December 4, 2025 • 45 mins
Today’s Best of Features:
(00:00-14:22) – Rhett Lewis from the Big Ten & NFL Network joins the show to break down Saturday’s Big Ten Championship game between the Hoosiers and Buckeyes. He believes that there are ways for IU to move the ball against a vaunted OSU defense, identifies some concerns that he has going into the game for both teams, and still finds it hard to believe that IU is in the Big Ten Championship game considering he only won 16 games during his career at Indiana.
(16:28-28:20) – Tony East from Locked On Pacers and Circle City Spin joins Query & Company to recap last night’s loss for the Indiana Pacers against the Denver Nuggets. Jake asks Tony if we know what direction this season is heading towards yet, discusses the future of Jarace Walker based off the inconsistencies this season from the former lottery pick, and lets Jake know they have brought in another cat in the East house.
(28:20-45:36) – Tim May from FanStreamSports.com joins the show to give the Ohio State perspective heading into the Big Ten Championship game. Tim believes the Heisman winner will be the Big Ten Champion, highlights some of the standout players on the defensive line for the Buckeyes, evaluates how the Ohio State offensive line has grown as the season has gone on, and agrees with Graham Rahal that Ohio State has been holding back some things offensively throughout the regular season.
Support the show: https://1075thefan.com/query-and-company/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Joining me now on the Java House Peel and Port
guest line right off the top from the Big Ten
Network NFL Network, Rhet lewis talking about this one. Rhett,
I said this the other day to Don Fisher, and
I'm going to say the same to you every once
in a while, would you agree, we just have to stop,
take a deep breath and say, undefeated Indiana is playing
(00:21):
for the possibility of cementing themselves as the number one
overall seed in the College Football Playoff and winning the
Big Ten Championship against Ohio State. It's still reht, Does
it not seem real? Even though this is now year
number two of what Kurtz Signette's done.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
It's wild.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
It's absolutely wild, man. I was just I've been talking
about this with my friends, you know, with my former teammates.
I've got a you know, a newborn daughter now that
all she knows is undefeated Indiana, which is amazing.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Congratulations by the way, thank.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
You, buddy. I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
It's it's just been it's been unreal to think about
how real it is that makes any sense at all,
you know, from you know, I was telling Stephen daily,
I do a thing every week for IU called under
the Hood and Stephen Daily, who, by the way, is
the most disruptive defense ave alignment in the conference, not
the country, leave the country and tackles for loss. He
(01:18):
was my guest this week and I was like, I
just want you to know, Bud, like I won sixteen
games in five years. If you guys do what you're
gonna do what we expect and hope that you do,
which is win a national championship, you will have won
sixteen games this year.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I think. Let that's think inver.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Know to me the most honestly it may be.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And I'm not just saying this because I went to Indiana,
as I know you did as well, obviously, and the
fact that we're on in Indianapolis. This might be the
most remarkable story in college football history. And I know
that that sounds like homersh and hyperboty, but we're talking
about the program that has lost more games than anybody
in Division one heading into this year, that has now
(02:00):
now within the form of two years, turned itself into
the upper echelon elite power.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
It truly is remarkable, No.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Jake, I mean like it's it's it's I don't think
that's hyperbole.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
I think it's true.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
And like the more that I've you know, been around
and you know, listening to other people talk about it,
like other people are saying the same things, not just
in the enough hands, it is truly remarkable, and I
think it goes to show, like I think it's a
great a great lesson, you know, for coaches like Kurtzignetti,
who better on himself and who had a plan and
a belief in his plan and worked his plan, and
(02:38):
he's got a blueprint for success. Here are the other things.
He's a great evaluator, he's a great developer, and those
two things are lost in this world of hey, come here,
we're gonna give you the most money. You know, come here,
you know this, You're going to get this car in
this house, whereas he has a more matter of fact
approach where it's like, look, I I'm recruiting you because
(03:00):
I believe that you can help us win at the
highest level. And he's done that. Like I mean, I
can't even count the I can't even think of like
a lost in the portal, you know, where he's brought
guys in and has it really worked out. Almost every
single one of them has been a contributor to this
team in a big way.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Do you believe rhet that a bigger Let me ask
you this, Kurt Signetti, in his coaching style and what
he has done with this team, are they winning because
if you had to pick one versus the other, is
it more so because Kurt Signetti has tapped into each
Indiana player in believing and understanding what they can do.
(03:40):
Or is Kurt Signetti letting his team know what the
opposition is going to do and that preparation is why
they're winning.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I think it's a little bit of both.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
And I don't mean that as a compout, but I
do think that one of the other pieces of Kurt's
success is messaging. He reaches these players and in a
way that I think is elite in college football.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
Now.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
He doesn't do it with the flash and the pizazz
of you know, a guy like Dan Lanning, who I
respect very much, or a guy like Kirby Smart who's
gonna you know, you know, rile you up with volume
and with all that stuff, but like he does it
very matter of factly. This is what it takes to win. Remember,
I know how to win. All we've done here is
(04:29):
win you do these things, we are going to win.
I just think that so many coaches talk about, hey man,
we really need a win to validate what we're saying.
That's not a problem for Kurt Signety's Indiana. He has
done that, and he did it from the start, and
I think that's that's such a huge piece of this thing,
the messaging that he has. I asked Mike Kadick about this.
(04:51):
He was on one of the other shows I knew,
Big Red Carpet with me, and we were just talking about,
you know what Kurt Signetty's like, you know, behind closed
doors and t meetings, and he's like, look, it's it's simple.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
It's short and it's sweet.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Like they do not have our long team meetings where
he's you know, pulling up all these you know, like
motivational things from you know, from movies and all this
other stuff. I mean, like that stuffs great and it's fine,
and you do what you can to reach your team.
But like he gets in, he gets out, he says
the message, and they believe it and then they go
execute it.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
It's that simple.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
What is the biggest challenge they face?
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Ohio State offers challenges all over the place, right, So
I guess I'll ask it this way. I mean, we
know that Ohio State defensively is the elite of the elite.
I love, sure the receiving core for Ohio State. What
is a strength of Ohio State that Indiana actually may
be able to counter an offset the run game?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Their run game has gotten better. I mean, we're talking
about a player in bo Jackson who had a career
high in rushing. It's a freshman player right running backs
for Ohio State. A career high in rushing against Michigan.
Yet he didn't have a carry against Texas in Week one. So,
like Indiana, they get better throughout the year. That's also
been a hallmark of the Kurtz Signety teams these last
(06:04):
two years. They get better and they improve during the season.
So many people, I think feel like improvement stops at
fall camp, right.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
It doesn't.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
They get better as the season goes on too. So
Bo Jackson is a guy that represents that to me.
For Ohio State and their run game and their offensive
line maybe had their best game against Michigan. Now Indiana.
The two things that Indiana's defense has been really good
at is rushing the passer and stopping the run. Now,
the thing where where the receivers get, you know, go
(06:34):
crazy Jeremia Smith and Carnell Tate is when they can
also run it. And you're pulling guys in to stop
the run in ways that you wouldn't like to and
you're opening up those explosive plays down the field for
those two alien receivers in Carnel Tate and Jeremiah Smith.
But if you can stop the run, you have a
better chance at dealing with the pass. You're not gonna
You're not going to shut out Jeremiah Smith and Carneal Tate,
(06:56):
but you can hope to contain them by not letting them,
you know, bang their head on the goalpost and beach
over the top. And the way you do that is
by stopping the run, by not committing more defenders than
you're comfortable with and doing it.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Rtt lewis my guests from the Big Ten Network, Joba House,
Peel and poor guest Line. By the way, Bo Jackson
the running back for Ohio State for those that are curious,
not related to the famous Bo Jackson. His real name
is Lamar Jackson. Also not related to Lamar Jackson. To
Winston seriously, But I'm curious about this from Indiana's standpoint.
(07:29):
You know, fren Edda Mendoza. We have seen what he
has been able to do this year, in particular in
responding to drives that didn't go well. But Ohio State defensively,
they can get to the quarterback. But how are they
in terms of secondary? I know they have good safety play.
Are there areas that Indiana can exploit?
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Yeah? I think so.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
And I'm Caleb Downs. Obviously, it's the defensive player of
the year in the conference. Rville Reese is the linebacker.
They have the linebacker the year, the defensive player of
the year, and the deepensive linement of the year. And
Kate McDonald, the first round pick, is a defensive lineman
nose tackle. So like there's there's players at every level.
But when you're talking about the secondary, Davis s Nigbuinosen
(08:11):
is there, you know, their best corner and he ended
up coming back to Ohio State, I think in large
part because he had some technique stuff to to really
iron out before he goes to the league. One of
those was tendency to draw a out of flags. He
gets a little handy out there holding flags. P I
calls that sort of stuff. He's been better at that
this year, but that's still out there, right, And if
(08:33):
you know, I think those back shoulder throws that Fernando
and Elijah Surratt have perfected over the course of this season,
I think present opportunities, you know, not only for Indiana
to work the ball down the field, but to draw
penalty calls because those are really hard up defenders. So
that's one area. Another area is Omar Cooper. You know,
(08:53):
great example of the best in Indiana play for Indiana, right,
you know, getting a chance to play in Indianapolis for
Big Timchampionship game was just so cool for so many
of the value guys that come from Indy. But he
is one of the best players in the country. With
the ball in his hands. The first guy in rarely
gets Omar Cooper to the ground. He is like the
(09:13):
Yack God yards after catch, and so I think getting
him the ball quickly in space and some of those
RPO slant routes, some of those other RPO short short
throws that you know, all right, don't like the run,
Let's get it out of Fernando's hand quickly. I think
those are the plays where Indiana is going to find
some some success as well against Ohio State.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
I want to get to quickly rep before we let
you go two questions about psychology. Okay, I mean you
played the game, Rett Lewis, Bigton Edwick, you played at Indiana,
You played the game. You've been around it. Your dad
was a trainer. You know, you've been around the game
a long time. Julian Sayan is a young player. Obviously
a phenomenal talent at quarterback for Ohio State and probably
along with Mendoza A and B whichever you want to
(09:53):
look at it for the Heisman. But he's a young player.
Has he seen the kind of adversity this year that
do we know how he would respond if Indiana is
able to get to him early. I'm not saying Nana's
gonna be able to do that, but if you get
him uncomfortable, how do you feel that he responds or
does youth finally show itself?
Speaker 3 (10:14):
You know, I think there's there's a couple of There
is some thought there for sure.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Now.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
I think on the surface, you look at a player
who's played in twelve games and started twelve games in
his career and you're like, yeah, we can affect this
guy mentally.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
He is really sharp.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
He does understand and see things that defenses are doing
to try to attack him. I think the one thing
that helps him is that he faced some of that
adversity early against Michigan. They were down, he threw a
pick on the second play of the game, and you
know they got down early. But he worked his way
back and had two of the best throwers of the
season on touchdowns to Jeremiah Smith and the Carneal Tate.
(10:49):
So he can work his way back from it. The
thing that I'm kind of interested in, and I think
again seeing Wink Martindale's defense probably helps him a little bit,
But I don't think he's seen a defense. It's the
way that Brian Haynes, the defense coordinator, iye, you will
try to attack it with the different looks, the different
personnel groupings that he can send out there, the way
(11:10):
that he can manipulate coverage at the snap of the ball,
the way that he can find simulated pressures. They do
that as good as anybody in the country, and in
a way that they can just they can bring pressure
and wreak havoc and just make him second guess what
he's seeing and then getting the pressure behind it to
take advantage of the ball staying in his hand a
(11:30):
little bit longer. That's the part I'm more concerned with.
I think this dude's a high level competitor, So I'm
not necessarily worried in the stage being big for him
in the moment, being big for him in some of
that that kind of thing and some of that adversity,
But actually in the landscape of trying to deal with
Indiana's defense is where I'm curious to see how he performs.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Okay, lastly, rhet this game in reality and I know
what it means for fans. I know certainly what it
means for Indiana symbolically, but the reality is it is
a championship game for the conference.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
But it is still kind of Christmas Eve because for
both of these teams there is the bigger prize down
the road, right in terms of the college football playoff.
The psychology of it, whether one of these two teams
has blown out, whether one went you know, whatever it
may be. Is it difficult, good or bad as a
college football player and a young player to then put
(12:25):
the result or the happen in this game aside to
be able to then turn around into a new tournament
that will wait you beyond it.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah, I do think that Indiana is going to be
fine regardless of outcome. I think both teams, whoever wins
and ever losers, I think both teams still get to
buy and I think they've earned it. And it would
be crazy to me if if either one of these
teams with a loss in the championship team falls out.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Of the top four, that would be crazy. But I think.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Indiana is equipped to deal with whatever the outcome is
and to compartmentalize it, to dismiss it, and then to
move on. And I think that's kind of just in
their mantra, you know, all year long, right like.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
They've done it.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
You know, after the after the Organ game, they figured
out a way to do it, right coming off the
win against Penn State, they figured out how to do
it like those those big emotional wins like they have.
They have been on the roller coaster this year, but
you know, they've kind of just been navigating it with
just like an even keel mentality and just kind of
(13:31):
a low bred, low blood pressure mentality. So like, I
think they're going to be fine, regardless. I think the
thing that will go crazy is the exterior, you know,
the external perception of Indiana. You know, these by by
ten points. It's like, oh, they never should have belonged here.
They don't they don't belong in the play. Yeah yeah,
(13:52):
So like I think they don't care about that stuff, honestly.
I mean, you know, you and I can talk about it,
you know it till we're blue in the face, of course.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
RTT.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
I appreciate the time as always. I know it's a
busy time, it truly is. And I know, listen, I
get it. There's got to be an objectivity there as well.
But at the same time as somebody that wore that uniform,
I know there's got to be an element of pride
and excitement as well.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
I certainly appreciate it. You Yeah, you got it, man.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Thanks for having me to take any time.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Bud, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Rhet lewis joining us on the Java House, Peel and
Poor Guest Line joining us now to talk about what
happened last night at gamebridge Field House. Tony East on
the Java House, Peel and Poor Guest Line. Tony I'm
going to begin with us as opposed to getting into
the nuances of you know, Jamal Murray, like just hit
another three, that kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
When do you believe it or do you have an.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Idea where we are in terms of the Pacers and
just kind of determining the direction of the season in
terms of personnel pursuit of trying to get things righted
versus just accepting the reality of long term like do
you think we're there? Do you think they are now
(15:03):
at the point where they're like, look it's a wash.
Speaker 6 (15:06):
Yeah, I mean, look they're they're four and eighteens.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
I like thee So the Pelicans in twenty twenty one,
twenty two started two or three and sixteen, they made
the play in and then made the playoffs.
Speaker 6 (15:20):
Do the plan.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
The nineteen eighty four.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Eighty five Cavs started.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Two and nineteen and they made the playoffs. So that's
about all the examples I could find of teams starting
this bad and making it.
Speaker 6 (15:32):
That's two and what I can't do master.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
The reality is they Tony And I don't mean to
cut you off there, but because that's my point is
it is very easy to look at it and say, well,
you got no Obi Toppin, you got no aaron Ne Smith.
You've got you know, you've you have Halibert et cetera.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
Do they are you?
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Do you believe that they are still looking at Okay,
once we get everybody back, here's where we are or
is this now already at the point of let's play
out the schedule and then next year we regroup and
we have a chance to find out who and what
we are.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
Yeah, you know next year you don't want to be
doing any finding out right. You'd like to be right
hit the ground running right away. Right, That's what I
think will be interesting about I'll I'll make this up.
But you know, maybe the next six weeks right till
January fifteenth, when everybody can be traded. Like, if you're
the Pacers, you have to toggle all of what you're
talking about, which is finding out stuff and keeping track
(16:30):
of your record and development and all that. But how like,
what are you actually learning without some of these guys.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
You know, they they won a.
Speaker 5 (16:37):
Couple of games last week and they beat that They
won that Horns game and Jay help was really good
and they found this lineup with McConnell and huff around,
Siakam and Matherin and them hard and that's great. And
then you know, I see a lot of comments that
are like.
Speaker 6 (16:51):
Oh, they won, and I get that.
Speaker 5 (16:53):
I get why people want them to lose.
Speaker 6 (16:54):
Like I'm not saying that they're dumb or anything, but.
Speaker 5 (16:56):
It's like that should be the point of this season
is finding lineups like that, right, that do work, and
next year when you're trying to win, you know, Okay,
even when Halberd's on the game, we can turn to
that combo of five or oh, look like last night
Ben Shephard with some spry drives and good defense. Okay,
what happened in that game? And what did we learn
about how we can make that.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Happen more often?
Speaker 5 (17:18):
Hey, maybe Garrison Matthews is the dude on his second
ten instead of his first one. So it's interesting because
learning all that stuff I just said is easier or
more valuable information if they're doing it next to the
other good players.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Right.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
If you learn how to use Shephard alongside Tiakam, that's
very important for next season. But that does come at
it like you're playing Siakame a lot, and they shouldn't
be at his long term future. So all that to
say for the next like four six weeks. I think
that they should continue to just keep doing what they've
been doing, if that makes any sense, because people keep
(17:52):
saying like, oh, they got to start tanking, that they
have four wins. You want to have a negative win,
like they're not doing anything well at the moment in
terms of winnings. But I do think they need to
learn what works, and to do that, you kind of
keep going with what you have. As you get healthier,
you learn some stuff. Maybe you'll never have top In
with your top guys this season because his return will
be really close to the trade deadline. But you know,
(18:13):
outside of that, I think at some point you have
to make a clear goal chain shift. But their record
is so poor at the moment, it's not even really
costing them to keep doing what they're doing and trying
to learn because they're still so close to the bottom
of the standings.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Tony, I came up with a phrase the other day.
I'm very proud of this, okay, and you can use it.
It's fine. This is not like why not Indiana, which
I trademark. You can use this phrase. So I have
nicknames for two kinds of players, and I think you've
heard the first one before. I've said it ten thousand
times on the radio, a twenty twenty five guy. You've
heard me mention a twenty twenty five guy, right.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Do you know what that is?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah, guys, twenty points per game on twenty five win teams.
The newest that I've come up with, and it's applicable
this year are empty calorie guys. Now, empty calorie guys,
let me explain. Are guys like when you're you're on
the road. You're on a road trip and you got
to get your starving so you stop in a convenience
store and you just get like three bags of chips
and a beef jerkey. Those are empty calories. You got
(19:10):
to eat something, but the calories are offering you know,
long term you know nutrition. Empty calorie guys are guys
that are going out there and they're eating up minutes
and they're filling a roster spot for you and they're
getting you points, but they really don't have any benefit
towards your long term vision. Okay, give me two guys
(19:30):
right now. And maybe the pacers are figuring out and
evaluating who through this process and through ten day contracts
and one year deals and whatever else, you know, they're
figuring out, Okay, who can we keep here that becomes
a thirteenth man for us? And who are empty calorie
guys that are just eating us? Where do you draw
(19:52):
the line in terms of the guys that we've seen
and the field that you get as to which side
each is on?
Speaker 5 (19:59):
Yeah, that's the goal, That's what you're trying to figure out, right,
And Like this will sound the hilarious to say because
it's December fourth, but like that's why I asked Rick
Carli last night about Garrison Matthews and Jeremiah Robinsonuroal, Like
I'm not even necessarily certain either of them are in
the short term more long term plans of the Pacers,
but Jeremia Robinsonurel's twenty five and started games for them
this year. They clearly think something of him. And Garrison
(20:21):
Matthews these last two games has been like, oh, I
this guy can make everything sometimes, but he's twenty nine.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Like is he what you're describing?
Speaker 5 (20:28):
Is he just a guy who's on this team and
his scoring points and they don't win.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
At all and it doesn't matter.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Or is he actually somebody that when they're good, they'd
run around, right? And so it sounds like such micro decisions,
but to them it matters, and we can call them
a thirteenth man or whatever. But like, you know, Ben
Shepherd's not playing well this year, although he's had a
good last five or so games. He was in their
playoff rotation last year. That's what makes this such a
hard evaluation for all these guys, is like it's the
(20:53):
worst possible way to evaluate them with how many guys
are out and how different their roles are from typical
tyas or we know we've seen it twice two playoffs
that Ben Shepherd has made thirty eight percent of his
threes and defended guards and been a fifteen to twelve
minute a game guy on a good winning playoff team.
But on this team, when he's asked to do a
lot more, he probably looks a little bit more like
(21:15):
an empty salaries guy who's turning it over much more
than he has in the past. And his three ball
hasn't fallen really at all this year. So it's like
for him, it's probably super frustrating, And if you're a fan,
you're thinking, why is this guy playing well? It's like,
because he's way better when the team is better, right,
He just the things he provides naturally fit better on
a good team, which is why it's hard to know
what is the line of demarcation for empty calories and
(21:37):
why they're so you know, like focused on development and
making guys get better at lots of skills this.
Speaker 6 (21:42):
Season if they can, because they need.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
To figure that out in any way that they actually can,
which is again why I think that they should keep
trying to play their better players for at least some
more amount of time, like real minutes, and try to
push for something serious. But you know, the swath of
guys who you know, everybody knows who is like real
on this team, Like if you were in the play
affrotation last year, yeah got it, but you know this Walker, Furfey, Robinson,
(22:06):
Earl Matthews quartet, plus their centers. I mean, Jay Huff's
been good of late, although he struggled last night. Idad
Jackson had a Nightmares matchup. All those guys have shown
something for the Pacers before and most except for Huff,
you know, and in most cases.
Speaker 6 (22:20):
For some of those guys in the postseason, you know
what they are kind of all jockeying. I think to
be the guys eight through twelve.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
On the next Pacers team, and so they are kind.
Speaker 6 (22:29):
Of the guys to keep an eye on when it
comes to.
Speaker 5 (22:31):
That, are they scoring a lot right now and showing
you something more because the Pacers are bad, or are
they doing something more because they're actually showing improvement that
could land them a key role on the next team
that we've seen in you know, in Jackson's case and
Shepherd's case a little bit in Walker's case. In the past,
Matthews has played on some playoff teams right that they
can do or is this just a reality of the situation.
(22:51):
It's really hard to find what that answer is on
this team because everybody's role is so different than what
it was or is when this team is supposed to
be good.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Tony the guy that to me has been enigmatic because
I feel like you are still trying to and I
mean you, Tony. I'm saying we in Populace, we're trying
to figure out if Jaris Walker can either be benefit
to Indiana in terms of bringing something on the floor
or be benefit to Indiana because he's intriguing enough that
somebody will trade for him. And I feel like he
(23:20):
has yet to break through and cement either where do
you see him in terms of what his value is
or will be?
Speaker 5 (23:30):
Yeah, what's I don't remember what movie or the saying
is from, but what's the just one? You think you're out,
they pull me back in? Right, whatever that's from? Like,
he was awesome a couple weeks ago. He had that
amazing game against Detroit, followed up with a good shooting game,
has had some really nice rebounding games of late.
Speaker 6 (23:47):
You know, last night it felt quiet.
Speaker 5 (23:48):
I walked away like I didn't really feel like I
felt Jis Walker's impact as much. Need eleven points and
three boards in twenty one minutes and made four of
us seven shots. Like that's a good night, Right, That's
a quality performance from a young player. It's not like,
you know, oh my gosh, this guy's gonna be awesome.
But he also had some real stinkers, right, no doubt
over ten two for nine to one for eight. That
was three games in a row for him to end
that road trip where the Pacers were just awful. Right,
(24:09):
So it's really been and this is true a lot
of young players. He's just been really inconsistent, and that
is the hopeful next step for the Pacers. And determining,
excuse me, what his role could be for them if
if he is playing for them when they're you know,
trying to win next year, is like how can they
get to be more consistent? Because this happened last year too.
I just store on him in late December of last
(24:31):
season and he even talked about, like, yeah, this season
has been up and down for me, And I've referenced
that a million times because he said it and like
he knew he was being inconsistent. I think he felt
that way about this season too. And then from I
don't know, mid January onwards, his role was a little
different and smaller, but he was playing every night and
playing largely pretty well. And then he was playing in
the playoffs until he got hurt in Game six against
(24:51):
the Knicks. So they do have like a three and
a half month staple of him playing consistent basketball for
them last year. But this year, when he's been has
to do more, it's been like it's not even been
a good game and a bad game. It's been an
awesome game and just like an atrocious, awful, holy cow,
what's going on kind of game.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
And that's scary.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
That's really hard to evaluate.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
You have no idea what the.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Four or feeling of that kind of player is. It's
hard to make decisions based on what they could be
in a more stable role when they can't get a
stable role for good reason would do to injury on
your current team.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
So I think they're still.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
Figuring out with him, But I certainly thought he might
look a little better this season in general or on balance,
that he might at least show, you know, three out
of five games or four out of five games, you're
going nice, Okay, he's he looks a little more forcefull
or you know, focused, or his passing looks sharper or whatever.
He still has one turnover a game where he just
throws an atrocious pass even though he made a good read.
(25:46):
So he's got a lot to clean up, even though he.
Speaker 6 (25:48):
Clearly has a solid base of skills.
Speaker 5 (25:51):
And that's for them to figure out by February, right,
because you know, who knows what his value will be
if he goes into year four and doesn't show a
ton of pop. Besides, just like a bench level wing
who's on a somewhat sizeable salary and his rookie deal,
he obviously has a lot of potential, right, he can
kind of shoot. He's got a huge defensive size, but
yet to kind of put it all together for like
ten fifteen games in a row, and so it's really
(26:11):
hard to pin down what his actual value would even be.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
So Jeris Walker is Michael Corleone from the Godfather. That's
what That's what we figured out in this right.
Speaker 5 (26:19):
Tony, should I have just said that instead of talking
for two and a half minutes that.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
No, I'm saying it's great Tony East at Tony R.
East by the way on the expost Twitter. Finally, Tony,
did you and I don't know if you went? Did
you get a I was? I was surprised, Like I'm
leaving the game the other night, I can't remember which
game it was, And I turned around and I'm.
Speaker 4 (26:39):
Like, is that Alla Depot sitting there like behind, like
wearing a hoodie?
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Like?
Speaker 1 (26:44):
And I realized I knew that he was in town
for you know, the Herd in the the G League
game against the Boom.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Did you happen to see him play?
Speaker 6 (26:54):
I did not get to go.
Speaker 5 (26:56):
I had four straight days of hosting family for Thanksgiving.
It was lovely, but made it impossible to leave to
go watch Tail and Peter and Victilady book playing the
boom game.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
You've got four straight days of family. That's impressive.
Speaker 6 (27:08):
We hosted people so uh and they all front worked
from out of state, and then the last day two
others who weren't here originally were passing through from somewhere else,
so we were we were in charge of things.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
And an update for you personally, we got another new
kitten and we're dogs sitting for my wife's parents right now, so.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Our house was standing. The new contains new kitten's name
would be.
Speaker 6 (27:30):
Manny. His name is Manny.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
We have Winston and Manny, Winston and Manny.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Yes, But anyway, because of all that happened at.
Speaker 5 (27:38):
The same time, so we had six people here and
two extra pets.
Speaker 6 (27:43):
A month ago none of them were here and no, no, no,
he is not okay.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
So some things to work out.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
What you're getting at You're still you're still trying to
figure out who are the empty calorie kittens and who's yeah, okay, yeah, I.
Speaker 5 (27:59):
Want them to the empty gallery gittens for like two freakin' seconds,
but that has not happened at all yet, So I'll
do it my.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Best, Tony.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
We appreciate the time as always, Tony East joining us
Java House Peeling Poor Guests Line.
Speaker 4 (28:10):
Appreciate it, Man, Yeah, I'm very.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
Stressed about the Hoosier Week, so glad I got to
not think about that for a couple of minutes.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
Thanks for having me, ton you what it is stressful.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
When you start talking about Ohio sports and notably Columbus Sports.
One of the guys that is one of the real
good guys in the Paddock area when it comes to
IndyCar racing, he has followed the ray Halls forever and
as a result is routinely around Indianapolis, but also all
of the different spots that we have in IndyCar. But
(28:42):
his primary gig for years with the Columbus Dispatch, he
has been covering for over forty two years Ohio sports
and notably the Ohio State football buck Eyes. He now
has the Tim May Show on fanstreamssports dot com and
he joins me now on the Java House Peeling Poor
Guest line Tip May from Columbus, Ohio.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Tim, how are you good?
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Jake? How you doing?
Speaker 7 (29:04):
Man? I've always whatever I have a question, I always
called a query show.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
See, Tim, you are one of literally eighteen people in
the world that know that query means a question, and
I could not be more thrilled for it.
Speaker 7 (29:18):
Right, And that just shows you what state the world
is in as we speak.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Brother.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
See, this is for those that don't know.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
We've already gotten a glimpse of what conversations sound like
in press rooms when Tim and I sit and solve
the world's problems. All right, Tim, let's get to this
Ohio State in Indiana. Obviously, Ohio State is the pedigree program.
Indiana is this incredible Cinderella story that is now no
longer a Cinderella because they've gone past midnight. And oh
you so, I'm curious if you really did have to
(29:49):
in transparency here, what is the Ohio State fan or
just culture perception of Indiana? What is the thought here
of you know it is? How serious do they take Indiana?
Speaker 7 (30:07):
Nineteen eighty seven, Earl Bruce got beat in the Ohio stadium.
I think the score was I think it was thirty
maybe yep, yeah, And Earl Bruce, in the Ohio State
football coach called it the darkest day in Ohio State history,
not Ohio State football history, Ohio State history. And then
the next year Bill Mallory did it two years in
(30:29):
a row, beat Ohio State and beat him thoroughly. For
I'm just throwing a little history out there. I think
it was forty one to seven or something remarkable. And uh,
in my lead in the in the Colembus Dispatch on
my story the next day was a new day has
dawned in the Big ten and uh, little I know
that'd be the last time Indiana would have beaten Ohio
(30:50):
State until as we speak right now. So it's kind
of hard to it's kind of hard to pinpoint we
Ohio State per sieves of Indiana, except I keep pointing
out the people. Indiana under Kurt Signetti has now lost
two games in two seasons, and the two losses worked
(31:13):
to the two teams that played for the for the
national championship last year. They've gone undefeated in this I mean,
you know, Indiana's never been at this level before in
terms of winning on a consistent basis, much less going undefeated.
So you last year, oh my goodness, this year, oh okay,
(31:34):
Kurt Signetti at AL know exactly what they're doing. And
you know, I said back in the late spring, early
summer that my opinion of Indiana was going to be
better than it was last year because it had gotten
key portal, some key portal transferred guys, not the least
of which was Fernando Mendoza, the quarterback from California, because
(31:56):
he was an upgrade you know, no offense to mister Rourke,
but it's.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Definitely upgrade there. And I think.
Speaker 7 (32:01):
Everybody's seen it now. He's depending on where you look at.
He's a Heisman favorite, one of the Heisman favorites, along
with Julian saying, so Saturday night has a lot hanging
in the balance in Lucas Oil.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Do we know' let's talk about the quarterback matchup ten?
Because this is I think you're right, I mean, I
think the Heisman make him down to this game, right,
Julian saying, let's start there. He is a younger player,
he has had a phenomenal year. He has outstanding weapons
around him. Do we know what kind of player he
is when they're his heat on him? Or they have
(32:34):
they adequately protected him so far this year? And can
Indiana get to him?
Speaker 7 (32:41):
Well, I mean we'll have to wait and find out. Jake,
I mean, I know that's a cop out, but but
but Ohio State the offensive line. You know, and now
see the All Big Ten Offensive Award winners and teams,
and they didn't have one member of its offensive line
on the first team on either first team, so I
(33:04):
think as a major oversight by those who voted on
the awards. But the bottom line is we're gonna have
to find out. I mean, this offensive line is playing
at a very high level. As the game went on
on Saturday in the Big House, they took more and
more control of it and it's kind of been fun
to watch as much like last year. You know, Ohioate
(33:25):
got beat by Michigan and it was their second loss,
and a lot of people gave up on the Hosti
football team. But they lost two starters, two major starters
as the season went on. Last year, their center and
their left tackle. Both of them were drafted in the
National Football League, and you know, Josh Summons is playing
first round draft pick in the National Football League. The
(33:47):
left tackle they lost. But the bottom line is the
offensive line. In December through January, the four games they
won to win the National Championship, it was the best
offensive line in the country. I don't think anybody would
argue with that. With the way they took care of
business throughout the playoffs. This offensive line replaced a couple
of starters, but has really grown into itself in the
(34:08):
last couple of weeks. And you know, everybody was poo
pooing their schedule until they played in Michigan and then
they took care of Michigan in a methodical fashion. So
I think they feel pretty good about their ability to
protect the quarterback. But I keep reminding people Indiana didn't
get here on a fluke man. This is no lark.
I mean, Indiana's gotten after people defensively as much as
(34:31):
they have offensively. But you know, we'll see on Saturday
night if o Higo State's offensive line is up to
this test. I mean it's a it's a Indiana pledge.
You pretty straight up gets after you to a certain extent,
but it'll be a man the man kind of battle
there in the trenches.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
What about on the other side of things, Tim tim
May is my guest Java House, peeling Port guest line.
When you look at Mendoza in Indiana trying to keep
him clean. This is an elite level defense for Ohio State.
For Ohio State and their defensive coverage, their strength starts where.
Speaker 7 (35:05):
Starts right in the middle of the defensive line. With
Cad McDonald, who was named the Big Ten Defensive Lineman
of the Year just yesterday, you know, a guy who's
really come into his own. I mean, you know, the
biggest question for us at cover House State and really nationally,
because you have to have some questions right about an
elite program, was what they.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Were going to do.
Speaker 7 (35:27):
They were placing eight starters on the defense and all
four of the defensive line starters were included in that,
and how are they going.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
To rise to that challenge?
Speaker 7 (35:38):
And they really got nobody in the from the interior
for the interior defensive line. They got nobody in the
transfer portal. So the depth was going to have to
come from within. And you know, one of the one
of the great things about Covern Ohio State over the
years is watching guys bubble up, who wait their turn
and bubble up, and uh, you know, we've seen that
on the defensive front. Cad McDonald's a great example of that.
(36:01):
But but almost everybody everybody who's playing this year played
a lot last year, especially that in that playoff run.
But Caden McDonald and now you've got Taiwan Malone who
has come on. Edric Houston was a five star freshman
a year ago. He kind of had a slow start
to this year, helter skelter start, but he's playing extremely well.
I'm talking about the guys on the interior. There will
(36:22):
a guy named Will Smith Junior. I think everybody remembers
Will Smith, the late, late great Will Smith, who was
part of the two thousand and two five state national
championship as a defensive.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
End of his His son is.
Speaker 7 (36:36):
In namesake is a is a tackle in the middle
there who plays plays a pretty good bit recently.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
And then you know they got this guy.
Speaker 7 (36:44):
I don't know if people over in Indiana remember a
guy named Kaden Curry, you know from right there in
Center Grove, right down the street. You know, he played
what three straight, uh three straight Indiana Indiana High school
state championship games there in Lucas Oil and I think
he won two of them. But you know, he and
ken YadA Jackson waited their turn behind Jack Sawyer and JT.
(37:07):
Towey Molowow who returned last year because they wanted another
crack at the brass ring. They got the national championship,
but they didn't beat Michigan, and they didn't win. They
didn't get to play for a Big Ten championship for
the fourth straight year. Well, Kat and Curry's really come on.
He and ken YadA Jackson and everybody watching on Saturday,
number ninety seven. Ken YadA Jackson just has really really
(37:32):
exploded over the last many weeks, and so they feel
pretty good about that defensive front. So it starts there,
and then you've got a guy like Caleb Downs, you
know Big Ten defensive Player of the year, defensive back
of the year who as in essence as a quarterback
at safety, but he can play all in almost seven positions.
(37:53):
And it's not even that he's has kind of his
own special position wherever Matt Patricia puts him or he
decides to go on the defense. And you know the
transfer from Alabama from a year ago who was part
in partial i say defense a year ago. But the
way he gets guys lined up, the way he messes
with the quarterback's head before, during, and after a snap,
things like that, that's that's what they have going for.
(38:15):
I mean, they have the outline backer of the year
in Rvl rees Uh, who's really come on. Under the
matt Patricia system and Sonny Styles who is playing.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
At a really high level. And Jaylen McClain.
Speaker 7 (38:27):
Uh played decently in the in the National Championship run
at the other safety spot. Well boy, did he have
a game on Saturday at Michigan. And then their two
cornerbacks played extensively last year. Jermaine Matthews is a first
time full year starter, but he played. He was on
the goal line stand when they when they held Texas
(38:49):
off last year when Jack Sawyer had the big return,
and Uh and of course Davis and Nick but Nosen.
If he could just keep from grabbing people, he may
be as good a corner as year as in the country.
And I'm not, you know, I'm not. I don't think
this is out purberly. You know how State's got the
number one defense in the country for a reason, and
you know.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
And what's fascinating about this matchup is right there and
I get it. I mean, I don't disagree with that.
But Indian, you know, and then you got Indiana. Statistically,
the areas in which these two teams, these two programs
are one and two or two and one. I mean,
it's it's remarkable the I think these are this is
clearly tim I do. I think this is clearly the
two best teams in the country. The question is is
(39:28):
there a gap there? Now, let's get to the other
side of this. I talked to Graham ray Hill about
this earlier this week. I want your perspective. Has Ohio
State held close to the vest their cards offensively? Have
we seen this offensive Ohio State play on all of
the cylinders with which they're capable of playing.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Well?
Speaker 7 (39:49):
I think the big question about Ohio State, you know,
remember the Saint Louis Rams, the best, you know, the
greatest show on turf.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Yep, you know. The big question was.
Speaker 7 (39:58):
Was whether I they could go on ice or snow
or the four wheel drive kind of approach, which is
what they did last week offensively against Michigan. I mean,
they had a twenty plate twelve minute drive in the
middle of the second half that was pretty cool, except
he didn' score a touchdown and end up kicking a
field goal with so Ryan they didn't give it an
(40:19):
a plus plus on the drive.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
But as far as.
Speaker 7 (40:21):
Eating clocket was but I think you've seen a lot
of waterhouse they's capable of. But they've thrown things out
there of which you know, there are tangents that they
where they can go from the.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Four tight end. Look, they give you that the goal line.
Speaker 7 (40:36):
One of the tight ends ends up being a fullback
in that a lot in an a formation. But they'll
have four tight ends on the field. And you think
you've seen all of those things that you have, and
I mean there are other ways they can go with
that formation in terms of running and throwing the ball.
That's just an example. But you know you've seen Julian saying,
I mean Urban Meyer the other day and he has
(40:57):
no reason to really say this, but thinks he might
be the most accurate quarterback in college football history. I mean,
to watch this guy throw the ball, it's remarkable. And
the wind and snow or the yeah, there was a
decent breeze. Let's put it that a way in Michigan
Stadium last week, the big house. So they need to
shut the windows, I guess. But uh, at the bottom line,
(41:19):
us he uh, you know, he he completed touchdown passes
to all three of his starting wide receivers, Jeremiah Smith,
Carneal Tait on that deep post.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
Uh.
Speaker 7 (41:31):
Of course it broke Michigan's back, but also Brandon Ennis.
They're kind of like forgotten about third wide receiver in
that group. They've got all kinds of things they can
go to from a throwing standpoint, like you said, if
they can protect, and Julian's saying, has shown the ability,
you know, to elude pressure and do it in sort
(41:51):
of a smooth kind of way, and he has also
shown the willingness and ability to run if he has to.
You know, when he came out of Carlsbad, California h
two years ago and initially signed with Alabama, he was
considered one of the elite dual threat quarterbacks in the country.
People forget that and his high school coach. I've had
him on my tim May show several times on the
(42:14):
like you said, fans strange sports just talking about him
and how he's sort of underestimated. I mean, he's even
underestimating how tall he is. People were thinking he was
like Drew Brees height him. He's like six', one just
six y. One but he's just so smooth and sort
of like unflappable and also doesn't say a whole lot
that you you kind of, go how good is this?
(42:35):
Guy and he's what completing seventy eight percent of his.
Passes that's pretty damn. Good and he's only thrown five.
Interceptions one was last week Against, michigan and then he
came back and Cut michigan's heart, out you, know with
some pretty good. Passing so they feel pretty good about.
That but it really helps that they've had a GUY
(42:56):
i only sure you remember this, Name, jake but a
guy Named Bo jackson has emerged as the number one
running back for a house no, relation.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
No relations no relationship To, bo and no relation To Lamar,
jackson who and that's his real, name, Right.
Speaker 7 (43:10):
Yeah well his that's his nickname. Is dad gave him.
BOW i can't remember what his real name, Is.
Speaker 4 (43:15):
LAMAR i think his name Is Lamar. Jackson, yeah, exactly not.
Related i'm, Sorry, yeah he's either.
Speaker 7 (43:21):
Right you were a step and a half ahead of me, There.
Jake that's, why that's why you have this. Show but,
no and Then isaiah.
Speaker 4 (43:29):
Where answers to, HIM i mean real query.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
Is in the, yeah queries in the. Quandaries but, uh
but Also Isaiah west.
Speaker 7 (43:38):
Another both these guys are, FRESHMEN i mean true freshman running,
backs and, uh they really come on of late AS
i like to, Say west likes to go north, south you,
know and he's that kind of put the foot in
the ground and go kind of. Guy And Bo jackson same.
Way and then C. J, donaldson the guy that got
From West virginia transfer running back because he just needed
kind of figure out a way to replace the power
(43:59):
back That Quinn Sewan judkins was a year. Ago they
thought they had the makings to Replace Treyvon, henderson which they,
have but IF. Cj donaldson comes in on really power
situations and maybe pass pro. Situations But Bo jackson's gotten
really good at pass pro.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
Two so they feel really good about this.
Speaker 7 (44:18):
Offense and that's not to, mention you, know Will Keas
merrick And Max. Claire Will Kes merrick transferred From Ohio
university two years ago for the twenty twenty four. Season
Max clair of, course transferred From purdue this. Year at tight,
ends both of them had huge catches in that game
At michigan for example last. Week and that's what that's
(44:39):
what such good quarterbacks apart, man they know where their
tight ends. Are And i've Complimented julian saying on that
to his face a couple of times because he just
seems much older in terms of maturity than his years.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
Would indicate being just A richard.
Speaker 4 (44:55):
Freshman tim May Ohio, State Indiana Saturday.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
Night tim's got permanent Residents indian app because he's always
here covering the speedway as. Well and Then Ohio state's
always playing big games over. Here next, Time, tim when
we have you on study the roster a little, bit would.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
You, YEAH i will do, That. Jake and by the,
WAY i can't wait to get my. Gifts your tip
gets The Saint.
Speaker 4 (45:12):
Elmo's we'll get you hooked.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
Up.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Man we'll get you some of the shrimp. Cocktail. Tim
by the, way The Saint. Elmo, now if just so
you Know tim and for the rest of, You tim
knows this, probably but the shrimp, cocktail you don't have
to go. There you can go To harry and his
is right next. Door in case it's, packed because it
will be for The Big ten title, Game i'm certain of.
That but a good breakdown On Ohio state
Joining me now on the Java House Peel and Port
guest line right off the top from the Big Ten
Network NFL Network, Rhet lewis talking about this one. Rhett,
I said this the other day to Don Fisher, and
I'm going to say the same to you every once
in a while, would you agree, we just have to stop,
take a deep breath and say, undefeated Indiana is playing
(00:21):
for the possibility of cementing themselves as the number one
overall seed in the College Football Playoff and winning the
Big Ten Championship against Ohio State. It's still reht, Does
it not seem real? Even though this is now year
number two of what Kurtz Signette's done.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
It's wild.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
It's absolutely wild, man. I was just I've been talking
about this with my friends, you know, with my former teammates.
I've got a you know, a newborn daughter now that
all she knows is undefeated Indiana, which is amazing.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Congratulations by the way, thank.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
You, buddy. I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
It's it's just been it's been unreal to think about
how real it is that makes any sense at all,
you know, from you know, I was telling Stephen daily,
I do a thing every week for IU called under
the Hood and Stephen Daily, who, by the way, is
the most disruptive defense ave alignment in the conference, not
the country, leave the country and tackles for loss. He
(01:18):
was my guest this week and I was like, I
just want you to know, Bud, like I won sixteen
games in five years. If you guys do what you're
gonna do what we expect and hope that you do,
which is win a national championship, you will have won
sixteen games this year.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I think. Let that's think inver.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Know to me the most honestly it may be.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And I'm not just saying this because I went to Indiana,
as I know you did as well, obviously, and the
fact that we're on in Indianapolis. This might be the
most remarkable story in college football history. And I know
that that sounds like homersh and hyperboty, but we're talking
about the program that has lost more games than anybody
in Division one heading into this year, that has now
(02:00):
now within the form of two years, turned itself into
the upper echelon elite power.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
It truly is remarkable, No.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Jake, I mean like it's it's it's I don't think
that's hyperbole.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
I think it's true.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
And like the more that I've you know, been around
and you know, listening to other people talk about it,
like other people are saying the same things, not just
in the enough hands, it is truly remarkable, and I
think it goes to show, like I think it's a
great a great lesson, you know, for coaches like Kurtzignetti,
who better on himself and who had a plan and
a belief in his plan and worked his plan, and
(02:38):
he's got a blueprint for success. Here are the other things.
He's a great evaluator, he's a great developer, and those
two things are lost in this world of hey, come here,
we're gonna give you the most money. You know, come here,
you know this, You're going to get this car in
this house, whereas he has a more matter of fact
approach where it's like, look, I I'm recruiting you because
(03:00):
I believe that you can help us win at the
highest level. And he's done that. Like I mean, I
can't even count the I can't even think of like
a lost in the portal, you know, where he's brought
guys in and has it really worked out. Almost every
single one of them has been a contributor to this
team in a big way.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Do you believe rhet that a bigger Let me ask
you this, Kurt Signetti, in his coaching style and what
he has done with this team, are they winning because
if you had to pick one versus the other, is
it more so because Kurt Signetti has tapped into each
Indiana player in believing and understanding what they can do.
(03:40):
Or is Kurt Signetti letting his team know what the
opposition is going to do and that preparation is why
they're winning.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I think it's a little bit of both.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
And I don't mean that as a compout, but I
do think that one of the other pieces of Kurt's
success is messaging. He reaches these players and in a
way that I think is elite in college football.
Speaker 5 (04:08):
Now.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
He doesn't do it with the flash and the pizazz
of you know, a guy like Dan Lanning, who I
respect very much, or a guy like Kirby Smart who's
gonna you know, you know, rile you up with volume
and with all that stuff, but like he does it
very matter of factly. This is what it takes to win. Remember,
I know how to win. All we've done here is
(04:29):
win you do these things, we are going to win.
I just think that so many coaches talk about, hey man,
we really need a win to validate what we're saying.
That's not a problem for Kurt Signety's Indiana. He has
done that, and he did it from the start, and
I think that's that's such a huge piece of this thing,
the messaging that he has. I asked Mike Kadick about this.
(04:51):
He was on one of the other shows I knew,
Big Red Carpet with me, and we were just talking about,
you know what Kurt Signetty's like, you know, behind closed
doors and t meetings, and he's like, look, it's it's simple.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
It's short and it's sweet.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Like they do not have our long team meetings where
he's you know, pulling up all these you know, like
motivational things from you know, from movies and all this
other stuff. I mean, like that stuffs great and it's fine,
and you do what you can to reach your team.
But like he gets in, he gets out, he says
the message, and they believe it and then they go
execute it.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
It's that simple.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
What is the biggest challenge they face?
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Ohio State offers challenges all over the place, right, So
I guess I'll ask it this way. I mean, we
know that Ohio State defensively is the elite of the elite.
I love, sure the receiving core for Ohio State. What
is a strength of Ohio State that Indiana actually may
be able to counter an offset the run game?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Their run game has gotten better. I mean, we're talking
about a player in bo Jackson who had a career
high in rushing. It's a freshman player right running backs
for Ohio State. A career high in rushing against Michigan.
Yet he didn't have a carry against Texas in Week one. So,
like Indiana, they get better throughout the year. That's also
been a hallmark of the Kurtz Signety teams these last
(06:04):
two years. They get better and they improve during the season.
So many people, I think feel like improvement stops at
fall camp, right.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
It doesn't.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
They get better as the season goes on too. So
Bo Jackson is a guy that represents that to me.
For Ohio State and their run game and their offensive
line maybe had their best game against Michigan. Now Indiana.
The two things that Indiana's defense has been really good
at is rushing the passer and stopping the run. Now,
the thing where where the receivers get, you know, go
(06:34):
crazy Jeremia Smith and Carnell Tate is when they can
also run it. And you're pulling guys in to stop
the run in ways that you wouldn't like to and
you're opening up those explosive plays down the field for
those two alien receivers in Carnel Tate and Jeremiah Smith.
But if you can stop the run, you have a
better chance at dealing with the pass. You're not gonna
You're not going to shut out Jeremiah Smith and Carneal Tate,
(06:56):
but you can hope to contain them by not letting them,
you know, bang their head on the goalpost and beach
over the top. And the way you do that is
by stopping the run, by not committing more defenders than
you're comfortable with and doing it.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Rtt lewis my guests from the Big Ten Network, Joba House,
Peel and poor guest Line. By the way, Bo Jackson
the running back for Ohio State for those that are curious,
not related to the famous Bo Jackson. His real name
is Lamar Jackson. Also not related to Lamar Jackson. To
Winston seriously, But I'm curious about this from Indiana's standpoint.
(07:29):
You know, fren Edda Mendoza. We have seen what he
has been able to do this year, in particular in
responding to drives that didn't go well. But Ohio State defensively,
they can get to the quarterback. But how are they
in terms of secondary? I know they have good safety play.
Are there areas that Indiana can exploit?
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Yeah? I think so.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
And I'm Caleb Downs. Obviously, it's the defensive player of
the year in the conference. Rville Reese is the linebacker.
They have the linebacker the year, the defensive player of
the year, and the deepensive linement of the year. And
Kate McDonald, the first round pick, is a defensive lineman
nose tackle. So like there's there's players at every level.
But when you're talking about the secondary, Davis s Nigbuinosen
(08:11):
is there, you know, their best corner and he ended
up coming back to Ohio State, I think in large
part because he had some technique stuff to to really
iron out before he goes to the league. One of
those was tendency to draw a out of flags. He
gets a little handy out there holding flags. P I
calls that sort of stuff. He's been better at that
this year, but that's still out there, right, And if
(08:33):
you know, I think those back shoulder throws that Fernando
and Elijah Surratt have perfected over the course of this season,
I think present opportunities, you know, not only for Indiana
to work the ball down the field, but to draw
penalty calls because those are really hard up defenders. So
that's one area. Another area is Omar Cooper. You know,
(08:53):
great example of the best in Indiana play for Indiana, right,
you know, getting a chance to play in Indianapolis for
Big Timchampionship game was just so cool for so many
of the value guys that come from Indy. But he
is one of the best players in the country. With
the ball in his hands. The first guy in rarely
gets Omar Cooper to the ground. He is like the
(09:13):
Yack God yards after catch, and so I think getting
him the ball quickly in space and some of those
RPO slant routes, some of those other RPO short short
throws that you know, all right, don't like the run,
Let's get it out of Fernando's hand quickly. I think
those are the plays where Indiana is going to find
some some success as well against Ohio State.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
I want to get to quickly rep before we let
you go two questions about psychology. Okay, I mean you
played the game, Rett Lewis, Bigton Edwick, you played at Indiana,
You played the game. You've been around it. Your dad
was a trainer. You know, you've been around the game
a long time. Julian Sayan is a young player. Obviously
a phenomenal talent at quarterback for Ohio State and probably
along with Mendoza A and B whichever you want to
(09:53):
look at it for the Heisman. But he's a young player.
Has he seen the kind of adversity this year that
do we know how he would respond if Indiana is
able to get to him early. I'm not saying Nana's
gonna be able to do that, but if you get
him uncomfortable, how do you feel that he responds or
does youth finally show itself?
Speaker 3 (10:14):
You know, I think there's there's a couple of There
is some thought there for sure.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
Now.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
I think on the surface, you look at a player
who's played in twelve games and started twelve games in
his career and you're like, yeah, we can affect this
guy mentally.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
He is really sharp.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
He does understand and see things that defenses are doing
to try to attack him. I think the one thing
that helps him is that he faced some of that
adversity early against Michigan. They were down, he threw a
pick on the second play of the game, and you
know they got down early. But he worked his way
back and had two of the best throwers of the
season on touchdowns to Jeremiah Smith and the Carneal Tate.
(10:49):
So he can work his way back from it. The
thing that I'm kind of interested in, and I think
again seeing Wink Martindale's defense probably helps him a little bit,
But I don't think he's seen a defense. It's the
way that Brian Haynes, the defense coordinator, iye, you will
try to attack it with the different looks, the different
personnel groupings that he can send out there, the way
(11:10):
that he can manipulate coverage at the snap of the ball,
the way that he can find simulated pressures. They do
that as good as anybody in the country, and in
a way that they can just they can bring pressure
and wreak havoc and just make him second guess what
he's seeing and then getting the pressure behind it to
take advantage of the ball staying in his hand a
(11:30):
little bit longer. That's the part I'm more concerned with.
I think this dude's a high level competitor, So I'm
not necessarily worried in the stage being big for him
in the moment, being big for him in some of
that that kind of thing and some of that adversity,
But actually in the landscape of trying to deal with
Indiana's defense is where I'm curious to see how he performs.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Okay, lastly, rhet this game in reality and I know
what it means for fans. I know certainly what it
means for Indiana symbolically, but the reality is it is
a championship game for the conference.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
I get it.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
But it is still kind of Christmas Eve because for
both of these teams there is the bigger prize down
the road, right in terms of the college football playoff.
The psychology of it, whether one of these two teams
has blown out, whether one went you know, whatever it
may be. Is it difficult, good or bad as a
college football player and a young player to then put
(12:25):
the result or the happen in this game aside to
be able to then turn around into a new tournament
that will wait you beyond it.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah, I do think that Indiana is going to be
fine regardless of outcome. I think both teams, whoever wins
and ever losers, I think both teams still get to
buy and I think they've earned it. And it would
be crazy to me if if either one of these
teams with a loss in the championship team falls out.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Of the top four, that would be crazy. But I think.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Indiana is equipped to deal with whatever the outcome is
and to compartmentalize it, to dismiss it, and then to
move on. And I think that's kind of just in
their mantra, you know, all year long, right like.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
They've done it.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
You know, after the after the Organ game, they figured
out a way to do it, right coming off the
win against Penn State, they figured out how to do
it like those those big emotional wins like they have.
They have been on the roller coaster this year, but
you know, they've kind of just been navigating it with
just like an even keel mentality and just kind of
(13:31):
a low bred, low blood pressure mentality. So like, I
think they're going to be fine, regardless. I think the
thing that will go crazy is the exterior, you know,
the external perception of Indiana. You know, these by by
ten points. It's like, oh, they never should have belonged here.
They don't they don't belong in the play. Yeah yeah,
(13:52):
So like I think they don't care about that stuff, honestly.
I mean, you know, you and I can talk about it,
you know it till we're blue in the face, of course.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
RTT.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
I appreciate the time as always. I know it's a
busy time, it truly is. And I know, listen, I
get it. There's got to be an objectivity there as well.
But at the same time as somebody that wore that uniform,
I know there's got to be an element of pride
and excitement as well.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
I certainly appreciate it. You Yeah, you got it, man.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Thanks for having me to take any time.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Bud, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Rhet lewis joining us on the Java House, Peel and
Poor Guest Line joining us now to talk about what
happened last night at gamebridge Field House. Tony East on
the Java House, Peel and Poor Guest Line. Tony I'm
going to begin with us as opposed to getting into
the nuances of you know, Jamal Murray, like just hit
another three, that kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
When do you believe it or do you have an.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Idea where we are in terms of the Pacers and
just kind of determining the direction of the season in
terms of personnel pursuit of trying to get things righted
versus just accepting the reality of long term like do
you think we're there? Do you think they are now
(15:03):
at the point where they're like, look it's a wash.
Speaker 6 (15:06):
Yeah, I mean, look they're they're four and eighteens.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
I like thee So the Pelicans in twenty twenty one,
twenty two started two or three and sixteen, they made
the play in and then made the playoffs.
Speaker 6 (15:20):
Do the plan.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
The nineteen eighty four.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Eighty five Cavs started.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Two and nineteen and they made the playoffs. So that's
about all the examples I could find of teams starting
this bad and making it.
Speaker 6 (15:32):
That's two and what I can't do master.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
The reality is they Tony And I don't mean to
cut you off there, but because that's my point is
it is very easy to look at it and say, well,
you got no Obi Toppin, you got no aaron Ne Smith.
You've got you know, you've you have Halibert et cetera.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
Do they are you?
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Do you believe that they are still looking at Okay,
once we get everybody back, here's where we are or
is this now already at the point of let's play
out the schedule and then next year we regroup and
we have a chance to find out who and what
we are.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
Yeah, you know next year you don't want to be
doing any finding out right. You'd like to be right
hit the ground running right away. Right, That's what I
think will be interesting about I'll I'll make this up.
But you know, maybe the next six weeks right till
January fifteenth, when everybody can be traded. Like, if you're
the Pacers, you have to toggle all of what you're
talking about, which is finding out stuff and keeping track
(16:30):
of your record and development and all that. But how like,
what are you actually learning without some of these guys.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
You know, they they won a.
Speaker 5 (16:37):
Couple of games last week and they beat that They
won that Horns game and Jay help was really good
and they found this lineup with McConnell and huff around,
Siakam and Matherin and them hard and that's great. And
then you know, I see a lot of comments that
are like.
Speaker 6 (16:51):
Oh, they won, and I get that.
Speaker 5 (16:53):
I get why people want them to lose.
Speaker 6 (16:54):
Like I'm not saying that they're dumb or anything, but.
Speaker 5 (16:56):
It's like that should be the point of this season
is finding lineups like that, right, that do work, and
next year when you're trying to win, you know, Okay,
even when Halberd's on the game, we can turn to
that combo of five or oh, look like last night
Ben Shephard with some spry drives and good defense. Okay,
what happened in that game? And what did we learn
about how we can make that.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Happen more often?
Speaker 5 (17:18):
Hey, maybe Garrison Matthews is the dude on his second
ten instead of his first one. So it's interesting because
learning all that stuff I just said is easier or
more valuable information if they're doing it next to the
other good players.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Right.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
If you learn how to use Shephard alongside Tiakam, that's
very important for next season. But that does come at
it like you're playing Siakame a lot, and they shouldn't
be at his long term future. So all that to
say for the next like four six weeks. I think
that they should continue to just keep doing what they've
been doing, if that makes any sense, because people keep
(17:52):
saying like, oh, they got to start tanking, that they
have four wins. You want to have a negative win,
like they're not doing anything well at the moment in
terms of winnings. But I do think they need to
learn what works, and to do that, you kind of
keep going with what you have. As you get healthier,
you learn some stuff. Maybe you'll never have top In
with your top guys this season because his return will
be really close to the trade deadline. But you know,
(18:13):
outside of that, I think at some point you have
to make a clear goal chain shift. But their record
is so poor at the moment, it's not even really
costing them to keep doing what they're doing and trying
to learn because they're still so close to the bottom
of the standings.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Tony, I came up with a phrase the other day.
I'm very proud of this, okay, and you can use it.
It's fine. This is not like why not Indiana, which
I trademark. You can use this phrase. So I have
nicknames for two kinds of players, and I think you've
heard the first one before. I've said it ten thousand
times on the radio, a twenty twenty five guy. You've
heard me mention a twenty twenty five guy, right.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
Do you know what that is?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Yeah, guys, twenty points per game on twenty five win teams.
The newest that I've come up with, and it's applicable
this year are empty calorie guys. Now, empty calorie guys,
let me explain. Are guys like when you're you're on
the road. You're on a road trip and you got
to get your starving so you stop in a convenience
store and you just get like three bags of chips
and a beef jerkey. Those are empty calories. You got
(19:10):
to eat something, but the calories are offering you know,
long term you know nutrition. Empty calorie guys are guys
that are going out there and they're eating up minutes
and they're filling a roster spot for you and they're
getting you points, but they really don't have any benefit
towards your long term vision. Okay, give me two guys
(19:30):
right now. And maybe the pacers are figuring out and
evaluating who through this process and through ten day contracts
and one year deals and whatever else, you know, they're
figuring out, Okay, who can we keep here that becomes
a thirteenth man for us? And who are empty calorie
guys that are just eating us? Where do you draw
(19:52):
the line in terms of the guys that we've seen
and the field that you get as to which side
each is on?
Speaker 5 (19:59):
Yeah, that's the goal, That's what you're trying to figure out, right,
And Like this will sound the hilarious to say because
it's December fourth, but like that's why I asked Rick
Carli last night about Garrison Matthews and Jeremiah Robinsonuroal, Like
I'm not even necessarily certain either of them are in
the short term more long term plans of the Pacers,
but Jeremia Robinsonurel's twenty five and started games for them
this year. They clearly think something of him. And Garrison
(20:21):
Matthews these last two games has been like, oh, I
this guy can make everything sometimes, but he's twenty nine.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Like is he what you're describing?
Speaker 5 (20:28):
Is he just a guy who's on this team and
his scoring points and they don't win.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
At all and it doesn't matter.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Or is he actually somebody that when they're good, they'd
run around, right? And so it sounds like such micro decisions,
but to them it matters, and we can call them
a thirteenth man or whatever. But like, you know, Ben
Shepherd's not playing well this year, although he's had a
good last five or so games. He was in their
playoff rotation last year. That's what makes this such a
hard evaluation for all these guys, is like it's the
(20:53):
worst possible way to evaluate them with how many guys
are out and how different their roles are from typical
tyas or we know we've seen it twice two playoffs
that Ben Shepherd has made thirty eight percent of his
threes and defended guards and been a fifteen to twelve
minute a game guy on a good winning playoff team.
But on this team, when he's asked to do a
lot more, he probably looks a little bit more like
(21:15):
an empty salaries guy who's turning it over much more
than he has in the past. And his three ball
hasn't fallen really at all this year. So it's like
for him, it's probably super frustrating, And if you're a fan,
you're thinking, why is this guy playing well? It's like,
because he's way better when the team is better, right,
He just the things he provides naturally fit better on
a good team, which is why it's hard to know
what is the line of demarcation for empty calories and
(21:37):
why they're so you know, like focused on development and
making guys get better at lots of skills this.
Speaker 6 (21:42):
Season if they can, because they need.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
To figure that out in any way that they actually can,
which is again why I think that they should keep
trying to play their better players for at least some
more amount of time, like real minutes, and try to
push for something serious. But you know, the swath of
guys who you know, everybody knows who is like real
on this team, Like if you were in the play
affrotation last year, yeah got it, but you know this Walker, Furfey, Robinson,
(22:06):
Earl Matthews quartet, plus their centers. I mean, Jay Huff's
been good of late, although he struggled last night. Idad
Jackson had a Nightmares matchup. All those guys have shown
something for the Pacers before and most except for Huff,
you know, and in most cases.
Speaker 6 (22:20):
For some of those guys in the postseason, you know
what they are kind of all jockeying. I think to
be the guys eight through twelve.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
On the next Pacers team, and so they are kind.
Speaker 6 (22:29):
Of the guys to keep an eye on when it
comes to.
Speaker 5 (22:31):
That, are they scoring a lot right now and showing
you something more because the Pacers are bad, or are
they doing something more because they're actually showing improvement that
could land them a key role on the next team
that we've seen in you know, in Jackson's case and
Shepherd's case a little bit in Walker's case. In the past,
Matthews has played on some playoff teams right that they
can do or is this just a reality of the situation.
(22:51):
It's really hard to find what that answer is on
this team because everybody's role is so different than what
it was or is when this team is supposed to
be good.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Tony the guy that to me has been enigmatic because
I feel like you are still trying to and I
mean you, Tony. I'm saying we in Populace, we're trying
to figure out if Jaris Walker can either be benefit
to Indiana in terms of bringing something on the floor
or be benefit to Indiana because he's intriguing enough that
somebody will trade for him. And I feel like he
(23:20):
has yet to break through and cement either where do
you see him in terms of what his value is
or will be?
Speaker 5 (23:30):
Yeah, what's I don't remember what movie or the saying
is from, but what's the just one? You think you're out,
they pull me back in? Right, whatever that's from? Like,
he was awesome a couple weeks ago. He had that
amazing game against Detroit, followed up with a good shooting game,
has had some really nice rebounding games of late.
Speaker 6 (23:47):
You know, last night it felt quiet.
Speaker 5 (23:48):
I walked away like I didn't really feel like I
felt Jis Walker's impact as much. Need eleven points and
three boards in twenty one minutes and made four of
us seven shots. Like that's a good night, Right, That's
a quality performance from a young player. It's not like,
you know, oh my gosh, this guy's gonna be awesome.
But he also had some real stinkers, right, no doubt
over ten two for nine to one for eight. That
was three games in a row for him to end
that road trip where the Pacers were just awful. Right,
(24:09):
So it's really been and this is true a lot
of young players. He's just been really inconsistent, and that
is the hopeful next step for the Pacers. And determining,
excuse me, what his role could be for them if
if he is playing for them when they're you know,
trying to win next year, is like how can they
get to be more consistent? Because this happened last year too.
I just store on him in late December of last
(24:31):
season and he even talked about, like, yeah, this season
has been up and down for me, And I've referenced
that a million times because he said it and like
he knew he was being inconsistent. I think he felt
that way about this season too. And then from I
don't know, mid January onwards, his role was a little
different and smaller, but he was playing every night and
playing largely pretty well. And then he was playing in
the playoffs until he got hurt in Game six against
(24:51):
the Knicks. So they do have like a three and
a half month staple of him playing consistent basketball for
them last year. But this year, when he's been has
to do more, it's been like it's not even been
a good game and a bad game. It's been an
awesome game and just like an atrocious, awful, holy cow,
what's going on kind of game.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
And that's scary.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
That's really hard to evaluate.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
You have no idea what the.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Four or feeling of that kind of player is. It's
hard to make decisions based on what they could be
in a more stable role when they can't get a
stable role for good reason would do to injury on
your current team.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
So I think they're still.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
Figuring out with him, But I certainly thought he might
look a little better this season in general or on balance,
that he might at least show, you know, three out
of five games or four out of five games, you're
going nice, Okay, he's he looks a little more forcefull
or you know, focused, or his passing looks sharper or whatever.
He still has one turnover a game where he just
throws an atrocious pass even though he made a good read.
(25:46):
So he's got a lot to clean up, even though he.
Speaker 6 (25:48):
Clearly has a solid base of skills.
Speaker 5 (25:51):
And that's for them to figure out by February, right,
because you know, who knows what his value will be
if he goes into year four and doesn't show a
ton of pop. Besides, just like a bench level wing
who's on a somewhat sizeable salary and his rookie deal,
he obviously has a lot of potential, right, he can
kind of shoot. He's got a huge defensive size, but
yet to kind of put it all together for like
ten fifteen games in a row, and so it's really
(26:11):
hard to pin down what his actual value would even be.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
So Jeris Walker is Michael Corleone from the Godfather. That's
what That's what we figured out in this right.
Speaker 5 (26:19):
Tony, should I have just said that instead of talking
for two and a half minutes that.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
No, I'm saying it's great Tony East at Tony R.
East by the way on the expost Twitter. Finally, Tony,
did you and I don't know if you went? Did
you get a I was? I was surprised, Like I'm
leaving the game the other night, I can't remember which
game it was, And I turned around and I'm.
Speaker 4 (26:39):
Like, is that Alla Depot sitting there like behind, like
wearing a hoodie?
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Like?
Speaker 1 (26:44):
And I realized I knew that he was in town
for you know, the Herd in the the G League
game against the Boom.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Did you happen to see him play?
Speaker 6 (26:54):
I did not get to go.
Speaker 5 (26:56):
I had four straight days of hosting family for Thanksgiving.
It was lovely, but made it impossible to leave to
go watch Tail and Peter and Victilady book playing the
boom game.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
You've got four straight days of family. That's impressive.
Speaker 6 (27:08):
We hosted people so uh and they all front worked
from out of state, and then the last day two
others who weren't here originally were passing through from somewhere else,
so we were we were in charge of things.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
And an update for you personally, we got another new
kitten and we're dogs sitting for my wife's parents right now, so.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Our house was standing. The new contains new kitten's name
would be.
Speaker 6 (27:30):
Manny. His name is Manny.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
We have Winston and Manny, Winston and Manny.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Yes, But anyway, because of all that happened at.
Speaker 5 (27:38):
The same time, so we had six people here and
two extra pets.
Speaker 6 (27:43):
A month ago none of them were here and no, no, no,
he is not okay.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
So some things to work out.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
What you're getting at You're still you're still trying to
figure out who are the empty calorie kittens and who's yeah, okay, yeah, I.
Speaker 5 (27:59):
Want them to the empty gallery gittens for like two freakin' seconds,
but that has not happened at all yet, So I'll
do it my.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Best, Tony.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
We appreciate the time as always, Tony East joining us
Java House Peeling Poor Guests Line.
Speaker 4 (28:10):
Appreciate it, Man, Yeah, I'm very.
Speaker 6 (28:12):
Stressed about the Hoosier Week, so glad I got to
not think about that for a couple of minutes.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
Thanks for having me, ton you what it is stressful.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
When you start talking about Ohio sports and notably Columbus Sports.
One of the guys that is one of the real
good guys in the Paddock area when it comes to
IndyCar racing, he has followed the ray Halls forever and
as a result is routinely around Indianapolis, but also all
of the different spots that we have in IndyCar. But
(28:42):
his primary gig for years with the Columbus Dispatch, he
has been covering for over forty two years Ohio sports
and notably the Ohio State football buck Eyes. He now
has the Tim May Show on fanstreamssports dot com and
he joins me now on the Java House Peeling Poor
Guest line Tip May from Columbus, Ohio.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Tim, how are you good?
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Jake? How you doing?
Speaker 7 (29:04):
Man? I've always whatever I have a question, I always
called a query show.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
See, Tim, you are one of literally eighteen people in
the world that know that query means a question, and
I could not be more thrilled for it.
Speaker 7 (29:18):
Right, And that just shows you what state the world
is in as we speak.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Brother.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
See, this is for those that don't know.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
We've already gotten a glimpse of what conversations sound like
in press rooms when Tim and I sit and solve
the world's problems. All right, Tim, let's get to this
Ohio State in Indiana. Obviously, Ohio State is the pedigree program.
Indiana is this incredible Cinderella story that is now no
longer a Cinderella because they've gone past midnight. And oh
you so, I'm curious if you really did have to
(29:49):
in transparency here, what is the Ohio State fan or
just culture perception of Indiana? What is the thought here
of you know it is? How serious do they take Indiana?
Speaker 7 (30:07):
Nineteen eighty seven, Earl Bruce got beat in the Ohio stadium.
I think the score was I think it was thirty
maybe yep, yeah, And Earl Bruce, in the Ohio State
football coach called it the darkest day in Ohio State history,
not Ohio State football history, Ohio State history. And then
the next year Bill Mallory did it two years in
(30:29):
a row, beat Ohio State and beat him thoroughly. For
I'm just throwing a little history out there. I think
it was forty one to seven or something remarkable. And uh,
in my lead in the in the Colembus Dispatch on
my story the next day was a new day has
dawned in the Big ten and uh, little I know
that'd be the last time Indiana would have beaten Ohio
(30:50):
State until as we speak right now. So it's kind
of hard to it's kind of hard to pinpoint we
Ohio State per sieves of Indiana, except I keep pointing
out the people. Indiana under Kurt Signetti has now lost
two games in two seasons, and the two losses worked
(31:13):
to the two teams that played for the for the
national championship last year. They've gone undefeated in this I mean,
you know, Indiana's never been at this level before in
terms of winning on a consistent basis, much less going undefeated.
So you last year, oh my goodness, this year, oh okay,
(31:34):
Kurt Signetti at AL know exactly what they're doing. And
you know, I said back in the late spring, early
summer that my opinion of Indiana was going to be
better than it was last year because it had gotten
key portal, some key portal transferred guys, not the least
of which was Fernando Mendoza, the quarterback from California, because
(31:56):
he was an upgrade you know, no offense to mister Rourke,
but it's.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Definitely upgrade there. And I think.
Speaker 7 (32:01):
Everybody's seen it now. He's depending on where you look at.
He's a Heisman favorite, one of the Heisman favorites, along
with Julian saying, so Saturday night has a lot hanging
in the balance in Lucas Oil.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Do we know' let's talk about the quarterback matchup ten?
Because this is I think you're right, I mean, I
think the Heisman make him down to this game, right,
Julian saying, let's start there. He is a younger player,
he has had a phenomenal year. He has outstanding weapons
around him. Do we know what kind of player he
is when they're his heat on him? Or they have
(32:34):
they adequately protected him so far this year? And can
Indiana get to him?
Speaker 7 (32:41):
Well, I mean we'll have to wait and find out. Jake,
I mean, I know that's a cop out, but but
but Ohio State the offensive line. You know, and now
see the All Big Ten Offensive Award winners and teams,
and they didn't have one member of its offensive line
on the first team on either first team, so I
(33:04):
think as a major oversight by those who voted on
the awards. But the bottom line is we're gonna have
to find out. I mean, this offensive line is playing
at a very high level. As the game went on
on Saturday in the Big House, they took more and
more control of it and it's kind of been fun
to watch as much like last year. You know, Ohioate
(33:25):
got beat by Michigan and it was their second loss,
and a lot of people gave up on the Hosti
football team. But they lost two starters, two major starters
as the season went on. Last year, their center and
their left tackle. Both of them were drafted in the
National Football League, and you know, Josh Summons is playing
first round draft pick in the National Football League. The
(33:47):
left tackle they lost. But the bottom line is the
offensive line. In December through January, the four games they
won to win the National Championship, it was the best
offensive line in the country. I don't think anybody would
argue with that. With the way they took care of
business throughout the playoffs. This offensive line replaced a couple
of starters, but has really grown into itself in the
(34:08):
last couple of weeks. And you know, everybody was poo
pooing their schedule until they played in Michigan and then
they took care of Michigan in a methodical fashion. So
I think they feel pretty good about their ability to
protect the quarterback. But I keep reminding people Indiana didn't
get here on a fluke man. This is no lark.
I mean, Indiana's gotten after people defensively as much as
(34:31):
they have offensively. But you know, we'll see on Saturday
night if o Higo State's offensive line is up to
this test. I mean it's a it's a Indiana pledge.
You pretty straight up gets after you to a certain extent,
but it'll be a man the man kind of battle
there in the trenches.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
What about on the other side of things, Tim tim
May is my guest Java House, peeling Port guest line.
When you look at Mendoza in Indiana trying to keep
him clean. This is an elite level defense for Ohio State.
For Ohio State and their defensive coverage, their strength starts where.
Speaker 7 (35:05):
Starts right in the middle of the defensive line. With
Cad McDonald, who was named the Big Ten Defensive Lineman
of the Year just yesterday, you know, a guy who's
really come into his own. I mean, you know, the
biggest question for us at cover House State and really nationally,
because you have to have some questions right about an
elite program, was what they.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Were going to do.
Speaker 7 (35:27):
They were placing eight starters on the defense and all
four of the defensive line starters were included in that,
and how are they going.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
To rise to that challenge?
Speaker 7 (35:38):
And they really got nobody in the from the interior
for the interior defensive line. They got nobody in the
transfer portal. So the depth was going to have to
come from within. And you know, one of the one
of the great things about Covern Ohio State over the
years is watching guys bubble up, who wait their turn
and bubble up, and uh, you know, we've seen that
on the defensive front. Cad McDonald's a great example of that.
(36:01):
But but almost everybody everybody who's playing this year played
a lot last year, especially that in that playoff run.
But Caden McDonald and now you've got Taiwan Malone who
has come on. Edric Houston was a five star freshman
a year ago. He kind of had a slow start
to this year, helter skelter start, but he's playing extremely well.
I'm talking about the guys on the interior. There will
(36:22):
a guy named Will Smith Junior. I think everybody remembers
Will Smith, the late, late great Will Smith, who was
part of the two thousand and two five state national
championship as a defensive.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
End of his His son is.
Speaker 7 (36:36):
In namesake is a is a tackle in the middle
there who plays plays a pretty good bit recently.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
And then you know they got this guy.
Speaker 7 (36:44):
I don't know if people over in Indiana remember a
guy named Kaden Curry, you know from right there in
Center Grove, right down the street. You know, he played
what three straight, uh three straight Indiana Indiana High school
state championship games there in Lucas Oil and I think
he won two of them. But you know, he and
ken YadA Jackson waited their turn behind Jack Sawyer and JT.
(37:07):
Towey Molowow who returned last year because they wanted another
crack at the brass ring. They got the national championship,
but they didn't beat Michigan, and they didn't win. They
didn't get to play for a Big Ten championship for
the fourth straight year. Well, Kat and Curry's really come on.
He and ken YadA Jackson and everybody watching on Saturday,
number ninety seven. Ken YadA Jackson just has really really
(37:32):
exploded over the last many weeks, and so they feel
pretty good about that defensive front. So it starts there,
and then you've got a guy like Caleb Downs, you
know Big Ten defensive Player of the year, defensive back
of the year who as in essence as a quarterback
at safety, but he can play all in almost seven positions.
(37:53):
And it's not even that he's has kind of his
own special position wherever Matt Patricia puts him or he
decides to go on the defense. And you know the
transfer from Alabama from a year ago who was part
in partial i say defense a year ago. But the
way he gets guys lined up, the way he messes
with the quarterback's head before, during, and after a snap,
things like that, that's that's what they have going for.
(38:15):
I mean, they have the outline backer of the year
in Rvl rees Uh, who's really come on. Under the
matt Patricia system and Sonny Styles who is playing.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
At a really high level. And Jaylen McClain.
Speaker 7 (38:27):
Uh played decently in the in the National Championship run
at the other safety spot. Well boy, did he have
a game on Saturday at Michigan. And then their two
cornerbacks played extensively last year. Jermaine Matthews is a first
time full year starter, but he played. He was on
the goal line stand when they when they held Texas
(38:49):
off last year when Jack Sawyer had the big return,
and Uh and of course Davis and Nick but Nosen.
If he could just keep from grabbing people, he may
be as good a corner as year as in the country.
And I'm not, you know, I'm not. I don't think
this is out purberly. You know how State's got the
number one defense in the country for a reason, and
you know.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
And what's fascinating about this matchup is right there and
I get it. I mean, I don't disagree with that.
But Indian, you know, and then you got Indiana. Statistically,
the areas in which these two teams, these two programs
are one and two or two and one. I mean,
it's it's remarkable the I think these are this is
clearly tim I do. I think this is clearly the
two best teams in the country. The question is is
(39:28):
there a gap there? Now, let's get to the other
side of this. I talked to Graham ray Hill about
this earlier this week. I want your perspective. Has Ohio
State held close to the vest their cards offensively? Have
we seen this offensive Ohio State play on all of
the cylinders with which they're capable of playing.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Well?
Speaker 7 (39:49):
I think the big question about Ohio State, you know,
remember the Saint Louis Rams, the best, you know, the
greatest show on turf.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Yep, you know. The big question was.
Speaker 7 (39:58):
Was whether I they could go on ice or snow
or the four wheel drive kind of approach, which is
what they did last week offensively against Michigan. I mean,
they had a twenty plate twelve minute drive in the
middle of the second half that was pretty cool, except
he didn' score a touchdown and end up kicking a
field goal with so Ryan they didn't give it an
(40:19):
a plus plus on the drive.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
But as far as.
Speaker 7 (40:21):
Eating clocket was but I think you've seen a lot
of waterhouse they's capable of. But they've thrown things out
there of which you know, there are tangents that they
where they can go from the.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Four tight end. Look, they give you that the goal line.
Speaker 7 (40:36):
One of the tight ends ends up being a fullback
in that a lot in an a formation. But they'll
have four tight ends on the field. And you think
you've seen all of those things that you have, and
I mean there are other ways they can go with
that formation in terms of running and throwing the ball.
That's just an example. But you know you've seen Julian saying,
I mean Urban Meyer the other day and he has
(40:57):
no reason to really say this, but thinks he might
be the most accurate quarterback in college football history. I mean,
to watch this guy throw the ball, it's remarkable. And
the wind and snow or the yeah, there was a
decent breeze. Let's put it that a way in Michigan
Stadium last week, the big house. So they need to
shut the windows, I guess. But uh, at the bottom line,
(41:19):
us he uh, you know, he he completed touchdown passes
to all three of his starting wide receivers, Jeremiah Smith,
Carneal Tait on that deep post.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
Uh.
Speaker 7 (41:31):
Of course it broke Michigan's back, but also Brandon Ennis.
They're kind of like forgotten about third wide receiver in
that group. They've got all kinds of things they can
go to from a throwing standpoint, like you said, if
they can protect, and Julian's saying, has shown the ability,
you know, to elude pressure and do it in sort
(41:51):
of a smooth kind of way, and he has also
shown the willingness and ability to run if he has to.
You know, when he came out of Carlsbad, California h
two years ago and initially signed with Alabama, he was
considered one of the elite dual threat quarterbacks in the country.
People forget that and his high school coach. I've had
him on my tim May show several times on the
(42:14):
like you said, fans strange sports just talking about him
and how he's sort of underestimated. I mean, he's even
underestimating how tall he is. People were thinking he was
like Drew Brees height him. He's like six', one just
six y. One but he's just so smooth and sort
of like unflappable and also doesn't say a whole lot
that you you kind of, go how good is this?
(42:35):
Guy and he's what completing seventy eight percent of his.
Passes that's pretty damn. Good and he's only thrown five.
Interceptions one was last week Against, michigan and then he
came back and Cut michigan's heart, out you, know with
some pretty good. Passing so they feel pretty good about.
That but it really helps that they've had a GUY
(42:56):
i only sure you remember this, Name, jake but a
guy Named Bo jackson has emerged as the number one
running back for a house no, relation.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
No relations no relationship To, bo and no relation To Lamar,
jackson who and that's his real, name, Right.
Speaker 7 (43:10):
Yeah well his that's his nickname. Is dad gave him.
BOW i can't remember what his real name, Is.
Speaker 4 (43:15):
LAMAR i think his name Is Lamar. Jackson, yeah, exactly not.
Related i'm, Sorry, yeah he's either.
Speaker 7 (43:21):
Right you were a step and a half ahead of me, There.
Jake that's, why that's why you have this. Show but,
no and Then isaiah.
Speaker 4 (43:29):
Where answers to, HIM i mean real query.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
Is in the, yeah queries in the. Quandaries but, uh
but Also Isaiah west.
Speaker 7 (43:38):
Another both these guys are, FRESHMEN i mean true freshman running,
backs and, uh they really come on of late AS
i like to, Say west likes to go north, south you,
know and he's that kind of put the foot in
the ground and go kind of. Guy And Bo jackson same.
Way and then C. J, donaldson the guy that got
From West virginia transfer running back because he just needed
kind of figure out a way to replace the power
(43:59):
back That Quinn Sewan judkins was a year. Ago they
thought they had the makings to Replace Treyvon, henderson which they,
have but IF. Cj donaldson comes in on really power
situations and maybe pass pro. Situations But Bo jackson's gotten
really good at pass pro.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
Two so they feel really good about this.
Speaker 7 (44:18):
Offense and that's not to, mention you, know Will Keas
merrick And Max. Claire Will Kes merrick transferred From Ohio
university two years ago for the twenty twenty four. Season
Max clair of, course transferred From purdue this. Year at tight,
ends both of them had huge catches in that game
At michigan for example last. Week and that's what that's
(44:39):
what such good quarterbacks apart, man they know where their
tight ends. Are And i've Complimented julian saying on that
to his face a couple of times because he just
seems much older in terms of maturity than his years.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
Would indicate being just A richard.
Speaker 4 (44:55):
Freshman tim May Ohio, State Indiana Saturday.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
Night tim's got permanent Residents indian app because he's always
here covering the speedway as. Well and Then Ohio state's
always playing big games over. Here next, Time, tim when
we have you on study the roster a little, bit would.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
You, YEAH i will do, That. Jake and by the,
WAY i can't wait to get my. Gifts your tip
gets The Saint.
Speaker 4 (45:12):
Elmo's we'll get you hooked.
Speaker 2 (45:15):
Up.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Man we'll get you some of the shrimp. Cocktail. Tim
by the, way The Saint. Elmo, now if just so
you Know tim and for the rest of, You tim
knows this, probably but the shrimp, cocktail you don't have
to go. There you can go To harry and his
is right next. Door in case it's, packed because it
will be for The Big ten title, Game i'm certain of.
That but a good breakdown On Ohio state
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