Previewing IUFB's 2025 Offense- Does Cignetti Have a Trick or Two Up His Sleeve? [347]

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As IU gears up for a crucial 2025 season, the guys on the offensive side of the ball look to replicate a lot of their success from last year.
Curt Cignetti has a new QB1 in town, as Fernando Mendoza takes over for Kurtis Rourke. Roman Hemby, Lee Beebe, and Pat Coogan are among the vital new names that will aim to light up the scoreboard. What should you expect from the Hoosiers offense in 2025?
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hi, you fans. You know what, I'm starting to get that,
I'm starting to get that feeling we're getting through the summer.
You know, Basketball Draft, the NBA Finals, they're in the
rearview mirror and in the land of the Free and

(00:31):
the home of the brave. Once you get to this
time of year, you start, you start feeling, you start
feeling the game of football course through your veins. And
that's kind of what I'm thinking. You know, your Hoosiers
had a memorable twenty twenty four season, eleven and one

(00:55):
college football Playoff appearance. Only two losses of the season
were of the two teams playing each other in the
National Championship Game. And no one wants to see this
team sustain their success. Everyone's saying it's a flash in
the pan. One year wonder Indiana may not even be

(01:16):
ranked in the preseason top twenty five. Imagine how ridiculous
that would be. Matt and I are gonna dive into
some of the new names and the new faces on
this offense, dig into your QB one a little bit.
What are we fired up about? What makes us out
a little bit nervous, and so much more here on

(01:39):
episode three, four to seven of the Hoosier Sound. Where
we are the official podcast of Indiana HQ. We're recording
this edition of the Hoosier Sound on Friday, June twenty seven,
twenty twenty five. I'm your host, Nathan Christinan. Here with
me is my normal co host, Matt Lucans. Matt, Indiana,
They're not gonna keep things going. That year was magical,

(02:03):
It was miraculous. How could Indiana keep this going? We
just saw this a few years ago. The twenty twenty
team was so great, only for everything to crumble and
implode soon thereafter. With that said, Matt, there have been
a lot of moves. This offense is gonna have a
lot of the same system, a lot of the same fundamentals,

(02:26):
but a lot of new names, a lot of new faces.
Just overarching big picture, the way you see this offense
shaping up in twenty twenty five, How excited are you
that they're gonna light up the scoreboard and put up
points in a similar fashion to the way they did
last year.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
I would just like to take a victory lap and
remind everybody the last year, at this time, when everybody
was talking about you football, I was one of the
very few people online talking about how this team had
the chance to go and make the playoffs given the schedule.
All I would like to say, and so I am

(03:07):
again here sitting locally at the schedule saying that this
team has very little chance of making the playoffs this year.
And I know that's gonna that's gonna make a lot
of people very upset, but I just don't see it
given the schedule. But the overarching thought is I think
this team will be better than last year's team on

(03:30):
the field, but this team will not make the playoffs
because they have a harder schedule this year. And that
is why there are gonna be a much better team.
They're gonna go to a New York six Bowl and
they're gonna kick somebody's butt and we're gonna get that
bolt streak losing streak off of our back. But right now,

(03:52):
Gutt thought, it's almost July. What am I thinking about
this team in August, September then and so forth. I
just think the schedule is gonna be too hard. They
have the two hardest games in the entire league this year.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
At ore.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
At Oregon at Penn State at Oregon. After a bye
at Penn State, probably a night game. It's just the
two hardest games you could possibly play next year, just
two losses almost immediately. Would I love for them to
prove me wrong. Yeah, yeah, that would be great. I think, uh,

(04:34):
I think the other hard game. By the way, we
have two other ones, like at Iowa's hard and I
think Illinois at home. I think if you can go
two and two in those games, I think you have
a chance of making the key the college football playoffs.
But again, it depends on how you split them, because
you you beat Illinois, and let's say Illinois has a

(04:54):
bad season, and then you beat Iowa and Iowa's kind
of mid and then you lose the two big games
again this year that you didn't really play. I don't
think they're gonna be selected this year given of how
they performed last year in the noted noted end game.
Whether you believe that's fair or not, and irregardless, that's

(05:17):
going to go into that thought process, is going to
go into the selection of the team this year. Now,
if the team does go and win at Oregon, lose
at Penn State, beat Illinois at home, and then lose
to Iowa, Kenrick, I think they get in right but
they they got to take a scalp this year of

(05:38):
one of the two big teams on their schedule. They
really do. They gotta beat Oregon, they gotta beat Penn
State if you have any shot at making the Collegeball playoff. Now,
if they can beat either of those teams, the ceiling
of this team is much higher than last year's. I
think the defense overall is better. I think the offense
we'll talk about in a second. The offense, especially the starters,

(06:00):
almost all across the board, are better than what they
were last year. Almost the entire offense. Now, you do
lose your offensive coordinator, right or you lose your QB coach,
sorry series, and you sin Sarah to UCLA, you do
lose basically all And we lost Tyler Morris and all
of our wide slot wide receivers from last year, so

(06:23):
they're they're replacing a ton on this roster. But I really, really,
really think that the ceiling of his team is much
much higher than last year's and the floor is higher.
I just think the schedule is, you know, it is
what it is not very fair. It's not very fair
this year, but that's fine. You know, some years you
get last year's schedule which is fantastic, and some years

(06:44):
you're gonna get this year's schedule, which is like, all right,
let's see what they can.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
Do right exactly. And you know, it's funny because this
is the one year in a long time where Indiana
has not faced Ohio State or Michigan.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
And they have a harder schedule than the normally have. Yes,
I know, it's insane to me.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
Yeah, and you're sitting here like, oh, hey, look, could
Indiana run the table? And you know, what are the
what is the upside here? Well, like you said, you know,
in order, it goes home Illinois, So you know, I
would think that's the easiest of those four tough games
that you said, and you get it at home, so

(07:24):
hopefully you're able to knock that one out, get the
win in week four and sort of get this snowball
going in the right direction, right, And then right after
facing Illinois at home, you head to Kinnick so that's
the second tough game in the schedule. And then right
after you go to Kinnick at you do have a
bye week. Oregon also has a bye week, but then

(07:44):
you play the Ducks in Eugene the following week. So
it's three straight games. It's Illinois at Iowa at Oregon.
There is a buy in between the two road games,
but Oregon also has a buye before facing Indiana.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
You have to go two and three in that stretch two.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
And one, yeah, two and one and two out of three.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
Sorry, you have to win, yes, sorry, yes, and then
and then there is a retrieve three.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah. There is a reprieve scheduleized before the road game
in Penn State in November, which, uh, you know, if
the two teams are competing for a CFP spot, Penn
State will feel a lot better about having that game
at home. You know. It's just it makes such a
big difference before IU ends the season home Wisconsin at Purdue.

(08:27):
Let's talk about the quarterback, Matt the new sheriff in town,
Fernando Mendoza six five, two twenty five, two years of eligibility,
little skinny two years of eligibility, good arm experience from

(08:47):
the University of California, Berkeley, where it was originally in
the Pac twelve. Then it became the big the acc
His game by game last year was all over the map,
but you could definitely see why someone with the offensive
coaching reputation of Kurt Signetti and Mike Shanahan wanted to
pursue Mendoza and make him the guy. Big time games

(09:11):
against Stanford, big time games against Florida State. With that said, though,
you know, there was a game against Miami in October
where Mendoza's Cal team and Jonathan Brady's call team also occurrent.
Hoosier took a big lead against the Ducks, the cam

(09:34):
Ward led Ducks on a late Saturday night game on ESPN,
and then they they allowed a pretty historic comeback to Miami,
and the Ducks came back and won in Cal's house,
true road game for Miami in the conference. It was rough, yeah,
and it kind of sullied the rest of the season

(09:55):
for the University of California. They didn't really get that
spark back. With that said, you know, Mendoza did finish
the season strong, great game at Wake in a game
that Cal one. Again we talked about the home Stanford
performance in the rivalry matchup. Mendoza has a skill set

(10:17):
that I think is pretty different to Curtis Rourkes. I
know they're both going to be QB one. I know
they're both going to be QB one but one of
the things that really stood out with Kurt Signetti the
day he was hired, and we talked about it on
this podcast, is that he's won. He's gotten his positive

(10:39):
winning success a lot of different ways. He did it with,
you know, as an assistant with Saban in Alabama. He
did it in the D two and FCS levels before
a year or two in FBS with James Madison. He
did it with different quarterbacks. If you see his last
quarterback at JMU, Jordan McLeod, He's very different than Curtis

(11:02):
Rourke and McLeod is very different than the previous GMU quarterback, Toddsonteo.
There's a wide range of players and skill sets that
Signetti has worked with to become the winner that he
is today, and I think you're gonna see a lot
of that with Fernando Mendoza this upcoming season. You actually

(11:22):
said it immediately, you were like six two two twenty five.
He didn't look very big, he doesn't look very thick.
He doesn't look like Nate Sudfeld did when he was
slinging it in Indiana back in the early twenty tens.
Mendoza is going to be more mobile than Curtis to work.
I think the running the QB run game is going
to be a little bit more featured in Indiana than

(11:43):
wasn't previous in the previous season, especially when you consider
that unlike Curtis Rourke, as the story came out after
the season, Mendoza's got two good knees, which I think
will go a long way in helping India use the
QB in their run game a little bit, you know.

(12:05):
With that said, like Mendoza did have a seventy five
PFF grade as far as the quarterback position is concerned
last year. A lot of turnover worthy plays, a lot
of pressures in his face from opposing defenders, a lot
of sacks taken. There are sparkling performances. There are rough

(12:25):
games like the one he had I think it was
against you know, a little bit against Miami, but also
kind of a rough game against UC Davis in the
season opener, a little bit of a rough game against
Syracuse and a home loss. Summarized Fernando Mendoza Matt for
the folks listening, you know what excites you about Mendoza,

(12:47):
what gives you a little bit of concern and is
he a quarterback that can help sustain the success that
Indiana had from last season, even if it doesn't mean
a CFP appearance.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
Oh, he for sure can help us sustain success. Now,
Is he Curtis Rourke and a gunslinger and out there
hitting NFL caliber throws every single Saturday afternoon. No, but yes,
but no, Like he's got a really he's got a
really really good arm. He's just not ror And like

(13:22):
we were, we were treated, we were we were hampered,
we were Yeah, was spoiled. That's the word I'm looking for.
We were spoiled last year with with what Rourke brought
to the table for the team.

Speaker 3 (13:34):
On and off the field, right, I mean the leader
and off the field, playing through a torn a c
L all year long, leading this team, playing through injury,
playing through a broken thumb, hand on line the hand,
like he did everything for this team.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
Like and that guy, that guy, that guy. At the
end of the day, I hope gets a little something
something a memorial stadium for what he did, like I like,
like I think I know he was there for one year.
I know that's reserved for for very special players. But
to be the leader, and I think he was a
captain right being being being the leader of that team,

(14:14):
being banged up as he was putting it all on
the line for the university, for a program that really
hasn't done anything in his history at all. Exactly is
I mean? It means the world to me, it means
the world to everybody else.

Speaker 1 (14:28):
I'm sure listening to this podcast me too. And so.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
I don't think Mendoz is that guy. What I do
think mendo is is Mendoz is a much better fit
in the system, is what he is. The way that
that signety likes his quarterbacks to play is for the
quarterback to be able to move well. Last year we
had a quarterback that for all year had a torn

(14:56):
a cl allegedly, and then for that other half year
had a broken thumb right And so you had a
guy back there that was really a mobile and he
did fantastically with what he had and what he could
do and what he could work with. But this is
a dude in Mendoza that can do everything the coaching
staff wants him to do and more right, you.

Speaker 1 (15:19):
Think about the rollout, decide the pocket, You think about
you know, hey, occasional cube design QB run. You think about, hey,
let's scramble if the if the receivers can't gain separation,
you don't have to force throws into tight windows. Having
Mendoza have a quarterback.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
How many times last year did we watch Rourke actually
run on RPO like this is?

Speaker 1 (15:43):
This isn't the whole season can actually give a like
I think it's maybe ten eight eight, eight to twelve ten.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
I think it might be ten to fifteen. Misunderestimating him,
but wheel only in some of the biggest games would
he do this?

Speaker 1 (15:59):
Right?

Speaker 2 (15:59):
I think you could see Mendoza, do you know, escape
out of the pocket maybe like five to six times
a game exactly where instead of maybe once or twice
a game. Right, And so this is going to prolonged drives.
And again that's a team this is you know we have.
We're a team that likes to score fast, but also

(16:20):
can do the three play first down, three play first down,
slow and methodical run the ball on third down. He
doesn't see anything downfield, He's not going to try to
force something when he can just run with the ball.
That's not again, that's not something that Roork could ever
do last year, and he would have done it if
he could. But he really couldn't given what his injury was.

(16:44):
And so I think Mendoza is going to help this
offense stay on the field a lot longer, which in
turn obviously gives you guys know a lot about football.
I don't explain this to you, but we'll help the
defense out a bit by you know, keeping them more
fresh and keeping them sitting on the bench and get
cool and getting more water, you know, as as the
other side of all kind of takes care of business.

(17:06):
And you add in the obviously we'll talk about them
a second. The two running backs you've added in the
portal to a quarterback that can now run to an
offensive line that is, you know, basically positioned by position
upgraded this year, So like, this team is going to
be able to control games much more than they were
able to last year, which is crazy given the fact

(17:28):
that we scored the second most points in all of
college football last year.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
So yeah, yeah, yeah, especially from a points per game standpoint,
truly a special season offensively, and then it's like, Okay,
what can Indiana roll over from last year to keep
this train going in the right direction. Mendoza had fifty
two like rushes last season, and I know, like I'm

(17:51):
not including sacks in this because I know in college
football sacks are you know, removed from a quarterback's rushing stats.
I'm just talking about straight run, whether it's a designed
runners scramble. Last season and those at fifty two of
those that accumulated three hundred and thirty four yards just
on the ground. You know, you know, that's like a fourth,

(18:13):
a third or fourth running back option. Indiana has three
solid running backs in the backfield this upcoming season, solid
and then some. But you add this extra wrinkle and
I think that's what Mendoza is gonna do this year
that Curtis Shork didn't. I'm not saying Mendoza as the
skilled pastor that Roork is, because he's not. But when

(18:33):
it comes to good but he's sure not at the
level of precision and as surgeon like as you move
down the field, whether it's short, medium or deep. Curtis
Shark was as skilled of a college passer as it gets.
And I wouldn't be surprised by the way if Curtis

(18:53):
Shork exceeds expectations in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
He's a seventh rounds surprising thing.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
I know, he's a seventh round pick. But again the
forty nine ers have done it with the seventh rounder before.
Purty's going to be the QB in San Francisco. But
I could see Wark step up Scholott in the preseason.
And then there's a team out there that says, whoa,
actually we didn't realize how good he was. Wow, Like, actually,
you know what, maybe we need to trade a little
bit something something for Curtis Short and have him on

(19:21):
our Sunday game day roster. But Mendoza is going to
add a curveball, a change up and a sweeper, yeah,
to Kurt Signetti's offensive portfolio, to his choice, and that
includes Mike Shanahan as well, you know, as the as

(19:43):
the coordinator. Like last year, it was kind of clear
early in games Indiana's offense was going to blow the
opponent out of the water. There weren't there. There wasn't
really you know, a chess match, a back and forth

(20:06):
aspect to Indiana's offense for most of the season. Against
Notre Dame, you saw the reverse correct where the Irish
defense pretty clearly was like we figured this out, we
figured this out. We know what this Indiana offense can do.
We know what their strengths are. We know what their

(20:26):
limitations are. We're gonnaybe overwhelm the offensive line. Maybe Curtis
work was a little bit off. Maybe the home crowd
was unbelievable in South Bend that night. And at the
end of the day, it was like, you couldn't you
couldn't throw a change up against Notre Dame. And by

(20:47):
the way, once it turned after the first ten minutes
against Ohio State, that's what happened as well. Once the
Buckeye defense figured it out, Caleb Downs and JT. Tuymoloau
and the rest of that defense, like once they solved
Indiana's offense, that kind of told the whole story. Yeah,

(21:12):
college football, especially at the top of the game, there's
a lot of push and shove. There's a lot of
back and forth. There's a lot of Hey, the offense
has a script for the first quarter, and then the
defense makes an adjustment, and then the offense says, oh,
let's do something different, and then you've got the two

(21:33):
minute drill, then you got halftime, and then you have
four or five new things that take place in the
second half. At the top of the game, that's what
you see more often than not. Indiana didn't have that because,
let's face it, in ten out of the twelve games
last year, including the Bucket game, it was pretty clear

(21:58):
from the jump that Indiana was going to, you know,
smack the opposing team like a pinata at an eight
year old birthday party, you know, like it was. It
was explosive, it was fireworks. And even the Washington game, right,

(22:20):
I know it was a little closer than we'd like.
Even the Michigan game, I know it was a little
bit closer than we'd like, But I felt like Indiana
had enough answers to get across the finish line in
those games too. I didn't feel like there were too
many chess match type adjustments back and forth. So I
think that's what Mendoza is gonna give kurtz Signetti this year.

(22:43):
There's a little bit less consistency, there's a little bit
less precision for sure, but there's an X factor variability
element that may lead to Indiana winning a game unexpectedly
on the schedule and also maybe dropping a game unexpectedly
on the schedule, And it's one of those things where

(23:05):
it's like, well, you know, I don't know exactly how
this is gonna go. So I'm excited to see what
Fernando Mendoza can bring to the table. He looked fine
during the spring game. Let's move on to, you know,
talking about this backfield, Matt, because that is one of
the things I think Indiana will be able to rely
on the most this upcoming year. Kylon Black is back

(23:27):
as Indiana's I think more of the short yardage goal
line guy. Make sure, hey, if Indiana needs a couple
of yards, he's able to get there. But the two
incoming transfers are the ones that I think a lot
of people are excited about. Roman Henby from Maryland, Lee
bb out of UAB. They're gonna give you a lot
in a running game, mat, but I think they're gonna
give you a hell of a lot in the passing game. Two.

(23:48):
Not quite sure what Indiana is gonna do as far
as the slot receiver. Of course, elijaester At and Omar
Cooper are gonna be major factors on the boundary. But
what Indiana does, whether it's the slot, the tie, the
running back in the passing game, is going to be
a fascinating development over the course of September this upcoming season.
Talk to me about what fires you up about Lee

(24:10):
Bebe Roman Hemby. We saw himby have a great game
against Indiana with Maryland last season, and when he announced
he was coming to AYU, I was pumped. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
I mean Hemby is a explosive home run hitting back
and you mentioned it. We saw it when we played Maryland,
like I gave us fits, right, and when he's on
and he's got a whole the size of Montana to
run through, I mean that guy is hard to stop
in the second second level and then he's gone, right,

(24:43):
he's got that. He's got that speed in open space
that just electrifies teams, right.

Speaker 1 (24:50):
And that could be really important next year, right like
last year it felt like, hey, if Tyson Lawton broke through,
it wasn't an eighty yard touchdown. It was maybe a
twenty five thirty yard game.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
Yeah. And the same thing with Jordan.

Speaker 1 (25:05):
Ellison, Justice Ellison, just Elison, the same thing.

Speaker 2 (25:08):
Just that was the same thing. I didn't see just
Elison having that level of you know, space making speed
like he was got a You broke a couple of
really big runs, but it was just because teams were
overplaying to one side or the other or the offensive line,
and Zach Horton did a fantastic job of blocking. He

(25:29):
had a big hole to run through and had a
lot of space in front of him. But but no,
I mean what I was gonna say this about Mendoza,
But I'll say this about the running backs. Well, last
year's offense was fantastic. It was great, but it was
very two dimensional. It was we're running it down your
throat or throwing it over your heads. This year's offense

(25:54):
is three D maybe even four.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
There's more in there, exactly there.

Speaker 2 (25:59):
There's more. You got running backs in BB and HEMB
that can catch the ball out of the outfield. They're
gonna be elite in screens. All right, Great, you got
a quarterback that can run okay, awesome on the RPO plays.
You have more things for the defense to actually genuinely
think about. Right, Your wide receivers are another year older.

(26:23):
That's fantastic. I don't know what you're doing with your
slot receiver, and I think that terrifies a lot of
other teams. And I think the tight end room, I
think Zach Corton is fantastic. By the way, I'm not
saying Za Corton isn't a great player, but I think
the tight end room in general has been upgraded. Those
guys can all do a bunch of different things, right,
and so going into this year, I've said before and

(26:43):
the offensive line is better. So every position on the
offense in my opinion other than QB has been upgraded.
Or it's guys that have stayed over from last year
that were fantastic and Suratt and Cooper. So I think
you're right. Henby has breakout speed. Bebie's a guy that
can do it all out of the backfield. He can

(27:05):
do He's like a utility knife. He reminds me a
lot of because I'm an Eagles fan, so he reminds
me a ton of Darren Sprolls, where he's a guy
that he's a guy that you can just hand the
ball off to and you know he's gonna get you,
like a five yard game, or like any before a
three or a five yard game, you know what he's

(27:26):
gonna do it, He's gonna fall forward. He's not a
gigantic guy, he's not physically imposing, but he's just crafty.
And then on top of it, he's a very good
receiving bang. So that's pretty good and then we have
Klon Black coming back from last year, who at times
last year, especially late in games when he was playing
more over tysonon and and and Allison really showcase that

(27:51):
he has a ton of talent. He's just hasn't He's
just he's green, he hasn't hasn't really played a don
But you have a a back with tons of promise.
You have a back that has played Big ten football
before in hen Bey who's done fantastically well, albeit he
has been a little bit inconsistent. And I believe you

(28:12):
had problems with fumbles last year if I remember correctly.
And then you have Babe, there's a guy you know,
coming up a level right right, playing out a smaller school,
but as a dude that on paper looks like he
can give this offense a more three dimensional look out
of the running back room. So I like to cover
all these different bases with the pickups in the running

(28:35):
back room, and overall, I feel like it's a deeper
and more stable room going into next year.

Speaker 1 (28:41):
Yeah. I think that's the unique factor about this team, right,
Like so many folks last year, at this point, we're
talking about how Kurtz Signetty is bringing over guys from JMU.
And look, especially on the defense, We're gonna have some
JMU guys that are going to be the core of
what this defense does. Right, Mikhael Kamara, Aiden Fisher, D'Angelo

(29:03):
ponds like they are arguably the three best players on
this team on the offensive side. Especially. What has caught
my attention is that Kurt Signetti. Yes, he did lose
some of his JMU players, He's filled them in with
Power five incoming transfers in the portal. You know, I

(29:27):
know you talked about BB out of UAB, but Roman
Hemby he's coming in from Maryland. Fernando Mendoza, he's coming
in from cal Cowe, right. You know Jonathan Brady his
teammate also at cal pat Coogan the center coming over
from Notre Dame.

Speaker 2 (29:45):
Notre Dame.

Speaker 1 (29:46):
Zen Mahalski was a part time starter on the offensive
line at Ohio State. Holden Stace, I believe, was at
Miami last year.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 1 (29:58):
I know that that doesn't all always translate to success.
But before you're willing to write off this Indiana team
as a fringe, you know, seven and five, eight and
eight or eight and four or oh, they're gonna go
under their win total this upcoming year. You don't have
to bet on Indiana. I wouldn't bet against Indiana. That's

(30:20):
all I'm gonna say. You know, I understand if you
don't want to buy into the playoff. I understand if
you don't want to hype, you know, buy into the
hype the Big ten title. Oh, they're gonna do all
these great things. This fine, but I wouldn't bet against
them because, as we've talked about, now, with this skills
set on offense, they can do different things than what

(30:41):
they did last year. They have five or six or
seven tricks up their sleeve. There were twenty nine running
backs in all of FBS matt last year that had
thirty receptions. There were twenty nine, okay, one hundred and
thirty odd FBS teams. Twenty nine running backs had thirty

(31:04):
receptions or more, and Lee Bebe is one of them.
Roman Henby is another. So I understand Tyson Lawton's very fact.
I understand Justin Selson did a lot of good things.
But you're bringing in a couple of guys they're gonna
have They're going to add a whole new element. And
what I like about Indiana schedule. I know you talked

(31:26):
about some things you don't like. What I do like
is that Indiana is gonna have three games to get
things right early on. Yeah, they're gonna be able to
figure some things out, you know, Old Dominion, Kennesaw State,
Indiana State, figure some things out, what works, what doesn't work.
You still end up winning those games by an average
of thirty and then it's Illinois at home Week four.

(31:49):
You know, like, I like how that part of the
schedule sets up compared to what happened in twenty twenty one,
where after a great season, your first game was a
brutal road environment in Kinnick and it really derailed things
from the start in that twenty twenty one season. So
I'm very excited about what this backfield is going to offer.

(32:11):
You know, you talk about some of the other running
backs in college football last year that had thirty or
more catches. How about Woody Marx who's in the NFL
now out of USC cam Skataboo who's in the NFL
now out of Arizona State, Texas. A team that was
in the CFP won a CFP game, also had two
running backs last year with thirty catches and Trey Wisner

(32:31):
as well as Jaden Blue. Jaden Blue now might be
a starter for the Cowboys by mid season. Wouldn't surprise me,
Nick Singleton, how much hype does he get every season.
He also is in that list of running backs that
had thirty or more receptions last year, Omari and Hampton,
who was one of the most coveted running backs in
last year's NFL draft. He also reached that level as

(32:54):
far as the thirty catch plateau platform is concerned, as
it relates to running backs in the FBS level. So
think about how frequent you saw a running back screen
last year at IU. It didn't happen all that much.
Think about how much you saw a half back draw
on third and long. You didn't really see it that much.
Even even on first and ten, you didn't see it
that much. Right, Like, it wasn't really a part of

(33:14):
the offense last season. A toss plays sweet play to
get guys out on the perimeter. How often were the
running backs just a security blanket or release valve in
case there was pressure in Curtis Shork's face, not at all.
Like a lot of those plays ended up going to
Keyshawn Williams or Miles Price or Curtis Shark ended up
throwing the ball away or taking a sack. This is

(33:35):
what I really like about Kurt Signetti. He builds to
a plan. There's no question at Fernando Mendoz's biggest weakness
to me right now is what happens when there's pressure
in his face. There is a little bit of a chaos,
panic mode that he goes into that you know, at
least through two seasons at col that's what happened. Kurtz

(33:57):
Signetti said, Well, I'm not gonna throw you under the bus, brother,
I'm gonna give you an offensive line. I'm gonna give
you a couple of running backs that can catch the football.
I'm gonna give you a couple of wide receivers that
can act as deep threats when everything does stay on scheduled,
when everything does stay on time. And then there are
a couple of other deep home run threats that are

(34:18):
in this depth chart as well. So that's what makes
Kurt Signetti special. In addition to everything else, the offense
is built with the plan, and Signetti, as much as
anyone understands the strengths and weaknesses of his quarterback and
builds around it. So I'm really looking forward to seeing
that develop, especially over the course of September. Before that

(34:38):
Week four game against Illinois. We're gonna dive into this
offensive line, the tight ends, the wide receivers here coming up.
But first it's time for who won the week this
past week? And I use sports and how about a
tip of the cap to softball player Brianna Copeland as

(35:00):
well as swimmer Jason Yepp who won the Big Ten
Medal of Honor just this past week. It's an award
that was established a long time ago, and it's been
in existence for over one hundred years. It's the conference's

(35:21):
most prestigious award because they give it out for student
athletes that combine the academics with the athletics at the
highest level in this conference. And you know Copeland who
was such a special four year softball player at Indiana

(35:42):
throughout her career both on the mound and at the plate,
as well as Jason Yepp, who stunned in the NCAA Championship,
especially in the two hundred yard breaststroke event. The athletic
accomplishments speak for themselves for both Copeland and yet but

(36:05):
the academics as well for both of them, just off
the charts through the roof both Copeland and Yep. The
big Time Medal of Honor recipients so incredible to see
for both of them. They unquestionably won the week this
past week and I use sports, But folks, this is
a quick reminder. If you enjoy our show, leave us

(36:27):
a review, head over to Apple Podcasts. Leave us a review.
That stuff matters, you know. It helps us really pop
up on your algorithms, help up pop up on your
search queries. Leave us a review, Tell a friend, share
our links. That kind of support really helps us grow
this podcast and reach more passionate I You fans such
as yourself, remember on social media can find us at
the Hoo's your Sound or at Indiana h Q. Let's

(36:53):
talk about the wide receiving core here, Matt, Yes, sir,
Fantasy football over everything. We'll get to our trenches soon enough,
but Elijah Surrat and Omar Cooper return, and I am
so excited to see both of them in an IU
uniform once again. I can't believe we're at this point,

(37:16):
but I think the two most underrated receivers in the
league play for Indiana.

Speaker 2 (37:25):
I mean like we're.

Speaker 1 (37:29):
And we're sitting here talking about Sarrat and Cooper as if, oh,
you know, their potential breakout players in twenty twenty five
in college football, like Elijah Surrat should be talked about
on the level of, you know, one of the best
NFL draft prospects at wide receiver and I'm talking about one.

(37:52):
I'm not talking about top eight or top ten, okay,
And if Jeremiah Smith was eligible, he'd be on his own,
but he's not. So elijahs are At, to me, should
be talked about as a premiere NFL draft prospect at
the wide receiver position this upcoming season, especially when you

(38:14):
think about how Tech McMillan this past year was a
top ten draft pick and in that conversation as far
as a top receiver available in this class, elijaster A
to me, matches a lot of those matches a lot
of that skill set. And then there's Omar Cooper. And
if you care about college players staying with the school

(38:36):
that recruited them in high school instead of quickly turning
their back for greener grass and cleaner waters and immediately
jumping to the next transfer portal opportunity, If you really
care about wide receivers who not only stay with the

(38:58):
school that recruited them in high schoo but wide receivers
that continue to show steady improvement, then Omar Cooper is
your guy. Omar Cooper Junior is your guy. You should
be going to Omar Cooper's nil merch and buying everything
that's listed on there, because all this guy does is

(39:20):
play for the name on the front of the jersey,
and all this guy does is continue showing steady improvement.
There are other questions after Surrat and Cooper Matt that
we'll dive into, but just starting with these two guys,
how exciting is it to see those two back in

(39:42):
an Indiana uniform. Last year Surret nine hundred and fifty
seven yards, eight touchdowns, last year Omar Cooper six hundred yards,
seven touchdowns, twenty one yards per reception. I am so
pumped to see Surrat and Cooper back in the Cream
and Crimson this upcoming season.

Speaker 2 (39:56):
I was worried going into last year with their Rourke
and these guys would get a connection with one another,
And boy was I'm so not worried about anything. I mean,
just elite wide receivers and who've seen Indiana's head really
good wide receivers in the best.

Speaker 4 (40:16):
Especially to my especially out wide Cody Latimer, Cody Latimer,
Mitchell Page, which is but.

Speaker 2 (40:26):
But like a bunch of really good and a lot
of just come through. Sarah and Cooper might be the
best pair of receivers that I've seen. Simmy Copp, I
sim Cops great. I like Simmy Cops. Don't talk about
Simmy Cops like that, I like.

Speaker 1 (40:45):
I like him too. I'm just thinking about the lineage
of great outside wide receivers in Indiana Head James Hardy,
Simmy Cobbs.

Speaker 2 (40:52):
It's Hardy, Simmy Cobb all the other are great. These
two are a duo that I you, throughout his history
really just hasn't had right, They just really really haven't.
I mean, Omark Cooper is only going to get better.

(41:12):
Heck yeah, Sarrat is already amongst the Big Ten's best.
I mean, it's not even counting the rest of the
guys on this roster. Like this, this receiving room is
a treasure trove of players for Mendoza to throw to.
And so again I expect a lot more back shoulder

(41:33):
throws from from Mendoza to these guys and a lot
more touchdowns from a Cooper this year.

Speaker 1 (41:41):
So good, so good. The back shoulder special Indiana, really
Indiana is really able to make the most out of
that type of throw last year. The improvement that Cooper
has shown is just is just so awesome. I mean,
talk about somebody who didn't play it all really his
fresh his true freshman season when true freshmen were getting

(42:05):
thrown out on the field baptism by fire, left, right
and center. Yeah, and then he just kept getting better.
You know, two hundred and fifty yards is his red
shirt freshman season. And then we talked about last year,
the six hundred with the seven touchdowns. Just consistent improvement

(42:29):
week after week, month after month, season after season out
of Omar Cooper. He has the potential to be really,
really really special this upcoming year. Have that connection with
Fernando Mendoza. But with that said, Matt like, there are
a couple of guys behind Surrat and Cooper that have

(42:53):
my attention a little bit. We talked about We've talked
about E. J. Williams before returning Hoosier looked like he
was gonna hit Portal waters, but actually he said, you
know what, I don't mind coming back to Indiana and
figuring it out with the offense that I've learned and

(43:15):
sort of downloaded through a season already. Then you got
Makai Jackson who comes over really is a deep ball
threat from Appalachian State. Jackson was a teammate of Elijah
Surat at Saint Francis, PA back in twenty twenty two.

Speaker 2 (43:36):
My mom's Almama.

Speaker 1 (43:37):
How about that? In twenty twenty two, And by the way,
Makai Jackson actually outproduced Surrat in what was the true
freshman season for both of them. I'm sure they're not
talking about that too much behind the scenes. Well, I mean,
wide receivers don't trash talk.

Speaker 2 (43:59):
They would the wide receivers would never laud over other
wide receivers about numbers. It's not possible.

Speaker 1 (44:10):
Then you've got Jonathan Brady who has a an established
relationship with Fernando Mendoza from CAL. But curiously, Brady actually
was a slot specialist at New Mexico State before making
a year to move to Cal for a year and

(44:31):
now wearing the Cream and Crimson. And then, by the way,
you got speedster Charlie Becker, who's a true Indiana guy.
High school recruit had his true freshman year last year,
and you know may emerge on the step chart as
you look at some of the depth options at wide receiver,

(44:53):
Matt Who's the one or two guys that really stand
out to you? And you know, do you think any
of them could be relied upon in the slot now
that Indiana doesn't have Miles Price or Keyshawn Williams.

Speaker 2 (45:09):
Yeah, that's a great, great question. Again, we're supposed to
have a slot receiver, Like we went out and got
the guy from Michigan's name is Tyler mor Tyler Morris.
We got Tyler Morris from Michigan, who I was super
super excited about because I know, having hung out with

(45:30):
Aunt a bunch and all of Ant's followers, they're all
Michigan people. I've I've watched Michigan football for like the
last three years pretty closely.

Speaker 1 (45:39):
I mean, I want to end up Premier program.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
In the Premiere Program, Yeah, for pretty much to three years. Yeah, yeah,
And so you know, I've I've watched a ton of
their games and Tyler Morris has played in a bunch
of them. He had a huge game in the Rose
Bowl when they went on to win the National Championship.
He had a couple of really really important plays in

(46:03):
that Rose Bowl game, allad Michigan to even make it
to the National Championship. So that sucks leaving him, but
losing him. But the fact that Jonathan Brady and Makai
Jackson both have slot experience, to me, completely relieves my worries.

(46:24):
Now that being said, if we hadn't gone out and
gotten Brady sure in the spring portal, I might have
been a little bit more insecure about the spide receiver
room me too. But now you have competition, and competition
breeds excellence, and so you have two guys that are

(46:46):
for sure competing for one spot to start and get
more touches of the ball and more plays than the other. Right,
So they're going to work that out in practice, and
I trust the coaching staff's ability to decipher which one
is better than the other one. And so I have
zero worries about this, this starting group of wide receivers

(47:09):
and even the backups you talked about Charlie Becker's uh
prospect that people have been talking out for a couple
of years now as a guy that could really break out.
I think that's just bound to happen this year if
there's God forbid and opening up one of the receiver spots.
You know, E. J. Williams is somebody who've seen come

(47:31):
in and do excellent things in the field. In the
small amount of time that he has played, He's made
some big plays, and so he's a guy that I
think can come in and rescue situations from from every
now and then and make a good play when the
defense might not be expecting him to, because again he
doesn't have a ton of tape in an eye uniform.

Speaker 1 (47:54):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
So I really really like depth of this wide receiver room.
I like the fertility. I like you have guys that
are gadget guys. They're different things that they do. Sarratt
is a different receiver from Cooper. Cooper is a different
receiver from Brady. Brady's a different receiver from Jackson. Jackson's
a different receiver from Williams, and Becker. Blah blah blah

(48:16):
goes on. They're all different. They're all so different, but
they also offer similar things in certain ways. For example,
like I said, Brady and Jackson both have slot experience,
but Jackson is much more of a home run guy,
where Brady is a more solid target and a more
consistent target. You know, Surrat isn't going to get you

(48:40):
a home run play, but he can get you a
nice twenty to thirty yard game and be a reliable
third down catch, you know, pass catcher. And you have
Omar Cooper who can add a home run. We've seen him,
had a bunch of.

Speaker 1 (48:56):
Them, and he won yards per catch last year.

Speaker 2 (48:58):
You kidding meet twenty one yards for catch? Right as
a guy that can go along, but also a guy
who can be a reliable pass catcher in short down
situations as well. He can do both, but he's very
much well, very much more well known for his long,
big game busting plays. And so I like how all

(49:20):
these receivers kind of work their way around being able
to fit multiple different style of routes, multiple different styles
of offense. We know that Sarat and Cooper are willing
blockers as well, and so again that is something else
I want to see out of Brady Jackson. Are they

(49:42):
willing to do the dirty work? Because I'm going to
assume the one that you know kind of separates himself
because they're both great players, but the one that the
reason they're going to separate themselves. Is the one that's
willing to do the dirty work and willing to do
the front work. Is the one that Signetty's gonna put
out there, because again, his offense is going to be.

Speaker 1 (49:59):
Running the ball for focus.

Speaker 2 (50:01):
No matter the focus is that RPO, that running the
threat of running the ball is the most important part
of all this entire offense, which is why I've said
before the fact that we didn't have a quarterback that
was able to run it still did as well as
it is insane to me, but but yeah, I really
look forward forward to seeing what the s wide receiver

(50:23):
corps can do given the weapons that surround them on
the in the QB spot, in the running back room,
and now in the offensive line, in the tight end room.
There's it's a much more well rounded offense this year
than it was last year. And last year we had
the second most points per game in college football.

Speaker 1 (50:46):
That's a hilarious sentence right at the end there. Indiana
had the second most points per game in college football.
So good, I love it, So good, I love it. Honestly,
I'm not gonna lie. The last ten minutes has kind
of fired me up for this wide receiving corps like good.

(51:08):
I'm pretty pumped because you're right, Like the theme of
this offense this upcoming season is going to be keeping
defenses off balance.

Speaker 2 (51:17):
It's going to be it's keeping it's that's what I say.
It's multiple multiple dimensionality, that's.

Speaker 1 (51:23):
What multiple dimensionality. You have freedom, you have options, you have,
not the option. I don't think that's going to be
an option.

Speaker 2 (51:31):
I think the option you have you have.

Speaker 1 (51:40):
I mean, I don't want the option, but I like options.

Speaker 2 (51:46):
And hey man, it works for army.

Speaker 1 (51:50):
No, remember we don't.

Speaker 2 (51:52):
Remember do you remember? Do you remember we had this
discussion we had this discommission on this very podcast probably.

Speaker 1 (52:01):
Two years ago, that sounds right, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (52:04):
A summer discussion we had on this podcast. If somebody
could go find it, that'd be awesome. But we were
talking about what we would do after Tom Allen and
I think one of us proposed a question, would you
accept a coach that ran the option? Because we were
talking about.

Speaker 1 (52:21):
How Williams.

Speaker 2 (52:24):
We were talking about exactly. We were talking about how
in order to for EE you to compete in the
Big ten, we can't compete like the big boys do
that we had to take an angle at competing at
time we had to do something funky, like there's a
fields something out of left field, and going and getting

(52:45):
a six year old head coach with barely any Power
five experience and him bringing over half a roster of
guys that have played at multiple divisions of football is
a way of you know, angling at it. It's just
not as extreme as going triple option.

Speaker 1 (53:06):
Military service academy style. I'm really impressed at a couple
of things. First of all, Makai Jackson, PFF loved him
last year. He talked about someone that last year at
Appalachian State good offense, eighty targets ended up producing you know,

(53:27):
forty six catches, seven hundred and forty five yards, five touchdowns,
a PFF grade in the seventies, which you'll take every
day of the week for someone who's on the field.
Quite a bit. That real vertical threat exists as far
as Makai Jackson AA dot average depth average depth of
target of seventeen yards, which exceeds the A DOT of

(53:50):
Omar Cooper and Elijah Surratt. So when you think about, hey,
when Curtis worked targeted Surat and Cooper, a lot of
that was deep a lot of that was down the field.
Makai Jackson had a higher a longer average depth of
target than Sarratt and Cooper. So app States quarterback was
pumping the ball down the field to Makai Jackson and

(54:12):
it was fairly successful with that PFF grade in the seventies,
even though app State's quarterback is actually intercepted five times
throwing two Makai Jackson. So if you eliminate a couple
of those, I'm sure the PFF grade gets even bumped
up a little bit more as far as Jackson's concerned.
And then with Jonathan Brady, the number that really stands

(54:35):
out with Jonathan Brady when you really dig into what
could persist that Indiana, what could really help his case
in Indiana contested catch percentage. Brady last year had sixteen
contested targets from Fernando Mendoza and Brady caught ten of
those ten out of sixteen contested. So it's not a

(54:57):
fifty to fifty ball with Jonathan Brady. It's not even
a sixty forty ball. It's a sixty five to thirty
five ball when it comes to Jonathan Brady against a
corner in tight space and tight coverage. I love seeing that.
That's a percentage higher than Elijah Surat. That's a percentage
higher than Omar Cooper and Surat and Cooper, especially Surat,

(55:20):
are excellent at that contested catch rate, that contested catch
percentage compared to their college football piers in the Power
five level at the wide receiver position. So seeing Jonathan
Brady put together a contested catch percentage in the sixties, again,
it's not a fifty to fifty ball with Jonathan Brady.
It's sixty five to thirty five ball. And when I

(55:42):
think about how Donovan McCully was used in Indiana a
couple of years ago, I wouldn't be surprised if Jonathan
Brady became not Indiana's goal line back, but Indiana's goal
line receiving curveball change up to make sure the Hoosiers
get touchdowns instead of field goals. Would love to see
that with Fernando Mendoza this upcoming season. Of course, Mendoza

(56:05):
and Brady have that connection going back to their time
at Cal. We're gonna wrap up here talking about the
hog mollies, the offensive line, the trenches, the tight end
room a little bit as well. To wrap up this episode,
but real quick, just a social media shout out in
case y'all haven't found us. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook,
or YouTube. We're at the Hoosier Sound as well as

(56:28):
at Indiana HQ Matt on Instagram. We're not Indiana HQ,
but what are we?

Speaker 2 (56:34):
Indiana dot period HQ exactly.

Speaker 1 (56:38):
You can find us there again, you know, going back
to what we talked about earlier, leave us a review,
tell a friends, share our links. That's how we grow
the best way possible. We don't have an agenda on here.
We don't like to spread misinformation on here. We just
like talking talking football, talking basketball. We like talk no
that's really That's really all it is. At the end

(56:58):
of the day, if you want someone who's gonna yell
and shout and talk about fake stuff, create noise out
of nowhere.

Speaker 2 (57:07):
I mean I tend to do that sometimes most of
the time.

Speaker 1 (57:11):
I am.

Speaker 2 (57:12):
I am banned from going to basketball games and East
Lanston because of that. So sorry, now I didn't I've
heard for the folks that don't know that joke, I
didn't say anything bad. I just said that a certain
Michigan State basketball player was going to transfer on Ant's
podcast and as a joke, and tom Izzo and his
staff did not think that was funny. So anyways, moving on.

Speaker 1 (57:36):
Yeah, moving on. Most of the time we keep it real.
It's talking talking football, talking basketball, nothing more to it.
So again, spread the love, help grow the numbers, folks.
So Matt, let's really quickly touch on the tight end situation.

(57:57):
Indiana last year didn't get too much offensive fantasy stats
out of their tight end. Zach Horton was excellent, staying
in line, helping protect the passer, helping serve as the
occasional security valve. You're getting a little bit more of
a catching threat out of Holden Stace, who comes over

(58:19):
with a year of eligibility left Riley Noakowski from Wisconsin
that connects you with Bob Bosted. Noakowski might emerge as
the primary tight end on this offense if they are
looking for a blocking specialist to play the tight end role.
I don't know which direction Indiana's coaching staff is going

(58:41):
to go with the tight end room. I don't know
how much the tight end is going to be on
the field. Honestly, Stace I said earlier, maybe it was
a Miami guy. I was wrong. He came over from Tennessee.
He was at Notre Dame previously as well. He's got
an NFL past catching body six four two point fifty,
but the production hasn't been there all too much in

(59:02):
his collegiate career. Holden Stace is going to be a
pretty fascinating story player to track this upcoming season. Because
Kurt Signetti's deal from the jump has been production over potential.
This is a potential guy. Kurt Signetti bucked the trend

(59:22):
a little bit by adding Holden Stace to his football
team this upcoming year, penciling him in potentially as the starter.
This is a potential guy. Matt, do you think we
could see Holden Stace serve as a breakout tight end
as a pest catching option in this offense? Or do

(59:43):
you think we'll see more Riley Nomakowski in line, help block,
move the ball down the field.

Speaker 2 (59:50):
I really think Rarissy Noakowski me too. I think I
think Stay's again. It is one of those guys you
can plug and play as a weapon. You need somebody
in a close game. The receivers aren't getting as open
as you would like them to. Maybe their linebackers or
are weak in coverage of the team that we're playing.

(01:00:13):
Let's plug instas, let's get let's get up. Let's give
them a matchup. Let's give them. Let's give him some
more numbers to think about. Right, maybe they're they're maybe
they're their their defensive line isn't our offensive line is
holding up against their defensive line. Okay, let's let's let
let's get a guy into that kind of chip, you know,
one of the the d ns, and then kind of
go out in the flat. Give Mendoza a five yard

(01:00:36):
option right in the flat there. So he's somebody I
think that that brings that I think no cows or
he he brings what exactly made I use offense last
year with Zach Horton so hotent, which is that he

(01:01:01):
is an extra offensive lineman and a guy that can
come in and do that dirty work that gets the
running backs into space and that makes the RPO so
successful and what makes teams have to respect on every
single play that Indiana could do five different things right.

(01:01:22):
One of them just happens to be not throw it
to the tight end, even though again he is a
guy that could end up doing that right. But mostly
they have to think about. Is the running back getting
the ball?

Speaker 1 (01:01:33):
No?

Speaker 2 (01:01:33):
Okay? Is their quarterback running yes?

Speaker 1 (01:01:35):
Or no?

Speaker 2 (01:01:35):
No? Okay? Which three wide receivers is it going to? Okay?
Now we have to get through an extra offensive lineman
to get there, plus a running back. Oh, they're throwing
it to the running back. That's five. Right, Like, there's
so many different things the defense has to think about
all at one time with this offense. When you add
in an extra blocker, if you don't have that extra blocker,

(01:01:57):
it is an extra thing to think about. But it's
only amongst the other wide receivers. Right, you're doing a
very similar thing. You're but it's having the six blocker
impedes the pass rush for an offense and a quarterback
that's gonna need some time to throw back there. So
I I genuinely think that Noah Cawsi's gonna get more

(01:02:21):
looks than stays. But I think they're gonna end up
throwing it to the tight end more this year because
you have a tight end on the roster that's a
much better past catching tight end.

Speaker 1 (01:02:33):
Yeah. I mean again, it's it's so fascinating to me
that Signetti went the potential route here. This is his
this is his Like, I don't know if this is
the right analogy. This is kind of the raffle ticket
that Signetti's using now that he is a Power five
coach and a Power two conference where, you know, unlike

(01:02:55):
his time at JMU, he had a chance here to
go get a guy with that at four five star
high school recruit profile that played at Notre Dame in Tennessee.

Speaker 2 (01:03:07):
Yep, this is this is this is this is this
is his uh klill where.

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
Yeah, this is exactly this is. That's a great analogy.
This is Signetti saying, Hey, screw all of you. Like
my teammate the CFP last year, I have recruiting momentum
at Indiana. We're in the Big Ten, which is one
of d two primary conferences in the sport. Let me
go get a guy who could be Kyle Pitts for

(01:03:36):
all I know. They know this.

Speaker 2 (01:03:40):
The ceiling for this kid, the raw potential is so
so high. And look, Stave has just hasn't put it.
He just hasn't put it all together, no persistently at all.

Speaker 1 (01:03:52):
It's not there that that production is non existent. It
is not real. It is fake, you know, And so
Stace by the Way, who played most of his snaps
last year in the slot at Tennessee. Something to think about.
Stace did not drop a pass all season. I know

(01:04:13):
that's something that's gonna catch Signetti's eye. Sixteen targets, zero drops.
You'll take that every day of the week. Sixteen targets,
fifteen receptions at Tennessee. Okay, you like that. The vast
majority of Stace's collegiate production over the last two seasons
with the volunteers took place against NC State. For some reason,
against NC State, he murdered the wolf Pack like that

(01:04:37):
had no answer for him. They played each other in
twenty three, they played each other in twenty four, and
Holden Stace had an unbelievable, you know game in both
of those matchups. So that's funny to see. And then yeah,
you know you talked about Noah Kowski's blocking upside seventy
seven past block grade last year at Wisconsin per pff.

(01:05:00):
Just a guy, just a guy who I'm pulling that
up here, but just the guy who went out there.
And it's funny, right, Like for years I was thinking
of Wisconsin as sort of the premiere protection program in
college football, you know, a program that just blocked, and

(01:05:24):
they blocked so well, and they blocked their way to
like BCS Bowl appearances, you know, New Year's six Bowl appearances,
and not all of a sudden. If you would have
told the undergrad me twenty ten, twenty eleven, twenty twelve,
as I watched Wisconsin beat Indiana eighty three to twenty

(01:05:47):
that Indiana would be taking over blocking specialists from the
Badgers to play for Bob Bosted, who used to coach
at Wisconsin, I'd be like, this is nuts. So in
his career, Noah Kowski has shown proficiency both in pass
blocking and run blocking. But last year seventy seven pass block,

(01:06:08):
fifty seven run block, previous year sixty four pass block,
sixty four run block. So like it's a little bit
all over the map, but you can see the you
can see the type of mold that Bob Bossa is
going after.

Speaker 2 (01:06:21):
But also the the run. The run blocking is not
necessarily on him, because that can also be they have
bad running backs and a bad running team, and then
he's just getting blamed for having bad run blocking because
his team sucks, and Wisconsin did in fact sucked last year.

Speaker 1 (01:06:39):
So I mean to their defense, of course, a couple
of years ago, Braylon Allen. Of course, now Braylon Allen
is in the NFL last year, Tawie Walker, solid running back.
I think now he's at an SEC school somewhere. But
it in general, you.

Speaker 2 (01:06:57):
Know, Wisconsin was kind of badless.

Speaker 1 (01:07:00):
Wisconsin, ain't it.

Speaker 2 (01:07:03):
They used to become Wisconsin.

Speaker 1 (01:07:07):
That's that's that's that's deep. Because the thing is Wisconsin
used to throw the ball too right with Russell Wilson
and with several of the other quarterbacks that they had
across the two thousands and the twenty tens, they had
those explosive threats.

Speaker 2 (01:07:26):
The parallels are there.

Speaker 1 (01:07:28):
You have Jared Aberderis, you have a a.

Speaker 2 (01:07:31):
Head coach that is a larger than life character for Wisconsin,
that guy was literally too large.

Speaker 1 (01:07:39):
But he's cooking though at Illinois, Bills is cooking. Having
a little bit of a technical glitch here, But yeah,
Belama was so good when it came to his time
with the Badgers. Barry Alvarez was this as well. And

(01:08:02):
then it's Matt I'm sure with saying like the Badgers
have kind of lost their mojo. Man, Like, it's so
weird to think Indiana, it's Indiana the next Wisconsin. I
don't know, Wow, I could kind of see it though

(01:08:22):
we're still working through some still working through some technical
stuff here, it looks like, Matt, maybe come back. Oh,
mission accomplished real quick, just wrap up your thought on Wisconsin.
We'll dive into this IU offensive line.

Speaker 2 (01:08:37):
I don't know how much you heard, but basically my
synopsis was, not only was was our coach a larger
than life character? In Wisconsin case, he was just very large,
but also both schools have a read lettered logo, and
both pride themselves on running the football and blocking, and

(01:08:57):
both are historically mid to bad college football programs.

Speaker 1 (01:09:05):
Yeah, crazy to think like historical, Like.

Speaker 2 (01:09:07):
Historically, hasn't Wisconsin just been in the basement of the
Big Ten? And then in the eighties and nineties, was
it Bo Allen or whoever it was, came in and
kind of pulled them out of there? Right?

Speaker 1 (01:09:20):
Yeah? Yeah, Barry Alvarez who like very Alvarez started turning
the turning the corner. Bo Ryan was the basketball coach. Yeah,
but yeah, like Ry was very all good. And then
this offensive line, right, Matt, Like, honestly, we could have
just done this entire episode, and I use offensive line,
Kurtz Signetty goes out there, retains Carter Smith and Bray Lynch.
Music to my ears. If you had told me that's

(01:09:42):
all that happened during portal season, I'd have been like,
it's a victory. It's a victory in itself.

Speaker 2 (01:09:47):
Those guys could have gone to an SEC school immediately
and made probably a significant amount more in nil than
what they were making at on.

Speaker 1 (01:09:57):
Bray Lynch too, especially, you know he he comes over
front the state of Texas. That's where he grew up
protecting kid club Nick in high school. Now Kate club
Nick in the running for the number one overall picking
the twenty six NFL Draft, could be arch Manning. If
that happens, Club Nick top five, you know pretty easily
that was. You know, bray Lynch was Club Nick's left
tackle in high school. And Lynch again from Texas, could

(01:10:20):
have probably gone to Texas or Oklahoma or Claims. You know,
so many different options I'm sure were presented to him.
He's back with the Hoosiers. Carter Smith Midwest boy, but
you know he is one of the special left tackles
in the sport. He's going to be back next year
for Indiana. Pat Coogan comes over from Notre Dame. He's

(01:10:42):
going to start as Indiana's center, taking over for Mike Caddick,
who moved on. Y'allso have Drew Evans. He's back this season.
Zen Mahalski from Ohio State right tackle. There Khalil Benson
is on this too deep. We'll see if he starts.
We'll see if he's the break glass in case of

(01:11:03):
emergency option, in case someone goes down. Benson has spent
time at guard, he's spent time at tackle. That kind
of versatility so important, Matt. Let's face it, the offensive
line is the bread and butter of this team. Kurtzignetty's
talked about trenches more than any other AU football coach
has combined. I love seeing that. I love hearing that

(01:11:25):
this offensive line has potential, I think to be the
best in program history. What do you look at as
far as this offensive line is concerned.

Speaker 2 (01:11:34):
I mean, on paper, they are the best offensive line
I think this program has ever agreed on one. Yeah,
there's been some decent ones, but from what especially in
the Kevin Wilson era, there's some actually good ones. But
from one to five, the level of talent, the level
of productivity, so the level, the level of experience. This

(01:12:00):
is a potential national championship contending offensive line. Yep, it's
just this is what those schools like Michigan have every year.
This is what these schools like Ohio State have every year.
They have five guys on the offensive line that you know,
most Joe Moore Ward contenders. You know, they got you know,

(01:12:27):
a center that's coming over from another program, who's who's
who's very promising. Just there's there's meat and muscle and
pedigree on the offensive line. And that's what Indiana has
in this.

Speaker 1 (01:12:40):
But let's talk about the nil ear a little bit, Matt,
because here's what's interesting, right if you look at the
Joe Moore Award winners for the best offensive lines in
college football from a unit standpoint, for years, it was Alabama, Iowa,
Notre Dame, Oklahoma, LSU, Alabama, Michigan, Michigan, and then the
last two years it was Washington in an army which,

(01:13:02):
like you wouldn't necessarily equate to like offensive line powerhouses,
but it goes to show, right, like Washington built the
program with an idea, mindset, correct approach. I don't know
how much of it has to do with NIL. But
just like the right mindset, the right approach, the right
process at Washington, you don't have to tell me about
Armies process. Right like last year to crack into the

(01:13:24):
top twenty five with their team, they were so solid,
they were so fundamentally sound from the first game of
the season. It looks like that's the direction Indiana's going
to with Bob boss Ed.

Speaker 2 (01:13:38):
I agree. I will say about about the the NIL stuff,
I think it's polling offensive lineman, young offensive linemen away
from the big teams because you're not playing, and when
you're not playing, you're not making money. And if you're
not making money, you're wasting your four years of eligibility
in or five or six or whatever we're getting to

(01:14:00):
at this point years of eligibility in the n C DOUAA.
So it's spreading the talent around more. I mean, Alabama
will win every year, a Michigan would win every year
because they have their offensive line was ten deep, right.

Speaker 1 (01:14:14):
Yeah, And like guys were guys, I was.

Speaker 2 (01:14:16):
Sticking it around exactly. We're sticking around.

Speaker 1 (01:14:18):
Like, well I got my shot senior year.

Speaker 2 (01:14:21):
Exactly. Well, that's what I will say about this IU
offensive line. Uh, they're great at the top, amazing, But
my god, am I scared Once you get past Khalil Benson.
Once you get past Khluil Benson. It's a lot of young, young,
young players now. Albeit most of those guys are signety guys, right,

(01:14:45):
And so I trust Sig and I trust and their
boss dat guys. I trust that they know what they're doing.
But for the most part, you want your quarterback to
be experienced, yep. But the second position you want to
have experience on is the offensive line. And some people

(01:15:06):
would argue it's actually easier to replace a quarterback, especially
at this level of college football, than it is to
replace an excellent offensive lineman especially and a center. Right.
And so again, when you're looking at this roster and

(01:15:26):
you're looking at a weakness on offense, the one weakness
I'm looking at is depth on the offensive line. And
for a program that throughout its history has really been
hampered by tons of really really stupid injuries, it scares me. Okay, right,

(01:15:47):
exactly exactly, Yeah, And he was supposed to be a starter, right,
He was a shoe in starter the yeah for for
this team last year. So again, I'm just waiting with
baited breath to see what the actual lineup or what
the actual group looks like for that first game. But

(01:16:10):
I if it is the lineup and it is the group,
that what we think will be on paper, I'm extremely
excited for this group.

Speaker 1 (01:16:21):
Yeah, me too.

Speaker 2 (01:16:22):
They gotta stay healthy. They just gotta stay healthy. Just
gotta stay healthy.

Speaker 1 (01:16:24):
That's it. That's it.

Speaker 2 (01:16:25):
I mean, you can send about every position in football,
and I understand that, but especially this offensive line unit,
because again, I don't trust a freshman, no matter who
trusts them. I don't trust a freshman coming in and
being able to do seventy percent or even fifty percent
of what any of the starter guys can do together.

(01:16:47):
Like it's gonna throw off chemistry, it's gonna it's just
not gonna be a good thing.

Speaker 1 (01:16:53):
It won't And and and the crazy part about all
of this is is that earlier in this podcast episode,
we talked about how Fernando Mendoz's biggest weakness is what
happens when he's under pressure. There is a bit of
a chaos element as far as Mendoza, you know, getting
a little bit scrambled, throwing the ball to the other team.

(01:17:15):
You know, the decision making is a little bit helter skelter.
He was also a young quarterback two years behind an
offensive line at Cal that didn't do him any favors.
And no, you know, to what extent are we talking about,
Like Indiana last year had five offensive linemen, five or
six offensive linemen that played consistently throughout the year. Cal

(01:17:39):
had three linemen giving up more pressures than Trey Wedding.
And Trey Wedding gave up the most pressures among all
Indiana offensive linemen. And Trey Weddig's a ball. Ye like
Trey Wedding could easily, you know, be playing on NFL
Sunday soon enough. Cal had three offensive linemen last year

(01:18:00):
seed more pressures than the Indiana offensive lineman that conceded
the most pressures. That's an alarming sign for the offensive
line that Cal had last season, and it's a warning
sign for how kurtz Signetti needs to help his quarterback

(01:18:20):
succeed to the best extent possible. So, you know, I'm
really looking forward to seeing how this offensive line develops
as a whole. The good news is somebody like Pat
Coogan the center position barely gave up any pressures last
year from the interior for Notre Dame, Cougan over eight
hundred snaps at Notre Dame last year, just eight pressures conceded.

(01:18:43):
That's a really comforting sign for someone who's going to
take over as your starting center. For comparison, Mike Katick
played about the same number of snaps, gave up a
couple more pressures. So from a statistical profile standpoint, Kadock
and Cougan right about the same. If at Coogan can
have a year like Mike Caddick had last year at
the center position, Fernando Mendoza is going to sleep comfortably

(01:19:07):
at night knowing what his game days will be like
on a week to week basis. I'm looking forward to
seeing that. You know, Khalil Benson, development, Drew Evans and Mahalski,
who steps up there, Who is the reserve offensive lineman
that Indiana relies on in case of injury. All of
that is something I'll be tracking as as a preseason

(01:19:30):
practices get underway in August or so, so that should
be fun to keep an eye on over the course
of the next several weeks leading up to the first
three games of the season, which as we mentioned, you know,
give Indiana a little bit of an opportunity to experiment
a little bit before the Illinois game in Week four.
So overall, I'm very optimistic about this offense. I don't

(01:19:53):
know if Indiana will be second in the country in
POINTSBA game like they were last year, but as Matt
and I discussed, I think the theme of this offense
is keeping the defense off balance, having a lot of freedom,
having a lot of different choices, having a lot of
different points of attack. Compared to what they had a
year ago. Mendoza probably not the surgeon like precision of

(01:20:16):
Curtis work, but has a little bit more of that explosive,
big play, hard on his sleeve type of style that
Indiana didn't quite have last season, in addition to a
couple of healthy knees unlike Indiana's spectacular QB one Curtis
work last year. As we wind down here on this Friday, Man,

(01:20:38):
any final thoughts on the IU offense, anything else on
your mind as we close things down on this Friday, Uh?

Speaker 2 (01:20:46):
Not really, to be honest, I mean NBA Finals were
kind of a bummer the way it ended. We're talking
about that last week.

Speaker 1 (01:20:52):
I mean very sad.

Speaker 2 (01:20:55):
Yeah, sue Anti Liamtic obviously to one of my Pacers fans.
I'm sorry, I was rooting for you guys. Serious, same same, same, yeah.
I mean offense is gonna be better, I think, obviously not.
I don't think statistically wise, because you're playing harder games,
but I think overall, they're going to be tougher to

(01:21:15):
play against. And I'm very excited to see Mendoza in
the uniform. What's about it?

Speaker 1 (01:21:23):
Me too? I would not be surprised if Brando Mendoza,
who has two years of eligibility remaining, is in the
mix to become Indiana's first first round NFL draft pick
in decades. I don't think Indiana has.

Speaker 2 (01:21:45):
Had Anthony Thompson's a first round.

Speaker 1 (01:21:49):
Pick since two thousand. I think he was. I think
two thousand was the last one, which is crazy to
think about. Nineteen ninety four Thomas Lewis Thomas Lewis, which
is insane, just like absolutely insane to think about. I

(01:22:12):
believe SMU is the other Power five school that has
a drought as long as that, and SMU is a
weird Power five for several years.

Speaker 2 (01:22:21):
So even it's SMU Texas Football, you just did grows
NFL players, So that's.

Speaker 1 (01:22:27):
Exactly, exactly not a very fair point. I would not
be surprised if Mendoz is in the running, But I
also wouldn't be surprised if you saw someone else, maybe
like Aiden Fisher, maybe Mikhail Kamara. I wouldn't be surprised.

Speaker 2 (01:22:38):
If no couple of guys. It's no no.

Speaker 1 (01:22:42):
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no Ponds.

Speaker 2 (01:22:44):
It's Ponds. And if we're going to be serious, it's Ponds.
I hear you.

Speaker 1 (01:22:48):
I'm not disputing that one bit. Four first round Hoosiers.
How does that sound?

Speaker 2 (01:22:55):
They make advibe college football. Look, they make college football
players this year and they win multiple games. You're that's
how you that's a Surratt will certainly be on the
radar big season. Calamar will certainly be on the radar.
I don't think Fisher will be. But I think Fisher
would be like a top three or four round pick,

(01:23:18):
like a third or a fourth rounder.

Speaker 1 (01:23:20):
Right.

Speaker 2 (01:23:20):
Like, there's a lot of guys that, if the team
performs at a level that people aren't expecting them to
this year, could really reap the benefits of that.

Speaker 1 (01:23:30):
Would be super exciting. I can't wait to see the
rest is you know, the rest of this offseason play out.
We're gonna dive into the defense at our next episode,
but that about wraps it up for our three hundred
and forty seven show, The Who's Your Sound? Thank you
so much for joining us. We really appreciate your support
to hear more fantastic episodes like the one you heard today.
Be sure to follow us at Indiana HQ to make
sure you don't miss out. We can also go to

(01:23:50):
our website indianahq dot com to find it all in
one place. But as always, thank you for listening to
your nation and you'll see you next time.

Speaker 2 (01:24:00):
His Burber