September 18, 2025 • 23 mins
Indiana takes on Illinois in a top-20 battle that will serve as a measuring stick for both programs, and it provides the first true test of the year for the Hoosiers. We break down what to expect and hear from head coach Curt Cignetti.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
I am doing everybody. I'm Ken Bike Goff and welcome
to the Peaks Podcast. Indiana plays a massive game against
Illinois this weekend, Saturday night at Memorial Stadium as they
welcome top ten team in Illinois to Memorial Stadium in
a game that the Hoogiers right now are favored to win.
And I just think it is really really interesting just
(00:34):
kind of stock that has been put into this game.
I mean, it's I think it's great for the Big
Ten first and foremost, because you have two programs that
just a few years ago, we're pretty down, and now
you have a pair of programs that are nationally ranked,
drawing a ton of attention. And yeah, I know Ohio
(00:56):
State fans and Penn State fans and Michigan and fans
and all of that are are used to that attention
and it's always exciting to see those teams do well. However,
having some new faces play a big game is exciting too,
and as an IU fan, it's great to see the
Hoosiers be one of those teams. Indiana out to a
(01:19):
three and oh start, coming off as seventy three to
nothing win over Indiana State. They've won comfortably every time
out there have been hiccups along the way, but they've
won each game comfortably. And yet they also haven't put
together a you know, a strong sixty minutes against a
peer team, or at least against you know, against Indiana State,
(01:42):
obviously it was amazing, and Kennesaw State, their defense was
was great. I'm really interested in this matchup because I
know there's a lot of people that will look at
this and say, Illinois is really good this year, and yeah,
well those Indiana, Indiana's really good as well. And Illinois
(02:03):
is what I consider to be a peer school. Illinois, Yeah, sad,
I said, I say Indiana, Illinois. I don't remember. Illinois
is what I consider to be a peer school. Now
what does that mean to me? That means that it
isn't Ohio State and Penn State or one of these
teams where you have to you feel like you have
to play your absolute best football to beat them. There's
(02:26):
not that history there. There's not a huge gap in
talent on the roster as you run into with some
of those teams. When Indiana played Notre Dame last year
in the College Football Playoffs, the difference in talent on
the team was night and day, and it showed in
the game. This isn't the case here. This is a
(02:49):
good Illinois team against a good Indiana team, and it
should be an exciting game. I'll get into a little
bit about what to expect or what I'm the looking
for for this game in just a few minutes. But
we got a chance to talk with Kurt Signetti earlier
this week about this game, about some of the things
that are going on, and again sig treats game week
(03:13):
like game week, regardless of who the opponent is. And
although there's a lot of excitement, a lot of buzz
about this game, seg is on an even keel. So
without any further ado, here is Kurt Signetti during his
weekly meeting with the media and media last Monday in
the team room.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
All right, Monday, Okay. Generally pleased with the progress we
made last week. Take a few penalties out of there,
and there's always a few other things to clean up.
Focused on the prep for Illinois. Obviously good football team.
Ought to be a great environment Saturday night. Looking forward
to it.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Junior status.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yeah, BB sustained a non contact knee injury and we'll
be lost for the season.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
And with Kobe Martin obviously played strong in that fourth quarter.
Plus is he a guy that might be, you know,
ready to step into a larger role, you know, to
make that back to a three back rotation.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, he's gonna need to. And I thought he ran
well Saturday night. And you know, he's got talent and
he'll get more reps and we're gonna need him.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
You're just kind of question, But they've got Luke Altmeyer,
a very experienced quarterback. I'm sure you've seen a lot
of them, whether it's scouting for this game or maybe
just watching him play other teams you've scouted. What are
your impressions of what they do with him at that
position and how they kind of accentuate his strength.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well, you know, first off, bigger picture, you know, they're
a really good football team. Got a lot of good players,
a lot of veteran players. Coach Bi Lama does a
great job him and his staff in all three phases offense, defense,
special teams. Veteran quarterback, it's got arm, talent, very accurate,
(05:04):
can extend plays. You know, he's won a bunch of
games for Illinois. And that's the one thing about Illinois
is they know what it takes you know the success
they had last year, return a good nucleus of guys,
added some new ones very much kind of like us,
you know, good core returning that understands what it takes.
(05:27):
So it ought to be a great matchup. But impressed
with Altmar.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
Kurt.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Last year the schedule seemed to progress kind of perfectly
as far as challenging.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
This year, you start right off of the top ten matchup.
Any difference in preparation or is it just a natural
thing that goes on?
Speaker 5 (05:46):
Really?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I mean, look last year before the season started, we
were probably favored in three games, right, We were picked
seventeenth out eighteen teams. So every game, every big ten
game that we went into, we were an underdog before
the season started, maybe with the exception of Purdue. So
(06:07):
you know, last year is in the books. It's a
new year. Illinois is a good football team. We're a
good football team.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Matt.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Coach, just want to see what what you've seen so
far from milanoit defensively on tape, I mean, what kind
of challenges they present for you guys. You know they've
morphed a little bit schematically. Uh, starting in the bowl
game last year against South Carolina, Uh, in some of
their coverage packages and uh carried on into this season. Uh,
(06:40):
you know, multiple personnel groupings. Uh defensively four two five
five one five five two four four one six and others.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
They do a nice job of disguising coverage. Got some
nice disguises. They play a lot of guys, got a
lot of good players. Run to the ball. Uh, get
a lot of hats to the football. Uh, you know,
good pressure on the quarterback type coverage. Uh, really tied
together well with good players.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Coach Hank Baty, their main punt returner and receiver.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
What makes him so hard to defend on offense? And
then what do you need to do in the punking
his opportunities?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Yeah, well, uh, you know, he's our leading receiver, but
they do spread the ball around. He's good player, good
ball skills, good movement skills. As in terms of a
punt returner. You know, hang time always helps, you know,
give the coverage time to get down there and do
a great job with our coverage, net tackle and space.
Speaker 5 (07:43):
Coach, you said that you've had to coach this team
harder than you have in the years past.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
How much progress do you think they've made on that front?
Heading in a week four.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Yeah, I think, uh you know, the three games that
was the recipe. We had to bring this team along
as far as we could. We were playing teams we're
pretty heavily favored against. Oh do you turned out to
be a pretty decent team, didn't they? And uh so
now you know that we're ready for Big ten football.
(08:13):
And uh you know, I like the progress we've made.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Now, we've got to stack days, meetings, practices, and days
in preparation put ourselves in the best position for success
Saturday night.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah, Kurt Illinois hasn't had to turnover this year. What
what makes him so efficient offensively to be able to
do that?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah, Well, they've done nice job protecting the ball. Uh
no turnovers six six takeaways. Uh you know, the Duke
game is a one point game at half and uh
you know, Duke turned it over five times and that
was the name of the story right there. Uh you
know that four fumbles, So do a nice job stripping
(08:52):
the ball. But you know we're five to one in
the turnover ratio as well. Uh BB had to fumble
his first carry. Other that, we've been pretty clean and
we've been able to take the ball away ourselves. So
line of scrimmage, turnover ratio, battle of explosives, being good
in critical situations, teams needs to be a win. That's
(09:13):
always the formula. Never really has changed. So I think
when you look at the two teams statistically, you'll see
a lot of dominant numbers for the offense, defense, and
special teams.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
Kirk, do you have any prior relationship with Brett Bilma
and what I guess about the way he coaches and
just what about his teams make them tough to play against? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (09:37):
No, never coached against him, really, never met him to
join the conference. He was very welcoming, always had a
lot of respect for him as a coach. You know,
he was a head coach at a very young age
and has really had some nice teams and he's done
a great job at Illinois and they're fundamental and you
can see the coaching show up on tape.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
You get one extra day of preparation because of the
Friday game last week, Is there anything different in the
process and really how important is it to maybe have
the extra day for your players' bodies to rest. Yeah?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
No, we as a staff. I gave the staff Saturday off,
so we resumed normal Sunday routine. Players got a extra
day off will benefit them also and weren't into a
normal Monday.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Y'all have rush for over three hundred yards each week.
What do you feel has kind of you know why?
Speaker 5 (10:32):
I guess like, like, why have y'all had so much
success in that regard?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Well, we're doing a good job up front and a
tight end. Receivers are doing nice job blocking backs are
running hard and you know Bob does a great job
with the line, and you know we've been a little
better in the people we played too, Josh, and you
read and.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
Will coach, no national pregame show is going to be here,
just a simple game.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
How nice does it do? Not have that noise and.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
Clutter in your pregame?
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Well, I'm always focused in on the game regardless, So
for me, it it doesn't really change much. It's nationally
televised game NBC. Uh, it's gonna be a you know,
great environment and uh, I know our players will be excited.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
Will and you're right the backing is coach going to
the big time play. How do use the team ensure
that you either replicate the success you had last year
or a group of.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Bout last year's history. Uh, I don't compare the last year.
You know, I'm totally focused on the here and now
in this team. So I think we made good progress
last week. Now we got to have a great week
of prep so we can play our best Saturday night.
And uh, you know, I don't look down the road
to who we play and this and that. I just
(11:45):
wanna have a great Monday today.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Did you see? I I know, give me the competition, but
you see the improvements you wanted to do in the
secondary from kind of the previous week or is that
kind of to be determined because some of that was paced.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Now, I thought we made improvements in all areas to
find the league. We got lined up, played with more agency,
got more hats, the ball coverage was tighter, So it
was good.
Speaker 5 (12:07):
Right when Fernando has a game that he did against
Indiana State, like, how do you go into the this
week sort of need to adjusting things and improving things
from him?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Still I can't hear the last part of your question.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
How do you go into this week, you know, still
working on things after the game he had in Week three?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Well, every game is different because everybody's schematically is different
every opponent and the personnel you're going to play against.
So he's made progress. Really pleased with the way he
finished the game, in the progress he had made since
the opener. This is a new week, but I have
(12:43):
total confidence, you know, he'll step up and respond.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
So they're sig start with the Lee bb Junior injury.
That was really unfortunate. You know, when you're playing these
games that you're winning easily, somebody has to be out there.
And you know, Bbie's one of the rotation guys and
you know, yeah you were up big at halftime, but
still you need somebody out there to carry the ball,
(13:08):
get a couple extra carries. And it was really unfortunate
that he suffered the injury that he did. It was
making a cut, his leg kind of buckled and he
went down, and so that is unfortunate and we wish
him the the quickest comeback that that he can and
hopefully he'll be back stronger and better. But what to
(13:28):
expect from Illinois, First off, Illinois is gonna run the ball.
They're gonna try to run the ball. That is their
focus is running the ball, then running off of you know,
some RPOs along the way. So you're as a defense,
you have to be ready to stop the run, but
still be on your the on your toes to make
sure you don't get beat with the pass. That's gonna
(13:51):
be a huge key. Another key for Indiana is to
get ahead early, make the most of your opportunities, especially
in the first quarter. It's not going to be like
it was against Kennesaus State or Indiana State. That's fine.
What you are going to see want to see from
Indiana though, is for them to put points on the
(14:11):
board early and then d up. This is not an
Illinois team that plays well from behind. That isn't how
they are built. They haven't really faced being behind this year,
but that's not how they're built. They are not a
quick strike offense. So that's something Indiana has to take
advantage of and limit those the mistakes that kind of
(14:33):
kill drives along the way. We've seen that at times,
but this is an Indiana team that if they get
out front early, it's just going to build the confidence
of this team and make it real difficult for Illinois
to come back. Something that I think is interesting too,
and I think this is mostly a feeling of Indiana fans,
(14:57):
is you have a program that is enjoying its biggest
string of success basically in its history. And yet there's
also this feeling of this is a must win game
because if we don't win this, the season might fall apart.
It gets tough in the Big Ten. We haven't seen
(15:17):
what Indiana's done against top opponents. And I understand those
feelings completely, I really do. But sixteen games I think
Kurt Signetti has coached here at IU, he's lost two
of them. That in and of itself is an impressive feat,
(15:38):
and he's proven that he could beat very good teams,
especially peer teams, whether it's at home on the road.
Signetti's done it, and they've done a great job of
putting together game plans for that and keeping pressure on
their players to play at a certain standard. And if
they're not beating that state sig make sure to go
(16:01):
ahead and let them know about it. This is a
big game for Indiana. But when you're looking at what
your hopes are for this season, and I'm not trying
to dial back expectations, don't get me wrong. I think
Indiana has every opportunity to win this game if it
plays the way we know how to. We know that
(16:23):
they can, especially along the offensive, offensive and defensive lines.
You want that defensive line to be disruptive. You want
them to use their hands to get off blocks and
put Illinois in second and third and long, get them
off schedule, and turn this team away from its strength
with just running the ball. This is a IU team
(16:46):
that in Week one really struggled when it came to
getting off of blocks. Week two you saw a little
bit better. Week three was really good. But Indiana State.
So this is the game that's kind of your measuring stick,
and so I always kind of look at the season
(17:10):
as not an endgame, but a steps to where you are. Okay,
So the goal for Indiana throughout the years and should
be throughout the years, is get Bowl eligible. That's step one.
Indiana hasn't always done that. The Hoogiers are are on
their way to doing that. I'd be really really stunned
if they didn't end up winning six games this year.
(17:32):
But you want them to win six games. Then if
they are on a roll, then you want to see
them continue to be on that role to try to
challenge for a Big Ten championship, then college football playoffs
and things like that. So let's say Indiana plays plays
a game against Illinois and loses. It loses a competitive game.
(17:56):
It's not going to be the end of the world.
Just like if they win against Illinois, it's going to
be a nice little statement, but there's going to be
a lot of work left to be done. So people
look at this, this is, you know, set the tone
for the rest of the season. I am not in
that camp. Winning is important, no question, and I fully
expect the Hoosiers to win this bowl game because of
(18:20):
what I've seen with this team this year, last year,
with Kurt Signetti, his plan that he has. You've seen
the offense, you've seen the defense. You haven't seen everything
the Hoosiers are going to do because that's not how
it works during the non conference schedule. You're not going
to show what you got against Indiana State and Kennesaw State,
(18:40):
or Old Dominion for that matter. I'm looking forward to
this one because of the fact that the Hoosiers can
control their destiny there. Johnny's and Joe's are just as
good as Illinoi's. So this isn't an uphill battle from
the start. It's going to be who makes the fewest mistakes.
That's what it is. Who makes the fewest mistakes, and defensively,
(19:04):
if Indiana could be disruptive on first down and second down,
it's gonna go a long way. And if that offense
could go ahead and put on some early scores, the
Hoosiers are going to be in good shape. The weapons
that Indiana has offensively stresses teams because you have Fernando Mendoza,
(19:26):
who has looked better with every outing this year. This
is gonna be a test. But this isn't a kid
who hasn't played in big games before. It comes from
cal No. He's played in big games before. Even without
Lee Bebee, you still have a good running back room
Roman hemby Kaylon Black, you know Kobe Martin. You got
(19:49):
some good backs that can make things happen in the
run game and keep guys fresh on the field passing game.
You have weapons a lot Aijas, surat Omar Cooper, a
host of other guys, E J. Williams, host of other guys.
So that offense is going to put a lot of
pressure on Illinois. And in Illinois's other game that they've
(20:14):
played against a team that is from a you know,
a bigger conference, it played Duke and Illinois showed some
cracks there, and there gonna be something Indiana's going to
look to exploit. So being able to stress Illinois, get
(20:34):
out to an early lead, be disruptive on defense. Those
are all the keys you're going to have. And then
you can't have any special team mistakes. In fact, you
have to have your special teams make a positive impact
in this one. But it should be an amazing crowd
on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. After the game, I'll
(20:56):
be taking your calls and I'm looking forward to that show.
Stood up over by the Tennis Center, on the north
side of Assembly Hall, right next to the Tennis Center
building is where I'll be. There'll be a canopy or
a you know, I'll have my flag out and light
and all of that and want you to stop by.
You'll be able to hear me if you're in that
(21:17):
parking lot. I guess it's lot twelve, is what it is.
But I'm looking forward to the day. I'm looking forward
to your calls. I'm looking forward to this kind of
excitement because it is great to be excited for an
IU football game in late September. That does mean something.
I'm not saying that these games don't mean it they do,
(21:39):
They mean a lot, but it is exciting to see
one that Indiana has every opportunity to win and every
opportunity to make a statement, just to prove that last
year wasn't a fluke. And I don't think last year
was a fluke, but this is our opportunity to show
it to a national audience and being able to go
out there, be competitive, put Illinois a visitor in their
(22:04):
place before they go head on the road. It's gonna
be a fun night. And I will go ahead and
make my prediction. I rarely make predictions, but I like
what Indiana is doing offensively. I like what I've seen defensively.
I like the progress that I've seen from week to week.
I like the way that Signetti and his coaching staff
have developed teams over the years. And I'm not giving
(22:29):
a score. I'm not giving spreads. That ain't my thing.
But I do think Indiana wins this ballgame in uh
not blowout fashion. I'm not expecting forty five points, but
I do think that Indiana wins and moves to FOURID. Oh,
we'll see if I'm right. Saturday night. Well, it's all
the time we have on the peaks podcast this week,
(22:49):
I want to thank you for listening. I want to
remind you to visit peaks dot com for the very
best and I you football and basketball coverage. You're gonna
find anywhere nobody covers who's you're recruiting better than Jeff
rab John's, Matt Weaver, Tver Anderschach and Jared Kelly. So
come be a part of a thriving and exciting community
at peaks dot com. Folks, you are not going to
be disappointed. Folks are out of time. But for now
(23:09):
and for Jeff, Matt, Trevor and Jared, I'm ken Bikoff
saying thanks for listening. Everybody,
I am doing everybody. I'm Ken Bike Goff and welcome
to the Peaks Podcast. Indiana plays a massive game against
Illinois this weekend, Saturday night at Memorial Stadium as they
welcome top ten team in Illinois to Memorial Stadium in
a game that the Hoogiers right now are favored to win.
And I just think it is really really interesting just
(00:34):
kind of stock that has been put into this game.
I mean, it's I think it's great for the Big
Ten first and foremost, because you have two programs that
just a few years ago, we're pretty down, and now
you have a pair of programs that are nationally ranked,
drawing a ton of attention. And yeah, I know Ohio
(00:56):
State fans and Penn State fans and Michigan and fans
and all of that are are used to that attention
and it's always exciting to see those teams do well. However,
having some new faces play a big game is exciting too,
and as an IU fan, it's great to see the
Hoosiers be one of those teams. Indiana out to a
(01:19):
three and oh start, coming off as seventy three to
nothing win over Indiana State. They've won comfortably every time
out there have been hiccups along the way, but they've
won each game comfortably. And yet they also haven't put
together a you know, a strong sixty minutes against a
peer team, or at least against you know, against Indiana State,
(01:42):
obviously it was amazing, and Kennesaw State, their defense was
was great. I'm really interested in this matchup because I
know there's a lot of people that will look at
this and say, Illinois is really good this year, and yeah,
well those Indiana, Indiana's really good as well. And Illinois
(02:03):
is what I consider to be a peer school. Illinois, Yeah, sad,
I said, I say Indiana, Illinois. I don't remember. Illinois
is what I consider to be a peer school. Now
what does that mean to me? That means that it
isn't Ohio State and Penn State or one of these
teams where you have to you feel like you have
to play your absolute best football to beat them. There's
(02:26):
not that history there. There's not a huge gap in
talent on the roster as you run into with some
of those teams. When Indiana played Notre Dame last year
in the College Football Playoffs, the difference in talent on
the team was night and day, and it showed in
the game. This isn't the case here. This is a
(02:49):
good Illinois team against a good Indiana team, and it
should be an exciting game. I'll get into a little
bit about what to expect or what I'm the looking
for for this game in just a few minutes. But
we got a chance to talk with Kurt Signetti earlier
this week about this game, about some of the things
that are going on, and again sig treats game week
(03:13):
like game week, regardless of who the opponent is. And
although there's a lot of excitement, a lot of buzz
about this game, seg is on an even keel. So
without any further ado, here is Kurt Signetti during his
weekly meeting with the media and media last Monday in
the team room.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
All right, Monday, Okay. Generally pleased with the progress we
made last week. Take a few penalties out of there,
and there's always a few other things to clean up.
Focused on the prep for Illinois. Obviously good football team.
Ought to be a great environment Saturday night. Looking forward
to it.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Junior status.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yeah, BB sustained a non contact knee injury and we'll
be lost for the season.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
And with Kobe Martin obviously played strong in that fourth quarter.
Plus is he a guy that might be, you know,
ready to step into a larger role, you know, to
make that back to a three back rotation.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, he's gonna need to. And I thought he ran
well Saturday night. And you know, he's got talent and
he'll get more reps and we're gonna need him.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
You're just kind of question, But they've got Luke Altmeyer,
a very experienced quarterback. I'm sure you've seen a lot
of them, whether it's scouting for this game or maybe
just watching him play other teams you've scouted. What are
your impressions of what they do with him at that
position and how they kind of accentuate his strength.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well, you know, first off, bigger picture, you know, they're
a really good football team. Got a lot of good players,
a lot of veteran players. Coach Bi Lama does a
great job him and his staff in all three phases offense, defense,
special teams. Veteran quarterback, it's got arm, talent, very accurate,
(05:04):
can extend plays. You know, he's won a bunch of
games for Illinois. And that's the one thing about Illinois
is they know what it takes you know the success
they had last year, return a good nucleus of guys,
added some new ones very much kind of like us,
you know, good core returning that understands what it takes.
(05:27):
So it ought to be a great matchup. But impressed
with Altmar.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
Kurt.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Last year the schedule seemed to progress kind of perfectly
as far as challenging.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
This year, you start right off of the top ten matchup.
Any difference in preparation or is it just a natural
thing that goes on?
Speaker 5 (05:46):
Really?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I mean, look last year before the season started, we
were probably favored in three games, right, We were picked
seventeenth out eighteen teams. So every game, every big ten
game that we went into, we were an underdog before
the season started, maybe with the exception of Purdue. So
(06:07):
you know, last year is in the books. It's a
new year. Illinois is a good football team. We're a
good football team.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Matt.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Coach, just want to see what what you've seen so
far from milanoit defensively on tape, I mean, what kind
of challenges they present for you guys. You know they've
morphed a little bit schematically. Uh, starting in the bowl
game last year against South Carolina, Uh, in some of
their coverage packages and uh carried on into this season. Uh,
(06:40):
you know, multiple personnel groupings. Uh defensively four two five
five one five five two four four one six and others.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
They do a nice job of disguising coverage. Got some
nice disguises. They play a lot of guys, got a
lot of good players. Run to the ball. Uh, get
a lot of hats to the football. Uh, you know,
good pressure on the quarterback type coverage. Uh, really tied
together well with good players.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Coach Hank Baty, their main punt returner and receiver.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
What makes him so hard to defend on offense? And
then what do you need to do in the punking
his opportunities?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Yeah, well, uh, you know, he's our leading receiver, but
they do spread the ball around. He's good player, good
ball skills, good movement skills. As in terms of a
punt returner. You know, hang time always helps, you know,
give the coverage time to get down there and do
a great job with our coverage, net tackle and space.
Speaker 5 (07:43):
Coach, you said that you've had to coach this team
harder than you have in the years past.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
How much progress do you think they've made on that front?
Heading in a week four.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Yeah, I think, uh you know, the three games that
was the recipe. We had to bring this team along
as far as we could. We were playing teams we're
pretty heavily favored against. Oh do you turned out to
be a pretty decent team, didn't they? And uh so
now you know that we're ready for Big ten football.
(08:13):
And uh you know, I like the progress we've made.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Now, we've got to stack days, meetings, practices, and days
in preparation put ourselves in the best position for success
Saturday night.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah, Kurt Illinois hasn't had to turnover this year. What
what makes him so efficient offensively to be able to
do that?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah, Well, they've done nice job protecting the ball. Uh
no turnovers six six takeaways. Uh you know, the Duke
game is a one point game at half and uh
you know, Duke turned it over five times and that
was the name of the story right there. Uh you
know that four fumbles, So do a nice job stripping
(08:52):
the ball. But you know we're five to one in
the turnover ratio as well. Uh BB had to fumble
his first carry. Other that, we've been pretty clean and
we've been able to take the ball away ourselves. So
line of scrimmage, turnover ratio, battle of explosives, being good
in critical situations, teams needs to be a win. That's
(09:13):
always the formula. Never really has changed. So I think
when you look at the two teams statistically, you'll see
a lot of dominant numbers for the offense, defense, and
special teams.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
Kirk, do you have any prior relationship with Brett Bilma
and what I guess about the way he coaches and
just what about his teams make them tough to play against? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (09:37):
No, never coached against him, really, never met him to
join the conference. He was very welcoming, always had a
lot of respect for him as a coach. You know,
he was a head coach at a very young age
and has really had some nice teams and he's done
a great job at Illinois and they're fundamental and you
can see the coaching show up on tape.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
You get one extra day of preparation because of the
Friday game last week, Is there anything different in the
process and really how important is it to maybe have
the extra day for your players' bodies to rest. Yeah?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
No, we as a staff. I gave the staff Saturday off,
so we resumed normal Sunday routine. Players got a extra
day off will benefit them also and weren't into a
normal Monday.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Y'all have rush for over three hundred yards each week.
What do you feel has kind of you know why?
Speaker 5 (10:32):
I guess like, like, why have y'all had so much
success in that regard?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Well, we're doing a good job up front and a
tight end. Receivers are doing nice job blocking backs are
running hard and you know Bob does a great job
with the line, and you know we've been a little
better in the people we played too, Josh, and you
read and.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
Will coach, no national pregame show is going to be here,
just a simple game.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
How nice does it do? Not have that noise and.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
Clutter in your pregame?
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Well, I'm always focused in on the game regardless, So
for me, it it doesn't really change much. It's nationally
televised game NBC. Uh, it's gonna be a you know,
great environment and uh, I know our players will be excited.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
Will and you're right the backing is coach going to
the big time play. How do use the team ensure
that you either replicate the success you had last year
or a group of.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Bout last year's history. Uh, I don't compare the last year.
You know, I'm totally focused on the here and now
in this team. So I think we made good progress
last week. Now we got to have a great week
of prep so we can play our best Saturday night.
And uh, you know, I don't look down the road
to who we play and this and that. I just
(11:45):
wanna have a great Monday today.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Did you see? I I know, give me the competition, but
you see the improvements you wanted to do in the
secondary from kind of the previous week or is that
kind of to be determined because some of that was paced.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Now, I thought we made improvements in all areas to
find the league. We got lined up, played with more agency,
got more hats, the ball coverage was tighter, So it
was good.
Speaker 5 (12:07):
Right when Fernando has a game that he did against
Indiana State, like, how do you go into the this
week sort of need to adjusting things and improving things
from him?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Still I can't hear the last part of your question.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
How do you go into this week, you know, still
working on things after the game he had in Week three?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Well, every game is different because everybody's schematically is different
every opponent and the personnel you're going to play against.
So he's made progress. Really pleased with the way he
finished the game, in the progress he had made since
the opener. This is a new week, but I have
(12:43):
total confidence, you know, he'll step up and respond.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
So they're sig start with the Lee bb Junior injury.
That was really unfortunate. You know, when you're playing these
games that you're winning easily, somebody has to be out there.
And you know, Bbie's one of the rotation guys and
you know, yeah you were up big at halftime, but
still you need somebody out there to carry the ball,
(13:08):
get a couple extra carries. And it was really unfortunate
that he suffered the injury that he did. It was
making a cut, his leg kind of buckled and he
went down, and so that is unfortunate and we wish
him the the quickest comeback that that he can and
hopefully he'll be back stronger and better. But what to
(13:28):
expect from Illinois, First off, Illinois is gonna run the ball.
They're gonna try to run the ball. That is their
focus is running the ball, then running off of you know,
some RPOs along the way. So you're as a defense,
you have to be ready to stop the run, but
still be on your the on your toes to make
sure you don't get beat with the pass. That's gonna
(13:51):
be a huge key. Another key for Indiana is to
get ahead early, make the most of your opportunities, especially
in the first quarter. It's not going to be like
it was against Kennesaus State or Indiana State. That's fine.
What you are going to see want to see from
Indiana though, is for them to put points on the
(14:11):
board early and then d up. This is not an
Illinois team that plays well from behind. That isn't how
they are built. They haven't really faced being behind this year,
but that's not how they're built. They are not a
quick strike offense. So that's something Indiana has to take
advantage of and limit those the mistakes that kind of
(14:33):
kill drives along the way. We've seen that at times,
but this is an Indiana team that if they get
out front early, it's just going to build the confidence
of this team and make it real difficult for Illinois
to come back. Something that I think is interesting too,
and I think this is mostly a feeling of Indiana fans,
(14:57):
is you have a program that is enjoying its biggest
string of success basically in its history. And yet there's
also this feeling of this is a must win game
because if we don't win this, the season might fall apart.
It gets tough in the Big Ten. We haven't seen
(15:17):
what Indiana's done against top opponents. And I understand those
feelings completely, I really do. But sixteen games I think
Kurt Signetti has coached here at IU, he's lost two
of them. That in and of itself is an impressive feat,
(15:38):
and he's proven that he could beat very good teams,
especially peer teams, whether it's at home on the road.
Signetti's done it, and they've done a great job of
putting together game plans for that and keeping pressure on
their players to play at a certain standard. And if
they're not beating that state sig make sure to go
(16:01):
ahead and let them know about it. This is a
big game for Indiana. But when you're looking at what
your hopes are for this season, and I'm not trying
to dial back expectations, don't get me wrong. I think
Indiana has every opportunity to win this game if it
plays the way we know how to. We know that
(16:23):
they can, especially along the offensive, offensive and defensive lines.
You want that defensive line to be disruptive. You want
them to use their hands to get off blocks and
put Illinois in second and third and long, get them
off schedule, and turn this team away from its strength
with just running the ball. This is a IU team
(16:46):
that in Week one really struggled when it came to
getting off of blocks. Week two you saw a little
bit better. Week three was really good. But Indiana State.
So this is the game that's kind of your measuring stick,
and so I always kind of look at the season
(17:10):
as not an endgame, but a steps to where you are. Okay,
So the goal for Indiana throughout the years and should
be throughout the years, is get Bowl eligible. That's step one.
Indiana hasn't always done that. The Hoogiers are are on
their way to doing that. I'd be really really stunned
if they didn't end up winning six games this year.
(17:32):
But you want them to win six games. Then if
they are on a roll, then you want to see
them continue to be on that role to try to
challenge for a Big Ten championship, then college football playoffs
and things like that. So let's say Indiana plays plays
a game against Illinois and loses. It loses a competitive game.
(17:56):
It's not going to be the end of the world.
Just like if they win against Illinois, it's going to
be a nice little statement, but there's going to be
a lot of work left to be done. So people
look at this, this is, you know, set the tone
for the rest of the season. I am not in
that camp. Winning is important, no question, and I fully
expect the Hoosiers to win this bowl game because of
(18:20):
what I've seen with this team this year, last year,
with Kurt Signetti, his plan that he has. You've seen
the offense, you've seen the defense. You haven't seen everything
the Hoosiers are going to do because that's not how
it works during the non conference schedule. You're not going
to show what you got against Indiana State and Kennesaw State,
(18:40):
or Old Dominion for that matter. I'm looking forward to
this one because of the fact that the Hoosiers can
control their destiny there. Johnny's and Joe's are just as
good as Illinoi's. So this isn't an uphill battle from
the start. It's going to be who makes the fewest mistakes.
That's what it is. Who makes the fewest mistakes, and defensively,
(19:04):
if Indiana could be disruptive on first down and second down,
it's gonna go a long way. And if that offense
could go ahead and put on some early scores, the
Hoosiers are going to be in good shape. The weapons
that Indiana has offensively stresses teams because you have Fernando Mendoza,
(19:26):
who has looked better with every outing this year. This
is gonna be a test. But this isn't a kid
who hasn't played in big games before. It comes from
cal No. He's played in big games before. Even without
Lee Bebee, you still have a good running back room
Roman hemby Kaylon Black, you know Kobe Martin. You got
(19:49):
some good backs that can make things happen in the
run game and keep guys fresh on the field passing game.
You have weapons a lot Aijas, surat Omar Cooper, a
host of other guys, E J. Williams, host of other guys.
So that offense is going to put a lot of
pressure on Illinois. And in Illinois's other game that they've
(20:14):
played against a team that is from a you know,
a bigger conference, it played Duke and Illinois showed some
cracks there, and there gonna be something Indiana's going to
look to exploit. So being able to stress Illinois, get
(20:34):
out to an early lead, be disruptive on defense. Those
are all the keys you're going to have. And then
you can't have any special team mistakes. In fact, you
have to have your special teams make a positive impact
in this one. But it should be an amazing crowd
on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. After the game, I'll
(20:56):
be taking your calls and I'm looking forward to that show.
Stood up over by the Tennis Center, on the north
side of Assembly Hall, right next to the Tennis Center
building is where I'll be. There'll be a canopy or
a you know, I'll have my flag out and light
and all of that and want you to stop by.
You'll be able to hear me if you're in that
(21:17):
parking lot. I guess it's lot twelve, is what it is.
But I'm looking forward to the day. I'm looking forward
to your calls. I'm looking forward to this kind of
excitement because it is great to be excited for an
IU football game in late September. That does mean something.
I'm not saying that these games don't mean it they do,
(21:39):
They mean a lot, but it is exciting to see
one that Indiana has every opportunity to win and every
opportunity to make a statement, just to prove that last
year wasn't a fluke. And I don't think last year
was a fluke, but this is our opportunity to show
it to a national audience and being able to go
out there, be competitive, put Illinois a visitor in their
(22:04):
place before they go head on the road. It's gonna
be a fun night. And I will go ahead and
make my prediction. I rarely make predictions, but I like
what Indiana is doing offensively. I like what I've seen defensively.
I like the progress that I've seen from week to week.
I like the way that Signetti and his coaching staff
have developed teams over the years. And I'm not giving
(22:29):
a score. I'm not giving spreads. That ain't my thing.
But I do think Indiana wins this ballgame in uh
not blowout fashion. I'm not expecting forty five points, but
I do think that Indiana wins and moves to FOURID. Oh,
we'll see if I'm right. Saturday night. Well, it's all
the time we have on the peaks podcast this week,
(22:49):
I want to thank you for listening. I want to
remind you to visit peaks dot com for the very
best and I you football and basketball coverage. You're gonna
find anywhere nobody covers who's you're recruiting better than Jeff
rab John's, Matt Weaver, Tver Anderschach and Jared Kelly. So
come be a part of a thriving and exciting community
at peaks dot com. Folks, you are not going to
be disappointed. Folks are out of time. But for now
(23:09):
and for Jeff, Matt, Trevor and Jared, I'm ken Bikoff
saying thanks for listening. Everybody,
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