D-BONE

Smith and Kelley have been poor this year. Smith has been arguably terrible. Nelson admits he hasn't played up to his career baseline, AS selection not withstanding. Essentially anyone else Ballard has brought in to fill the other spots - whether via draft, FA, whatever - has been unsuccessful as it relates to on-field production that contributes to team success. Several have been more monumental failures and others still deserve continued opportunity to develop. Noe of it changes that fact that the vaunted o-line has been a disappointment and Ballard has to own it.

Agree that we went from a mediocre QB to a washed and, therefore, poor QB. But I think the o-line has underachieved in pass protection both seasons. Yes, context, matters. So it is salient that the more mobile Wentz also made the o-line look slightly better. The irony of all this is in the post-Manning era, with the exception of at most a couple seasons, we've never established consistently good pass protection. What bit us in the ass with our inability to protect Luck really hasn't been resolved yet.

That did cross my mind and, honestly, seems like the only plausible explanation. Foles is just that bad that he gives us the worst chance to win of the three? I'd rather see Ehlinger get more extended PT though, just to see what he's got. Two more starts increase the samples size (albeit still small) to assess his future viability on the roster

I was not a fan of the Wentz move before or during. That said, you can't move from Wentz to Ryan. Word on Ryan around the league was he was washed. And it turns out he clearly was. So that was just a poor decision for a QB transition. Of course, either guy would have looked better (relatively speaking of course) behind an o-line that was anything more than Swiss cheese in pass protection.

Reich has been the scapegoat and sacrificial lamb for this debacle of a season, as well as the entire franchise's attempt to recover from the Luck fiasco. In a lot of ways it was a no-win scenario. And there were good reasons to dismiss Reich. It's just that Ballard and Irsay are also intricately involved in making the mess. Bringing in Saturday also seems like a total stunt. Not playing Ehlinger more is another dumbfounding move. How can we trust these buffoons to get it right?

Don't know if anyone has suggested yet, but if we can't get a QB prospect in the draft (or we get one, but unsure if he's ready to start immediately), I'd consider Gardner Minshew if there's an avenue to attain him. Think he's better than Ryan, Foles, Ehlinger, Wentz, even if not elite. Has some mobility too. Don't think Carr is clearly superior to him either, at least not by a lot.

Going forward thread going backward here with help from The Daily Hoosier. 88 Liberty Bowl win - including YouTube video of WTTV 4 / Raycom Sports broadcast. Good times! Enjoy Hoosier football aficionados. 88 Liberty Bowl on TTV 4

Zone is legit top 5/10 team. We aren't. Hopefully at some point this year. Time to develop and succeed. One thing that was hard to stomach watching this was how easily they dismantled our defense (including defensive rebounding), which had been a strength thus far. They took it to us from the jump overall and we simply took too long to match the intensity. Hopefully we took a lesson and get pissed about being manhandled physically in this one, regardless of their size advantage.

Way to go, Jaylin! Be sure to be back next year, please!

Whoever threw out the Dinardo-era comp. I so hope it doesn't reach those lows, but it looks bleak. I'd say the last couple years have been borderline Dinardo/Lynch. Somewhat more Lynch, but our potential devolution seems vertiginous.

Good win no doubt. Following Carolina's recent losing skein and rankings tumble, though, was a must win, IMO. The fact that they were fighting hard due to this bumps up the impressiveness of the win. If we can consistently come up with that level of defense, we won't lose much, period. That said, the B1G is looking extremely tough. Like most of the conference as good or better than X/NC level. I'm looking forward to watching it unfold.

If you believe the scuttlebutt - and it may well be total speculation - the team was heavily behind Tuttle heading into the season and the decision of who earned the starting gig out of the gate. Not sure how he handled the benching. Didn't seem to be any visible tension - from outside of course. Maybe he was relieved by that point being tired of being a punching bag for opposing pass rush.

Thank you for the correction on my egregious memory lapse.

This SI guy doesn't have a positive interpretation of the coaching staff. https://www.si.com/college/indiana/football/tom-brew-my-two-cents-indiana-brutal-football-season-over-so-does-player-exodus-begin I don't know obviously, but the part about Tuttle in the offseason competition and being voted captain, etc. is definitely interesting to consider. And the fact that both Ramsay and then Penix followed DeBoer. Damn that smarts. Just feels like the wheels have totally fallen on and a re-set is inevitable, even if not immediately.

That's 3 QB's in the portal? On one hand, at least none are a significant loss. On the other hand, can you argue with them not wanting to get the living sh#% beat out of them behind this o-line while likely suffering another excruciating year as B1G doormat?

UNC's loss, massive ranking tumble, and potential injuries to key players takes a lot of starch out of our Wed. matchup. Makes it even more imperative to win.

Think Shivers is out of eligibility. Will Henderson opt to return? I think he has one more year. Will Lucas stay? Those two would make a nice RB combo. Assuming some further o-line improvement (wishful thinking)? It did improve some the last couple games. But the run game success also had a lot to do with the dual threat QB approach. Even with full recovery, is it realistic to expect Williams to be full go right out of gate? What can we expect from him in terms of durability moving forward? And despite some strides in ground game, he never established confidence in pass game consistency. What are our options is he's unavailable? These guys on D are all listed by Hoosier Scoop as out of eligibility: Haynes, Bryant, Fitzgerald, Jennings, Elliot, Williams, Head Jr., Jones, Matthews. I find that to be a significant concern. Defense, despite not living up to my expectation for the year, was definitely the better of the two units overall, and did step up the last few games. Allowing just 23 yesterday was a strong showing, especially given the LB injury challenges. Credit where due there.

Wilson (his boorishness aside) and DeBoer were more viable head coaches, even at a program as bad as IU. Unfortunately, we made the wrong choice, and then extended on it with our (somewhat understandable) overreaction to an extreme outlier B1G title. This o-line didn't even look very good in the run game in 20, despite the success. I'd be trying to bring in as many dual-threat QBs as possible for depth. Williams, even if he can miraculously return ready for next season, may now be saddled with the dreaded injury prone tag. Might want to consider moving McCulley back to QB, at least for emergency situations. We're losing a lot of experience/playing time off the defense this offseason. All this does not bode well for Allen and company. And are you going to attract top-notch assistants when the HC is on the hot seat?

I don't think it's even disagreeing. I get what you're saying, but I think it was the second-year Kool Aid. What I'm saying is that was clearly some fake Kool Aid. We all just wanted to believe it was some sea change for IU football. Give that the COVID year was so unusual, we really should've wanted to see what the next year would show. But give our historic programatic losing, I suppose it was bound to happen.

Well, just answered this in game thread. I'm not even contesting the 8-5 year, which I didn't forget. I just think everyone overreacted to the 6-2 year (naturally so as desperate as fans were). And then we had unrealistically high expectations (media as well). And even in our delirium thought it might portent a legitimate turnaround in the program. Clearly that was horribly off. But Dolson made the extension with the same sort of thinking. I can't even blame him too much. But I can see the same old same old when I see it. Allen = a TON of HISTRIONICS, but little to show for it.

I'm not even contesting 8-5. But the truncated B1G title and subsequent hype was - in retrospect - not legit. I recognize it in its context. But we (media/fans) collectively were too quick to buy into it as somehow representative of a long-term change for the program.

Hopefully next year is a hard and fast prove it year (given he's likely back). Lot of histrionics. Not a lot of results, including against the Rutgers and Marylands. COVID B1G season success was clearly an outlier.

A fitting end to a second consecutive massively underachieving season. Hoping next year is considered a prove-it year for Allen. We'd be there now if not for the premature contractulation based on the outlier COVID season.

Yep. One narrative will be if only Williams hadn't gone down. While tragic, it doesn't change how underwhelming the last 2 seasons have been.

It will be a slaughter.