Weaver & Kelly's IU Football Podcast: Illinois predictions, Beebe goes down

No. 19 Indiana football enters a pivotal game week against No. 9 Illinois. Peegs.com's Matt Weaver and Jared Kelly preview the Hoosiers and Fighting Illini's primetime showdown and give their score predictions. They also detail Indiana RB Lee Beebe Jr.'s season-ending injury and IU's 73-0 win over Indiana State.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome in everybody. It is Tuesday, September sixteenth. The Indiana
Hoosias are three to oh on the season after a
dominant seventy three to nothing win over Indiana State's cap
off the non conference slate, and it is a big
one Week four, a game that everyone has had circle
for months now. Game has been sold out for over
a month. Number nineteen Indiana versus Number nine Illinois game
week is here seven thirty pm Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

(00:27):
But obviously a lot to talk through in preview going
into that game. Peace dot coms Matt Weaver, Jered Kelly
here to break it all down. We'll get into the
Indiana Illinois game. Of course, towards the end of this,
we'll get into what we saw from the Hoosiers in
their final tune up over Indiana State. But burst Matt yesterday,
we're here from Curzignetti. Lee BB junior Indiana is a

(00:48):
leading rusher this season. Is done for the season a
non contact knee injury. You know, didn't look good on
the field Saturday. I believe it was early in the
third quarter when he went down. Didn't look good then,
and of cour course, uh, you know the worst possible
scenario was BB done for the season. So just your
initial thoughts on that. Where Indiana goes from here, Obviously

(01:09):
they're gonna have to rely heavily now on Roman hen
B Kalan Black.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah, I mean, you know, and I said it when
we talked on the field after the game. If it
was the worst case scenario, it's a blow. There's no
There's no two ways about it. I don't think it's
you know, a crippling blow. But other guys are going
to have to you know, replace that production, whether that
beans BB and Black, which is probably the most likely scenario,
get more carries, they kind of take, you know, the

(01:36):
bulk of the carries that would have gone gone to
him or somebody else kind of steps into that role.
I don't I don't think you have you know, let's
say Kobe Martin all of a sudden start getting you know,
you know, twenty five thirty percent of the carries. I
would think it'd be more like maybe you know, six, seven, eight,
maybe ten percent of the carries, you know, whatever that
might come out to. Last year, it was basically a

(01:58):
two man show at running back. I would say between
those two guys, they had to be around eighty eighty
five percent of the carries Justice Elison and Tyson Lawton,
So I.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
Can see it being the same this year.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
And then you kind of sprinkle in Kobe Martin and
maybe even Solomon saw him in Van Horse. We haven't
seen much of him, but he did run the ball,
was you know, used more at James Madison. Maybe they
use him more, but I think Martin's probably the guy
that's who cursing.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
Needy indicated it would be the next guy in line.
So it's like I said, it's a tough blow.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
He was.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
He's a really good player. He was playing great as
you said he was. He was leading the team and rushing.
They still got two really good backs and they've got
some you know, I got a young guy and Kobe Martin,
who I think can give him some good snaps if needed. So,
you know, it just derails your season. Then you had
bigger problems than Lee BB going down.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
And this was always the reason Indiana wanted to build
it's running back round this offseason as a dig because
you know, when we were first looking out of this offsee,
it's like, how are they going to feed all three
of these guys and it's for situations like this that
you want to be proactive, and you know, clearly it
worked out for Indiana's favorite. You're not going to the
season thinking a guy's gonna go down with the season
and ending injury this early on, but good luxury to have,

(03:07):
you know. There's been a lot of talking about about
Kobe Martin. Obviously he had he had a career day
against Indiana State. Eleven carries, one hundred nine yards, two touchdowns.
I just some from my vantage point, I'm not putting
a lot of stock in that performance. He's going against
Indiana State's backups. Indiana had their backups in the game
was already out of hand. It was good to see,

(03:28):
you know, him pick up chunk yards and do things
that could translate. But I mean against an FCS opponent,
it's really tough to take away, you know, things that
he can do from that game that will translate to
the Big ten. So I honestly think they'll they'll probably
treat him like you were saying, I would be surprised
if he gets more than you know, maybe five carries,
ten carries at most a game. Ten carries probably pushing it.

(03:51):
So in my opinion, I'm kind of tempering my aspectations
on Kobe Martin, but I would like to see what
he can do against a higher level competition.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Yeah, And I went back and looked.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
I mean, the first game is, to me, is not
the greatest thing to look at as far as a
breakdown of carries, because in the end ran ninety two
plays against Old Dominion, and that's just not I mean,
the second game, I think it was like sixty seven
sixty eight plays, and I think BB had eleven. Either
Black or Hemb had ten, and the third guy had nine.
So right there, that's about what that's you know, about
thirty carries right there, and they almost split them evenly.

(04:24):
And then if you figure, you know, there's a few
Mendoz is going to take some of those carriers, and
that's what you may see.

Speaker 3 (04:29):
You may see Mendoz to.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Pick up a carrier two. I mean, you know, you know,
it's not like you got to replace twenty carries. You're
probably gonna be replacing around, you know, anywhere between eight
and twelve carries a game. So if Black and him
Bey pick up three or four, you know there's about
half of them. And then if you maybe Mendoza, except
so you're you're talking, like you said, you're a few
carries here here and there.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
So I'm with you.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
I think he'll be kind of take that role as
Kaylon Black took last year where there were some games
where hedn't get any carries and there's he got. There's
or two where he got maybe like five or six carries.
And I think that that's what you can see from
Kobe Martin. I mean, I also agree you can't take
a ton. I mean there's things that you that I liked.
He cuts, he gets up field, he uh, he's got

(05:14):
good burst. So there are some things you can see
from what he does physically. But I'd like to see
it against a team that has better athletes, better players.
You know, guys that that that are just you know,
they're they're four caliber players. That wasn't what he went
against some on Friday night obviously, So you know it's
to me, the Hendy injury is more of a concern

(05:34):
that somebody else goes down.

Speaker 3 (05:36):
It's the bummer. But if you lose him Hemby or Black.

Speaker 2 (05:40):
Now now you're starting to get into Okay, what are
we gonna do now? Because now you're turning to Martin's
gonna have to be a featured guy, and then you
may have to get like a true breastman and Sean Cono, uh,
you know, kind of in the mix a little bit.
So you know, right now, I think they're okay, But
I'm with you. It's those two guys, and I think Martin,
if he gets you know, if he gets more than

(06:02):
five carries, you know, in the next few games, i'd
be a little let's way ahead.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
I guess that could happen. But if it's a.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Close game, I would think he's probably not gonna get
a ton of run, but he could get in there,
you know from time to time.

Speaker 1 (06:16):
How do you now that it's a it's a two
man backfield pretty much with Henby and Black. How do
you see that shaking out? Because we've seen Henby. I
think he's gotten the start in every game so far,
which starts for running backs don't really matter. Do you
think anyan is gonna ride either one of them? Because
Henby obviously gives you that, you know, first down, second down,
that explosive play potential. And then and then Calon Blacks

(06:36):
a little more of a tougher north south runner. How
do you think Indiana handles this because I think I
think Black might be the red zone guy, more near
the goal line when you need you know, two three yards,
and then Henby is really the guy you lean on
in those, you know, first second down situations.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
Yeah, and if you remember last year, I think Lawton
was kind of started in the first three or four
games of the season, or maybe the first half, and
then it kind of switched.

Speaker 3 (06:58):
They both played a ton.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
It was basically like you said, I don't to me,
it doesn't matter who starts that I'm sorry, receiver or
running back, because you rotate so many guys.

Speaker 3 (07:08):
And it also it seemed like last year that sometimes
they kind of went with a hot hand.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
Maybe the guy who is just kind of whatever for
whatever reason, was just kind of feeling it that day.
They still use the other guy, but you know, I
could see that being the case, and it could be situational.
You know, if you if you want a guy who's
going to be, you know, whene you want more of
a pass catcher, maybe you go with him. Although Black
has a season of Jamie where he had like twenty
five twenty seven receptions, so he can't catch the ball

(07:33):
and you know, if you want more inside the tackles,
even though him be showing that, I think Black's probably
a little bit better at that kind of thing. So
it may just be, you know whatever, whatever, Maybe what
the defense has shown you, maybe Heimy's better. It gets
a certain kind of look than Black is. You know,
we'll see as the season goes on, but I think
they'll both, you know, if one.

Speaker 3 (07:50):
Gets more than the other. I don't think it'll be
like eighty twenty or even seventy thirty.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
It may be like, you know, fifty five, forty five
as far as percentages or something like that.

Speaker 3 (08:00):
But I would assume a Hemby will continue the starter.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
Then Black will will get you know, about as much
playing times as as Hemby does.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
Going forward, Indiana will certainly need both of them to
play well against Illinois. Illinois as one of the top
ranked run defenses in the Big Ten through three games
so far, so that'll be a big one and we'll
obviously look to that game in a little bit here. Matt,
let's touch on the Indiana Indiana state game. I'm of
the opinion that Indiana did what it needed to do.
I don't think you can take a whole lot away

(08:30):
from this game. And you know, going into this our
our our main thing was you gotta stay healthy. Indiana
manas to stay healthy besides that BB injury. So I
guess kind of good and bad there, But seventy three nothing.
You know, it's you know, I've seen people say Christin
Eddy ran up the score.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
He didn't.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
Un Like, what are you supposed to do when the
backups come in? This might be their last chance to
play this season. You know, you're gonna let him score
the ball if they can get down in the end zone.
So seventy three nothing. Just any general takeaways from this game,
Indiana dominated the whole way.

Speaker 3 (08:59):
Yeah, I mean, first on run up the score, that's
just total nonsense. I mean, that's that's people who don't
know football, quite honestly. You run your offense and I
burnt them.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
Mendoz And may have to play this year, so he
needs to go out there and he needs to run
the offense. Those guys catching the ball need to run
the offense. So it's not like they were throwing bombs.
They were throwing quick passes. But yeah, they did what
they needed to do. They they you know, I mean,
it's it's hard to play much better than they did.
It obviously wasn't perfect, but Fernando Mendez was nineteen out
of twenty. It was like his first fourteen in a

(09:28):
row were completed. And even the one that wasn't you know,
it was just me. It wasn't really on him. He
just they got they got a guy through on a
blitz and and and you know we're able to hit
his arm as you have thrown it.

Speaker 3 (09:39):
But Omar Cooper Big Ten Player of the Week was awesome.
The running game again over three hundred yards.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
Defensively, I mean, they completely dominated Indiana State that you know,
they they could even basically they get a first down
to almost the first half. So yeah, I mean, obviously
we said going in staying healthy, I would say that
was still overall a positive, even with the BB news.
But obviously you'd you know, you probably trade that BB

(10:08):
injury for I don't know, maybe giving up ten points
or something.

Speaker 3 (10:10):
I mean, whatever it may be, whatever it is, or
it's just that's a bummer.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
But overall, they've come through the non conference season about
where I think we all expected them to be, and
they're they're about as healthy as as you can be.

Speaker 3 (10:24):
I mean, as three games in now. Now it ramps up.

Speaker 2 (10:28):
Now you're gonna now you're gonna get tested weekend and
week out, and this week will obviously it'll be a
big one.

Speaker 1 (10:34):
I almost feel like the non com non conference late
for Indiana was like we can talk about all this,
you know, different scheduling, philosophy, all this and that that
all season banter or whatever SEC schedule. Like I almost
feel like this was the perfect set up for Indiana
this season. Uh, because you know, if you open instead
of Old Minion, you open with the game against some
kind of legitimate, powerful opponent and Indian to look the

(10:57):
way it did against Old Dominion, like there's a good
chance Indian probably and win that game, and then it's
we've seen it happened last year. The Hoosiers took off
after the first three games. I almost feel like this
was the ideal set up for Indiana this season because
of what you know, the different the different moving pieces
on offense. Uh, in this Indiana State game, Like, yeah,
people are gonna say FCS opponent, they should have won

(11:17):
big whatever. This is honestly a game that you know,
a huge confidence boosts for everybody across the board, and
especially for an Ana Mendoza, Like going into an Illinois
game with as much as at stake, as many eyeballs
is going to be on him. This was really important
for him to go, you know, nineteen for twenty two
and seventy yards, five touchdowns all that. Like unique games
like this, right, it doesn't matter who the caliber opponent is,

(11:39):
but you need to feel good about yourself going into
going into Big ten season. So I don't really have
a problem with that. And I and I kind of
just based on how Indiana Sea's played out so far,
I don't mind how the schedule has played out.

Speaker 3 (11:51):
Now I don't. I don't either. I mean, you know, listen,
bo Can.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
I know they're gonna they're gonna talk about the schedule
on Bashley fultly with the recent news and then dropping
games and all that. But you know it, this this
this program under Kurt Sinneti stills in his infancy. Okay,
they went to the playoff last year, but they're still
building this program. I mean, it's not you know, if
you just do it what we saw happened with Tom
Allen in nineteen. They had a good season, twenty they

(12:18):
haven't even better season, and then it just fell apart.
I don't I that's that. I would bet anything that's
not gonna happen in Kurscinnetti. But you still got to
keep building this thing. You still got to keep this
men when I'm going you got to keep the train
going down the track, so to speak. And you know,
maybe it's a little bit of weak sauce to play
these games. You know, you know these games were scheduled

(12:40):
for the most part before Kerstin Area and got to Indiana.
You know, so it is what it is. I don't
have a big problem with it. Their Big ten schedule
is going to make up for these games. I mean,
you're going to Iowa, You're going to Oregon, you're going
to Penn State.

Speaker 3 (12:55):
I mean, I said it.

Speaker 2 (12:56):
You know, I talked to a guy from Illinois on
his podcast. You could make it an argument that Illinois
last year, if you played let's just say this annoyed
team was on last year's schedule, that might have been
the second toughest game on the schedule. I think that
this allnoyed team might be better than Michigan last year.
Michigan's defense was good, but offensively they really struggled. So
I mean the team that might be the fourth toughest
game on your schedule, could have been top two last year,

(13:20):
if you if you want to look at it that way.
So the schedule is ramped up considerably. You know, some
teams we thought might be better this year at UCLA
for example, looks horrendous. But the bottom line is they're
gonna get tested plenty in the Big Ten, the non conferences,
the non conference, you know. And to me, this game
came out, this non conference came out a perfect time.
You basically almost got two weeks of rest. I mean

(13:41):
you did totally, but you played your guys for about
a half and you came out of it relatively, you know,
injury free except for BB. So I'm with you. I
this is a game, have a feel good game. You
could work on some stuff without worrying about so much
of the outcome. And that's where this, let's be honest,
it was kind of like a spring game.

Speaker 3 (14:00):
Where they sold tickets. You know.

Speaker 1 (14:04):
Obviously KURTZKNEDDIY when the schedule was set up. You know,
they backed out of the I don't know if it
was the Virginia series. I think that would start extra.
But the way the schedule is set up, like, you
can't really predict how these teams are going to be
three four years in the future. But I do wonder
if Indiana kind of feels fortunate to have played the
different styles of offenses that it got a good look

(14:25):
at during non com play, because you know, we saw
Kannessas State and Old Minion. They both went up tempo,
they were both you know, very option heavy, run heavy teams.
Different things that you might not see in the Big
Ten necessarily, but you know, things that keep in the
back of your mind that Indian has prepared for more
so now because of the teams that played. Whereas you know,
you might play a powerful opponent who plays some more

(14:45):
conventional style of offense, those kind of things you can't
really replicate when you know, some of these G five
teams do such such different things that I honestly think
it could benefit Indiana in the long run. You know,
having already seen an opponent that plays such so so
uptemple like Kannessas Day, those kind of things will help Indiana.
You know, if Illinois say they do decide to go
no huddle up tempo in their game this weekend, so

(15:08):
you know there's a give and take here with the scheduling.
You know, Indiana did what it had to do against
all three teams, and you know they walk away three
and zero against entering Big Ten Play. So I honestly
have no no issue with how Indiana schedule set up
this year. I did want to talk about defensively, Matt
in this game, so across the board, Indiana played really well.

(15:29):
I'm at the point now and you don't have to
agree with me, but I would like to get your thoughts.
I'm at the point now where I'm a little concerned
about Mikyle Kamara. Zero tackles in this game. He had
one quarterback or one pass breakup was the only stat
he had in this game. Saw week one he only
had one tackle. Finally getting stats sack column week two.

(15:49):
I know the underlying numbers like him, the p fIF
grades like him. You know he's winning a lot of
his pass rushing stats and whatnot. But he three games
he's done work virtually nothing, and I think that is
a bit of a concern going into Big ten play.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
Yeah, I thought he was the eye test for me.
I thought he played well Saturday, or at least better.
He was in the back of a lot he just
wasn't getting the time.

Speaker 3 (16:12):
You mean that the production and there are some of
that is some of that is a little bit of luck.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
I mean, you can get a good pass rush and
maybe another guy comes in and makes the play or whatever.
The lack of production I think is concerning, and I
in a PFS stats you could take him for what
they're worth. I think one some PSS stats that you
can kind of feel better about, or pass rush guys
who generate pressure, because I think that's something you can
just kind of see.

Speaker 3 (16:34):
You know, some of the past stuff is I think.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
Is maybe a little bit more hit or miss, because
you know, those PFF guys don't know what you know
a team's doing as far as their offense, but you
know they're gonna definitely need more from him. I'm not
I'm not ready to raise the red flag and sun
on the alarm on McCall Kamar, because I did think
he played better, and I thought it started in Week two,
especially after a slow start, maybe around second quarter against

(16:58):
Kansas State. But you know, they they got They've gotten
good play from some of the other from the other
guys along the D line. So right now I feel
I feel okay about it. But yeah, it would be
nice if in these three games he had some better
stats because you know, he he definitely did it last
year and and I know people are gonna say, well,
maybe he shouldn't have moved. Well, again, he played this

(17:20):
position before. Now it was a James Master. But this
isn't like he's gone from you know, safety to corner
or whatever it may be, d n to d tackle.
He's played in this position before. He just didn't play
it really last year in Indiana.

Speaker 3 (17:32):
So I mentioned this. He had.

Speaker 2 (17:33):
The one area where Illinois has struggled a little bit
is protecting their quarterback, their last and the big ten
in sacks allowed, which is to be was a pretty
surprising stat. So I would think this is a week where, uh,
the guys up front, you know, they you know, Indiana
always gets after the quarterback. That's part of Brian Haynes
and those guys is playing. But I would think this
week they're really going to be trying to find some

(17:55):
you know, holes in that in that protection for Illinois,
you get have to rot Meyer, you know, because you know,
trying to force him to make some mistakes in this game.

Speaker 3 (18:05):
And obviously McCaul kamara has to be a big part
of that.

Speaker 1 (18:09):
I do wonder if if going into Big ten play,
the heightened level of a competition might raise Kamara's you know,
just activity and productivity in general, just playing up to
to sort of where we know he can be. And
you know, he's talked, he talked a lot about this
offen about breaking Big ten sack records, Indiana sack records.
That's pretty much down the drain now that he only

(18:29):
has one sack out of these three knock on game
because these were these were really the three games where
if he was gonna come close to to you know,
getting those records, Uh, it was gonna he was gonna
have to put up big numbers in these three games. So
it would be nice to see him get going. But
on the flip side of that, you know, I think
he's done such a good job of commanding extra attention,
you know, chip blocks, double teams, things like that, that

(18:50):
it has allowed you know, the other d lineman to
it's really going. You know, I really liked him. I've
seen Kellen why at this season. I know he only
had the one tackle as a TfL against Indiana State,
but he's been a really pleasant surprise, Like I didn't
know what to expect from him coming into this year,
just because of the position switch and everything from coming
from Maryland. But I feel like him and Kamara. Kamara

(19:11):
have really complimented each other well, so things like that,
Like I understand, like Brian Haynes said it best last week,
at the end of the day, you got to get stats.
You gotta get on the stat sheet. But the little
things that Kamara does I think really helps his D line.
And especially again like this against Illinois where you mentioned it.
You know, they've struggled protecting the passer. I wonder, you know,
if if they decided to double team Kamara, how much

(19:32):
more does Indiana get out of the rest of his
D line.

Speaker 3 (19:36):
Yeah. I think that's a great point.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
And and and Stephen Daley is another guy that I
thought I played showed up. You know, I think his
stats were I mean, no, nobody should u because they
you know, but I thought he showed up against Indiana
State and and played better. They're gonna need all those guys,
and they're gonna need the guys in the middle. I mean,
you know, last year C J. West was getting in
the backfield and getting after the quarterback and James.

Speaker 3 (19:58):
They're gonna need Wheeler and Tyreek Tucker.

Speaker 2 (20:01):
Tyree Tucker, I thought I played really not again again
it was any Estate, but I mean, like there's a
play where he pushed the guy. It looked like he
pushed him like six seven yards right into the quarterbacks lap.
Mario Landino, I want to say, had a sack or
a TfL in the game on Saturday.

Speaker 3 (20:15):
So all these guys are gonna have to contribute.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
Whether you're playing five or six snaps, so you're playing,
you know, twenty eight or thirty snaps, whatever it may be.
Everybody's got to do their job. And you know, I'm
with you. It starts with mccau kamara. He's an All American.
I mean he's he is the top dog for a reason,
and you know, I really expect him to step up
and be great on Saturday, and then everybody else to
kind of take his lead and do their part.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
Looking at the secondary from the Unanita State game, you know,
Indian State really struggled in general just to get the
ball moving it, but you know the Indiana secondary struggles.
We talked about it a lot last week because kind
of saw State kind of kind of gashed them more
than is anybody really comfortable with it? Looked like the
secondary kind of guy back into a good rhythm against

(21:02):
Indiana State. Now, how much of that is caliber of
opponent things like that, You know, it's tough to tell.
But were you encouraged at least with this performance because
there were some plays matter. I remember we talked about
this in the press box. Indiana State had a couple
of completions off the scene, which is where Indiana has gotten,
you know, had some trouble with this year. Were you
more less comfortable with the DIA secondary coming out of

(21:25):
this one?

Speaker 3 (21:26):
Yeah? I was more comfortable.

Speaker 2 (21:27):
I mean, the caliber opponent obviously is not what it's
gonna be. But it doesn't matter who you're playing. If
you have communication breakdowns, it's gonna show up like you're.

Speaker 3 (21:34):
Gonna have guys.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
And that's what they had that against Kennisville State. That's
what we saw. And there were some passes that if
you have those breakdowns against Luke Altemire on Saturday, they're
gonna be touchdowns. Cannasfell State just didn't complete them. They
or if they did complete him, the quarterback didn't throw
a good enough ball. For the guy to catch and run,
and instead of it being a big game, it was
maybe like a fifteen to twenty yard game. That's not
gonna happen on Saturday if you if you have those breakdowns,

(21:57):
So that to me was the biggest thing.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
I didn't see any.

Speaker 2 (21:59):
Glaring breakdowns anybody wait, like really out of position where
it looks like, you know, half the secondary is doing
one thing and the other half's doing something else. I
didn't really see that. You know, Illinois is gonna complete
some balls. They're gonna they're gonna they're gonna have some
success on the ball because they got a good quarterback
and they've got some good skill players. What you can't
have is a guy running just completely wide open, you know,
and you got like a third and seven and they

(22:20):
get like a fifteen to twenty whatever. It may be
a big game because you're just there. The communication was
that there guys weren't lined up properly. I didn't see
that Saturday. But that's gonna have to continue this week.
And like you said, if Illinois plays quick, you know,
any Estate didn't really play quick because they never got
anything going on offensively. If Illinoid gets a little bit
of rhythm and they're playing quick. That's what we're gonna
see if those those issues have been fixed.

Speaker 1 (22:42):
In the secondary at safety. I believe last podcast we
hadn't learned of the Lewis Moore news and that yet.
But obviously he is. He's clear to play Week four
against Illinois, so it's huge to have him. And then
you know what happens beyond that, Well, I guess we'll
find out once they have the next court hearing. But
Byron ball in that he was out for a third
straight game, still yet to make his Indiana debut. We

(23:05):
don't know what's up with him, Christy, and he said
two weeks ago that he was day to day. Clearly
he is not day to day at this point now
that you're in think of Big Ten season, you know,
I think we both came into the season thinking that
Byron Baldwin was, you know, pretty much a shoeing to
not red shirt this year. He was going to play
a lot. What do you do with him at this point?
Because Indiana is pretty locked in with its three starting safeties,

(23:25):
it hasn't shown that it wants to rotate much there, Like,
is this a situation now where you almost kind of
want to keep him at the four game max moment
and preserve that red shirt.

Speaker 2 (23:36):
If you can get him back to the next game
or two. I'm playing them in today's college football with
guys with player movement, you know, it's just not like
it was ten years ago where you red shirted a
bunch of guys and a number of guys will red shirt.
And also the other other reason why I say that
is talent wise, he might be your he might be
your most talented and Malon Ferrell's really talented, but he

(23:59):
might be right up there is your most talented guy.
Now he's young, and he's missed three games, and these
three games would have been the perfect opportunity to get
him snaps in a situation where a bad player two
doesn't cost you the game because you were gonna win
these games pretty much no matter what.

Speaker 3 (24:12):
So that that's the bummer of it.

Speaker 2 (24:14):
But if you feel comfortable putting him out there and
he can he can get Now when I run him
out there and have him run up and down the
field a handful of snaps for nine games on special teams,
I probably wouldn't. But if you've got a plan for
him to get in the game on defense and give
you some snaps, then I think it's worth it. I
know they did that with Charlie Becker last year, and they've
done that with other guys, but you know those I

(24:37):
think we're in a little bit of a situation. I said,
we're fourth of the way end of the season. They
played twenty five percent of their games. So to me,
if you're gonna play Byron boldmin and he and if
he can play this week, then I'm okay with it.

Speaker 3 (24:49):
If you're gonna get you got to play for him.
So he's just talented. And you know, this lettis More
thing is so weird.

Speaker 2 (24:56):
I get the feeling sometimes we get the feeling are
they just kicking the can down the and they're just
gonna keep delaying this until the season's over and so
they don't have to actually make a decision. I honestly,
somebody mentioned that on the board and I thought it
was a good point. You know, it's almost like they
don't they don't want the NCAA doesn't want to lose
his case because it'll set a precedent, but they'd rather
just kick it down and then just let it go
because once the season's over, it doesn't matter.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
I don't know. It's just so weird, it's so screwy.

Speaker 2 (25:19):
I can't imagine they let him play half the season
and say no, you can't play. But I think if
you're Indiana, you've got to prepare for that scenario until
you know for sure. And if Byron Baldwin can play,
I think you've got to get him prepared to play
that safety position in the event that you do need him.
And also in the event if with Bryson Bonds down,
if Bryson Bonds doesn't get hurt, I'd be more happy
to just go ahead and red shirt them or just

(25:40):
playing the four games. But with him down and somebody
else goes down, you're really, really in a tough spot.
So I think right now you've got to act like
he's going to play this year, and then you know,
kind of play it by year, week by week, and
if he's not playing a whole lot, then you say, Okay,
you know what, we'll do the four games and we'll
come and bring him back. Shares a fresh rich or freshman.

(26:02):
But it's a tough situation. It just is because we
don't we have no idea what the injury is. Like
you said, it's not day to day. It was day
to day before the first game, and we're out three
weeks in and he's not even dressing for games, so
it's obviously more like week to week.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
The more situation, I almost feel like the NCAA is
trying to make an example out of Indiana because there's
plenty of other teams and players who have already gone
through this whole legal case with similar situations and they've
gotten through and they're playing back on the field now
with finale. Like, I almost feel like the NCAA wants
to make example of Indiana for whatever reason. Uh, that's
neither here nor there. We'll see what happens with it. Uh.

(26:37):
I did want to on Baldwin Matt so like say, say,
say he's healthy for this Illinois game and he's clear
to return. Like, if you were a coach, how would
you like utilize them? Where would you pick pick and
choose spots to get in there? Because you know, you
always hear about coaches say you know, the the middle
uh middle eight minutes or whatever it is of the
game are the most important, the four minutes before, four

(26:57):
minutes after halftime, and then you obviously the first quarter.
You don't want to get off to a bad start
if he comes in and has a blown coverage or
something like where do you even put him in at
this point because he lost such valuable reps in those
non coong games.

Speaker 3 (27:09):
Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, my guess is he's he
and I have no idea.

Speaker 2 (27:15):
I would think he's probably more app to maybe play
a little bit more in that kind of nickel slot,
you know, rover spot. And I say that because that's
a spot that to me, maybe you're not as much
in space.

Speaker 3 (27:26):
You're a little bit more in the box, you know,
you're playing.

Speaker 2 (27:29):
Not that he can't play in space, but I think
that's probably the hardest thing for a young guy coming
into college because when you're out there in space, it's just,
you know, so much different than what you were used to.

Speaker 1 (27:38):
Now.

Speaker 3 (27:38):
He played against good teams at his high school.

Speaker 2 (27:40):
They were basically like an IMG on the East Coast.
So you know, he's got the athleticism, it's the mental part,
you know what I mean, Like things are going to
be moving really really. That's why I said this in
these three games is such a it's just such a
It's not a killer, but man, it's such a bummer
because these are games where it's fatter than school, but

(28:01):
it's not as fast as what you're gonna see going forward,
so you could have kind of got used to it.
It's a little bit of a ramp up period, so
to speak, and he's not gonna get that. And while
practice is good, let's be honest, I mean, in practice,
it's still not the same as a game. I mean,
they try to make it as close as possible, but
you know, so I don't know, I'm I'm guessing you know,
you're probably not gonna have him out there in like
a critical third down where he's gonna you gotta have

(28:22):
him cover a really good slot receiver.

Speaker 3 (28:24):
I don't know. I would think maybe you kind of
ease him in, maybe on early downs.

Speaker 2 (28:28):
And where he can play close to the line of scrimmage,
maybe he can go and you know, more like running plays.
You obviously not saying Illinois won't throw the ball in
first down, because I'm sure they certainly will, but maybe
plays where you can kind of control, how dold I
say it, kind of control the environment a little bit
of where he's playing and not put him in a
position where it's it's more difficult for him. But you know,

(28:50):
right now, I mean we haven't seen him. Who knows
what the what the injury is. I just like to
see him on the field because I saw him in
person at Center Grow and talk about before and the
kids special He's got a chance to be really really good.

Speaker 1 (29:05):
Yeah, moving on to special teams here before we wrap
up the Indiana State game and look ahead. Quinn Warren
got the start again over Misch McCarthy. M McCarthy still
out for a second well yeah, second straight week with
the It looked like some kind of abdominal growing mid
section injury. Hopefully he can get back on the field soon.
But Quinn Warren had the one point for fifty seven yards.
Got a really nice role on that one. That was

(29:26):
good to see. Niko Radiciic made all of his extra
points and made a twenty five yard field goal. Still
haven't seen him take a long field goal yet, which
Indiana might need coming down here, especially the Illinois game
where you know a lot of people are projecting it
to be close. He might need a big field goal
from him. Would like to have seen that non com play.
You haven't seen that, and then you know the return game, Matt,
this is where I think Indiana can really find an

(29:48):
edge in games like this against Illinois against Peers schools,
Jonathan Brady has been tremendous, Like I would not be
surprised if he is an All Big Ten special teams
returner this year. This game, he had six six returns
for seventy one yards average twelve yards of return, which
is a terrific number. You know. It just seems like
every time he touches the ball on a return like

(30:09):
there's a chance that he's gonna break a big one.
And I feel like, especially a game against Illinois, where
you're looking for any kind of advantage, this might be
the one spot where if Brady can break off like
a like a thirty forty to fifty yard return and
really giving in a good field position that you know,
it could really swing the game. And I've really liked
what I've seen from him these first three games.

Speaker 3 (30:31):
Yeah, and I agree.

Speaker 2 (30:32):
And Illinois's got a good return for Hank Beatty has
taking a pump back for a touchdown and he's right
there with Brady as far as rankings in the Big Ten.
So I think this is gonna be a sneaky important
part of this game. Who who is you know, more
sound on special teams, and Warren's done a good job.

Speaker 3 (30:50):
You know.

Speaker 2 (30:50):
The one thing is, you know that punt he had
was kind of a little bit of a low line
line driver and as they got a good role. But
you know, if you kick something like that and you
kick get right at a guy like Hank Beaty, that
could be a problem for your for your coverage units.

Speaker 3 (31:03):
So I'm not saying he can't do it.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
But you know, whoever's punting for Indiana on and hopefully, hey,
maybe they just score all the time they don't have
to punt. That'd be great, but you know, Illinois is
probably gonna force you to punt it a few times.
It's gonna be important that you get good hangtime, you
place the ball where it needs to be placed so
that you're whatever coverage you call, you can get that
guy hemmed in and and keep him to a minimal gain.

Speaker 3 (31:24):
So it's gonna be important.

Speaker 2 (31:26):
But Brady's been fantastic and as good as Miles Price
to you know, Miles Prices started a kick returner for
the Minnesota Vikings and he's looked great in the NFL.
So he replaced a guy who was really good, and
so far he's been more than up to the task.

Speaker 3 (31:39):
So yeah, I think you know who.

Speaker 2 (31:41):
Special scheams is something nobody talks about until somebody until
it becomes a problem or it costs you a game.

Speaker 3 (31:46):
And this is a game where, like you said.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
It could come down to a field goal, it could
come down to uh, you know, three points, four points, whatever,
it may be, one score, and that special teams play,
whether it be your kicker, your punter, or your coverage
or return, and it could determine whether you can.

Speaker 3 (32:01):
Win that game or not. And Indiana so far has
been really good. Hopefully that keeps up this weekend.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
All right, let's hop over to the game that everybody
has been talking about for months now, sold out Memorial
Stadium on Saturday Nights, seven thirty pm, kick on NBC.
Nineteenth ranked Hoosiers versus the nine ninth ranks of Fighting
a Line I. ESPN's Football Power Index has Indiana with
a sixty two point eight percent chance to win. I
believe ESPN's sp Plus has Indiana winning twenty eight to

(32:31):
twenty four based on their their model. The opening game
odds open at four and a half in favor of
the Hoosiers, Matt. You know, two really good quarterbacks going
at it, probably you know, two of the maybe top five,
top four quarterbacks and the big ten Luka all Meyer,
Fernando Mendoza. You know, both both teams were really good defenses.
Where where you see this game ultimately being decided? Uh,

(32:52):
in the end.

Speaker 3 (32:55):
I guess being decided.

Speaker 2 (32:56):
And you can say this about a lot of games,
but both teams are you know, I think Illinois turned
turned their opponents over five or six times, has not
turned the ball over.

Speaker 3 (33:04):
Other than the league bebe fumble. Indiana has not given
the ball away this year.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
And I think they're like plus maybe plus four so
or camera exactly what is, but they're in the positive.

Speaker 3 (33:14):
It's who takes care of the ball.

Speaker 2 (33:15):
And then you know, I think I think, you know
up front is gonna it's always you know, we talk.

Speaker 3 (33:22):
Football games are one up front.

Speaker 2 (33:23):
I think Indiana, now Indiana has not played Duke's better
probably probably better than about any team Indiana has played,
although you know Old Dominion might be able to give
duke a run for their money. They spanked Virginia Tech
this past weekend, and obviously that wins looking a lot better,
but Illinois struggled to protect protect the quarterback.

Speaker 3 (33:44):
I think that's something Indiana can take advantage of.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
I think they've got the front to get after alt
Meyer and maybe make him really uncomfortable. But I really
think it's gonna come down to, you know, in the
red zone, can can which team does a better job
on offense getting seven instead of three and which defense
is a better job of getting off the field and
but you know, giving up a field goal instead of

(34:08):
a touchdown, So you know that.

Speaker 3 (34:10):
Kind of stuff. Then we already already talked about special
teams a little bit. That will be huge.

Speaker 2 (34:13):
But it's gonna who plays a cleaner game, who doesn't,
who takes care of the ball, And you know, I
think if Indiana protects Mendoza and their on line plays
the way that we think they can play, I like
their chances here and I think the offense will be
successful and I think they'll have It's just you know,
can the can the defense get after alt Myer and
can they slow down the Illinois run game. My guess
is as good as Illinois can be offensively, and they're

(34:35):
scoring a lot of points, I doubt they want to
get into a shootout, especially in Indiana Stadium. I would
think if you're now, they're probably come from playing in
the thirties. I don't know if they want to get
go a whole you know much. But it's never been
Belama's mo no matter where he's played. He's had some
my scoring teams, but it's not really been you know,
the kind of thing he does.

Speaker 3 (34:52):
So it'll be interesting.

Speaker 2 (34:54):
But I I I like Indiana in this game, and
you know, I think it'll come down, like I said,
taking care of the ball and you know who can
win up front.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
This is gonna be you know, sort of a cliche
like no duh type of type of answer. But I'm
I really think the quarterback play is gonna end up
winning this one because I don't know, if you've had
a chance to look, Matt, it is almost startling how
similar to Luke Altmeyer and Fornana Mendoza have been this season.
Alt Meyer's fifty six of seventy eight eight touchdowns seven

(35:23):
hundred and nine yards fora Mendoza's fifty five of seventy
six nine touchdowns and seven hundred and eight yards. Only
one yard separates the two in passing yards Mendoza has
the one touchdown edge and touchdown and their completion pressure
percentage is virtually the same. Quarterback rating is virtually the same. Now,
Altmeyer does have the luxury, you know, he has the

(35:43):
experience of playing all last season for the for the
Fighting line I and then you know he had that
road experience at Duke this year. Yeah, in my in
my eyes, is gonna be who's gonna make the bigger
plays in those in those critical moments, Mendoza or alt Meyer.
And we just don't know, you know, with Mendoza, especially
because this is probably the biggest game he's played in
in his career. Altmeyer, this might be the biggest road

(36:05):
game he's played in in his career. Just with everything
on the table, it'll be really I'm really fascinated to
see how Mendoza responds it. Like, I don't really have
much doubt that he's gonna be composed and he won't
get rattled too much. But we just don't know until
we see it. And this is gonna be really the
big the first big test. And I wrote about this
over the weekend. This is really Fernanda Mendoz's first you know,

(36:29):
NFL audition. How does he perform against a big ten
team in a big game environment, And you know it's
tough to say, you know, coming off the Nana State game,
you know, you think he has a ton of confidence,
but you know, we just don't know. So I'm really
fascinated about this, this quarterback battle, because it is, you know,
two guys who are basically neck and neck with everything
they've done this season.

Speaker 2 (36:49):
Yeah, I agree, and I think I mean, if you
look at these teams, you know, you can probably say,
for the most part, it's pretty they're pretty even. I mean,
I want to say the dead even, but like you
know that as far as the personnel on both sides
of the ball, and so then it comes down to
if all those guys do their job, which quarterback makes
more plays, which quarterback does a better job? And Altmer's good.
But I like Fernando Mendozo a lot. But you're right,

(37:11):
we you know, we obviously this is our first time
seeing him at all. I mean, you know, obviously he
was at Cal last year and he took him to
a bowl season and uh, you know, he obviously didn't
play in the ball game, but.

Speaker 3 (37:21):
He led him to a to a bowl type year.

Speaker 2 (37:25):
But I don't know that he played, you know, I mean,
let's be honest, I'm not sure that cal was in
any prime time type games, you know what I mean,
Like he probably he played tough venues playing in the ACC.
But you know, was it like this kind of this
kind of build up, this kind of environment, the stakes
that you know I talked about Jeremy Warner from the
Illinois site. I mean, both of these teams have are
legitimate shot to make the playoffs. In this game might

(37:49):
eliminate one of them because they still got tough games left.
So this is a big game. I think it's a
little bit bigger game for Indiana because it's a home game.
I think there's probably a little even though Illinois a
higher ranked team, and I think there's more pressure on
Indiana because it's a home game. And we talked about it.
I'm gonna go back on the schedule. But when you
do have the schedule you have, these games take on

(38:09):
even more important, especially the home ones, and when you're
playing a pure kite school like in Illinois, you really
need to get these. So you know, there is there's
pressure on both teams. Obviously, there's pressure on all college
football teams. But I mentioned I'm I'm I'm not worried
about Fernanda. I'm excited to see how he plays. I
think he's gonna play really well. I think Altmeyer is
gonna play well. I did I think at the end,

(38:31):
I think Indiana is gonna make a few more plays,
and I think their defense will be a little bit
better stop than the other team than Illinois well, and
I think that'll be the difference. But I think these
guys are both gonna play well. But who makes a
few more plays and does it?

Speaker 3 (38:45):
It doesn't have to be an interception.

Speaker 2 (38:46):
Who makes the right raid and hits a guy instead
of throwing in completion on third down something like that.
And I'm excited to see Mendoza see what he does
because I think it's going to be a good night
for him.

Speaker 1 (38:56):
There's not a lot of talk about the College Fotball
playoff implications, postseason implication, its Big Ten title race with
this game, And to me, this almost feels like a
game where, you know, because the CFP, as we saw
last year, you know plenty of times with Indiana, you know,
it's kind of a good old boys club where you
know they don't want to let outsiders in in Indiana
Illinois are both kind of outsider teams, you know, on

(39:18):
the fringes, and this almost feels like a game where
it's like, do you have what it takes to to
to you know, be a CFP contender, show me it.
And for both of these teams, now you mentioned you
know how important it is for for a win for either.
I almost feel like with Illinois schedule, they need this
win more than Indiana does, because Indiana still has the
other chances that signature wins. You know, you go on

(39:39):
the road at Iowa, at Penn State, at Sorry at Oregon,
whereas Illinois really their only big game left is you know,
USC at home, which USC will see how legit they
are coming out of don Kong, and then they play
Ohio State at home. So they really only have two
big time games left if you even want to consider
the USC game one to get MARKI win. So I

(40:01):
almost feel like that the pressure is more on Illinois
side here in the in the grand scheme of things,
to get a win in this one, whereas Indiana, you know,
the margin for ERR obviously if they win this game,
the margin for ERA grows a ton in what Indiana
can do based on results going forward, but I think
Illinois needs to win more than Indiana does here now
it will be tougher for them because it is on

(40:21):
the road, altering the match. So say Indiana does lose
this game, right and just projecting forward, do you think
that still keeps them in the CFP race based on
the schedule ahead that they have.

Speaker 3 (40:34):
Yeah, I do, And I see your point on Illinois.

Speaker 2 (40:36):
I do think you ONOI can lose this game and
still make the CPI I think you're right. It is harder,
and if they lose to Indiana, they're gonna need some
help from teams on Indiana's schedule to kind of knock
them out of that that that picture, I mean, you know, uh,
we kind of saw it last year with Indiana. I
mean the only you know, at the end of the season,
the schedule, schedule, but really the only kind of really

(40:56):
legit team they played. I mean, Michigan was pretty legitimate
as well. How State now they you know, you mentioned
their schedule is is after Indiana is not is not
great as far as building a resume, But yeah, I mean,
if Anyanda loses, you still got a path. It's just
it's a lot harder, and it's pretty clear what the
path is. You're gonna have to You're gonna have to

(41:19):
win two out of those three of those broad games,
bottom line, and you may have to anyways, but you're
definitely gonna have to win two out of the three.

Speaker 3 (41:26):
And quite honestly, you sit there and say, well, which
ones is they do? I don't think you can lose
in Iowa. I just don't.

Speaker 2 (41:32):
If you lose this, I don't if you want any
chance to CFP and I because I'm not so far,
I'm not overly impressed with Iowa. And I'm not sure
how great of a win that's gonna be by the
end of the year. We'll see, maybe it will be,
but I think I mean, if I was a seven
to five, eight and fourteen, which they might be, you know,
how how you know how good is that win going
to be? And how bad could that loss potentially be?

(41:54):
So I think you got to take down Oregon or
Penn State if you lose this game, and definitely if
you if you lose, if Illinois is the one locked
team and you lost them at home and you beat
everybody else except for let's say you lose to Oregon,
I mean tended two. You've got a chance it's gonna
be you know, you're probably gonna need some help in
other conferences which you've got a chance to make that playoff.
So the road becomes much tougher for them, for Indiana

(42:19):
and probably for both teams if they lose. I will
just say, Illinois can maybe do what Indiana did last
year and blast everybody the rest of the year and
kind of get in on style points for lack of
a better word.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
And that's one of the reasons why Illinois was sort
of the off season darling this year was because you know,
not only did they return a ton of players from
last year from a ten win team, but also the
schedule schedule is almost identical to what Indiana had last
year in terms of caliber opponents, you know, the Big Ten,
the Big Ten schedules sets up really favorably for them,
so that you know that there is there's a chance

(42:51):
to like you said that they could, you know, just
destroy everybody else on the schedule aside from Ohio State,
which you know that's gonna be a tough one for
them coming up. But you know, for Indiana, Matt there's
been a lot of discourse too, about how big of
a game is this in context, you know, in in
not just this year, but you know, program history, last
ten year, the last twenty years. In your mind. You know,

(43:14):
you've been around a lot of Indiana football. You've been
and you've been to you know, every home game for
a decade plus. Now, how big is this the biggest
game that you have covered in your in your career.

Speaker 3 (43:28):
I mean, it's probably close.

Speaker 2 (43:30):
I mean, people, you know, the Michigan game last year
home was a big game because you know Indiana was
that that was late in the season. Remember that was
late in the season. They only had what that was
a third from the last game. I think they went
to High State the next week and then they went
to Purdue and they were they were in the they
were in the college football playoff picture. Obviously they made it,
but I mean that, you know, that was a big game.

(43:51):
And I know Michigan wasn't ranked and they were a
little bit down, but that you know, that defense was
really good and we saw what they did the next
or two weeks later they'd beat Ohio State again. But yeah,
I would you know, at least for this time of
the year, Uh, you know, mid September in the first
big ten game of the season for Indiana.

Speaker 3 (44:11):
I mean, I can't remember a bigger one.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
It's I mean, this is a huge game, you know,
because Illinois is a team that you know, they're trying
to become this year in Indiana.

Speaker 3 (44:22):
You said it, They're they're trying to take that that spot.

Speaker 2 (44:25):
And you know, like I said, the winner of this
game is in a really good spot. And I'm looking
at their schedule. Obviously got holl State at home, that
would be tough. At Washington, just going across the country
will be easy. But yeah, it's not that daunting, it
really isn't, you know. And so they they've got a
chance other than that Hollo State game, they got a
chance to run the table being eleven and one.

Speaker 3 (44:45):
So this is this is a big game for them.

Speaker 2 (44:48):
So but as far as Indiana big game, it's like
I said, for this time of the year, I can't
remember a game taking on this much importance, which is
amazing because like we're talking about the College for Ball
playoffs for Indiana and mid September or Indiana football, it's
just nuts.

Speaker 3 (45:04):
Like I told Jeremy, it's surreal. What's going on.

Speaker 2 (45:06):
With this program because it's just never happened, Like we
are in totally uncharted territory with Indiana football. It's never
ever been here. And it's fun, but it's just it's
just it's just so.

Speaker 1 (45:19):
Surreal, especially for a Big Ten open or two, where
you know, you really don't have an idea how either
of these teams will respond. You know, when when the
conference opponents start coming, I feel like that gets a bigger,
you know, more grandiose feel to it as well. One
thing I can't figure out, Matt and this is uh,
I don't know, Maybe this is my own disagreement. I

(45:41):
don't understand how not a single national pregame show is
coming to this game. You have a game day going
to Miami or sorry, the Florida game in Florida just
looked terrible last week. And then you have a big
new kickoff going to Utah, which that's a good game
against Texas Tech. But like, this is probably the biggest
game in the Big Ten so far this season. I

(46:02):
don't really understand how neither pregame show decided didn't want
to come to Bloomington. Do you care at all? I
know Kursineddi doesn't care.

Speaker 3 (46:10):
At all. No, I don't.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
I mean, and I don't know how they you know,
maybe it was one of those things where they kind
of had stuff said. I don't know how they I mean,
I'm not saying they say it out weeks in advance.
I know, sometimes it is I don't know. I mean,
I do think, you know, and we've it's been talking
about on the board ESPN, and it's I I agree,
I get it. But they're basically in bed with the
sec so and I'm not saying they're not going to
go do their show from a Big ten day, but

(46:35):
I mean, let's be honest, they're gonna they're probably going to,
you know, lean towards the teams that they're that they
basically are in a marketing partnership with. So maybe a
lot of surprised that Fox because Fox is the big
obviously the Big ten. You know, they're they're they're in
bed with the Big ten. And I'm trying to think
this has got to be the biggest Big ten game?

(46:56):
Is this the biggest Big ten games? I should know
the schedule better, but I gotta think this is the
more key Big ten game with the weekend. Yeah, So
I am a little bit surprised. I mean, do people
even I'm not trying to be do people even talk
about the Big Ten Show anymore when they travel around?

Speaker 3 (47:11):
I'm not.

Speaker 2 (47:12):
I honestly don't know. I don't even know what their
schedule is, but I don't. To me personally, I don't care.
It doesn't matter to me at all. I'm sure fans
like it. I'm just there to go and cover the game,
so that stuff doesn't really matter. But you know, if
Indiana keeps winning, they win this game, I mean, you know,
they won't be home for a few weeks.

Speaker 3 (47:30):
I mean, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (47:30):
Maybe Michigan State, you might, but I don't know how
good Michigan State will be. I doubt you see, like
because they're terrible. So I don't know that you see
another game on the schedule where they could get you know,
one of those shows in because I don't know that
there's another opponent that's gonna, you know, get that kind
of hype.

Speaker 3 (47:46):
So I don't know they got them they got to
last year. I don't know if they don't get any
of this year, so be it.

Speaker 2 (47:51):
The most important thing is just go out and keep
winning games and hopefully make another run for the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (47:56):
All right, let's get into predictions here, Matt. I've been
thinking about this for a long time now. My season prediction,
I believe I had Indiana twenty four twenty one. When
I do my preseason prediction, I still like Indiana in
this game. I think the home environment, Morals Stadium is
gonna be rock and I really think that's gonna give
Indiana an edge. And I liked I like the Hoosiers

(48:17):
up front, especially on the D line. Their their front
seven against Illinois's H five upfront on the O line.
I think that's gonna be a matchup that determines how
how this game goes. And I like Indiana to really
get into the backfield for s Altmeyer into making mistakes,
making you know, uh poor decisions things like that. Uh
So I'm gonna I'm I'm saying what I I'm sticking
with what I had in the preseason. I'm gonning I'm

(48:38):
going Indiana twenty four, uh, Illinois twenty one. And I
think this one comes down to the final possession.

Speaker 3 (48:46):
Yeah, I think it will be the same. I think
it may be. I think it may be a little
bit more high staed. I liked a little bit more
high scoring.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
So I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say thirty one twenty
seven Indiana, but.

Speaker 3 (48:57):
I think it'll be right there in that range kind.

Speaker 2 (48:59):
Of mid the high twenties, and maybe maybe a team
gets right there around thirty. But I think I'll be
back and forth, and it may it may be the
last team who has the ball, you know, is the
is the team that wins this game or or some
you know, something on those lines are are you know,
maybe somebody gets a big stop at them. But I
think it's gonna be a heck of a game. I
think it's could be. The environment should be awesome. I
haven't checked the weather, but I'm hopefully the weather will

(49:21):
be great, you know, for Saturday night for fans.

Speaker 3 (49:23):
So I'm looking forward to it.

Speaker 1 (49:27):
Yeah, I can't wait to see what the stops at
Indiana pulls out because these big games, like last year,
Indiana and did a really good job of making those
night games and those atmospheres feel bigger than they were,
you know, even like that Perdue game at the end
of the year when Purdue was you know, obviously headed
towards uh fire and their coach and everything like that
game felt huge in and of itself. I'm just really

(49:47):
excited to see the atmosphere and what kind of different
things Indiana tries to pull out in terms of getting
that getting that place rocking. Last thing here matt on
Illinois Indiana, Uh, is there sort of a I mean,
we kind of talked about how big this game is
in terms of you know, trajectory and stuff like that.

(50:07):
But for Indiana, like how much does this mean to
them just in a program perspective, like how far they've
come where they are now? Because this really does feel
like a sort of a passing of the tours maybe
a moment for them just because of all the attention
this game is getting.

Speaker 2 (50:23):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I let's be honest, curtsy
that he's ruffled some feathers in college football, and I
have no problem with it. Indiana's never the one time
people talk about him is because of how bad they've been,
you know, But this is the kind of game where
you know people are gonna kind of pass beyond.

Speaker 3 (50:39):
They are going to pounce.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
If you go out there and you don't play well,
you get beat at home by the other one and
almost is a good team that's not taking anything away
from Illinois.

Speaker 3 (50:45):
But you know, your your your rights, whatever your night.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
What's Indiana now eighteenth or nineteenth nineteenth their top ten,
so you would think that they would be the FA
in Indiana's a four and a half point favorite, which
I'm not saying it's a huge amount of points, but
you know, it showed, it shows people expect an end
when this game. Sixty two percent, you said, according to
the or the FBI on ESPN, So that's a fairly
you know, that's a fairly solid number.

Speaker 3 (51:12):
It's just a big game to continue the momentum.

Speaker 2 (51:13):
It doesn't mean that programs on the way down if
they lose, but you know, this is a this is
a big game to continue the momentum that you built
from last year and to keep showing people, hey, we
deserve to be talked about up there at the top
of the league up there, you know, along with the
Ohio State and the Penn State and the Oregon. Now
you got when you play those teams, you're gonna have

(51:35):
to go out and do better than you did last year.
But this is this is you know, Illinois trying to
come and take your take that crowd away from you.
They're trying to leap frog you in the Big ten
pecking order, and this is their chance to do it.
And this is Indiana's chance to say, no, we're still
we're the better program. We were last year and we're
still the better program. So I think there is some
significance that a loss does not kill any does not

(51:57):
kill everything, but it just makes a lot of things
a lot more to achieve.

Speaker 1 (52:01):
Yeah. Yeah, certainly a lot of legitimacy here that Indiana
is still searching for on a on a nationwide level.
In a win here will go a long way, but
that'll do it. Number nineteen Indiana versus Number nine Illinois
only a couple sleeps away from You know what is
going to be one of the biggest games in Memorial Stadium,
at least in recent history. Seven thirty pm kickoff on NBC.

(52:22):
I believe the tailgates open at noon at Memorial Stadium,
so folks should be able to get in there and
get get hyped up early on there. Matt and I
will obviously be at Memorial Stadium to cover it all.
How early are you planning on getting their max? Because
I don't know what trap's looking like. I was thinking
about getting down there like maybe three hours early.

Speaker 3 (52:40):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (52:41):
I still got to figure that.

Speaker 2 (52:44):
I will be earlier than normal this week because the
biggest thing is make sure you know I have a
parking pass though, want to make sure I can find
a parking spot because a lot of times you drive
around and there's no spots or whatever. So yeah, I
will be, It'll be. I'll be down there at least
a couple hours early, if not, if not earlier than that.
So I just kind of want to see the atmosphere.
I may walk around the stadium a little bit, just

(53:05):
kind of see people hanging out and all that, and
maybe maybe.

Speaker 3 (53:08):
If there's some of my friends are kailgating. But yeah,
I'm it's It's one of those games where I think
you want to try to get there a little bit
early and just soak it in.

Speaker 1 (53:16):
Yeah, yeah, I'm right there with you, all right. Matt
and I will be on site a Memorial Stadium this
Saturday night, and we'll of course have a ton more
coverage previewing Illinois in this matchup in the days to come.
Keep it lotch into peace dot com. But for now,
I Matt, we were Jerry Kelly. We see folks over
on the site