Bloomington?

I guess I’m a little nonplussed because had the Penn State running back not scored that touchdown and they ran out the clock, we would not be euphoric.

By the way, I think that Penn State team we played on Saturday is really good. I think they could upset Ohio State this weekend.

Honestly, I felt had we won that game last year in State College, that would have been a true IU football classic for the ages. By the way, I was in the stands at State College in 1993 when we lost 38-31 in a phenomenal game. Penn State intercepted us on their own 10-yard line in the last minute as we were driving for the tying TD.

I think some of the more rah-rah element of our fans, not on this site but on Twitter, are ready to put Saturday’s win up there with the last-second one over Kentucky in basketball in 2011.

I also am a little less enthused because of the stat line in our game. Often in our previous games when we came so close, we usually were deserving, particularly in the past few years when fans from other teams would come on this board and say you guys deserved to win. But on Saturday, we were pretty lucky, and Penn State helped us with turnovers and penalties.

Let’s look at our overall performance.

Mike Penix had a few passes dropped on him, but he also overthrew some guys. I think he may need to take a little off some of his throws. Also, have we ever considered going to a two-back set in the backfield? As soon as the defense sees you’re going to run the ball, they can all key on your one back, who in this case is Stevie Scott. He is a great back, as we know. But why not team him up with Sampson James for a few sets? Both guys can catch the ball out of the backfield. Remember, Sampson almost transferred. Is he going to be content with one carry a game?

And while I know Peyton Hendershot had that one drop, shouldn’t we be going to him more?

I think our defense’s bend-don’t-break approach worked for the most part, other than when we let Sean Clifford run wild on us like we did last year. That is baffling.

I still think it was great that we beat the No. 8 team in the country, which falls under the adage that good teams find a way to win; we usually have been on the wrong side of that equation. But we still have a lot to prove.

I don’t know how many of you watched Rutgers at Michigan State, but I would say based on that one game that Rutgers is the most improved team in the Big Ten, if not the country. Greg Schiano went out and got a bunch of transfers. He is running that team like an NFL GM. They threw, they ran, they forced turnovers, they rushed the quarterback. They pretty much did everything a good football team does. We need to win this game otherwise our Penn State buzz is going to wear off pretty fast.

For the glory of old IU.

I think that is a reasonable summ up. I to am worried about the overall number of things we need to fix - inaccurate throws, dropped passes, no running attack. However, I saw a quote from cta that only Monday was set aside to fix problems.
we shall see

 

[YOTHN]

I don’t know what the consensus is on here, but I don’t feel as good as I should after this win over Penn State, although I guess the college football gods decided it was finally our time after decades of futility.

First off, on the winning two-point conversion, everyone is focused on the pylon, but if you just wave the ball over the very beginning of the goal-line chalk, it counts. So that was good, and certainly not overturnable. Although would we have gotten that call if we weren’t in Bloomington?

I guess I’m a little nonplussed because had the Penn State running back not scored that touchdown and they ran out the clock, we would not be euphoric.

By the way, I think that Penn State team we played on Saturday is really good. I think they could upset Ohio State this weekend.

Honestly, I felt had we won that game last year in State College, that would have been a true IU football classic for the ages. By the way, I was in the stands at State College in 1993 when we lost 38-31 in a phenomenal game. Penn State intercepted us on their own 10-yard line in the last minute as we were driving for the tying TD.

I think some of the more rah-rah element of our fans, not on this site but on Twitter, are ready to put Saturday’s win up there with the last-second one over Kentucky in basketball in 2011.

I also am a little less enthused because of the stat line in our game. Often in our previous games when we came so close, we usually were deserving, particularly in the past few years when fans from other teams would come on this board and say you guys deserved to win. But on Saturday, we were pretty lucky, and Penn State helped us with turnovers and penalties.

Let’s look at our overall performance.

Mike Penix had a few passes dropped on him, but he also overthrew some guys. I think he may need to take a little off some of his throws. Also, have we ever considered going to a two-back set in the backfield? As soon as the defense sees you’re going to run the ball, they can all key on your one back, who in this case is Stevie Scott. He is a great back, as we know. But why not team him up with Sampson James for a few sets? Both guys can catch the ball out of the backfield. Remember, Sampson almost transferred. Is he going to be content with one carry a game?

And while I know Peyton Hendershot had that one drop, shouldn’t we be going to him more?

I think our defense’s bend-don’t-break approach worked for the most part, other than when we let Sean Clifford run wild on us like we did last year. That is baffling.

I still think it was great that we beat the No. 8 team in the country, which falls under the adage that good teams find a way to win; we usually have been on the wrong side of that equation. But we still have a lot to prove.

I don’t know how many of you watched Rutgers at Michigan State, but I would say based on that one game that Rutgers is the most improved team in the Big Ten, if not the country. Greg Schiano went out and got a bunch of transfers. He is running that team like an NFL GM. They threw, they ran, they forced turnovers, they rushed the quarterback. They pretty much did everything a good football team does. We need to win this game otherwise our Penn State buzz is going to wear off pretty fast.

For the glory of old IU.

Stats can be deceiving. I wouldn't focus on those much because IU defense put the IU offense in short field position. The hardest place to move the ball is in the red zone and IU did a phenomenal job of just that. We only needed 10 yards to score a TD before giving the ball right back to PSU and putting our tired defense, right back out on the field.

The PSU defense is legit and we did a great job against them. PSU is a great team and I think people will realize that was not a fluke win. Had Hendershot caught that 10 yd, wide open crossing pattern pass on 3rd n 4 with 3 minutes to go, he had nothing but daylight. Suddenly IU is up 13, we have another 65yds passing and Penn State loses 150yds of offensive possessions. IU is incredibly good this year and you have every reason to be excited.

 

[82hoosier]

I have always missed that we went away from having a fullback in the offense. Players like Terry Cole and Cal Miller were very valuable to the offense. The fullback can be a blocker, receiver or running back and can help a lot on

It would definitely be helpful if the Hoosiers ran more plays with five wideouts and an I formation. Might be some problems with the math on that one.

 

[vesuvius13]

I have always missed that we went away from having a fullback in the offense. Players like Terry Cole and Cal Miller were very valuable to the offense. The fullback can be a blocker, receiver or running back and can help a lot on

There is a reason very few college teams run an I back offense any more - rule changes opening up the passing game, outlawing cut blocks outside the tackle box, not many HS running FB in their offenses, shift of more athletic players to defense.

 

[Pigalow]

I don’t know what the consensus is on here, but I don’t feel as good as I should after this win over Penn State, although I guess the college football gods decided it was finally our time after decades of futility.

First off, on the winning two-point conversion, everyone is focused on the pylon, but if you just wave the ball over the very beginning of the goal-line chalk, it counts. So that was good, and certainly not overturnable. Although would we have gotten that call if we weren’t in Bloomington?

I guess I’m a little nonplussed because had the Penn State running back not scored that touchdown and they ran out the clock, we would not be euphoric.

By the way, I think that Penn State team we played on Saturday is really good. I think they could upset Ohio State this weekend.

Honestly, I felt had we won that game last year in State College, that would have been a true IU football classic for the ages. By the way, I was in the stands at State College in 1993 when we lost 38-31 in a phenomenal game. Penn State intercepted us on their own 10-yard line in the last minute as we were driving for the tying TD.

I think some of the more rah-rah element of our fans, not on this site but on Twitter, are ready to put Saturday’s win up there with the last-second one over Kentucky in basketball in 2011.

I also am a little less enthused because of the stat line in our game. Often in our previous games when we came so close, we usually were deserving, particularly in the past few years when fans from other teams would come on this board and say you guys deserved to win. But on Saturday, we were pretty lucky, and Penn State helped us with turnovers and penalties.

Let’s look at our overall performance.

Mike Penix had a few passes dropped on him, but he also overthrew some guys. I think he may need to take a little off some of his throws. Also, have we ever considered going to a two-back set in the backfield? As soon as the defense sees you’re going to run the ball, they can all key on your one back, who in this case is Stevie Scott. He is a great back, as we know. But why not team him up with Sampson James for a few sets? Both guys can catch the ball out of the backfield. Remember, Sampson almost transferred. Is he going to be content with one carry a game?

And while I know Peyton Hendershot had that one drop, shouldn’t we be going to him more?

I think our defense’s bend-don’t-break approach worked for the most part, other than when we let Sean Clifford run wild on us like we did last year. That is baffling.

I still think it was great that we beat the No. 8 team in the country, which falls under the adage that good teams find a way to win; we usually have been on the wrong side of that equation. But we still have a lot to prove.

I don’t know how many of you watched Rutgers at Michigan State, but I would say based on that one game that Rutgers is the most improved team in the Big Ten, if not the country. Greg Schiano went out and got a bunch of transfers. He is running that team like an NFL GM. They threw, they ran, they forced turnovers, they rushed the quarterback. They pretty much did everything a good football team does. We need to win this game otherwise our Penn State buzz is going to wear off pretty fast.

For the glory of old IU.

That stat line is somewhat skewed though. When a team turns it over deep in their own territory as PSU did...how many times? That tends to lead to advantages for that team in total yards & time of possession. The opposing team--in this case us--can score with little yardage gained & little time off the clock, & then kick the ball back to the other team(PSU)who again begins a possession with a full field. That happened...twice? & that's not the whole story, but it was a large part of the game itself & the statistical game. Also, our D naturally gassed in the 4th quarter, not a surprise. Now, Penn State did win the statistical battle regardless, but it wasn't as lopsided as the stats would suggest--imo anyway. I never got the feeling we were being dominated, especially on defense, & although the offense was ugly, I'm definitely holding out judgement until a couple more games take place. Of all seasons, this 1 has seen a lot of up & down performances around the country. It's as much about survival & mental strength as anything else.

 

[Crossblock]

There is a reason very few college teams run an I back offense any more - rule changes opening up the passing game, outlawing cut blocks outside the tackle box, not many HS running FB in their offenses, shift of more athletic players to defense.

I agree with your points but I posted something like this after the Super Bowl. Football is a game of copy catting success. When you look at how effective the 49'ers were running the ball in the Super Bowl, I wondered if someone would go back to designing a run oriented two back offense. You have lighter Defenders now, guys who have the skills and weight of safeties from 15 years ago are outside linebackers. Teams may have one huge run stuffing DT but not two. Put those lighter linebackers taking on 250 pound tight ends or Tackles and Pulling Guards for 35 plays a game and see how effective they are.

As you say, the problem is finding the right parts. As High Schools play more spread Offenses, you have more finesse blocking Offensive Linemen, you don't find the Road Graders who are taught to engage their man aggressively and move them off the line. Finding a fullback with Blocking, Receiving, and Running Skills is like finding T-Rex. And it is difficult to find a Drop Back pocket passer or a guy you can use on a semi-rollout.

 

[Jssanto]

That stat line is somewhat skewed though. When a teams turns it over deep in their own territory as PSU did...how many times? That tends to lead to advantages for that team in total yards & time of possession. The opposing team--in this case us--can score with little yardage gained & little time off the clock, & then kick the ball back to the other team(PSU)who again begins a possessions with a full field. That happened...twice? & that's not thee whole story, but it was a large part of the game itself & the statistical game. Also, our D naturally gassed in the 4th quarter, not a surprise. Now, Penn State did win the statistical battle regardless, but it wasn't as lopsided as the stats would suggest. I never got the feeling we were being dominated, especially on defense, although the offense was ugly, I'm definitely holding out judgement until a couple more games take place. Of all seasons, this 1 has seen a lot of up & down performances around the country. It's as much about survival & mental strength as anything else.

Agree with your statement “ we were never dominated”. In fact, I thought we were a little bit in control until we failed to run out the clock and then gave up the TD pass.

 

[td75]

I watched the condensed one hour version of the game yesterday. Indiana actually controlled the game with their defensive play. When is the last time we controlled a top ranked team with our defense?

Michael Penix also struggled the first three quarters until finally polishing his incredible skill set off and delivering the W for Indiana Football!! He missed two TD plays at least...those will be scores this Saturday.

 

[Big Red Crimson Buffalo]

I don’t know what the consensus is on here, but I don’t feel as good as I should after this win over Penn State, although I guess the college football gods decided it was finally our time after decades of futility.

First off, on the winning two-point conversion, everyone is focused on the pylon, but if you just wave the ball over the very beginning of the goal-line chalk, it counts. So that was good, and certainly not overturnable. Although would we have gotten that call if we weren’t in Bloomington?

I guess I’m a little nonplussed because had the Penn State running back not scored that touchdown and they ran out the clock, we would not be euphoric.

By the way, I think that Penn State team we played on Saturday is really good. I think they could upset Ohio State this weekend.

Honestly, I felt had we won that game last year in State College, that would have been a true IU football classic for the ages. By the way, I was in the stands at State College in 1993 when we lost 38-31 in a phenomenal game. Penn State intercepted us on their own 10-yard line in the last minute as we were driving for the tying TD.

I think some of the more rah-rah element of our fans, not on this site but on Twitter, are ready to put Saturday’s win up there with the last-second one over Kentucky in basketball in 2011.

I also am a little less enthused because of the stat line in our game. Often in our previous games when we came so close, we usually were deserving, particularly in the past few years when fans from other teams would come on this board and say you guys deserved to win. But on Saturday, we were pretty lucky, and Penn State helped us with turnovers and penalties.

Let’s look at our overall performance.

Mike Penix had a few passes dropped on him, but he also overthrew some guys. I think he may need to take a little off some of his throws. Also, have we ever considered going to a two-back set in the backfield? As soon as the defense sees you’re going to run the ball, they can all key on your one back, who in this case is Stevie Scott. He is a great back, as we know. But why not team him up with Sampson James for a few sets? Both guys can catch the ball out of the backfield. Remember, Sampson almost transferred. Is he going to be content with one carry a game?

And while I know Peyton Hendershot had that one drop, shouldn’t we be going to him more?

I think our defense’s bend-don’t-break approach worked for the most part, other than when we let Sean Clifford run wild on us like we did last year. That is baffling.

I still think it was great that we beat the No. 8 team in the country, which falls under the adage that good teams find a way to win; we usually have been on the wrong side of that equation. But we still have a lot to prove.

I don’t know how many of you watched Rutgers at Michigan State, but I would say based on that one game that Rutgers is the most improved team in the Big Ten, if not the country. Greg Schiano went out and got a bunch of transfers. He is running that team like an NFL GM. They threw, they ran, they forced turnovers, they rushed the quarterback. They pretty much did everything a good football team does. We need to win this game otherwise our Penn State buzz is going to wear off pretty fast.

For the glory of old IU.

Hate to spoil the doomsday party here, I have no mixed emotions. I’m glad that others get to play the “What If” game for a change. Been playing that shitty game for 40 years and this feels great.. IU didn’t play a great game or even a very good game throughout. Still beat them. It wasn’t luck.
If Hendershot makes the easy crossing route in the game, we put it away in regulation.
Maybe you have to have followed the program for a while to appreciate the significance of this.

 

[vesuvius13]

I agree with your points but I posted something like this after the Super Bowl. Football is a game of copy catting success. When you look at how effective the 49'ers were running the ball in the Super Bowl, I wondered if someone would go back to designing a run oriented two back offense. You have lighter Defenders now, guys who have the skills and weight of safeties from 15 years ago are outside linebackers. Teams may have one huge run stuffing DT but not two. Put those lighter linebackers taking on 250 pound tight ends or Tackles and Pulling Guards for 35 plays a game and see how effective they are.

As you say, the problem is finding the right parts. As High Schools play more spread Offenses, you have more finesse blocking Offensive Linemen, you don't find the Road Graders who are taught to engage their man aggressively and move them off the line. Finding a fullback with Blocking, Receiving, and Running Skills is like finding T-Rex. And it is difficult to find a Drop Back pocket passer or a guy you can use on a semi-rollout.

I agree at some point you will find more schools using a fullback [converting a TE if they have to] to gain an advantage. Iowa is the only one in the B1G, now that Michigan has gone to spread, and they have only had some success. With the top schools going to the spread it is unlikely many will try two backs with one being a fullback.

 

[Crossblock]

One last thought on this. One of the ideas behind the spread is to combine it with hurry up to keep the Defense on the field and tire out the Defense by running 75-90 Offensive Plays per game. If you have an effective two back Offense and can run the ball and huddle up between plays, you can control the Clock and protect your Defense by minimizing the number of Offensive Plays your Defense will face. It may also wear on the opposing Team's Offense to stay on the Sideline watching a 15 Play 7 minute Drive, and realize that they won't be able to run their desired number of plays over the course of the game because they will have fewer possessions than they are used to. They may get anxious and make some mistakes and unforced errors.

I played my High School Football long before spread and hurry up Offenses, However, one of the things that was really frustrating was playing defense against a team that could run the ball effectively and put together several long drives a game. It wasn't so much the physical aspect and toll on your Body. It was more the mental aspect of going back to the Huddle 12 or 15 plays in a row, watching the Chains move, and wondering whether your Defense has the capability to stop the other team.

 

[IndyIUFan66]

Per stats, IU got smoked, but the 2 turnovers leading to 5 for 5 in red zone for TD's? That a very big stat right there. Kicking game was perfect on XP & FG. (But not opening kick off or end game squib.) Defense was stellar - going to win "most" games you get three takeaways.

Offense was not on top of its game in 2nd - mid-4th quarters. Couldn't get a first and keep defense off the field. You could feel the classic IU let it slip away feeling when they didn't get the first down, punted, and then PSU went up 21-20, not much time left and feel the momentum changing. Any real IU fan felt like "oh crap, they've let another one slip away.)

The letting them score was good coaching, I think they chased the RB even to help give him jittery feet, and that was a mistake by PSU, but good preparation by IU.

The last drive & OT effort by offense and specifically Penix IS worthy of recognition. IU deserved to win this game though they almost blew it in classic style again...but they didn't!

Per looking forward, a let up vs. Rutgers would be bad. I think Penix will have great confidence and has potential to carve up Rutgers D. I do NOT see IU having anywhere close to 7 turnovers. I think the IU D will be able to more than hold their own at Rutgers. Think IU will take care of business and in a perfect scenario, even be able to play 2nd string in late game to pull/rest starters for UM the following week if game is under control.

I think the experience, maturity and energy/focus of this year's team is there and that we won't see the terrible let downs of the past. Not suggesting 100% they can "run the table" but think they will take care of business in games they should starting with Rutgers. And then like PSU, I feel "anything is truly possible" the next week against UM!

 

[vesuvius13]

One last thought on this. One of the ideas behind the spread is to combine it with hurry up to keep the Defense on the field and tire out the Defense by running 75-90 Offensive Plays per game. If you have an effective two back Offense and can run the ball and huddle up between plays, you can control the Clock and protect your Defense by minimizing the number of Offensive Plays your Defense will face. It may also wear on the opposing Team's Offense to stay on the Sideline watching a 15 Play 7 minute Drive, and realize that they won't be able to run their desired number of plays over the course of the game because they will have fewer possessions than they are used to. They may get anxious and make some mistakes and unforced errors.

I played my High School Football long before spread and hurry up Offenses, However, one of the things that was really frustrating was playing defense against a team that could run the ball effectively and put together several long drives a game. It wasn't so much the physical aspect and toll on your Body. It was more the mental aspect of going back to the Huddle 12 or 15 plays in a row, watching the Chains move, and wondering whether your Defense has the capability to stop the other team.

One additional thing, I am not opposed to two backs at times, colleges would have to change their recruiting as right now they are going after players that fit the spread. We have even seen schools like Alabama get away from two backs to run spread exclusively.

 

[iueyedoc99]

Win Ugly >>>>>> Lose Pretty