Setting the Table for IUFB's 2025 Season Opener vs. Old Dominion [350]

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The 2025 season is HERE. We were a part of Ant Wright's 2025 preseason Big Ten power poll, and if that's any indication of what to expect, buckle up. The Hoosiers take on ODU in week one, and it may not be all that comfortable.
What should you expect in the matchup against the Monarchs in week one? Also, the guys give their OFFICIAL 2025 record prediction and week one picks of the week.
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
What's up. Hoo's your fans. We made it. We made it, folks.
Weeks one game week is here. Kansas State is in
last place right now in the College Football Playoff rankings,
and Iowa I sorry all right, so okay, I'll put
I say Iowa State is number one right now. As

(00:28):
we wrapped up Week zero out in Ireland. Yeah, that
late game was was was magical last week in Hawaii.
Week ones here, gigantic slate Texas, Ohio State. And at
two thirty on Saturday afternoon.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Old Dominion rolls into town and your nation's gonna be
ready to go, as I you I used to follow
up its special season from twenty twenty four, which resulted
in a college Football Playoff berth.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Several players name to All Big Ten honors, several players take,
a couple players take in the NFL Draft. What does
Signetti have in store for twenty twenty five? Matt and
I are gonna discuss Old Dominion. We're gonna talk about
the Big Ten slate in Week one, We're gonna give

(01:30):
you our official season long Indiana prediction for this upcoming year,
and we'll start talking a little about that preseason poll
that was released by ant right yesterday that we were
a part of, as well as so much more. Here
on episode three five zero of The Hoosier Sound. Where
Were the official podcast of Indiana HQ. We're recording this

(01:51):
edition of The Hoosier Sound on Wednesday, August twenty seventh,
twenty twenty five. Here with me tonight and today, depending
on where you are in the world, is my co
host Matt Lucan's I'm Nathan Christnan. Matt. Let's start with
this preseason pull. You saw it released yesterday afternoon and

(02:14):
went out and connected with a couple dozen other accounts
across the Big Ten. There was one voice at least
from each of the participating programs in the league. I
have one or two thoughts on it. Let's start with you.
When you saw this come out? What caught your attention?

Speaker 3 (02:38):
Noah are Aaron Brightman's ranking of IU at thirteenth, that
is what popped out in my mind. My eyes almost
popped out of my head. Actually, he ranked us lower
than Edie Muse who who literally like his entire stick

(03:02):
is like being very pro Purdue and very anti IU,
and even he put us tenth. Right, you put Purdue
above us?

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Is it boiled music or did he change his uh
change his name because it's boiler music on the graphic.

Speaker 3 (03:18):
It might just be bo Yeah, I honestly believe that
you're the same person, even though they're probably not. But
they they have they have they share the same mind,
and so with this I also agree Aaron Aaron Brightman.
I've been on Spaces by the way with Aaron. I've
talked about he's a real person with real opinion and

(03:38):
like a normal working brain. I just he he he said,
I just looked him up actually for this, he said, Uh,
I appreciate ant for ant put out the the the predictions,
and I think he has Nebraska twice in there when
one of them is supposed to be Illinois. But besides that, Uh,
he was like, yeah, I think I just bounced out

(04:00):
after last year. And I was like, do you realize, Aaron,
do you realize that, I you had three potential All
Americans on defense and then also returns a significant amount
on the offense that was really good last year, and
the same coaching staff for the most part, Like, I

(04:21):
don't know. Also, it's not like this year's schedule is
that much tougher than last year's outside of the like
the two big games.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
We play, there's no and there's no Michigan exactly.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
And we played Penn State and Oregon, which are much
harder games than last year. But the rest of the
schedule is not like impossible. So I I just I
don't see where he's coming from with that. And and
if I had to make a poll right now, I
think I might have debated putting Rutgers last just out
of spite. No, I'm kidding. I will say if if

(04:57):
I you finishes thirteenth or lower in the conference in football,
I will go to a factory in China and help
make Purdue Virtue.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
Oh boy, oh wow live here.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
So it's not like I'm that crazy. I could find
I could find where they make it and go and
ask to work a shift. I will do that.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
There. Who's the Who's the Ohio State barstool guy?

Speaker 3 (05:26):
Ohio State?

Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah? I think he was the one right
who just released a thing where if Ohio State.

Speaker 3 (05:37):
State loses any of the he has to do a forfeit?

Speaker 1 (05:42):
Should I should I do one?

Speaker 3 (05:43):
Fry you?

Speaker 1 (05:44):
He went through each week, he went through it. Yeah,
put it together. We don't have to make it on
this podcast right now. No, like each week it was hilarious.
He went through and he was like, if Ohio State
loses week one, I'm gonna do this. If I have
State we lose this week two, I'm gonna do this.
And I think it was if I have to it
loses to Michigan, He's gonna walk from Columbus to ann

(06:06):
Arbor or something, which is absolutely hilarious. I'll give you
one or two thoughts on this poll a little as
well as a little bit of a peak behind the curtain.
So yeah, Ant went out and and uh aggregated opinions
from you know, at least at least one school from

(06:28):
at least one account from every one of the big
ten schools, which is good to see. So you definitely
get everyone's perspective. Someone mentioned that, hey, every single person
had their team ranked a little bit higher than average, which, yeah,
there you go. That's the bias, and that's that tells
you like going into the preseason, everyone does believe a

(06:48):
little bit more in their team then they probably should,
which is why Matt and I had a podcast, our
most recent episode about hey, if this goes wrong for Indiana,
what does it look like? I'll give you one or
two of my notes from from this that didn't get
put into the into the graphic itself. Ohio State I
had number one. I said, no reason the champs shouldn't

(07:09):
be up here. If they lose to Texas, I'll drop
them out, but I don't know if we'll have future rankings.
If Ohio State were to lose to Texas, I would
have knocked them out. I would have knocked them out
of the one spot, assuming Penn State wins. For Indiana,
I had them third, and I know everyone's like Indiana third,
but in a nutshell going into week one, I said,

(07:34):
give me Indiana's head coach, quarterback and trenches over Oregon
in Michigan. And I think those are the two other
schools in that in that conversation right now, I might
look stupid in a week or in a month, but
it give me Indiana's head coach, quarterback in trenches over
Oregons in Michigans. For Iowa, I had them ten, which

(08:00):
felt weird, but my comment there was four straight seasons
with eight or more wins coming into this year. Why
is their prop at sports books over seven and a
half at plus one twenty so the books are saying
it's more likely than not that they finish under seven

(08:21):
and a half wins, even though they're coming off of
four straight seasons with eight victories or more. Is there
do the does the does the data show some vulnerability
with their defense? Is it maybe Mark Gronowski isn't as
intriguing as we originally thought. Again, everyone's hyped up over

(08:42):
Iowa passing the ball more allegedly, but like that it's
gonna be Is it gonna be good? Right?

Speaker 3 (08:50):
Is that necessarily good?

Speaker 1 (08:51):
Is that a good thing? Of course? Iowa State one
against Kansas State? Yeah, right, Iowa State one against Kansas
State eight over the weekend. Now, all of a sudden,
that game looks a little bit more difficult for Iowa.
So I had them tenth, didn't you know what, Iowa,
You beat Iowa State and you probably jump up quite
a bit. I said. There was a big tear drop

(09:12):
off after Minnesota at eleven. I think the bottom seven
are MSU, Rutgers, UCLA, Maryland, Wisconsin, Northwestern Purdue. I'm looking
forward to tin No Sinceri, who's your legend? Coaching up
Nico iam Alava this upcoming season. As early as week one.
When UCLA hosts Utah should be a fun one. UCLA

(09:34):
is a chance to make a serious statement there. And
then Wisconsin Maryland it's weird to have him. Fifteen sixteen,
there was a Badger account in my Indiana HQ mentions saying, hey,
we'll meet in November. And I said, I said, I said,
I'll extend an olive branch. I'll extend an olive branch.
I don't want to alienate my Wisconsin brethren, especially after

(09:57):
they beat US eighty three to twenty when I was
in undergrad and I said, look, hey, Wisconsin shows up
in Tuscaloosa, they don't have to win, look like half decent.
And then, by the way, Wisconsin hosts Maryland Friday night
after going to Alabama on a Saturday afternoon. Wisconsin looks

(10:18):
okay at Alabama and then beats Maryland home Friday night. Hey,
you know what, You'll definitely move up in the rankings.
So some of my thoughts there. I also noticed that
Washington was as high as third in the UH in
the Washington set of power rankings, all the way down

(10:39):
to was it fifteenth? Yeah, the UH. I really pence
to the Purdue folk. The Purdue account Boiler Mews had
them as low as fifteenth, which is a third third
through fifteenth. What a fun ride this is going to be.
I mean, there's a pretty wide range for all eighteen teams,

(11:00):
and I think the really fun part of this exercise
is like there wasn't group think, Like I didn't connect
with other any of these other accounts, and I don't
think they connected with any of the others either, So
I feel like that is part of the problem with
the AP Top twenty five. I feel like a lot
of the AP voters sort of talk to each other
and work with each other, and hey, where do you

(11:21):
have this team? Where do you have that team? Oh?
Do you watch this game? Do you watch that game?
We didn't do that, all independent, all objective, doing what
we can do. So bottom line, buckle up. It's gonna
be why.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
I think if if I had to pick apart yours
or I'd have picked my own, go for it, I
probably would have put Penn State first. Sure, Ohio State, Oregon,
are you then Nebraska, Washington, Illinois? That would be my
top six.

Speaker 1 (11:57):
Yeah, hey are you there? Are you there? I'm comfortable
being more pessimistic than average on Oregon. We had briefly
this we talked, Ye talked about it, and then I like,
dug in more. You know what, this kind of reminds

(12:21):
me of a little bit. It's like a weird analogy,
but it kind of reminds me of when Steve Pikeel
went into last year after a series of good seasons
at Rutgers and like he went in with Ace Bailey
and Dylan Harper.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
Yep, I know exactly what you're talking about. Yes, a
good example actually.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
And I'm like, yes, I get it. Like if I
can have Ace Bailey or Dylan Harper on my team,
especially both, I'm doing it one hundred out of one
hundred days, one hundred out of one hundred times. But like,
that's not how Rutgers gained their identity. And you know,
made the NCAA Tournament, which is a huge success for them.

(13:05):
And here's Oregon after great seasons with bon Nicks and
Dylan Gabriel vet qbs who know where to put the football,
who know how to avoid sacks, who know how to
move the ball down the field, get explosive plays as needed.
You're seeing bon Nicks now one of the best young
quarterbacks in the NFL, like especially your one year two

(13:27):
quarterbacks and then it's Dante More. Now like is this
and maybe Dante Moore pays off like at the end
of the season, or I haven't checked his eligibility, but
from what I recall, he should have like the twenty
six season eligible, right like maybe next season, like you couldn't,

(13:52):
Like I just feel like in another universe, Oregon lands
Fernando Mendoza, yeah, or Oregon goes out gets Luke Altmeyer
from Illinois.

Speaker 3 (14:02):
Or they go and get oh my god, what's what's
Washington's QB's name.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
This upcoming year is Demond Williams.

Speaker 3 (14:10):
Last year's will Rogers, Damon Williams. They go out and
get Demon.

Speaker 1 (14:13):
Williams exactly, you know, like why did they go this route?
And I don't know, like we'll see how it works,
no question, Like Mark Gronowski would have made sense at
Oregon right old head that QB. He's seen some things.

(14:36):
I don't know. They won't to be younger guys. So
so again you also combine that, of course Dante more
could be great, but the rest of the Oregon team
may not pick up their slack because I don't know
about their wide receivers. I don't know about their tight end.
I don't know about their trenches. I do know about
their tight end, but I don't know about the wide receivers.
I don't know about their trenches. We'll see. Their safeties
are great, their tight ends great, but they gotta go

(14:58):
to Penn State and and they have a couple other
tough games on their schedule, and I'm willing to be
a little bit lower than average on them. But yeah, look,
if you want to put Penn State one, I totally
get that. It should be a should be a fun ride.
Let's uh, let's stick with Indiana here, Matt. I mean,

(15:19):
lots to talk about Old Dominion's gonna come and we're
gonna dive into the matchup a little bit later. You know,
there's a lot to look into there. But this is
a season where I mean, just as we looked at
with the big ten aunt Wright preseason poll, I had
Indiana's high as third, Aaron Brightman had them as low

(15:41):
as thirteenth. The win total, I believe is that eight
and a half. You looked at the schedule, you looked
at the matchups, is a nine win season in the cards.
Once again, I mean I think it's time. I think

(16:01):
it's time. I think it's time that you made your
official win loss projection for the Indiana Hoosiers this upcoming season.
So I'll give you the mic, take your time, go
through these games. What are your general thoughts about this
schedule coming up this year, how the Hoosiers play, and

(16:22):
what's going to be their record for twenty twenty five.

Speaker 3 (16:26):
This is I always look forward to this. I have
only been ever, like ever accurate when we do this.
But yeah, true, I have a good I have a
good record. You do, yeah, go ahead.

Speaker 1 (16:40):
Two years ago you said I think you have gonna
be a three win football team, and they ended up
being a three win football team maybe yeah, yeah yeah.
And then last season you said eight and four, which
for a team coming off a three win season, that's
like a huge leap. And then a couple of weeks
into the year, we had another podcast after Florida International

(17:00):
and Western Illinois, and you were like, eleven and one,
it's on the cards. And I was like, I was
like nine and three and then two even after a
couple of weeks. So you started eight and four, I
said six and six. A couple weeks in you said
eleven and one. I said nine and three, and then

(17:21):
eventually I was like, I see what you're saying. So
you have been showing a very strong track record with
this particular thing. So please don't say this is a
three win football team.

Speaker 3 (17:37):
Far from it. I'll go through each one and I'll
tell you whether it's winter loss and why I think
to winter or lost.

Speaker 1 (17:43):
Let's go so Old.

Speaker 3 (17:45):
Dominion w nice. I do think that there's a very
good chance that it's uncomfortable yep for like two quarters yep,
and then at halftime we go in, everybody gets some
gatorade and maybe a little bit of a slap or
two across the face, and then come back out. Uh

(18:06):
A metaph Yeah, a meta were a slap of words
the face. We're Indiana fans. We can't be talking about
beating players. So they'll caul probably come out third quarter
and then blow them out. They might cover, they might
not cover. I don't know. I'm not better, so don't
do that. Uh, Kenisel State. They will destroy. I think

(18:28):
they're worse than Old Dominion. If if I had to
put my finger on the pulse speaking of worse than
Old Dominion, Uh, Indiana State also worse, we should destroy them,
even though that might be chippy to start again, a
lot of those guys are gonna be coming in having
probably wanted to play at IU or a bigger in
state school and getting that chance. That's gonna be a

(18:49):
little bit chippier than people might think. First big game
of the year and honestly the litmus test for the
rest of the season, and that is Illinois at home.
I don't think Illinois that good. I think they're completely overrated.
They beat a terrible Alabama team last year, that South
Carolina if they didn't have sorry South Carolina team that

(19:11):
who surged late in that season, but still just so
weird to me. I don't, I don't. I don't like
them at all. So uh, I think Illinois is extremely overrated,
and I think they'll probably lose to IU, and so
I think I probably win more game. Now IU wins
that game, I'll jump forward my prediction, so I don't

(19:34):
go through every single game. I think they'll end up
four and two, okay, going into ms U. Okay, I
think they lose at Iowa, they lose back to back games,
they lose at Iowa, and they lose at Oregon. Then
they'll win three games in a row against because the
UCLA Maryland seven and two going into Penn State lose

(19:59):
Depence State and the season nine and three with three
losses in conference. Uh, I think they if they beat
Illinois comfortably, I'm changing my prediction to eleven in one,

(20:21):
but I think I think it's nine and three probably.
I again, it's the it's the away games this year
that really suck. Yeah, Kinnick is always impossible, even though
that is a twelve to four o'clock slot, So you're
not getting a game for that, which is nice. This
day game, which is dope. Uh, Penn State is going

(20:45):
to be damn near impossible to win, especially since they'll
be rolling at that time, I think. And then Oregon.
I mean it's always hard to go to Eugene. I mean,
I give the Hoosiers a fighting chance. And we've seen
an EYEU team beat Yes and an Oregon team in
Eugene before. It has that is history and has happened

(21:08):
in not very you know, ancient memory. So I give
them a fighting chance. I actually give them a better
chance of beating Oregon than I think they're at beating Iowa.

Speaker 1 (21:20):
Yeah, I was gonna ask, so it seems like the
Penn State road game is the toughest, and then you're
you're saying it sort of goes at Iowa and then
at Oregon in terms of degree of difficulty. I'm looking
forward to seeing close losses in those road games. One

(21:40):
of the things that I have talked about in the
past is like it's embarrassing for me as a fan
that not only did the twenty twenty one Indiana team
start off by losing at Kinnick, but they lost by
a lot, which like, even when teams lose to Iowa
in recent time, they don't lose by a lot, even

(22:01):
even great teams or bad teams who cares, it doesn't matter,
Like FCS teams play Iowa and they don't lose by much.
Indian did so. So I want to see Indiana going
to Kinnick and play with some discipline, play with some
you know, toughness, play with some resistance, and then same
dual at Oregon, same dule at Penn State. I want

(22:22):
to see a good game at halftime. I want to
see a good game into the third and fourth quarter.
For me, I agree with the four and oh start.
I don't think there's any dispute there debate there. I

(22:43):
really don't see us losing to Illinois at home.

Speaker 3 (22:46):
I like, I don't see it either. I don't believe
it's on team at all.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
And one of the things I do like is that
Indiana will get some good film out of the Illinois
Week two game at Duke. So the Hoosiers who have
zero tough power for games. In case he hadn't heard before.

Speaker 3 (23:08):
I had no idea.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
It's the uh you know, it's the it's the SEC
scheduling philosophy. Uh, which, by the way, Indiana is in
uh you know, strong union with Penn State on that one.
So had that same energy for James Franklin. But guess what,

(23:34):
you won't because it's a normal scheduling strategy. So Illinois
will have a lot of film for Indiana dissect after
their Week two game at Duke. It's a home game
for the Hoosiers. You can't you can't let it's it's good.

(23:54):
It's got to be foreign. Oh my being too like?

Speaker 3 (24:07):
Are you being?

Speaker 1 (24:08):
Can Indiana get one of these? Can Indiana get.

Speaker 3 (24:12):
One of the Iowan? Iowan and Oregon and Penn State.

Speaker 1 (24:18):
Yeah, well, I'll write off Penn State. But like one
of the two.

Speaker 3 (24:23):
I think ten and two is very achievable. I just
I don't see I you being able to. It's it's
the times, the matchups. Right, you play Illinois at home
in a super important game. All right, let's say Illinois
is undefeated going into it. Let's say I use undefeated.

(24:45):
That matchup potentially super hype. No, it's potentially a top
ten matchup. Yeah, at that point in time, because you've
got three top ten matchups this week, this week, and
then there's obviously so like the next two weeks, there's
a bunch of other ranked on ranked matchups, and you

(25:06):
know it's college football. People lose. Like there's a there's
a decent chance that Illinois is solidly in the top ten.
And then you know Indiana's sniffing it, right, so like
that's gonna be a legit game. Then to go at
Kinnick the next week, sure, that's tough.

Speaker 1 (25:23):
Yeah, you know, let's start with Kinnick. So, so the
thing is Iowa does go to Iowa State week two,
that is a true road game, and then Iowa does
go to Rutgers in week four. So Iowa plays Indiana.

Speaker 3 (25:40):
I don't care about Rutgers. I don't care that the
Rutgers game Rutgers is. I think Rutgers legit is like
bottom four.

Speaker 1 (25:51):
For sure, but looking ahead, like that's a primetime road
game at Rutgers, and I just wonder if if, like
I just wonder if Iowa will be a much different
team after four games than they are right now. It's

(26:12):
not even an Indiana thing, but like, what if Iowa
goes to Iowa State loses thirty five to thirty one.

Speaker 3 (26:22):
Yeah, well it takes a lot of points for Iowa,
but yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:26):
Right, and then what if they go to r what
if they go to again? I don't know if there's
a situation here where Iowa is more than a touchdown
favorite at Rutgers. I think Iowa be favored, but I
don't think it'll be more than seven. And I'm just
looking at this going like what if I don't know,
Rutgers kind of kicks their teeth in and Iowa kicks

(26:51):
Rutgers teeth and it's ugly rock fight and Indiana should
be like I don't know, I don't I don't look
at Illinois Indiana as a really like physically demanding game.
I think there'll be a lot of skill on the field.
I think there will be guys flying around. I think
they'll be fun, you know, I think you know, both
teams will find stuff through the air. I'm I'm gonna

(27:12):
give Indiana the game at Iowa.

Speaker 3 (27:15):
That's fine.

Speaker 1 (27:16):
I'm gonna give Indiana the game in Iowa.

Speaker 3 (27:18):
So you're going ten to too, then, is what you're.

Speaker 1 (27:20):
Saying, because I'm not giving Indiana the game at Oregon,
even though I have Indiana above Oregon in my UH
in my preseason poll. By the way, that could be
another top ten matchup the Indiana Oregon I start.

Speaker 3 (27:36):
I think it certainly will be if I use undefeated
at that point.

Speaker 1 (27:39):
Yes, I have to give IYU the home games against
Michigan State and U c l A. I have to.
I have to give there. I have to give the
road game at Maryland. I'm just trying to see, is
there is there an outcome where any of those three
teams is really splashing and is in the cf PEA conversation.

(28:02):
I don't see it with Michigan State. Yeah, could you
see like if you c LA beats Utah, but Indiana
give them.

Speaker 3 (28:15):
Are getting destroyed by Utah. You say it's not. They're
like they're not good. Their defense is a little bit feisty,
and I.

Speaker 1 (28:29):
You know what, you know what, you know what, you
know what. I'm gonna say UCLA is in the CFP
conversation when they come to Indiana on October twenty fifth,
because I look at.

Speaker 3 (28:38):
Their schedule right now. But I I.

Speaker 1 (28:41):
This might be my hottest Big ten take. I'm not
saying U c l A Is in like the top ten.
I think we look at U c l A as
maybe as a as a six and one team, whether
maybe they beat Utah in Westwood, may maybe they be
Penn State in Westwood these other games. I'm not really

(29:05):
like nervous that UNLV game looks easier now than it
did a week ago. True, I'm a I'm a sincere guy.
I think Sinceriy knows what he's doing as a coach
as well. I like Nico. I think Nico hasn't really
told his side of the story from Tennessee. But with

(29:25):
that said, Indiana is not going there. U see LA
is coming to Bloomington. So even if you see LA's
top twenty five at that point, I think Indiana does
get the win. So I'm sitting here with Indiana through
eight games, seven and one, seven and one with the
road loss to Oregon.

Speaker 3 (29:47):
I'm looking at UCLA's schedule in the there's a murders
road starting. It starts with IU, because I you Nebraska,
Ohio State, Washington, USC.

Speaker 1 (29:57):
So I think that's I think that's the thing I
think you say in the conversation when they come to
Bloomington and then Indiana sort of straightens things out a
little bit.

Speaker 3 (30:07):
No no, no, no, no, no, there, I think. I think
I think you should say, at best is four and
three going into the UKA.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
All right, we'll see.

Speaker 3 (30:19):
I hope best. I think I think the I think
they'll be like two and five if I had to
take guests.

Speaker 1 (30:25):
And so yeah, I have Indiana five and one, six, seven,
eight and one going into Penn State. And that's not happening.
I get. But this is where I'm like, hey, I
hope it's close. I hope it's interesting. I hope it's competitive.

Speaker 3 (30:39):
I mean, look, it's James Franklin I that game. There's
a talent mismatch, but there's also a coaching mismatch, I think,
especially in game coaching. And then the other thing I
will think wins that by a lot.

Speaker 1 (30:54):
The other thing I will mention is that Penn State
is coming off of at Iowa, bye week at Ohio
State before they play Indiana.

Speaker 3 (31:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:06):
Yeah, and remember Penn State also gets the September white
out home game against Oregon too, but especially in those
weeks building up to the Indiana game at Iowa bye
week at Ohio State before posting the Hoosiers, like could
like if if Penn State has three losses going into
that game, right, and if they do what we think

(31:29):
Indiana is potentially gonna do, which is, hey, they lose
to Oregon, they lose at Iowa, and they lose to
another great team which is at Ohio State. Man, the
narrative around Penn State is gonna be real weird.

Speaker 3 (31:45):
Well, all I'll say is this about that Penn State game.
I already said a couple of things, but to finish
off my statement on it, We've seen a worse IU
team take a Penn State team, but then the last
two seasons take up Penn State's team down to the wire. Yeah,
like down for the last two minutes of that game.

Speaker 1 (32:08):
So weird.

Speaker 3 (32:09):
Also, like you said, it's as long as it's.

Speaker 1 (32:13):
Not a night game, not a night game. Don't get
your you know, don't get your skis blown off, you know,
don't get crushed. Keep things interesting, keep things close, keep hanging.

Speaker 3 (32:26):
Oh, I think that game will be close. That game
is gonna. I was on Penn State's gonna win all
of their games this year. They're gonna win a ton
of games by seven to ten points.

Speaker 1 (32:38):
That's the thing. And you know, hey, I was in
Happy Valley back in twenty nineteen for the for the
uh Peyton Ramsey season and Indiana's hanging in there. They
did the exact same thing, and Happy.

Speaker 3 (32:51):
Valley we do play Penn State consistently.

Speaker 1 (32:54):
Well, there is, Yeah, there's there's a chance here. Indiana
like just competes, you know it just competes, you know,
like hang in their fight, do your thing, see what happens.

Speaker 3 (33:06):
I interrupt you saying, I think there's there's not a
zero percent chance this team goes undefeated with the schedule,
you know, there's a non zero percent chance. And in fact,
I would say that if the team wins Illinois, Iowa, Oregon, Okay,

(33:30):
and they are what is that six and oh, I
think the chances are higher they go undefeated than it
is that they don't.

Speaker 1 (33:39):
You can get that at plus twenty five DraftKings right
now if you're interested.

Speaker 3 (33:47):
I put five dollars on.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
Put some lunch money on it.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
Yeah, see what happens. You know, there's a non zero
chance can go undefeated. I think there's a higher chance
they go undefeated than they win less.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
Like I mean to that point, like Indiana could possibly
be favored at Iowa.

Speaker 3 (34:08):
I think they certainly will if they beat Illinois.

Speaker 1 (34:12):
Like and if i was drops that Iowa State game,
or if Iowa drops that Rutgers game I missed. There's
a path.

Speaker 3 (34:23):
There is There's there's a path. It's a small path,
but there's a path.

Speaker 1 (34:28):
So Indiana won't lose to Wisconsin at home. And I
don't say that like with unbridled confidence, but Indiana will
beat Wisconsin at home. There's no way. Wisconsin's sure good

(34:50):
enough to come to Bloomington and get the win. You
can get some weird weather, it's the it's the final
home game of the season. I would, I would I
I do you think bad weather in that game helps
Wisconsin's case a little bit more?

Speaker 3 (35:03):
No, they're trying to they're trying to throw the Wisconsin's
trying to spread the ball out when I you realized
way more on the run than Wisconsin.

Speaker 1 (35:11):
I just I don't want the very the variability of
bad weather. Just give me clean, give me clean. Let Indiana,
you know, and in the in traditions, similar to when
Brandan Soresby lit up the Badgers a couple of years ago,
give me that type of weather, soors By and mcully
to who's your legends unstoppable against the Badgers that afternoon

(35:34):
primetime road game to finish the season.

Speaker 3 (35:39):
That's gonna surely be on Peacock, right, No.

Speaker 1 (35:43):
It's it's real, It's real NBC. In addition to Peacock,
they did announce that yep earlier uh so road primetime
game NB NBC.

Speaker 3 (35:53):
I mean, oh my god, produced schedule so rough. Oh
my god.

Speaker 1 (36:00):
It was bad last year too. I'm not sure what happened.

Speaker 3 (36:02):
They play USC, Notre Dame, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State, Washington, Indiana.

Speaker 1 (36:11):
Yeah, I don't, I don't know. I don't. I don't. Also, okay,
I understand, like low key, they could lose Southern Southern
Illinois has also been a solid like SCS program in
recent years. Yes, but I don't. I don't understand how

(36:32):
you get such awful big ten schedules back to back years.
I understand the Notre Dame thing.

Speaker 3 (36:37):
It's unlucky, yeah, bad luck.

Speaker 1 (36:39):
It should reverse at some point here. But yeah, I
guess I'm at ten and.

Speaker 3 (36:43):
Two playing Boston College this year. I'm just going through
all taking there are there's like some of them are
some of them are are super easy, there are some.
I looked. Ohio State's Ohio State schedule this year is
a kate walk, like people aren't talking about it. But

(37:05):
the Ohio State schedule outside of the Penn State game
is well.

Speaker 4 (37:10):
Texas okay, they do open up with they play two
big games, right, They played two big games this year,
seriously big games.

Speaker 3 (37:26):
And if you want to add Illinois in there, I
guess that's okay. But I don't think Michigan's as good
as their ranking is. I don't think Illinois as good
as their ranking is. Like, so you're looking at pen like,
ohiose schedule being Texas and Penn State and then ten
very winnable games?

Speaker 1 (37:45):
Is ten and two crazy for this.

Speaker 3 (37:52):
For I? You No, I think ten and two is.
I think ten and two or nine and three are
the reasonable takes. But if I had to be honest,
like Sig in one year has showed us he doesn't
lose the teams that are worse than I you, but
he also hasn't shown us the ability to beat teams
that are better than I you. So that's why I'm

(38:14):
sitting here going like Illinois and Iowa, those two games,
depending on how both of those start, are super scary
to me. Oregon and Penn State also at a significant
talent disadvantage. And if Sig can show up and beat
Illinois again, I still think is worse than I you.

(38:35):
But you should show up and Illinois is ranked, and
you get that kind of you know, you get that
monkey off your bag. Now I'm thinking, all right, things
are possible. Then you go to Iowa, to a place
where the Hooters just don't win ever, and you beat
that team, especially if they beat Iowa State earlier, they'll

(38:56):
be ranked. So you go on the road and beat Iowa.
Now all of a sudden, I'm like, we're going back.

Speaker 1 (39:02):
To somethings are and two loss Indiana has to get in,
has to get into the season.

Speaker 3 (39:08):
Two lost Indiana if the two losses are too at
Oregon at Penn State right with wins against Illinois and Iowa.
Even though people are going to immediately discredit that, I
do think makes it in, you know, at like the
eleventh spot.

Speaker 1 (39:24):
I understand there are the three tough games. But actually,
before we just did this, I was I was pretty
ready to give Indiana a loss in one of the
other nine, if that makes sense. We know about the
three to who would you coming into us talking about this?
I was like, I think there's enough variance on this

(39:46):
team coming up, where like if they don't show up
to a game, like, somebody's gonna pick off Indiana. And
I was like, I don't. I don't think it's U
c LA. I don't think it's Michigan State. Could it
be Maryland down the road? I don't.

Speaker 3 (40:04):
I don't see that happening Maryland is I've said a couple.

Speaker 1 (40:09):
I was ready to give Maryland. Yeah, I was ready
to give Indiana a road win against one of the beasts.
I was willing to give Indiana road win against one
of the beasts and then a loss to someone else.

Speaker 3 (40:25):
No, that's just crazy.

Speaker 1 (40:28):
But I don't I don't see I guess Maryland comes
off a bye before they face US. I just I
don't know. I don't I don't. I don't see it
in one of the other nine. And I guess I'm
including the home game. It's Illinois the nine. But like.

Speaker 3 (40:48):
I think I U goes nine and three. I put
that prediction out there. It doesn't make me happy to
say this. I would love to be wrong.

Speaker 1 (40:59):
And you know, Michigan, like Michigan State, comes to Indiana
between home games against UCLA and Michigan. Like I was,
I was willing to sit here and be like Indiana
gets picked off by Michigan State, or by Maryland or
by Wisconsin. And I just I don't uld dominion. I
don't see any of these. I really don't see any

(41:23):
of these resulting in a loss for IU, at least
as of August twenty seventh.

Speaker 3 (41:26):
So maybe, yeah, you gets the two worst teams I
think in the league. Like they get Purdue and Maryland
both on the road, which is wonderful, right, They're both terrible, That's.

Speaker 1 (41:40):
What I'm thinking too. Like I yeah, man, by the way,
and went ahead and aggregated the preseason poll, and uh,
Indiana comes in sixth, So let's just take.

Speaker 3 (41:55):
That, Okay, who's above IU?

Speaker 1 (41:58):
It goes Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Teardrop, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, USC, Nebraska, Washington, Iowa,
and then there's a tear drop.

Speaker 3 (42:13):
So I do not understand the Michigan hype. I don't
get it. Their best wide receiver was our fourth best
wide receiver last year.

Speaker 1 (42:25):
And I'm a Donovan McCully guy. I like him. I
think he deserves a chance to step up as a
starter somewhere, and I'm rooting for Michigan week two. I
want Michigan to beat Oklahoma. I really do. But I
said it on this podcast before, like the drop off

(42:46):
from Harvard to Sharon is gigantic, is humongous. And I
don't care that they beat Ohio State in Alabama at
the end of last year, good job, congrats, but you
know what the drop off from Mason Graham and Kenneth
Grant and yeah, guy, like what I'm saying, it's huge too.
And then you know you also had Josiah Stewart, who's

(43:06):
like a vet pass rusher out there, like forget I know,
Will Johnson and Colston Loveland didn't play much at the
end of last year, but you know, all of this
drop off and I think twenty twenty six, sure, but
you have a true freshman quarterback. I put in my
notes nine and three would be an enormous success for
Michigan this year.

Speaker 3 (43:26):
Yeah, I've seen people putting them as high as three.

Speaker 1 (43:29):
Like you should as happy, you should throw a parade
if you're Michigan, and not a parade, you should throw
a party if you're a Michigan fan. And they finished
nine and.

Speaker 3 (43:36):
Three this year, yep, I agree. I think anything above honestly, no,
for that mentioning team, I think anything above eight wins
is a party. I think they're gonna be helping more
towards seven and five. Not necessarily a bad thing, because
you're you're moving on, you know, building a program, but
for the love of God, like they have, I have

(44:00):
a pretty tough schedule. Let me look at their schedule.

Speaker 1 (44:03):
It's brutal. We'll dive into Michigan schedule coming out of
who won the week this past week in IU sports.
When Matt and I like to dive into some hoosier
names and faces that have done great things, whether it's
a current student athlete, whether it's someone who's in the
pros right now, and there are a lot of options
to pick from. We are going to tip our cap

(44:25):
to Yakopo Fedrizzi, who is the reigning Big Ten Offensive
Player of the Week for Indiana and Soccer. After an
entertaining first week to start the season against Clemson and
San Francisco where I you came back to get a
share of the points against Clemson in Bloomington before a

(44:48):
comeback win against San Francisco to follow that one up.
The Hoosiers across the different polls are in the top
ten across college soccer after the draw with Clemson the
win over San Francisco. Also a shout up to Monster

(45:13):
High School legend Nolan Kinsella, who is on the Indiana
and Soccer team. A couple of assists for a youngster
that went to my alma mater, So shout out to Nolan.
As Indiana now gears up for another fun set of

(45:37):
non conference games, beginning with Green Bay on Thursday night.
That should be a fun one last to look forward to.
With this men's soccer team off to a good start.
Last year, the start was a little bit hairy, no
question about it, but they're rocking and rolling to get
this season under way. Quick reminder folks, if you enjoy

(45:58):
our show, leave us through you tell a friend, share
our links. Your support really helps us grow this podcast
and reach more passionate IEU fans such as yourself. You
know that word of mouth really makes a difference. You know,
spread the word. That's exactly how we grow here as
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So you know, spread the words, you know, telefriends, share links.

(46:21):
That sort of stuff definitely does matter. We're going to
dive into this old dominion matchup in just a sec.
But Matt, you were talking about Michigan schedule, which was, yeah,
it is tough. And again, as I said, nine and three,
throw a party. What did you see when you looked
at Michigan schedule.

Speaker 3 (46:37):
Eight and four? Eight and four, and they should be
happy and they played Oklahoma USC seas. Yeah, but for
their standards it's and they play at Michigan City, Like
for their standards it's that's a low.

Speaker 1 (46:53):
Yeah, but that's like coming off of peak Harbaugh.

Speaker 3 (46:59):
No, yeah, I agree, you know what I'm saying, Like
they're building their building year. They don't have good wide receivers,
they lost both their starting running backs. They they're starting
a freshman QB. They lost to the two best players
on their team last year that played the same damn
position and de tackle, Like you lose so much off
of last year's team, and last team wasn't even that great,

(47:21):
Like they had a good ending, but they just didn't
have a good season at all.

Speaker 1 (47:25):
I don't know, like outside of peak Harbaugh, okay, which
I'm starting saying was twenty twenty one to twenty three.
Like these are Michigan's win totals starting with two thousand
and seven nine to three, five seven eleven, eight seven,
five ten, ten, eight ten nine COVID season, So like

(47:49):
eight is a good season.

Speaker 3 (47:52):
It's a decent Yeah, it's a good season. It's an
average season for them. That's more like it, which especially
for me, an average season for them.

Speaker 1 (47:59):
Especially if you get like a freshman of the year
type of season out of Bryce Underwood. You know that
was that's you know, fifty to sixty percent as exciting
as Jeremiah Smith's was last year, Like a Brice Underwood
shows that he can like hang in there, like especially
at that Week two road game against the Oklahoma Week
four road game against Nebraska, like I would throw a party,

(48:21):
like I really would ultimately come speaking. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (48:24):
Sorry, wait one last thing, speaking of teams that have
an easy road. Oh okay, you ready for Nebraska to
be going to the college football playoffs?

Speaker 1 (48:36):
I am, I am. I think Nebraska is very I
am a Matt Rule guy. Like I think Matt Rule
is a better college football coach than Sharowon Moore. I
don't know if that defends people, but like college football,
that's my take. And like Dylan Rayola is a better

(48:58):
college football quarterback in twenty twenty than Bryce Underwood. And
you know, I'm looking forward to that Week four game
in Lincoln. I have questions about Royola, I do, but hey,
you know what, they'll get a road game against Cincinnati
to kick things off on Thursday night. That's the one

(49:18):
I think I'm most interested in. On Thursday night. We'll
see how they look Nebraska is. You know, hey, look
you win at Cincinnati with margin, you you beat Michigan.
You know that could be a bit of like a
very early sort of CFP playing type of thing. You know, hey,

(49:40):
you know what, Michigan and Nebraska are close in the conversation, Well,
guess what Nebraska beat going Nebraska won that game, so
they get a leg up on Michigan and the conversations, Yeah,
it's in play. I can definitely see it in playing then.
By the way, if they're hot and feeling themselves. They
get a November twenty second road game against Penn State,
which should be uh, which should be fun if both

(50:00):
teams are playing well. So looking forward to that. Yeah.
Old Dominion comes to Town matt Saturday afternoon, two thirty
FS one, Indiana is a twenty four point favorite. Twenty
three and a half, twenty four and a half. Shop around,
find the best number. It looks like twenty three and

(50:21):
a half. It's a number out there right now with
an over under a fifty four and a half. If
you do the math, that gets us to something like
a thirty nine to sixteen final in Bloomington on Saturday.
According to the sportsbooks, Old Dominion comes in sort of
middle of the pack in the preseason Sunbuilt poll. They

(50:44):
do have several guys that did get first team second
team recognition. Offensive tackle Zach Barlev first team preseason All Sunbuilt,
as was Jason Henderson, a very productive linebacker who had
a banged up twenty twenty four, but in twenty two

(51:04):
and twenty three, he was very good in the linebacker position,
accumulating a ton of tackles. Chris Trinidad an edge defense
really an outside defensive end in Old Dominion's three to
three five alignment. Keep an eye out for him, as
well as CoA not Otala, who is a linebacker on

(51:26):
the Monarchs. Solid solid offense, decent decent run defense, questionable coverage,
questionable passing game. What are the couple things you're looking

(51:46):
forward to seeing between Old Dominion and Indiana on Saturday, Matt.

Speaker 3 (51:52):
Well, I want to see Indiana show the differences in
the boys in the trenches. Like I want to see
the offense of line protect Mendoza and impose their will
on a inferior Old Dominion defensive line. And then I
want to see, inversely, our defensive line absolutely recavoc on

(52:16):
their quarterback and anything they want to do. Like I
don't even want our secondary to be tested all that
much this game. Like I don't want those guys to
have to work basically at all, Like we should be
hearing their number at all unless it's like getting past
deflections right, Like our front seven should be absolutely destroying

(52:42):
Old Dominion, and like to the point that they can't score, Like,
that's what I want to see. And look, the Sunbelt
produces great teams. Nith and I talked about it before
we got on the show, but Old Dominion is not
some sort of pushover like they're going to be half
decent if they've had decent seasons as of recent in

(53:04):
the Sun Belt. We talked about how their coach is
not that bad Penn State, Penn State history, should be
looking for probably a better job at some point. He
can maybe turn things around. And some belts a great
league you got, you know, James Madison, you got Liberty
in there, you got a state in there, like there's
a good University of Louisiana Monroe, like it's it's a

(53:29):
good league. I I just I think I you has
obviously the superior talent. But I want them to come
out week one with everybody questioning them all off season
after the most recent performance at Notre Dame, and I

(53:50):
want to see them kick Old Dominion's teepen.

Speaker 1 (53:53):
Yeah. I don't know if you mentioned Jmu, but yeah,
Jmu at the top league, James, well, yeah, the two
divisional champs projected in the preseason are Louisiana formerly Lafayette
at the top of their division in the West, and
then JMU to win the Sun Belt East.

Speaker 3 (54:12):
I meant not Louisiana Monroe, but.

Speaker 1 (54:15):
Oh yeah, you LM is projected to finish last this
upcoming season.

Speaker 3 (54:18):
Yeah they're awful. I meant ye.

Speaker 1 (54:20):
But yeah, by the way, Southern miss plays Mississippi State
in Week one, so we'll see a lame we'll see
a another Sun Belt power for matchup there of course
app State, Coastal Carolina. Other great teams, Georgia, Southern. I
don't know if I got this right, but I said,

(54:41):
I just want to be clear. I like Old Dominion's
run game in general. Their past game I think is
a little bit questionable. Dual threat quarterback Colton Joseph took
over mid season last season from Grant Wilson, who is
now in Indiana. Hoosier Signetti pointed out very clearly. You know,
it's amazing, like nothing gets past Signette and the staff,
absolutely nothing. So Signetti is just talking about Old Dominion

(55:05):
as an opponent. And Jason Henderson is this great linebacker
who did something like something close to leading the tackles,
leading the country in tackles in twenty twenty three if
not actually doing that. And then he goes into how
you know, the Sun Belt's great and Old Dominions competitive,
and then he talked about how Week one last year
they went into Columbia South Carolina. She's a great college

(55:28):
football environment, and they not only like kept it close,
but they like deservedly had a chance of winning that game.
You know, they were right there doing everything that they
had to do to come out with the win. But
a couple of turnovers really deep into South Carolina territory

(55:48):
ruined Old Dominion's chances of winning that game. And Signetti
didn't just say, like, oh, they kept it close. Signetti
pointed out on Monday afternoon two touchdown drives for South
Carolin an all game. They were lengths of two yards
and six yards. Yeah, won that game. Fortunate, fortunate, to

(56:12):
say the least for the for the game Cocks, who,
as you pointed out, late bloomers as the year went
on last year, they figured it out. But like Old
Dominions outgained South Carolina in that game, Old Dominion, same
number of penalties. Old Dominion went out and you know
had had, you know, several explosive plays.

Speaker 3 (56:33):
They lost that game. They did not was South Carolina
did not win that game. That's that's that's the conclusion
that they.

Speaker 1 (56:41):
Were able to get penetration in the backfield four sacks
for for that Old Dominion defense. I mean, they could.

Speaker 3 (56:50):
Be uncomfortable, folks, this game could They were very uncomfortable.

Speaker 1 (56:53):
And the funny thing is Old Dominion has had wins
in the past against teams like Virginia Attack, Yeah, hanging
right in there against Virginia, hanging right in there against
wake Forest, And these are seasons where Old Dominion doesn't
turn out great win loss records when it's all said
and done. Last year they go five and seven. But
guess what they could have easily. I mean they deserved Frankly,

(57:20):
maybe I shouldn't say that way, but they outgained South Carolina.
South Carolina fortunate. You know, a couple of takeaways. Deep
into deep into Old Dominion, deep into yeah o Old
Dominion territory. So man, solid run game, duel threat QB.
I liked your comment about the secondary though, like it

(57:43):
should be lockdown stuff for the most part. Hey, you
know what is it? You know? Is it? Are you
ever gonna completely eliminated team's passing attack? I remember Tom
Allen's defenses occasionally would do that to teams like Rutgers
and Yukon across twenty nineteen and twenty. I think Johnny
Langan was the quarterback at Rutgers when he had one

(58:05):
passing yard over the course of the game in Bloom.

Speaker 3 (58:08):
That was a wet dream of the game. It was
the most fun.

Speaker 1 (58:11):
I don't think we're gonna get that. You know, Colton
Joseph all right, but he does bring that dual threat
capacity to the quarterback position, so Indiana's gonna have to
watch out for that again. Good offensive tackle and Zach
Barlev However, the rest in the line up front for
Old Dominion a little bit questionable. A few things I'm

(58:32):
going to be looking out for as I think of
the Indiana perspective here. First of all, Fernando Mendoza, let's go, baby,
I mean here we here, we go, like this is
is showtime. You cannot take Week one lightly. Leonora Sellers

(58:52):
last year at a very difficult time moving the ball
through the year against the Old Dominion defense, Old Dominion
pass defense. I don't foresee things going that way. Week one.
I think Fernando Mendoza should have a fairly easy time
throwing the football against these guys. The run game, we'll
see the past game, especially if you incorporate the running backs.

(59:12):
You take those deep shots to Cooper and to Surrat,
to to to the new to the new faces as well.
Jonathan Brady, Makai Jackson. I'm really looking forward to seeing
Mendoza air it out and then of course, ideally he
racks up, you know, two point fifty three touchdowns and

(59:34):
gets pulled and then hey, who comes in next? It's
gonna be Grant Wilson. Is it gonna be Alberta Mendoza?
Looking forward to seeing how that plays out. Who are
the starting five up front? I have a general idea
of who that should be, but you know, let's see
it set in stone. That'll probably come through in pregame

(59:54):
warm up. So when we see the first team working
together there, you know, how does that look? Is their cohesiveness?
You know? Who who is the odd man out as
the sort of the swing tackle, the swing the swing lineman.
Looking forward to seeing that. What's the D line rotation
look like? You know, is it a set of five

(01:00:15):
guys at six, at seven? Is it eight? You know,
who really steps up we know Mikhael Kamara is a legend,
but other than that, hey, you know what, hey, are
we gonna get interior pressure? Is it gonna be per
pressure from the edge. I don't expect many blitzes, so
you know, how how is the defensive line gonna work
out there? And then as Matt and I talked about

(01:00:36):
that other linebacker spot, if it's Elijah Hardy that gets
first cracked, I want to see how he looks. Aidan
Fisher is awesome. But Matt and I talked about how
if things go sideways for this Indiana team, it's because
you know, one or two of these positional battles really
don't go Indiana's way. And if Indiana does not get
anyone to step up in the other linebacker spot outside

(01:00:58):
of Aidan Fisher, that's gonna be humor just drop off
from what Jalen Walker provided to Hoosiers last year. So
really looking forward to seeing that other matchup there. Matt
and I. We will predict the outcome the final score
of this game in just a sec as well as
give you our Big ten picks of the week. But first,
a quick social media shout out. Friends are a reminder
if you enjoy our show, leave us a review, tell

(01:01:19):
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really helps us grow this podcast reach more passionate. Ie.
You fans such as yourself can find us on Twitter, Facebook,
or YouTube at Indiana HQ, at the Hoosier sound that
on Instagram or not Indiana HQ. But what are we.

Speaker 3 (01:01:37):
Indiana dot HQ?

Speaker 1 (01:01:38):
Correct, that's right. You can find us there again, Retweet,
like our stuff, comment, share. We try to get back
to as many as we can, and we will ramp
that up here as the season gets going. So hey,
leave us a message, leave us a comment, leave us
some feedback. We are all ears, all right, Matt, As
we said, Indiana twenty three and a half point fase

(01:02:00):
over under about fifty four fifty four and a half
thirty nine to sixteen is a sportsbook projection. Who do
you have winning this game? And by how much? Well?

Speaker 3 (01:02:11):
I already spoiled it earlier. Yeah, I true, that's true,
that's true. But how much four those that would like
a comfy game, I'm here to tell you that I
think I you comes out and makes it a comfy game.
I think this is a forty nine to seven victory
from the users.

Speaker 1 (01:02:32):
In fact, I was.

Speaker 3 (01:02:33):
Leaning towards fifty six to seven. I think they'll probably
be resting the starters by the time they're a forty
So yeah, But would it surprise me if this is
a thirty five twenty one final no with with I
you pulling away late and like the third Yeah, no,

(01:02:57):
I wouldn't be surprised, or like thirty five seventeen, but
it really was like fourteen fourteen and a half like
that wouldn't surprise me either. But I just I don't
see this old Dominion team having the talent on offense
to compete with our defense, which I am much more

(01:03:17):
sure in than I am of our offense, given the
fact that we're replacing a QB and there's a bunch
of other moving pieces. So yeah, I just I think
the defense is gonna show up and show out. So
eighty six seven, Oh sorry, fortnite.

Speaker 1 (01:03:35):
I actually am Yeah. I like, I'm more along the
lines of that other comment you made where it's a
little bit uncomfortable, where it's a little bit competitive difficult
to Indiana's gonna have to find find some things a
little bit. I had this twenty seven to thirteen Indiana.
So I do have Indiana winning. I think it's a
little bit low scoring. I think Old means the.

Speaker 3 (01:03:57):
Second lowest score I used scored under Signetti.

Speaker 1 (01:04:01):
I think something like that second or third, second or
third as O High State Notre Dame, and then yeah,
I gotta look at the numbers.

Speaker 3 (01:04:10):
That's it, that's it.

Speaker 1 (01:04:14):
I just this is more a tip of the cap
to Old Dominion once again. Uh, let me just put
it this way. I think Old Dominion is by far
the toughest of the six non conference opponents across the
twenty four and twenty five Signetti schedules. I don't think
if I use as tough as them, I don't think,
you know, anyone else close is close, Charlotte nothing. So

(01:04:38):
that's how I see it again. You know Indiana will win,
but I think, you know, looking ahead, I don't expect
Indiana to really show much as well. I think it'll
be kind of a vanilla call on both sides of
the ball. Get guys in, get guys out, healthy, ready
to roll for Week two, Week three, week four. I
think that's the main point here as we wrap up

(01:05:01):
week one. So Matt and I, as usual what we
like to do is we like to look around the
Big ten footprint in addition to Indiana's game against Old
Dominion or whoever they face, and like to give you
one or two Big ten picks of the week. There
are a lot of games on the slate. I think
it's a full eighteen zero conference matchups zero buys, a

(01:05:26):
lot of point spreads out there, a lot of over
unders out there. Will there be a potential upset, Matt.
I'll throw it over to you looking at the point
spreads this week, looking at the over unders. What are
one or two picks that you like? And then are
there any upsets that have your attention?

Speaker 3 (01:05:47):
Yeah? I like Utah to cover against UCLA. And then
for my upset pick, I have ball State beating Produce.

Speaker 1 (01:06:04):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (01:06:08):
All right, I also like you tell yours first. Then
I'll add an extra cover.

Speaker 1 (01:06:17):
But someone someone's gonna get upset.

Speaker 3 (01:06:22):
Uh. I just hope it's not us, dude, that's I
hope we don't head just do this whole podcast gassing
up by you for.

Speaker 1 (01:06:29):
A Yeah, I mean obviously we will be. We will
be in shambles if that happens. I'm just gonna take
Ohio State to cover the one against Texas. It's a weird,
like there's a weird vibe around Ohio State, and I
don't quite get it.

Speaker 3 (01:06:51):
I feel like like I understand it completely.

Speaker 1 (01:06:55):
I I don't. I don't. I don't. I don't. I
think for Thisio State team, like I think Julian Sayan
can take a step up on what Will Howard gave
Ohio State last year, I think, and step back. I don't.

(01:07:15):
I don't really see that happening. Like with Ryan Day
calling the shots and with Jeremiah Smith out there, Carnell
Tates still in the offense, solid offensive line like Kyle
McCord and Will Howard. We're not great for Ohio State
the last two years. And I think Julian san can

(01:07:37):
take a step up on that. I don't, And I
don't see the likelihood that big, that large of a
likelihood that he hurts Ohio State more. He negatively affects
Ohio State more than Will Howard and Colin McCord did.
But I guess we'll see when the when the balls
rolled out.

Speaker 3 (01:07:56):
There, I don't agree with you there, but I think
Will Howard was very important for our state.

Speaker 1 (01:08:06):
Okay, I'm also gonna take two lane to cover the
six against interesting true road game for the Wildcats. Tulane
will be ready to roll there. It's a great college
football program, like New Orleans is a good football city.

(01:08:31):
Two lane, two lane will be ready to rock for
that one. All right, give yours and then I'll give
my upset. He said you had another cover up your sleeve.

Speaker 3 (01:08:43):
I do have another cover up my sleeve. I like
I like Maryland to lose to Florida Atlantic.

Speaker 1 (01:08:51):
Whoa, whoa.

Speaker 3 (01:08:57):
I think the bottom of the Big Ten is atrocious.
I think Purdue and and and Maryland are the bottom two. Wow,
they're horrendous.

Speaker 1 (01:09:10):
Okay, okay, okay, all right. Uh former FAU quarterback Cam
Fancher is not gonna start at U. See if I
saw that come through? Uh ahead of Tavan Jackson.

Speaker 3 (01:09:22):
Or Tavan.

Speaker 1 (01:09:24):
Yeah, all right, all right, all right, I'm not super
confident on this one. But you know, let me hit it,
hit me with it, Ohiover.

Speaker 3 (01:09:35):
Rutgers because Aaron Aaron Brightman did his thing.

Speaker 1 (01:09:42):
And but that's Thursday night, Thursday night, early like six
pm Eastern six pm.

Speaker 3 (01:09:51):
I mean if I wake up Friday morning at six am,
I can watch that game.

Speaker 1 (01:09:55):
Hey, you know what if I were you do like
do like a at eight am, you know, because that'll
be like third quarter and if it's good, If it's good,
tune in and then that'll lead you right into Nebraska, Cincinnati, Buffalo,
Minnesota for that big ten Thursday night slate in addition

(01:10:16):
to the other action across uh the FBS. Yeah, Ohio
State Rutgers. I'm sorry, Ohio Rutgers. Sure, yeah, I like it.
I like it. I'm convincing myself in real time, by

(01:10:37):
the way.

Speaker 3 (01:10:38):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:10:39):
I also like Coastal Carolina went at Virginia straight up,
MORI soun belt love. Not a big time game, just
a bonus upset in there for the people.

Speaker 3 (01:10:50):
Bonus upset for the college foot Mostly.

Speaker 1 (01:10:54):
You don't have to if you don't want to. I
I threw it out there though, for for the for
the vibes, for the people. I like Coastal Coastal to
go into Charlottesville pick off the Wahoo's Cavaliers.

Speaker 3 (01:11:15):
Yeah, Cavaliers, not waters. That was whoo the Illinois thing.

Speaker 1 (01:11:21):
I'll look it up here. I feel like I offended
someone just now think I think you're right actually, but yeah,
Virginia is a twelve point favorite in that game, and
I don't. I don't. I don't agree with that at all.
No any final thoughts, Matt, in addition to hey, if

(01:11:44):
you have a bonus upset, throw it out there. But
any final thoughts here as you wind down on this Wednesday.

Speaker 3 (01:11:50):
Ball's back go back to making regular podcasts. We don't
have to, like and we don't have to like sit
here and be like, hey do you want to do
a podcast and med be like what are we going
to talk about? Also, I live in China.

Speaker 1 (01:12:06):
You know, you just don't want to fill up the
space with empty you.

Speaker 3 (01:12:09):
Know, there was so much empty stuff this summer. College
There's not a ton going on with with college basketball
as of recent there's not a ton going on.

Speaker 1 (01:12:22):
I I also blame a lot of other people for
this development. So we had the woods and degrees craziness.

Speaker 3 (01:12:32):
Right like, yeah, got through that.

Speaker 1 (01:12:34):
I also blame Indiana for making the playoff last year.
That took a lot of heart and soul out of me.
Yeah that was a lot, man. I was so locked in.

Speaker 3 (01:12:45):
Hopefully this year. I mean to make it a regular
thing every year.

Speaker 1 (01:12:51):
So now I'm budgeting that in, you know, so like
that's why we I'm prepared.

Speaker 3 (01:12:55):
I'm prepared to.

Speaker 1 (01:12:57):
Back a little bit during the summer, only for US
to lose winning field goal in Week one. I don't
know if I have anything else looking at this Week
one slate? Is there anything else that catches my attention?
I think, you know, Tennessee should smack Syracuse. I think

(01:13:19):
Bama should smack Florida State. I think Clemson gets LSU.
I think Clemson knocks off LSU in which would be
another uh in which case that would be another Brian
Kelly Week one loss. I don't know about Notre Dame Miami.

(01:13:46):
That'll be a fun one. That'll be a fun one
on Sunday night.

Speaker 3 (01:13:50):
Yeah, yeah, sure, I don't like this Miami team. Also
not sure. I'm very confident Notre Dame either.

Speaker 1 (01:14:00):
But you know what, I think that's when we we
sort of lean on the saying stuff for Indiana like
Marcus Freeman is a great coach, a great coach.

Speaker 3 (01:14:07):
Yes, And Crystal Ball.

Speaker 1 (01:14:08):
Is he was he the guy that did not kneel? Yes? Okay, yes,
well there you go. Yes, Mark streamid with that.

Speaker 3 (01:14:17):
I knew exactly what you're because.

Speaker 1 (01:14:20):
I watched that. I watched that game happen too.

Speaker 3 (01:14:24):
We were watching that game on space in our faces.
But the other place, you're on the playback. Yeah, correct,
we're on playback watching that game. God, I missed that
so much that that was the most fun I've had
watching football. Was just like on playback with everybody.

Speaker 1 (01:14:40):
I was just like I was doing the math in
my head. I was like, you can, you can just
kneel it, Like what's the point, Like what are you doing?

Speaker 3 (01:14:52):
Yeah? Yeah, they lined up to run a play and
I remember you saying they just.

Speaker 1 (01:14:59):
I mean, it's funny, like Herm Edwards whenever that was
He's like, you play to win the game. It's like
the most profound sentence anyone has ever said ever, which
doesn't seem obvious, Like like when Iowa State week zero,
end of the game, up three, they go for it

(01:15:24):
because you play to win the game.

Speaker 3 (01:15:27):
You don't put it, you don't play to tie.

Speaker 1 (01:15:29):
It's not reckless, but the entire point there is it's
better to be up three than it is to be
up six. So if you miss the fourth down play, fine,
Kansas State takes over. Kansas State is down three. Subconsciously,
they're going to drive down the field and objective is
to get into field goal range, which, by the way,
if they make the field goal, you go into overtime

(01:15:51):
fifty to fifty shots. Meanwhile, if you're Iowa State, you
convert the fourth down. Guess what you get close to
the goal line, well, you get the first down. But
if you score a touchdown, you're up to scores. Wow,
that's magical. You love that. Every day of the week
you play to win the game. It's like, it's really
how Mario Chrystobal, Mario crystabal. You don't play to win

(01:16:11):
the game by one hundred. You play to win. All
you gotta do is meal and you win. Signetti, all
I do is win. You know, he's been very clear
about that. So hey, hopefully the Hoosiers can get that
done here in week one. But folks, that about wraps
it up for our three hundred and fifty at show
of the Hoosier Sound. Thank you so much for joining us.
We really appreciate your support. Do you have more fantastic
episodes like the one you heard today? Be sure to

(01:16:32):
follow us at Indiana hqre at the Hoosier Sound to
make sure you don't miss any in the future. You
also go to our website indianahq dot com to find
it all in one place, but as always, thank you
for listening. Who's your nation. We'll see you next time.