October 23, 2025 • 29 mins
The Hoosiers are 7-0 and ranked No. 2 in the country, and they take on a UCLA team that already has undergone a coaching change. But that doesn't mean the Bruins will be a pushover. We break down UCLA and hear from head coach Curt Cignetti.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I am doing everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm Ken bikoffan Welcome to the Pigs podcast. Your Hoosiers
are seven to oh ranked number two in the country. Yeah,
this isn't a fever dream, kids. This just continues to roll.
As the Hoosiers knocked off Michigan State very comfortably last week,
(00:30):
garnered six first place votes in the AP Top twenty five,
didn't get any first place votes in the Coach's poll.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
But who cares.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
The ranking system is, you know, just fun for us
to talk to. It's not a real thing. Bottom line is,
this is an Indiana team that just continues to roll
in a way that was just simply a fantasy for
IU fans as recently as two years ago. But now
(01:05):
it is what it is. Man and the Hoosiers will
be taking on UCLA Big noon Saturday at Memorials Stadium,
home game, last home game that Indiana will have until
for almost a month, until November fifteenth. But this is
a UCLA team that's a little bit different than it
(01:27):
was earlier in the year, and it's just it's is it.
UCLA is three and one in the Big Ten, three
and four overall. That means that they obviously have been
on a three game winning streak. They opened the season
with big losses to Utah, UNLV New Mexico, and Northwestern.
Then they beat Penn State, they beat Michigan State, and
(01:50):
they beat Maryland by three points last week. Obviously an
impressive turnaround by the Bruins. Don't want to say that
it isn't and you'll hear Signetti in a few minutes
just talk about how he's not concerned about those first
four games. It's the last three games that he's really
focused on because UCLA is three and zero under the
(02:10):
current interim group and they've done a great job. Obviously,
the win over Penn State at home was huge, the
big win over Michigan State, that's something Indiana has done.
And then the three point squeaker against a Maryland team
that is just one in three in conference. In four
and three overall, that could be closer to what this
(02:31):
UCLA team is. If you look at Penn State and
you look at Michigan State, those two teams, those wins
are great and they count obviously, but Michigan State's not
very good. We saw that last Saturday. Penn State was
in a spiral when they played and the beginning of
(02:51):
the end for James Franklin had started the week before.
And you know now that that win doesn't seem quite
as impressive. That is looking in the mirror. And I
say that as somebody who is concerned about that trip
to Penn State coming up for the Hoosiers in a
couple of weeks. But how concerned should Indiana be about UCLA?
They have some talent. Obviously they were able to score
(03:15):
some points lately because the new coaching staff is doing
a better job of putting guys in a position to
be successful. You don't ax. It's baffling to me how
you scored ten points against Utah and ten points against
New Mexico. Then you put forty two up on Penn
State and thirty six up on thirty eight on Michigan State.
That's odd to me, But that's a team finding itself. Meanwhile,
(03:38):
you have the Hoosiers, who number two team in the country.
Didn't get off to a great start against Michigan State,
but then turned it on. They won thirty eight to thirteen.
Indiana has scored more than twenty let's say twenty seven
or more.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Points.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Let's say that in six of their seven games, they
scored twenty at Iowa, thirty against Oregon, thirty eight against
Michigan State. This is going to be a game on
Saturday that is going to have a lot of opportunities
for the Hoosiers to be very explosive. Now, we'll talk
(04:14):
a little bit about the Hoosiers and what it is
that they are going to be expected to do on
Saturday against the Bruins in just a few minutes. But
first I wanted you to hear from head coach Kurt
Signetti during his weekly press conference with the media on
Monday from the team room at Memorial Stadium.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Okay, Ucla, Ucla, We're playing a three to oh football
team that's undefeated. That's three no in the conference since
they have retooled their staff and now have their new
defensive coordinator and offensive staff in place.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Very impressive football team.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Okay, and offensively, this team is rushing for two hundred
and thirty three yards a game right now in their
last three games, which would be against Penn State, Michigan State,
and Maryland. Okay, time of possession thirty six and a
half minutes. I mean the other team has ball twenty
(05:15):
three and a half minutes. Fifty third down, seventy percent
on fourth down, they've gained two possessions with two fake punts,
so they're keeping the ball away from the other team.
They're starting fast outscoring people in the first half fifty
eight to seventeen, okay, averaging thirty three points a game.
(05:38):
And defense a lot of different personnel packages really try
to keep you off balance. Really impressed with what they do.
When you get outside of normal down in distance situations,
you see a lot of stuff. They got about seven
personnel packages, a variety of blitzes, pre snap looks with
(05:58):
linebackers mugged to try to confuse the quarterback a little bit.
And they're rejuvenated football team and led by a talented
quarterback who really has a quick body and a live
arm and has made some big plays with his legs.
(06:22):
Also really good skilled people, and you know, a new
offensive design so to speak. So I mean, we're playing
a three to oh football team at home this Saturday
at twelve o'clock Michigan State.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Good conference win. Offense, scored touchdowns.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Our first five drives, the first two in the third
quarter were great to see. They're all great to see,
you know, defense shut them out the last thirty eight
minutes of the game.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
To you know, at the end, we had.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Quite a few of the starters out kicked. They kicked
the field goal at in We didn't get off to
the greatest start. Michigan State had two possessions, We had
one possession, and there was nine minutes left in the
second quarter, So at that point every play was going.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
To be really important.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
But we did a great job of adjusting and playing
a little better. And you know, two thirds of the
game we pitched a shutout. So special teams we had
twenty two yard punt return, made our extra points field goal.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Both kickoff guys kicked the ball out of the end zone.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
We didn't punt, They punted twice once with quarterback. So
but this is going to take tremendous preparation and effort
on our part this Saturday.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
Questions exactly just first, real quick, did you have any
updates on killing Wyatt? Did he come out of the camp?
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Whyatt suffered a knee injury.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Pass rushing, was engaged with the offensive tackle, got his
leg extended, came down a little funny. Right now, it
looks like a long term injury, and I'm not sure
if we'll see him the rest of the season or not.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
In terms of injuries in general with your team, I
know this, you know, some of it's luck and some
of it is avoiding those kind of things. But when
you look I don't know if you look at the
Big ten availability reports each week, but they're teams mostly
with twenty fifteen names on there. You guys have avoided that.
You've talked about your practice plan, but was there like
a season where you did have a lot of injuries
that changed you to kind of reevaluate things like when
did this kind of kind of start And is there
(08:38):
anything specifically that you credit Derek Owings for doing with
his training to sort of avoid some like the soft
tissue stuff that I mean, you see these reports.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Yeah, I think Derek is key on the soft tissue
stuff because even you know, way back, you know jmu
for instance, we had our share of hands and then
you know, when we hired the or that first year,
we had a couple and we discussed it. He did
a lot of research on it too, and we've had
(09:06):
very few soft tissue things. A lot of the knees
that occur nowadays can be non contact and uh, you know,
not much you can do about it. It's outside your control.
But I've always been a relatively short practice guy. My
practices probably have gotten shorter even shorter, you know, through
(09:28):
the years, and we do everything we can to prepare
the team fully but keep them.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Fresh and healthy.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Nicole, I guess, just like, have you seen obviously different
play caller and maybe structurally trying to do some different things.
Have you seen them use him in different ways that
have really kind of unlocked maybe that that dual threat
ability that he's shown through this this three and zero stretch.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
I mean, truthfully, everything we're watching right now is uh offensive.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Their offense is the last three games. I haven't watched any.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Of their offense prior to that except for maybe what
I saw on TV, and the defense really is four
games old, but you know, at that point, the offense
had not changed. So we're focusing in on the last
three games with the people that are pushing the buttons
and calling the shots.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Right now.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Nico can really spin the ball, he can make all
the throws. He's got a really quick release, he's got
a live body, a really quick body, and you know
that's why you've seen some of the long games out
of the pocket with him.
Speaker 6 (10:37):
Yeah, coach you mentioned also after the game, talked about it,
but you mentioned defense got off to a little bit
of a slow start. Misign state was doing some things
after watching film. Anything you guys pinpoint. I mean, obviously
they get some credit to but anything that you guys
saw that you could do different.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
You know, from my perspective, we had a great second
half against Oregon, and you know, the whole theme was
our response and doing what you gotta do. And I
just don't know that we really answered the bell uh
right away, and I think we did. You know, the
first two plays we hadn't bottled up, and then they
had a third and thirteen and we had a guy
make kind of a poor decision bid on a six
(11:12):
yard route and turned a deep win loose if we
could have gotten off the field there, and then you know,
we had a missed assignment on their touchdown pass uh
into the bench, and you know.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
We had some mistackles.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
There were a couple other missed assignments in the back end,
not misalignments, but just miss assignments. And once we got
that tightened up, we were better. But we certainly it
wasn't are a game. But you know, we had a
lot of a games here. I think we've given up
what six or seven touchdowns all year?
Speaker 5 (11:46):
So Stephen Dally has come in and played really nicely
in the in a reserve.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
How much does he need.
Speaker 7 (11:56):
To step out now that Kellen Wyott's out? And what
have you seen that he's been so impactful early?
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Yeah, he's a guy I really wish we had a
couple of years because he's a you know, tremendous athlete
and has really once he's learned the defense, he's really
making fast progress. He's got size, strength, speed, suddenness and uh,
you know he plays hard and uh you know he
(12:23):
was our player of the game on defense last week
and he'll take on even more of a role now.
Speaker 8 (12:31):
Yeah, Curtent, the elite quarterback success you guys continue to
have regardless of the quarterback changes.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Offensive line changes, receivers changes. How are you able to
do that? How are you to sustain that over a
decade or whatever?
Speaker 1 (12:43):
It's been?
Speaker 4 (12:44):
Well, you know, you've got to have good people in
your organization, uh, coaches and players and you got you know,
we've been We've had good talent on offense right and
the quarterbacks are have all been a little bit different,
you know.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
I mean we've played with the true duel guy, and
you just.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Designed around the quarterback strengths and the offensive strengths. And
you know, I'm a big believer also that before you
can win the game, you got to make sure you
don't lose it. So we've done a good nice job
of protecting the ball and being balanced with the run
in the pass.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
In all those years.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
We've never been like tilted heavily one way or the other.
And you know, I think Coach Whitmer's done a tremendous
job developing Fernando, and Fernando wants to be a great player,
and you know he gets the most out of every
day and every rep.
Speaker 7 (13:35):
Coach, what were the conversations in process, like with Scott
Dolson and getting that extension and how that kind of
showed his commitment to you and the football program.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
You know, he just walked in my He normally he
comes in every Thursday and we chat about the game.
And he popped in right before the player meetings on
either Tuesday or Wednesday, I can't remember.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
I was watching tape.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
I was really consumed with prep and he popped in
for about a minute and a half and said this
is kind of.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
What we'd like to do. I said, okay, if we call.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Your representative and I said, sure, it'd be great. And
within you know, twenty within forty eight hours, thirty six hours,
it was done.
Speaker 7 (14:17):
Your team is tied for eighth in the country and
fewest penalties per game, and you've had the fourth fewest
penalty yards per game. Both of those are improvements from
last season. Just what does that say about this team
and the discipline they play with on the field.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Well, that's you know, you got to you want to
play fast, you want to play physical, you want to
be relentless, but you got to be smart. You got
to make choices and decisions out on the football field,
right And the discipline, I mean, you never want a
pre snap penalties and now we've had a few on
the road. But you know, we've done a nice job
(14:49):
of keeping the blocks in the front in the special
teams game, and our defense does a nice job with
no when to pull off and still rally and get
multi well hats to the ball. And you know, I've
really seen that trend in the right direction, you know.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
The last four or five years.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
And this team with his veteran leadership, character and intelligence.
We still had a few too many in my opinion, right,
and we can get better. Yet our goals one in
thirty on offense, defense, and teams and has been ever,
forever and ever, and so there's a lot of games
(15:31):
we have accomplished that goal.
Speaker 6 (15:34):
On Omar, Just what did he show you this spring
to win that slot spot?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
And just why is he so good inside?
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Yeah? Well, you know he showed me a lot last
fall my first year with him, that he was an
explosive player. And you know, Miles Price and Keishawn Williams
are both playing in the NFL right now, and they
split the duties in the slot, and there was a
void there and we gave everybody an opportunity in springball.
(16:01):
Ej in there, Sarad in there, Cooper in there. Uh,
there were new transfers were stuck in there, and you know,
Cooper uh just seemed the most comfortable.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
But he still gets his reps outside.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
Too, you know, in twelve personnel when we're playing with
two receivers and we have the ability to put him
outside even an eleven personnel. So and I just think
what you're seeing from him is you know, he's older,
he's more mature, he's a veteran now he sees what's
out there, and he's just becoming a lot more consistent
(16:39):
and explosive and he's a hard tackle.
Speaker 6 (16:45):
You talked about the miss assignment in that Michigan State game.
How much progress have you seen the secondary make has
the season's gone.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
On since Kennesaw, Illinois. You know, we still had a couple.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Iowa, we were pretty good.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
We had a big one against Oregon and then last week,
you know, the touchdown was between the end, the defensive
end and the corner and it was more on the end.
And then we had a couple, you know with the
(17:30):
safety in the corner where they got some chunks.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
So it's improved.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
But I mean what you did in the past, your
past actions, all they do is create habits, and you're
trying to create great habits.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
But you got to do it every day still too,
regards what you did in the past.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
And you know, we still have to communicate a little
with more urgency, get aligned, a little quicker play with
a little more urgency at some spots.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
And we have it in us, which got to do.
Speaker 6 (18:00):
It coach last year. As you guys had a lot
of success went in the playoffs. You talked about how
the impact the recruiting, how it kind of opened some doors.
Obviously you're having more success this year. You just got
the contract. Have you seen that really carry over and
keep going and even get bigger this season as you
guys continue to win.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Yeah, we've got We've had a lot of doors open
up the high school route for sure. And you know,
the portal thing really doesn't even open until January second,
unless you know a head coach has been let going
to UH players going into portal and you know that's
my thing right now, because you just don't get off
the portal in one year or two years. You know
there's gonna be portal needs this year. And the rules
(18:43):
the way they are right now, I just I really don't.
I hope we take a good hard look at what
we're doing. I don't quite understand all these players are
making decisions pretty much the end of November what they're doing,
and then the whole month of December is dead, and like.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
We are you supposed to do those thirty days?
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Right? You know other people right? And you know, and
the spring portal's been valuable for us too.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Look at who we picked.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
Up, you know, you that first year CJ. West Ponds, Tucker,
last year Daily Wyatt. So I'm not a big fan
of what we're doing. And to me, having a January
second portal date and some school like we started school
January ninth doesn't make a lot of sense. And I
(19:32):
don't I don't think the rules should be changed for
two or three coaches that really had a problem with
it because they were still playing. One guy lost his
back up quarterback, you know, I mean, I think.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
You got to look at the other schools, the.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Other seventy five or how many there are p four schools.
Speaker 8 (19:55):
Also, thanks, So there's sig from the team room on Monday.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Interesting thing about UCLA. You know, the top scoring team
in the Big Ten in overall games is Oregon forty
four point one points a game. Second is Indiana. That's
in all games. Now, if you're talking about just conference games,
Indiana is the top scoring team. Oregon's third. You're talking
(20:27):
about all the games, UCLA is fifteenth out of I'm sorry,
is seventeenth out of eighteen teams, averaging twenty two point
four points a game in all games. In conference games,
UCLA jumps way up to six twenty eight and a
(20:49):
half points a game. The switch that's been flipped in
conference play is really really interesting, and that has everything
to do with the coaches, which means Sig has the
right attitude of viewing what's happened over the past couple
of weeks as the right way to approach it. You
don't get lost with the overall. You look at what
(21:11):
has been done since the coaching change, and this is
a UCLA team that throws the ball well, that does
a good job of running. Overall, in conference play, Ucla
is fourth or fifth in total yards per game. It's
(21:34):
going to be a challenge to say the least. UCLA's
defense has been solid at the very least in giving
up in conference play twenty one points a game. But
Indiana is better. And this game, to me, will come
down to two things. One, Indiana is a team that
(21:56):
plays with the chip on its shoulder that here's everybody
talking about how every every time Indiana is successful, for
some reason, there seems like there's a yeah, butt, you know,
Indiana beats Oregon. Yeah, but maybe Organ's not as good
as we thought that they were. And all of this
kind of stuff Uh, so they're playing with the chip
(22:17):
on their shoulder.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
People.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
There's a general feeling that people are just waiting for
Indiana to stumble so that they could say see right there,
right there. That it reminds me of that internet meme
of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing that they're they're they're waiting for it.
And so that's what the focus of this team, this
this older team. The leaders on this team are about
(22:44):
making sure nobody loses focus here and that starts with
Kurt Signetti and that's the standard that he holds. So
when you're looking.
Speaker 7 (22:51):
At U c.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
L A, you could bet this is not a team
that's going to overlook what the Bruins are going to
bring to the to the field. You know, it's not
going to be an easy game for Indiana. Now that said,
in terms of throwing the ball, in terms of just
(23:11):
being explosive, it's difficult to find somebody that is more
consistent that makes fewer mistakes than Fernando Mendoza. And the
number of weapons Indiana has, I think is what's going
to kind of wear down UCLA's defense as the game
(23:36):
goes on. Indiana does a great job of balancing the
run and pass. They have multiple backs that could could
gash you. You have Elijah Surrett, you have Omar Cooper
who can make things happen. EJ. Williams, and you have Mendoza,
who obviously has been as efficient as any player in
(23:57):
the country. And to me, that is the kind of thing,
especially when you have a team that comes so far
from home, that could wear on you over time. And
so when you get into the fourth quarter, that that's
when Indiana is really going to be able to step
on the bruins neck.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Not going to be easy.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
You need the defense to not give up busts, to
not make mistakes, focus on what UCLA has been able
to do over the past couple of weeks, over the
season long. But it's also this is where the coaching
staff is so important in making sure guys keep their
eyes where they're supposed to be on a level plane.
And this is a game Indiana is favored by multiple touchdowns,
(24:42):
but going into it, you have to go into it
as if it's it's an even game, and that is
going to be really, really important for these Hoosiers. I'm
excited to see the crowd. You know, UCLA isn't a
team that has come to Indiana. I haven't seen a
they've ever been here, but certainly I that's basically because
(25:03):
I haven't read the game notes. I'll straight up tell
you that I have not read the game notes about
whether they have been here before. But bottom line is
that this is the crowds seem to be getting it,
is the best way that I could put it. They're
(25:27):
starting to show up earlier, they're getting into the stadium,
and when they are there, they're really doing a great
job of being lit. I mean, just ready to go.
Saw some video. You know, you're in the press box.
You can't hear it. It's muffled, But I saw some
(25:47):
video from down on the field of the chant before
the game that the Bison leads the crowd and I
on one side and you on the other, and people
are getting it. This is a tradition and that has
been built by this athletic department this year and it's
starting to click. And having students there on what should
(26:09):
be a very nice Saturday. You know, last week we
had it was cold, had a lot of rain, especially
in the second half, and right now they're looking at
at Saturday being cloudy, so you're not gonna be sitting
in the sun. High of sixty one, light winds, so
it's great football weather is what we're looking at for Saturday,
(26:32):
Big noon Saturday, should be a great atmosphere for sure.
This is the second time Indiana has played UCLA. The
Indiana won forty two to thirteen last year in the
Rose Bowl, first ever trip in program history for UCLA.
I really feel fans are gonna come out and be
(26:52):
ready to party on this one noon kickoff, which is
my favorite time to kick off. You get in a
nice game, have a great day, still have the evening.
Can't ask for anything more. Hoosiers have to come ready
to play from the opening kickoff, have to be fired up,
get energy from the fans, and help the fans maintain energy.
(27:16):
I like Indiana in this one. I'm not somebody that
does scores or makes a lot of predictions, but I
like Indiana in this one. I think that where the
Hoosiers are right now, this is a game that they
are the better team. But they have to come to
play and they have to defend their home turf, and
we'll see if they're able to do it. After the show.
I'm sorry, after the show, After the game. We have
(27:39):
the call and show the Peaks Podcast live from the
Memorial Stadium parking lot. The weather looks like I'm going
to be able to do it under my tent right
by the doors of the Tennis Center. Certainly hope anybody
that is coming to the game hangs around in Lot
twelve and comes and says Hi, grabs a microphone, gets
on the air with me, talk some football, really looking
forward to it, really looking forward to it. Basketball, Gonna
(28:04):
have Collins shows coming up there. It's my wedding anniversary,
my twenty second wedding anniversary will be on Saturday as well.
Going to spend it in a Memorial Stadium parking lot
and couldn't be happier to be doing that. So come
out and join me, Come out and see what we
got going and really excited. Should be a great day.
(28:24):
UCLA is going to be a challenge, but it's one
I do think that the Hoosiers are going to be
able to overcome. What's all the time we have on
the Peaks Podcast this week. I want to thank you
for listening. Anyone to remind you of visit Peaks dot
com for the very best and IU football and basketball
coverage are going to find anywhere nobody covers who's your
recruiting better than Jeff rab John's, Matt Weaver, Trevor Andershoch
and Jared Kelly. So can be a part of a thriving,
(28:45):
at exciting community at peaks dot com. Folks, you are
not going to be disappointed.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Folks are out of.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Time, But for now and for Jeff, Matt, Trevor and Jared,
I'm ken Baikoff saying thanks for listening. Everybody
I am doing everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm Ken bikoffan Welcome to the Pigs podcast. Your Hoosiers
are seven to oh ranked number two in the country. Yeah,
this isn't a fever dream, kids. This just continues to roll.
As the Hoosiers knocked off Michigan State very comfortably last week,
(00:30):
garnered six first place votes in the AP Top twenty five,
didn't get any first place votes in the Coach's poll.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
But who cares.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
The ranking system is, you know, just fun for us
to talk to. It's not a real thing. Bottom line is,
this is an Indiana team that just continues to roll
in a way that was just simply a fantasy for
IU fans as recently as two years ago. But now
(01:05):
it is what it is. Man and the Hoosiers will
be taking on UCLA Big noon Saturday at Memorials Stadium,
home game, last home game that Indiana will have until
for almost a month, until November fifteenth. But this is
a UCLA team that's a little bit different than it
(01:27):
was earlier in the year, and it's just it's is it.
UCLA is three and one in the Big Ten, three
and four overall. That means that they obviously have been
on a three game winning streak. They opened the season
with big losses to Utah, UNLV New Mexico, and Northwestern.
Then they beat Penn State, they beat Michigan State, and
(01:50):
they beat Maryland by three points last week. Obviously an
impressive turnaround by the Bruins. Don't want to say that
it isn't and you'll hear Signetti in a few minutes
just talk about how he's not concerned about those first
four games. It's the last three games that he's really
focused on because UCLA is three and zero under the
(02:10):
current interim group and they've done a great job. Obviously,
the win over Penn State at home was huge, the
big win over Michigan State, that's something Indiana has done.
And then the three point squeaker against a Maryland team
that is just one in three in conference. In four
and three overall, that could be closer to what this
(02:31):
UCLA team is. If you look at Penn State and
you look at Michigan State, those two teams, those wins
are great and they count obviously, but Michigan State's not
very good. We saw that last Saturday. Penn State was
in a spiral when they played and the beginning of
(02:51):
the end for James Franklin had started the week before.
And you know now that that win doesn't seem quite
as impressive. That is looking in the mirror. And I
say that as somebody who is concerned about that trip
to Penn State coming up for the Hoosiers in a
couple of weeks. But how concerned should Indiana be about UCLA?
They have some talent. Obviously they were able to score
(03:15):
some points lately because the new coaching staff is doing
a better job of putting guys in a position to
be successful. You don't ax. It's baffling to me how
you scored ten points against Utah and ten points against
New Mexico. Then you put forty two up on Penn
State and thirty six up on thirty eight on Michigan State.
That's odd to me, But that's a team finding itself. Meanwhile,
(03:38):
you have the Hoosiers, who number two team in the country.
Didn't get off to a great start against Michigan State,
but then turned it on. They won thirty eight to thirteen.
Indiana has scored more than twenty let's say twenty seven
or more.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Points.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Let's say that in six of their seven games, they
scored twenty at Iowa, thirty against Oregon, thirty eight against
Michigan State. This is going to be a game on
Saturday that is going to have a lot of opportunities
for the Hoosiers to be very explosive. Now, we'll talk
(04:14):
a little bit about the Hoosiers and what it is
that they are going to be expected to do on
Saturday against the Bruins in just a few minutes. But
first I wanted you to hear from head coach Kurt
Signetti during his weekly press conference with the media on
Monday from the team room at Memorial Stadium.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Okay, Ucla, Ucla, We're playing a three to oh football
team that's undefeated. That's three no in the conference since
they have retooled their staff and now have their new
defensive coordinator and offensive staff in place.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Very impressive football team.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Okay, and offensively, this team is rushing for two hundred
and thirty three yards a game right now in their
last three games, which would be against Penn State, Michigan State,
and Maryland. Okay, time of possession thirty six and a
half minutes. I mean the other team has ball twenty
(05:15):
three and a half minutes. Fifty third down, seventy percent
on fourth down, they've gained two possessions with two fake punts,
so they're keeping the ball away from the other team.
They're starting fast outscoring people in the first half fifty
eight to seventeen, okay, averaging thirty three points a game.
(05:38):
And defense a lot of different personnel packages really try
to keep you off balance. Really impressed with what they do.
When you get outside of normal down in distance situations,
you see a lot of stuff. They got about seven
personnel packages, a variety of blitzes, pre snap looks with
(05:58):
linebackers mugged to try to confuse the quarterback a little bit.
And they're rejuvenated football team and led by a talented
quarterback who really has a quick body and a live
arm and has made some big plays with his legs.
(06:22):
Also really good skilled people, and you know, a new
offensive design so to speak. So I mean, we're playing
a three to oh football team at home this Saturday
at twelve o'clock Michigan State.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Good conference win. Offense, scored touchdowns.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Our first five drives, the first two in the third
quarter were great to see. They're all great to see,
you know, defense shut them out the last thirty eight
minutes of the game.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
To you know, at the end, we had.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Quite a few of the starters out kicked. They kicked
the field goal at in We didn't get off to
the greatest start. Michigan State had two possessions, We had
one possession, and there was nine minutes left in the
second quarter, So at that point every play was going.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
To be really important.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
But we did a great job of adjusting and playing
a little better. And you know, two thirds of the
game we pitched a shutout. So special teams we had
twenty two yard punt return, made our extra points field goal.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Both kickoff guys kicked the ball out of the end zone.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
We didn't punt, They punted twice once with quarterback. So
but this is going to take tremendous preparation and effort
on our part this Saturday.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
Questions exactly just first, real quick, did you have any
updates on killing Wyatt? Did he come out of the camp?
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Whyatt suffered a knee injury.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Pass rushing, was engaged with the offensive tackle, got his
leg extended, came down a little funny. Right now, it
looks like a long term injury, and I'm not sure
if we'll see him the rest of the season or not.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
In terms of injuries in general with your team, I
know this, you know, some of it's luck and some
of it is avoiding those kind of things. But when
you look I don't know if you look at the
Big ten availability reports each week, but they're teams mostly
with twenty fifteen names on there. You guys have avoided that.
You've talked about your practice plan, but was there like
a season where you did have a lot of injuries
that changed you to kind of reevaluate things like when
did this kind of kind of start And is there
(08:38):
anything specifically that you credit Derek Owings for doing with
his training to sort of avoid some like the soft
tissue stuff that I mean, you see these reports.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Yeah, I think Derek is key on the soft tissue
stuff because even you know, way back, you know jmu
for instance, we had our share of hands and then
you know, when we hired the or that first year,
we had a couple and we discussed it. He did
a lot of research on it too, and we've had
(09:06):
very few soft tissue things. A lot of the knees
that occur nowadays can be non contact and uh, you know,
not much you can do about it. It's outside your control.
But I've always been a relatively short practice guy. My
practices probably have gotten shorter even shorter, you know, through
(09:28):
the years, and we do everything we can to prepare
the team fully but keep them.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Fresh and healthy.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Nicole, I guess, just like, have you seen obviously different
play caller and maybe structurally trying to do some different things.
Have you seen them use him in different ways that
have really kind of unlocked maybe that that dual threat
ability that he's shown through this this three and zero stretch.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
I mean, truthfully, everything we're watching right now is uh offensive.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Their offense is the last three games. I haven't watched any.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Of their offense prior to that except for maybe what
I saw on TV, and the defense really is four
games old, but you know, at that point, the offense
had not changed. So we're focusing in on the last
three games with the people that are pushing the buttons
and calling the shots.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Right now.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Nico can really spin the ball, he can make all
the throws. He's got a really quick release, he's got
a live body, a really quick body, and you know
that's why you've seen some of the long games out
of the pocket with him.
Speaker 6 (10:37):
Yeah, coach you mentioned also after the game, talked about it,
but you mentioned defense got off to a little bit
of a slow start. Misign state was doing some things
after watching film. Anything you guys pinpoint. I mean, obviously
they get some credit to but anything that you guys
saw that you could do different.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
You know, from my perspective, we had a great second
half against Oregon, and you know, the whole theme was
our response and doing what you gotta do. And I
just don't know that we really answered the bell uh
right away, and I think we did. You know, the
first two plays we hadn't bottled up, and then they
had a third and thirteen and we had a guy
make kind of a poor decision bid on a six
(11:12):
yard route and turned a deep win loose if we
could have gotten off the field there, and then you know,
we had a missed assignment on their touchdown pass uh
into the bench, and you know.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
We had some mistackles.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
There were a couple other missed assignments in the back end,
not misalignments, but just miss assignments. And once we got
that tightened up, we were better. But we certainly it
wasn't are a game. But you know, we had a
lot of a games here. I think we've given up
what six or seven touchdowns all year?
Speaker 5 (11:46):
So Stephen Dally has come in and played really nicely
in the in a reserve.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
How much does he need.
Speaker 7 (11:56):
To step out now that Kellen Wyott's out? And what
have you seen that he's been so impactful early?
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Yeah, he's a guy I really wish we had a
couple of years because he's a you know, tremendous athlete
and has really once he's learned the defense, he's really
making fast progress. He's got size, strength, speed, suddenness and uh,
you know he plays hard and uh you know he
(12:23):
was our player of the game on defense last week
and he'll take on even more of a role now.
Speaker 8 (12:31):
Yeah, Curtent, the elite quarterback success you guys continue to
have regardless of the quarterback changes.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Offensive line changes, receivers changes. How are you able to
do that? How are you to sustain that over a
decade or whatever?
Speaker 1 (12:43):
It's been?
Speaker 4 (12:44):
Well, you know, you've got to have good people in
your organization, uh, coaches and players and you got you know,
we've been We've had good talent on offense right and
the quarterbacks are have all been a little bit different,
you know.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
I mean we've played with the true duel guy, and
you just.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Designed around the quarterback strengths and the offensive strengths. And
you know, I'm a big believer also that before you
can win the game, you got to make sure you
don't lose it. So we've done a good nice job
of protecting the ball and being balanced with the run
in the pass.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
In all those years.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
We've never been like tilted heavily one way or the other.
And you know, I think Coach Whitmer's done a tremendous
job developing Fernando, and Fernando wants to be a great player,
and you know he gets the most out of every
day and every rep.
Speaker 7 (13:35):
Coach, what were the conversations in process, like with Scott
Dolson and getting that extension and how that kind of
showed his commitment to you and the football program.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
You know, he just walked in my He normally he
comes in every Thursday and we chat about the game.
And he popped in right before the player meetings on
either Tuesday or Wednesday, I can't remember.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
I was watching tape.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
I was really consumed with prep and he popped in
for about a minute and a half and said this
is kind of.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
What we'd like to do. I said, okay, if we call.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Your representative and I said, sure, it'd be great. And
within you know, twenty within forty eight hours, thirty six hours,
it was done.
Speaker 7 (14:17):
Your team is tied for eighth in the country and
fewest penalties per game, and you've had the fourth fewest
penalty yards per game. Both of those are improvements from
last season. Just what does that say about this team
and the discipline they play with on the field.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Well, that's you know, you got to you want to
play fast, you want to play physical, you want to
be relentless, but you got to be smart. You got
to make choices and decisions out on the football field,
right And the discipline, I mean, you never want a
pre snap penalties and now we've had a few on
the road. But you know, we've done a nice job
(14:49):
of keeping the blocks in the front in the special
teams game, and our defense does a nice job with
no when to pull off and still rally and get
multi well hats to the ball. And you know, I've
really seen that trend in the right direction, you know.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
The last four or five years.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
And this team with his veteran leadership, character and intelligence.
We still had a few too many in my opinion, right,
and we can get better. Yet our goals one in
thirty on offense, defense, and teams and has been ever,
forever and ever, and so there's a lot of games
(15:31):
we have accomplished that goal.
Speaker 6 (15:34):
On Omar, Just what did he show you this spring
to win that slot spot?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
And just why is he so good inside?
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Yeah? Well, you know he showed me a lot last
fall my first year with him, that he was an
explosive player. And you know, Miles Price and Keishawn Williams
are both playing in the NFL right now, and they
split the duties in the slot, and there was a
void there and we gave everybody an opportunity in springball.
(16:01):
Ej in there, Sarad in there, Cooper in there. Uh,
there were new transfers were stuck in there, and you know,
Cooper uh just seemed the most comfortable.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
But he still gets his reps outside.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
Too, you know, in twelve personnel when we're playing with
two receivers and we have the ability to put him
outside even an eleven personnel. So and I just think
what you're seeing from him is you know, he's older,
he's more mature, he's a veteran now he sees what's
out there, and he's just becoming a lot more consistent
(16:39):
and explosive and he's a hard tackle.
Speaker 6 (16:45):
You talked about the miss assignment in that Michigan State game.
How much progress have you seen the secondary make has
the season's gone.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
On since Kennesaw, Illinois. You know, we still had a couple.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Iowa, we were pretty good.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
We had a big one against Oregon and then last week,
you know, the touchdown was between the end, the defensive
end and the corner and it was more on the end.
And then we had a couple, you know with the
(17:30):
safety in the corner where they got some chunks.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
So it's improved.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
But I mean what you did in the past, your
past actions, all they do is create habits, and you're
trying to create great habits.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
But you got to do it every day still too,
regards what you did in the past.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
And you know, we still have to communicate a little
with more urgency, get aligned, a little quicker play with
a little more urgency at some spots.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
And we have it in us, which got to do.
Speaker 6 (18:00):
It coach last year. As you guys had a lot
of success went in the playoffs. You talked about how
the impact the recruiting, how it kind of opened some doors.
Obviously you're having more success this year. You just got
the contract. Have you seen that really carry over and
keep going and even get bigger this season as you
guys continue to win.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Yeah, we've got We've had a lot of doors open
up the high school route for sure. And you know,
the portal thing really doesn't even open until January second,
unless you know a head coach has been let going
to UH players going into portal and you know that's
my thing right now, because you just don't get off
the portal in one year or two years. You know
there's gonna be portal needs this year. And the rules
(18:43):
the way they are right now, I just I really don't.
I hope we take a good hard look at what
we're doing. I don't quite understand all these players are
making decisions pretty much the end of November what they're doing,
and then the whole month of December is dead, and like.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
We are you supposed to do those thirty days?
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Right? You know other people right? And you know, and
the spring portal's been valuable for us too.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Look at who we picked.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
Up, you know, you that first year CJ. West Ponds, Tucker,
last year Daily Wyatt. So I'm not a big fan
of what we're doing. And to me, having a January
second portal date and some school like we started school
January ninth doesn't make a lot of sense. And I
(19:32):
don't I don't think the rules should be changed for
two or three coaches that really had a problem with
it because they were still playing. One guy lost his
back up quarterback, you know, I mean, I think.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
You got to look at the other schools, the.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Other seventy five or how many there are p four schools.
Speaker 8 (19:55):
Also, thanks, So there's sig from the team room on Monday.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Interesting thing about UCLA. You know, the top scoring team
in the Big Ten in overall games is Oregon forty
four point one points a game. Second is Indiana. That's
in all games. Now, if you're talking about just conference games,
Indiana is the top scoring team. Oregon's third. You're talking
(20:27):
about all the games, UCLA is fifteenth out of I'm sorry,
is seventeenth out of eighteen teams, averaging twenty two point
four points a game in all games. In conference games,
UCLA jumps way up to six twenty eight and a
(20:49):
half points a game. The switch that's been flipped in
conference play is really really interesting, and that has everything
to do with the coaches, which means Sig has the
right attitude of viewing what's happened over the past couple
of weeks as the right way to approach it. You
don't get lost with the overall. You look at what
(21:11):
has been done since the coaching change, and this is
a UCLA team that throws the ball well, that does
a good job of running. Overall, in conference play, Ucla
is fourth or fifth in total yards per game. It's
(21:34):
going to be a challenge to say the least. UCLA's
defense has been solid at the very least in giving
up in conference play twenty one points a game. But
Indiana is better. And this game, to me, will come
down to two things. One, Indiana is a team that
(21:56):
plays with the chip on its shoulder that here's everybody
talking about how every every time Indiana is successful, for
some reason, there seems like there's a yeah, butt, you know,
Indiana beats Oregon. Yeah, but maybe Organ's not as good
as we thought that they were. And all of this
kind of stuff Uh, so they're playing with the chip
(22:17):
on their shoulder.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
People.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
There's a general feeling that people are just waiting for
Indiana to stumble so that they could say see right there,
right there. That it reminds me of that internet meme
of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing that they're they're they're waiting for it.
And so that's what the focus of this team, this
this older team. The leaders on this team are about
(22:44):
making sure nobody loses focus here and that starts with
Kurt Signetti and that's the standard that he holds. So
when you're looking.
Speaker 7 (22:51):
At U c.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
L A, you could bet this is not a team
that's going to overlook what the Bruins are going to
bring to the to the field. You know, it's not
going to be an easy game for Indiana. Now that said,
in terms of throwing the ball, in terms of just
(23:11):
being explosive, it's difficult to find somebody that is more
consistent that makes fewer mistakes than Fernando Mendoza. And the
number of weapons Indiana has, I think is what's going
to kind of wear down UCLA's defense as the game
(23:36):
goes on. Indiana does a great job of balancing the
run and pass. They have multiple backs that could could
gash you. You have Elijah Surrett, you have Omar Cooper
who can make things happen. EJ. Williams, and you have Mendoza,
who obviously has been as efficient as any player in
(23:57):
the country. And to me, that is the kind of thing,
especially when you have a team that comes so far
from home, that could wear on you over time. And
so when you get into the fourth quarter, that that's
when Indiana is really going to be able to step
on the bruins neck.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Not going to be easy.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
You need the defense to not give up busts, to
not make mistakes, focus on what UCLA has been able
to do over the past couple of weeks, over the
season long. But it's also this is where the coaching
staff is so important in making sure guys keep their
eyes where they're supposed to be on a level plane.
And this is a game Indiana is favored by multiple touchdowns,
(24:42):
but going into it, you have to go into it
as if it's it's an even game, and that is
going to be really, really important for these Hoosiers. I'm
excited to see the crowd. You know, UCLA isn't a
team that has come to Indiana. I haven't seen a
they've ever been here, but certainly I that's basically because
(25:03):
I haven't read the game notes. I'll straight up tell
you that I have not read the game notes about
whether they have been here before. But bottom line is
that this is the crowds seem to be getting it,
is the best way that I could put it. They're
(25:27):
starting to show up earlier, they're getting into the stadium,
and when they are there, they're really doing a great
job of being lit. I mean, just ready to go.
Saw some video. You know, you're in the press box.
You can't hear it. It's muffled, But I saw some
(25:47):
video from down on the field of the chant before
the game that the Bison leads the crowd and I
on one side and you on the other, and people
are getting it. This is a tradition and that has
been built by this athletic department this year and it's
starting to click. And having students there on what should
(26:09):
be a very nice Saturday. You know, last week we
had it was cold, had a lot of rain, especially
in the second half, and right now they're looking at
at Saturday being cloudy, so you're not gonna be sitting
in the sun. High of sixty one, light winds, so
it's great football weather is what we're looking at for Saturday,
(26:32):
Big noon Saturday, should be a great atmosphere for sure.
This is the second time Indiana has played UCLA. The
Indiana won forty two to thirteen last year in the
Rose Bowl, first ever trip in program history for UCLA.
I really feel fans are gonna come out and be
(26:52):
ready to party on this one noon kickoff, which is
my favorite time to kick off. You get in a
nice game, have a great day, still have the evening.
Can't ask for anything more. Hoosiers have to come ready
to play from the opening kickoff, have to be fired up,
get energy from the fans, and help the fans maintain energy.
(27:16):
I like Indiana in this one. I'm not somebody that
does scores or makes a lot of predictions, but I
like Indiana in this one. I think that where the
Hoosiers are right now, this is a game that they
are the better team. But they have to come to
play and they have to defend their home turf, and
we'll see if they're able to do it. After the show.
I'm sorry, after the show, After the game. We have
(27:39):
the call and show the Peaks Podcast live from the
Memorial Stadium parking lot. The weather looks like I'm going
to be able to do it under my tent right
by the doors of the Tennis Center. Certainly hope anybody
that is coming to the game hangs around in Lot
twelve and comes and says Hi, grabs a microphone, gets
on the air with me, talk some football, really looking
forward to it, really looking forward to it. Basketball, Gonna
(28:04):
have Collins shows coming up there. It's my wedding anniversary,
my twenty second wedding anniversary will be on Saturday as well.
Going to spend it in a Memorial Stadium parking lot
and couldn't be happier to be doing that. So come
out and join me, Come out and see what we
got going and really excited. Should be a great day.
(28:24):
UCLA is going to be a challenge, but it's one
I do think that the Hoosiers are going to be
able to overcome. What's all the time we have on
the Peaks Podcast this week. I want to thank you
for listening. Anyone to remind you of visit Peaks dot
com for the very best and IU football and basketball
coverage are going to find anywhere nobody covers who's your
recruiting better than Jeff rab John's, Matt Weaver, Trevor Andershoch
and Jared Kelly. So can be a part of a thriving,
(28:45):
at exciting community at peaks dot com. Folks, you are
not going to be disappointed.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Folks are out of.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Time, But for now and for Jeff, Matt, Trevor and Jared,
I'm ken Baikoff saying thanks for listening. Everybody
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