Are we better?

[Scooch]

Flip side, our defense had Cuse ahead at halftime 10-6 vs UNC and outscored our offense on the day 7-3. Filardi was 4-18 on the day and Willis ran for 66 yards on 15 carries.

UNC was absolutely terrible last season and it was a colossal embarrassment to lose to them.

 

[baggerbob]

the kid had 7 catches thru 9 games then suddenly in Nov he had 7 5 1 6.

Ended the year with 34 catches.

Coach even mentioned on the post-game they had no offense but the back shoulder throws in the 2nd half.


Much like we used Meeks last year to just keep moving the sticks. JRS was starting out to be that guy this year and goes down the same game with the QB and I don't know if we made that type of throw 2-3 more times all year.

Ishmael did it for use with Babers at times too.. Not sexy but you need someone who can do it.

You can't always beat coverage; you need to be able to just make plays sometimes.

When I sat in 129 row B, loved watching Ishmael come up the sidelines, and catch the over the outside shoulder throw from Eric.

 

[longtimefan]

Indy won the title last night because a kid who barely played suddenly could catch a back shoulder fade and it saved the season for them.

Apparently, you didn't follow Indiana very closely.

Becker was a key player for them the second half of the season. He caught 34 balls and averaged 20 yards per catch. "Suddenly" and only a back shoulder fade hardly does the player justice.

 

[upperdeck]

Apparently, you didn't follow Indiana very closely.

Becker was a key player for them the second half of the season. He caught 34 balls and averaged 20 yards per catch. "Suddenly" and only a back shoulder fade hardly does the player justice.

I watched almost every game they played.

Since Nov he has been the big play guy.

Every catch in this game was back shoulder fade.

As I said he went crazy the last 4 games.

 

[Chip]

UNC was absolutely terrible last season and it was a colossal embarrassment to lose to them.

I'd like to think/hope/wish that the new DC will help prevent the 2nd half breakdowns that happened against UNC and BC. They were close games at halftime against terrible teams.

Assuming we have a QB who's trusted to throw passes over 5 yards, then even better in games like that.

 

[Archbold44]

UNC was absolutely terrible last season and it was a colossal embarrassment to lose to them.

We should have beaten UNC and BC. As bad as Collins was, why did he not get to play a single down against the only two sub. 500 teams after Angeli got hurt? Might have helped his confidence and given us a better evaluation of some of the younger guys.

Meanwhile, for next year, ND, SMU, and Louisville are already in preseason top 25s. That is 1/2 of our home slate. I think 2026 may end up being tougher schedule than 2025. We are going to need to be better than we were in Games 1-4 in 2025 to get to a bowl.

 

[upperdeck]

The Defense stayed in games for several of the losses. they collapsed in a few of those after the half.

Better offense just 10-14 pts makes those games winnable and thats not a huge leap. Then maybe the D is just a little better as well with the new scheme. Suddenly who knows how those games go.

 

[MikeSU02]

The Defense stayed in games for several of the losses. they collapsed in a few of those after the half.

Better offense just 10-14 pts makes those games winnable and thats not a huge leap. Then maybe the D is just a little better as well with the new scheme. Suddenly who knows how those games go.

I know our D had problems, but you can't expect guys on D to go 100% when we were toast from the coin flip in the last 2/3rds of the year. It's just not going to happen.

I agree that with even a competent offense, the D should give a better effort and be better.

 

[ImperialOrange]

UNC was absolutely terrible last season and it was a colossal embarrassment to lose to them.

The one game I made it to this year and the first for both mine and my cousins girlfriends. If we got one, wish that was it. I was hoarse by halftime and then watched the inevitable with a QB that isn't a football player and safeties that couldn't tackle.

 

[longtimefan]

I watched almost every game they played.

Since Nov he has been the big play guy.

Every catch in this game was back shoulder fade.

As I said he went crazy the last 4 games.

This from today's The Athletic:
6. In some ways, sophomore receiver Charlie Becker is a one-man representation of the Indiana story. He played mostly special teams as a freshman last season and had just seven catches through the first nine games of this season. Becker finally got his shot in November — when starter Elijah Sarratt missed two games — and overnight became a human highlight reel. He was the star of the Big Ten Championship Game, caught a touchdown against both Alabama and Oregon, and, in the fourth quarter on Monday, made two of his patented “stop-short-and-catch-the-ball-in-the-air-while-falling-on-your-back” plays, one to convert a fourth down.

Quite a different take from your original post pooh-poohing the guy.

 

[upperdeck]

Indy won the title last night because a kid who barely played suddenly could catch a back shoulder fade and it saved the season for them.

So how many of his catches were back should fades?

I didnt poo poo him. I stated a fact.

1) he barely played
2) he got his shot and took advantage of it.
3) the other 2 playoff games he had 4 of those same catches

he hit a few home run throws earlier in the run but not because he ran by guys or made moves.

they won last night because he was able to make those tough catches. Thats what he does.

 

[sufandu]

This a board fallacy at this point but doesn't really matter. On Cook's long catch vs Tenny, we had 2 WRs much more open. Gill on the sideline would've walked in for a TD and another wr (Villari I think) in the middle of the feild in 10 yards of space from anyone. Steve threaded it to Cook between 4 DBs and Cook made the catch so it gets forgotten. The 1 yard TD to Cook... guess who chips the would be tackler to allow him to turn up feild? Yep Darrell Gill. Out route diving catch on the sideline vs Clemson to extend a drive? Darrell Gill. Corner route TD to seal the game vs Clemson? Darrell Gill.

Cook's legend is based on a 59 yard catch where he got tracked down from behind vs Clemson and a 29 yard catch that he also didn't score vs Tennessee. It's wild but best of luck at his next stop as well as Gill.

I put stats for the 3 of them for all the games Angeli played in another thread. You're welcome to your opinion.

 

[ImperialOrange]

I put stats for the 3 of them for all the games Angeli played in another thread. You're welcome to your opinion.

My opinion is on tape. Not sure where you go beyond that. Feel free to dispute anything I said though.

IMHO Cook's best game was vs SMU where he manned up against former high school in state players in an otherwise lost cause.

Maybe Cook will be all SEC next year though, I've been wrong before. Maybe Dom Timbers will finally hit campus and be our RB1 as well.

 

[Oakland]

agree with most. But vallaría was solid. Did it all. Once Angeli went down. He pretty much could block only. No one was good enough to get him the ball in the right position. Replacement has a lot of OG skills. Let’s se how it works out.

After Angeli went down, I think Villari was our best QB.

 

[SUDadx2]

The biggest improvement in the program was the level of coaching and player development.

From your keyboard to the Lord’s ear.

We won’t know about the coaching or player development until the team takes the field in September. Whatever we see in the spring game/event is often manufactured. Remember, Rickey Collins looked serviceable during the spring event last year.

Regarding development, please tell me a few players who you think have improved under Fran and Company. Did the following players improve;
- Chestnut. NO
- Grant. NO
- Sparrow. NO
- McDonald. NO
- Tank Wilson. NO
- Isaiah Hastings. NO

I could go on but that would be boring. Please tell me who you think has improved or developed during the first two season under Fran.


Go Orange

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[kcsu]

From your keyboard to the Lord’s ear.

We won’t know about the coaching or player development until the team takes the field in September. Whatever we see in the spring game/event is often manufactured. Remember, Rickey Collins looked serviceable during the spring event last year.

Regarding development, please tell me a few players who you think have improved under Fran and Company. Did the following players improve;
- Chestnut. NO
- Grant. NO
- Sparrow. NO
- McDonald. NO
- Tank Wilson. NO
- Isaiah Hastings. NO

I could go on but that would be boring. Please tell me who you think has improved or developed during the first two season under Fran.


Go Orange

We all agree that coaching on the D side was weak. Its why i think we can look forward to a much-improved team next fall. The O has been doing well under Fran and Nixon and many kids improved including Dan V and the entire WR corp.

 

[richmondcuse03]

From your keyboard to the Lord’s ear.

We won’t know about the coaching or player development until the team takes the field in September. Whatever we see in the spring game/event is often manufactured. Remember, Rickey Collins looked serviceable during the spring event last year.

Regarding development, please tell me a few players who you think have improved under Fran and Company. Did the following players improve;
- Chestnut. NO
- Grant. NO
- Sparrow. NO
- McDonald. NO
- Tank Wilson. NO
- Isaiah Hastings. NO

I could go on but that would be boring. Please tell me who you think has improved or developed during the first two season under Fran.


Go Orange

Well Rickey didn't play in the spring game last year...he had an injury. And even before that, they knew they needed a better QB.

 

[richmondcuse03]

From your keyboard to the Lord’s ear.

We won’t know about the coaching or player development until the team takes the field in September. Whatever we see in the spring game/event is often manufactured. Remember, Rickey Collins looked serviceable during the spring event last year.

Regarding development, please tell me a few players who you think have improved under Fran and Company. Did the following players improve;
- Chestnut. NO
- Grant. NO
- Sparrow. NO
- McDonald. NO
- Tank Wilson. NO
- Isaiah Hastings. NO

I could go on but that would be boring. Please tell me who you think has improved or developed during the first two season under Fran.


Go Orange

Few of these guys were hurt. There are definitely ones who improved but they're younger vs. the seniors. I would have liked to have seen Grant fully healthy both years.

I'd argue Perry should have played more than Duce, but that's also because I think there is a limit to Duce's capabilities at Safety. I'll be curious to see how Perry does in a new defense given he was coming along last year and earning more playing time.

 

[djorange1989]

I saw Connolly’s final S&P rankings today. We finished 115th, only Ok State was worse amongst P4 teams. 4-8 Bowling Green and 4-8 Wyoming were ahead of us. Yes, we will be better

 

[cusefan88]

From your keyboard to the Lord’s ear.

We won’t know about the coaching or player development until the team takes the field in September. Whatever we see in the spring game/event is often manufactured. Remember, Rickey Collins looked serviceable during the spring event last year.

Regarding development, please tell me a few players who you think have improved under Fran and Company. Did the following players improve;
- Chestnut. NO
- Grant. NO
- Sparrow. NO
- McDonald. NO
- Tank Wilson. NO
- Isaiah Hastings. NO

I could go on but that would be boring. Please tell me who you think has improved or developed during the first two season under Fran.


Go Orange

I agree. I think Fran has pivoted more with his assistants towards guys that he thinks have strengths in coaching and obviously game planning. Will be interesting to see.

I especially have my eyes on the DL because I felt like they were underwhelming the first two Fran seasons.

 

[sufan59]

From your keyboard to the Lord’s ear.

We won’t know about the coaching or player development until the team takes the field in September. Whatever we see in the spring game/event is often manufactured. Remember, Rickey Collins looked serviceable during the spring event last year.

Regarding development, please tell me a few players who you think have improved under Fran and Company. Did the following players improve;
- Chestnut. NO
- Grant. NO
- Sparrow. NO
- McDonald. NO
- Tank Wilson. NO
- Isaiah Hastings. NO

I could go on but that would be boring. Please tell me who you think has improved or developed during the first two season under Fran.


Go Orange

Plenty of guys got better and developed under Fran in the first two years including Grant, Wilson, and Chesnut from your list and I think those guys were hurt often. You can get better and developed even if it doesn’t produce overall better results or individual stats. The roster was not constructed to withstand the starting QB going down this past season. Look at some of the guys in their rookie seasons in the NFL, especially on defense and we wonder why the defense wasn’t better in 2024, well it was mostly things beyond individual player development, but those guys including the offensive side players got meaningfully better to even be on those rosters. You see Syracuse starters transfer to programs that were in the playoff the last two seasons. I actually think we will be surprised how many seniors who are leaving actually end up in the NFL even from your list, it won’t be as much as 2024, but I would not be shocked if a guy like Villari will have a real shot at the next level.

 

[sufandu]

My opinion is on tape. Not sure where you go beyond that. Feel free to dispute anything I said though.

IMHO Cook's best game was vs SMU where he manned up against former high school in state players in an otherwise lost cause.

Maybe Cook will be all SEC next year though, I've been wrong before. Maybe Dom Timbers will finally hit campus and be our RB1 as well.

You're absolutely right. You talked a lot about the Tennessee game but what about the other 2 FBS games. Gill's 41 yards aganst Clemson were way bigger than Cook's 113. I guess Angeli just couldn't see how open he was to target him more.

Seriously though, Gill did have a good game against UConn, second to Villari. And Cook disappeared that game. I said all of this in the post I referenced earlier.

I don't why you want to pick this fight. I get that some people really liked Gill. I thought he got pushed around by the good DBs he faced and bullied the guys he was physically better than. Yeah, he could have helped us next year. I don't think his production was going to equal his potential. Could I be wrong? Sure. I also get that Cook was a headache so they told him to beat it. It doesn't change the fact that he was our most productive reciever last season.

Had Angeli not been hurt, I think we'd be talking about how Villari was our best guy this year.

 

[longtimefan]

You're absolutely right. You talked a lot about the Tennessee game but what about the other 2 FBS games. Gill's 41 yards aganst Clemson were way bigger than Cook's 113. I guess Angeli just couldn't see how open he was to target him more.

Seriously though, Gill did have a good game against UConn, second to Villari. And Cook disappeared that game. I said all of this in the post I referenced earlier.

I don't why you want to pick this fight. I get that some people really liked Gill. I thought he got pushed around by the good DBs he faced and bullied the guys he was physically better than. Yeah, he could have helped us next year. I don't think his production was going to equal his potential. Could I be wrong? Sure. I also get that Cook was a headache so they told him to beat it. It doesn't change the fact that he was our most productive reciever last season.

Had Angeli not been hurt, I think we'd be talking about how Villari was our best guy this year.

Vs. UConn JRS had 5 catches and 2 TD's, including a dandy in the front corner of the end zone in OT.

 

[SuFTW]

People are too sold on "the offense with Angeli back." Struggled mightily against a bad Uconn team. Were solid against a middling (4-4) SEC squad who fired their DC, and were good against Clemson's worst team in 20 years. Gutted skill positions and relying on 19 year olds all over the 2 deep on O is basically the anti-Curt Cignetti model.

Defense obviously better but who knows how much.

The people that are “too sold” on the offense with Angeli, remember that he wasn’t here for Spring ball and even though he had some degree of significant playing time at ND he still was a relatively inexperienced starter at the beginning of the season. They also remember things clicking for Angeli in the 4th quarter of the UConn game which was only the second game of the season, and that from then on he played well enough to lead the nation in passing. Yes we all know the teams we played, but that’s how most teams start the year.