INDIANA - Rutgers Postgame LIVE

Indiana–Rutgers Postgame LIVE, presented by FanDuel. Hosts Alec Keezer and Bradley Loomis, with Jamie Jordan (IU Reactionary / Hoosier Huddle). Sunday morning reaction after Indiana’s road blowout of Rutgers. Bottom line: Style-points win, not a stress game. The run game and offensive line looked like the identity. Hoover-to-Becker/Marsh finally looked like the envisioned pass game. Defense is still the best unit on the roster, but takeaways have not shown up. Nebraska is the first real gear check. Open and first takes (0:32–3:10) Jamie liked knowing the result was never in doubt. The question was style points. Brad (birthday weekend, “big four-oh”) felt better about Indiana from the rest of the Saturday slate than from Rutgers itself. His caveat: last year’s team lived in sixth gear. This one is bouncing between fifth and sixth. Not a panic, just a missing consistency gear, especially on offense. Still one of the best teams in the country, and the ceiling is still ahead of them. Receivers and volume (3:10–5:20) Alec wants more of an E.J. Williams-type WR3 between the 20s. Davion Chandler is producing and scored, but the targets are clustered. Context from Nick Marsh’s postgame: in the portal he knew Charlie Becker would be a priority, but “I’m a baller too.” Both need the ball, and Hoover is the quarterback who can feed both. Alec’s pushback: Indiana got Marsh in part by offering volume. If Hoover throws it about 20 times, most of those targets should go to Marsh and Becker. Brad’s number: Hoover is at 107 attempts through five games, about 21–22 a game. They have not had to push the pass game. Game plan and Turbo Richard (5:20–10:00) Rutgers game-planned the 60–65% run look and gave free access outside, the same cushion Miami gave in the title game. Indiana took the easy throws, then pounded inside. Turbo Richard, in four and a half games (hurt at Northwestern): Tied for first nationally with 12 runs of 15-plus. Second nationally with 21 runs of 10-plus. Eighth in missed tackles forced: 29 on 63 carries. Brad: elite back, ahead of where Hemby and Black were early last year, and the health is a big deal heading into Nebraska. Best tandem in the country? Brad’s morning answer is yes on talent right now. De’Aaron Hill/Davidson were the preseason comps. Missouri’s Hardy/Roberts if healthy. Other duos exist (Wayman, Jordan, King, Miller), but nobody is producing like this: Richard 587, Lee Beebe 520, both around 100 a game. Turbo is a top-100 type early, better than Kalen Black and younger. Beebe is a horse who can climb into the top 250. Chemistry is the system; production is the proof. Kobe Martin’s absence changes the depth. Turbo’s juke that dropped a Rutgers defender is the wiggle Beebe does not have. Martin is more straight-line. You want that wiggle in the hole. Alec’s tier: Turbo in the top-10 conversation, Beebe top 20–25. Not claiming the No. 1 back with guys like that on the board, but he belongs in the conversation. Identity: run, defense, then the pass (10:00–12:10) Passing is more earthbound than Mendoza’s touchdown-or-incompletion year. The run game is upgraded, and the outside explosiveness is real. Cignetti’s line when Hoover arrived: two best friends are a run game and a defense. They may have the best of both, plus Hoover, Marsh, and Becker. They still have not played a true 60-minute high-level opponent besides Northwestern. That result, and Northwestern looking real the next week, is the body-of-work evidence. Offensive line and Hoover’s decision-making (12:10–16:20) Alec called the last two weeks Joe Moore tape. “Eighteen-wheelers” through the holes. Brad: run game has been big-time. Pass protection is the quiet part. Hoover has taken 6 sacks on 18 total pressures. Some of those are on him. Growth from TCU: he is eating the ball instead of forcing a play that is not there. One turnover-worthy play in 107 attempts. A sack is better than a turnover, and Cignetti has hammered that. He is taking what is there. Do not grade him against Fernando Mendoza. There is one of those. Rutgers: 5 pressures, 3 hurries, 1 sack on 67 snaps by PFF. Clinic, even against a bad defense. Rutgers can score. Indiana stomped them. First quarter was pass-first, which answered the “set up the pass with the run” theory. Short game inside 20, then Marsh came alive. The Becker throw and the historic box score (16:20–22:20) Best sign of the night: Hoover saw the Becker shot immediately, on time, laser into the bread basket. Earlier in the year he was a beat late and off-platform. Marsh: only two missed tackles forced coming in after leading that category last year. Two in this game, 53 yards after contact in the first half. Cover Becker and he is one-on-one. Seven in the box for the run. Pick your poison. Historic: first time since 2014, and only the second time since 1995, that two receivers and two backs each went over 100. Nebraska did it in 1995. Alec’s “the Hoosiers arrived” tweet was about that Becker ball, not the final score. Short timing plus a crisp deep ball is the offense they signed up for. Misses still look bad because guys are that open. Room left, and he is improving fast. Scramble drill: Hoover pointed Marsh downfield and put it on him. Drop. Gravy play, not a stress point. The backyard gear is the extra layer for January-type games. Tight ends (22:20–26:10) Brad liked the tight-end room, with the usual “I tweeted it and cursed it” caveat. Trevor Gibbs (true freshman) looked like the H-back/fullback they thought Riley Nowakowski would be, before Nowakowski became a downfield NFL piece. Not projecting that for Gibbs. Gibbs and Marsh are being used to come across and block the end. Chandler also lined up at H. Brock Schott had a brilliant edge block that sprung a Turbo run. Schott is their best receiving tight end, so the block matters. It had been a pass tell when he was on the field. Young room: Gibbs a true freshman, Schott a redshirt freshman. Transfers click fast. These guys have not played much. Rapid growth is the bet. Three-wide, motion a receiver into H, and call it 12 personnel. Where does Kobe Martin fit? (26:10–29:20) Chat question. Jamie: do not force him in. Two backs are averaging 100. Production is undeniable. Older, more experienced. Brad/Alec disagree on the usage, not the talent. Turbo 13 carries, Beebe 18, 31 total. A 12/12/6 split works. Martin plays when healthy. Turbo went to the tent late and was on the bike. Beebe is off an ACL and had 27 against Northwestern, then was listed questionable. Campbell and Quanto are still learning. Six to eight carries for Martin is a luxury that keeps the other two fresh for a possible 16- or 17-game season. Best offense in the country? (29:20–32:00) Not right now. Alabama is the comp they kept coming back to. Pieces are there to get there: line, backs, pass-game talent. Top-10 offense plus top-10 defense is enough to make the playoff and contend. That is the standard. Chat line: “the southern Hoosiers are nowhere close to the northern Hoosiers.” Defense, KJ Duff, and the takeaway drought (32:00–45:30) Jeremiah Smith aside: nobody covers him. Ponds did a job in the title game and he still went for 100-plus. The only real plan is hit Julian Sayin. KJ Duff is the Rutgers version of that worry. Not Smith, but a 6-6 first-round type who had scored in five straight and was averaging over 100 a game (628 on the year). Held to two or three catches and 78 yards while the game was in doubt. Nervousness about the secondary looks overstated off that. Takeaways are the nitpick. Hardy and Farrell’s pass rush was supposed to create them. Right now the path is mostly strip sacks. Lonergan and Sarratt came in with about 10 combined interceptions and did not add one here. Rutgers hid the quarterback and did not make dicey throws. Brad: do not expect last year’s bounce rate. They used up the fruit. Creating confusion in coverage can come back. Some good teams just do not get takeaways. Northwestern had eight penalties. This game: zero. That is “Indiana football,” do not beat yourself. Northwestern also has a pulse. They could have run for 500-plus on Penn State and took the foot off. Nebraska preview: they give it away. Calenari-type bad reads, Maryland running the other way. Alec thinks Indiana catches the ball next week. Not betting on a sudden regression off the takeaway rate. Front has mostly been “line up and get after it.” Not much manufactured havoc because they have not needed it. Jamie’s deja vu: same takeaway nitpick he had for Brian Haynes in season one. Nico Radicic (45:30–48:30) Cignetti: must have been something with the moon and the stars. He looked confused, not mad. First miss, laces in. Second, you can argue holder or angle. Career misses before this were rare, in the 30–39 and 40–49 ranges. Second-most accurate kicker in NCAA history territory, so he gets the pass. He then blasted one from about 45 and was hitting from 49. Not an injury. Not a hip problem. Monitor it, do not spiral. Red zone and how the game felt (48:30–58:00) A stop, then a touchdown, and the anxiety dropped. Second-half defense had a hiccup. Offense looked meh once it was over. Red zone is still the lingering issue. They want to pound it in, then throw off that tape. Scoring down there is better than it was, not solved. Late detour into the picks before they closed the Indiana segment. Alec wanted the Texas Tech–Colorado hang. Brad’s escapes were Kentucky and Tennessee. Young guys who played (58:20–1:02:20) Backs and quarterback: nobody new. Davion Chandler is separating as WR3 over Chaz and Tyler Morris. Playmaker. Edge, not a settled job. Ajani: no real concerns. Keyshawn Calhoun and Blake Smythe each flashed a good play. Aaron Baldwin Jr. looked good again. Savage in the four-linebacker set with Utzinger. Jalen Hollywood-Bell got beat for a touchdown. It happens at corner. Byron Baldwin at rover: hearing nothing is the compliment, same as Boykin last year. The spot disappears when it is played right, aside from the explosive tackles they highlight. Last year you could argue Ponds, Fisher, Boykin as the defensive spine. Expectation vs. reality (1:02:20–1:05:50) Nervousness is fair, not overblown. Only one team wins the title. If the odds are around 20 percent, being uneasy is rational. Jamie’s fan mode: enjoy the details, do not get high off a five-touchdown win or low off a regular-season loss. Alabama would not look like last year’s Rose Bowl. Different teams. That day they executed and did not “classic IU” it. Standard should be make the playoff, not championship-or-bust. Close of the Indiana portion: five straight, 21 straight overall, 32–2 in the Cignetti era. Dominated in Brad’s home state. Slate, picks, and the Goon Poll (1:05:50–1:26:00) Alec: 16–9 for the third straight week, 48–27. Brad’s week was not as clean. “If Brad and I disagree, take Brad.” Alec’s Group of Six: North Texas (Texas State loss hurts), UTSA, Oregon State handling Colorado State, North Dakota State 6–1 and poised to run it. Three teams have not trailed: Georgia, Indiana, North Dakota State. He could not believe the room missed Texas Tech and was on Stanford. Wake Forest stays legit. UCF’s defense stalled Houston and held undefeated Pitt to 12. Jamie moved Alabama to No. 2 and Indiana to No. 3. Wisconsin looked frisky, then got swapped for undefeated Texas Tech. Mississippi State taught a levels lesson. Do not overreact. Ohio State looked dominant. Jeremiah Smith is the problem. Did not change how Indiana matches up, but raised Ohio State’s ceiling. They handled their week better than Indiana did coming off Illinois. Schedule echo: Illinois, then Iowa, plus the Texas non-conference. Purdue’s first win. Felt good about Purdue and Nebraska. Alabama: Keelon Russell the best quarterback in the country right now, Heisman favorite aside from Smith. Defense bends and does not break. They can be scored on and still put up 45. Alabama–Georgia (around Oct. 10) is the game. Jamie has it as 1 vs. 2. SEC vs. Big Ten: Jamie has five Big Ten teams in his top 10 and only three SEC, but eight SEC teams in the top 15. Analytics may be inflating the SEC. Big Ten is closer than the September narrative. After the top eight, it is a crapshoot. Northwestern’s resume (blew out Penn State, lost to Indiana) is in the same neighborhood as some SEC one-loss teams. UCLA is ahead of 2024 Indiana on personnel, metrics love them, Oregon is the tell. Oklahoma State stays. Pitt stays even with Mason Heintschel hurt. Virginia Tech stays on the monitor after losing the turnover battle by four and still having a chance. Next week’s three games, different windows: Indiana–Nebraska, UCLA–Oregon, Alabama–Georgia. He would skip Texas–Oklahoma if you only watch three. Close (1:26:00–1:28:50) Back Tuesday night, guest TBD. Follow Alec Keezer, Bradley Loomis, Jamie Jordan, IndianaVOCFB, and the Rutgers channel that just took the lumps. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.