Mike West

This might not be popular, but I'm going to say it... I expected Mario to blow it. He didn't. He actually stepped up to the plate after falling behind, and got down to business. I was very impressed with his team's poise, grit, and character. I had a discussion with a U fan on YouTube. I mentioned that Beck aimed his throw( on the INT). That fan mentioned Beck misread the coverage ( as mentioned in the broadcast), to which I agreed, because had he correctly read the coverage, Beck would have thrown the ball deeper ( to the two yard line or so) where the safety would not have been able to close and defend the pass. When Beck threw the ball, I instantly thought it was going to be a TD. I was shocked when it "fell short". Folks, that is how close the game really was. Little things like that, and no blame to any particular player, can determine a Natty. Kalen DeBoer was correct: there is a fine line between excellence and error. It didn't look like that for Bama, or OBD because there were too many "errors" like that, which made Indiana look invincible. That's why it is so difficult to win a title( especially now...NIL and the Portal have dramatically changed the game). Every play matters. You can't play a perfect game, but Indiana played like Saban's Bama teams. They didn't beat themselves. They simply executed. Miami was that close, despite never holding a lead in the game. Effort every play, learn from your and everyone elses mistakes ( thousands of hours of film study folks). OBD aren't far from the path. More poise, more effort...just more

Well, Well just have to see how it goes...

I totally agree about the pass protection. They did the same thing twice, and we didn't adjust. We got a glimpse against TTU, and we didn't adjust. I saw a play when we max protected, but didn't chip the end,..sacked. I saw the same stunts and pushing linemen off balance on purpose...sack fumble. We have the brain power to adjust, even if not completely. But Indiana faced the same issue in 24' and did adjust (in fact they took a part of that playbook and used it themselves). I saw Lupoi adjust, but players were slow to respond by inches (same on offense). We succeed by adjusting to our failures against teams as good as we are. OBD aren't competing against lessor talent anymore. The season is about preparing for every playoff caliber team during the regular season. That is my philosophy. The analysts are there to thoroughly scout every elite team and playoff caliber team, as well as NFL strategies (if you can't stop it in the NFL...). Practice should have at least 20 minutes dedicated to preparing for those teams. Every practice. We may face close regular season games, but muscle memory is developed over months. Killer mentality is as well (to take care of lessor talented teams). I'm not sure many coaches feel that way. Why would they when they consider themselves elite already. I feel that way because those are the teams that defeat you. They are the only teams Lanning has lost to. Thus... I love this forum. If I were Lanning, I'd have daily sessions talking about these very topics with my core strategists. I know I'm getting feedback to think about every time I come to this forum. Imagine what Dan can cull from such discussions. Go Ducks.

The transfer portal has been an instrument for players to get more playing time. That seems to be their primary motivation. Schools are using it to fill key holes they've lost and much needed depth. This makes my feel stronger about moving to a 24 team playoff. It appears even the elite teams will have difficulty maintaining excellence behind their starters. The Portal is like unrestricted free agency in the NFL. I believe lower graded four stars would be wise to go to the lower tier OR programs and mid to upper tier G6 programs instead of signing with the programs with a stockpile of talent. That group will not only stand out, but with the right production, they'll rival the high 4 star and 5 star players for NIL money. If I were a QB, if definitely go to Purdue, Rutgers Mississippi State or similar programs because they can dominate anyway, get valuable experience, and land a lucrative NIL deal and start for a title contender without having to earn the starting role. Schools are just as shady as the players. They're cutting loose the guys that won't play, and telling some players they don't fit their respective systems. I think coaches need a full bowl scouting department so they can find the high school played that can start immediately. And find lower graded players they can develop into starters on the cheap. There are too many hits and misses in recruiting classes these days. Sinx and day 0

If it is going to make enough money to subsidize a G6 playoff, I say go to 24. We all know that 13-24 have no chance unless that team is like Miami was this year. I believe the 24 team format will preserve the sport. Big 12 and ACC teams can participate, and there really wouldn't be motivaton for the B1Gand SEC to further ruin the sport. The Playoffs should start the FIRST week of December, and THE ROSE BOWL SHOULD HOST EVERY TITLE GAME. It has the best stadium, the best tradition and it is outside in the best weather. The fans that won't like it are the fans that know those superfluous teams never had a shot, but at least they can say they reached the post season. End the Bowl games. There are too many anyway. An NIT style alternative playoff can replace the bowls. Tradition is dead. Long live tradition. College Football is a version of the NFL with high school aged to college aged players. Should have happened when we old geezers were kids. More Indianas of the world would be around, and the Blue Blood fans and their programs can now be forgotten. They paid for the players all along. We're already seeing the impact of their inability to hog all the talent.

It can be difficult to coach QBs and run the offense. It is also difficult for a QB coach to stay within the philosophy of the OC. Moore needs specific improvement in his skills. 1) Reading defenses pre snap and deciding which side of the field the defense is "giving" him. 2) Reading the defense post snap and attacking accordingly 3) Setting his feet sooner 4) Much better pocket presence a) recognizing where the pressure is coming from immediately and responding accordingly b) waiting as long as he can-even if that means getting blasted-so he can read the defense fully. 5) Throwing receivers open-like he did in Iowa City and the first TD of the semi final game. He must do this 90% of the time. a) this requires plenty of work with the receivers as sometimes he will not know the exact angle they will cut, other times it will be in a very tight window (like both the passes mentioned above). 6) More ability to check into plays that the defense is giving him. He must be able to accurately audible into positive plays, and sometimes explosive plays. 7) coaching his players up. Sometimes the OL needs to be told to immediately attack a gap instead of trying to read his assigned defender. Sometimes the receivers need to recognize gaps in coverage they can sit in so they are open quickly or simply open at all. 8) Obliterating blitz packages and simulated pressure. There is a solution to every challenge. Even on third and long. Max protect if necessary. Just smack the hell out of blitzes. Make em scared to pressure you. 9) Fire in his eyes. Even when you are angry at yourself, show some fight. Continue to lead, but let your offense know you want to kick a$$. Moore showed some grit coming off that opening pick six. I want to see that an entire game because mistakes will happen. Dante Moore is one of the most naturally gifted QBs ever. It's some of the intangibles he must work on. ONE ALWAYS MUST IMPROVE THEIR SKILLS. There is no such thing as staying the same. You are improving, or digressing. Humpty Dumpty cannot sit on the wall. Get that butt on one side or the other. Obviously, that means getting better in one or more aspect every day. Mehringer has to lift Moore to stratospheric heights. Moore needs to strike so deadly, teams fear him massively.

Awesome article Darren. I guess we will have to wait before we start knashing our teeth over the coordinators. Everything happens in its own time. I believe Lanning has learned lots. How you develop coordinators matters as much as giving them the reigns. I saw marked improvement from Lupoi and Stein this year. But it wasn't enough. Of course, the players have to step into their roles and execute. But it starts with the coaches.

Once again, lots of very good comments. I hope DM is already in the film room. I hope he is already working with the 25 guys that need work on offense and defense honing their skills. The pursuit of a title started "yesterday". I also hope everyone on the team gets an individual analysis from a pro scout on their skills sets. An objective analysis will work wonders in that aspect. That goes for the coaching staff also. It's muscle memory time. Thousands of hours watching film, drilling specifics, and becoming the best because you work at it. I always think of the Matrix, when Neo says " I can do jujutsu". The clock is ticking ..

That is gold. We're all posting opinions. Some of us wish we were in the room with the coaching staff. We have to trust them. That's hard when we want a title so badly. The discussions are cool. We get to hash out a passion we all enjoy. As long as we're on the path, it's more difficult to complain. Sometimes you gotta get lucky. But not if Clint Eastwood is saying " so do you feel lucky, punk"!!!

Very good post One thing I will say, I expected the defense to be much worse this year. Much much worse. So they totally over performed. That doesn't mean they didn't play their best on Friday. But they were supposed to get smoked. I know Ohio State was ready to embarrass that unit again. They didn't get the chance, and Indiana didn't get to completely show his much they could have scored had the offense simply played normally. The defense got beat like they should have been according to the level of talent the unit has. I expected the offense to light up the scoreboard. All it takes is execution on that side of the ball. They're not consistent.. yet. It's been my take that the offense needs to score 41, 42, 43, 44 or 45 on elite defenses. As in plenty of future NFL starters (not draftees, starters). I expected that all year because I had calculated the defense would be a major weakness. The offense isn't there yet. Way too many mistakes all season. Way too many. But this year's defense beat expectations by five galaxies as far as I'm concerned. Maybe even ten. Twice they held the most explosive offense in college football this year to 28 points (given our offense and special teams gave the Hoosiers opportunities Sheldon High could convert). I recall a similarly explosive offense netting 36 and 34 points against a more experienced defense just two years ago. I just didn't expect this year's defense to come close to being better. They were. That is beating expectations in my book. I also didn't expect the offense to have the potential to blow up any defense. That just didn't make sense to me. Not enough experience on that side of the ball. I expected an offense that could control games, but not run away from teams. Against elite defenses, the offense pretty much performed consistently. That was the case last year as well except when Lanning went for the jugular. Clearly that isn't good enough. The defense needs to shut down elite offenses like we've been shut down (less than 20 ppg), and the offense needs to average well over 40 ppg against NFL caliber defenses. That must be the standard. Physicality isn't the standard. It is a feature. Lanning has emphasized being a physical team. Scoring boat loads of points Always, and obliterating elite offenses is the standard. Physicality means nothing if you don't do those things in my mind. I believe Lanning gets the team there. I say that because I have seen enough to recognize Lanning and his staff gave Dante Moore more than enough opportunities to throw TDs in the October game, and Stein showed enough variety in Friday+too late in my opinion, but Stein is damn good enough for me)... If Lanning "goes to the doctor", I hope that doctor says you need to average 28 in the first half. You need to mop up the game with another 14 in the second half. That's just me though. Lanning isn't a dummy. I am sure he has figured out your best defense is your offense and vice versa. I'm hoping I see 16 or 17 slashed throats next year. And 16 or 17 broken bones from an oppressive defense.

Don't. Just don't. Review the season. OBD were who we thought they were. Before the season, during the season, and now .. Young, inexperienced, mistake prone, wild swings in performance. Dan Lanning elevated a team that had NO BUSINESS earning a semi final berth. This very forum continuously questioned this team's capacity. It started the first week of October. Why are we surprised? Denny Green has been saying all year "we let em off the hook!". All year. The team was coached up. An explosive offense earned 28 points against a defense that should give up 35 . No LB speed, still vulnerable at safety. Never set the edge strategy, prone to allowing key 3rd down conversions. Horrible in the red zone. A QB with all the potential, but nowhere near enough experience. Some say he's soft. An OL that can win a battle in a box, but has trouble moving laterally. Injuries at key skill positions all year. What can you expect when an incomplete team faces an execution juggernaut? Some of this is coaching, but golly, the team had flaws any elite program will attack. Dan Lanning is ahead of the curve by a galaxy When all is said and done, players must execute. I hope nobody in Duck Nation is claiming OBD came even close to executing well on Friday. The Program is in the best hands it has ever had. There is no such thing as perfection. It's the pursuit that matters. It's the journey folks. Life is about the journey.

I just want to see the offense throw the damn ball deep 8 times a game. We're all throwing conjecture on a wall. So my take is: do what we did October 2024. It worked. Why not go back to it? It also worked against Auburn. Do you see a pattern here?

I think Purchase is a "me" kind of guy. I could see instances when Matayo, TT and Purchase were on the field at the same time all game. That trio is better suited to assist the DTs in shutting down running games. All three are decent in pass coverage. But that's just me. I will never question what Lanning wants to do (anymore). I will simply state my preference. The defense is horribly weak at inside linebacker. Not enough lateral speed, not enough coverage speed, not enough closing speed. For me, that requires sealing the edge like granite, forcing all run plays inside, and using the speed we have in the secondary to effectively defend against lethal passing teams. Take not that Indiana only won a down field 1 on 1 matchup once in Both Games. They had to use back shoulder throws to complete passes. I don't think you can execute that strategy all game Lanning minimizes the damage his "weak" LBs are in his scheme. I must say this, Lupoi was brilliant this year. He had a 8 on 11 kind of defense. He was always three short of a full package. The coaches would never say it, but doesn't lie. We had holes that excellent coaches sought out and destroyed. Purchase leaving closes a strategy Lanning could use to shore up a huge weakness. I don't worry as much about it because Lanning coached up a flawed defense (in terms of personnel and what he wanted to do with his scheme)

After the way Ole Miss moved the ball on Miami, the Hurricanes better be able to score 40 plus. Indiana has already proven they can handle Mack Truck teams. I don't believe this game will be determined at the line of scrimmage. Not the way people think of physicality. Indiana is beyond that kind of football.

I also believe Raiola would be a mistake. Unless ... We start raining bombs all game on defenses ( which is what I've been calling for for quite some time now). Why did we beat Ohio State? Both times it was because we could pass on them at will. The QB is the most important and most dangerous position in sports when you can't stop his ability to throw any and everything down your throat. Unless we get an NFL caliber ( and I truly mean 28 year old dominant studs caliber) OL that can average TEN YARDS A CARRY, I don't believe we will win a Natty running the ball. Now I happen to believe Lanning is of the Chip Kelly persuasion. He wants to run it down your throat. I believe he is will have to learn like Chip did. I don't agree with either. But I'm not running the show. So I'll back my man and keep my fingers crossed.