A funny thing happened on the way out of Memorial Stadium in Bloomington last week. There was talk. There was unrecognizable talk. Words thrown around from folks that sounded like they have been regular callers on The Paul Finebaum Show. Welcome to the Big Time, for better or worse.
“That defense is going to have to shore up a bit. Won’t be that easy against Northwestern.”
“IU can’t be running the ball like that against someone with a defense.” Here we go.
And there were a few other comments. You get the idea. The ones who were blowing off with comments like these don’t get the real idea of winning a football game. They want the team to win like they were the ones drawing up the plays. Like this guy behind me at Tennessee ten years ago.
This is the new “Natural Order of Things” for Indiana Football fandom. And it is a strange thing to behold. My old natural order of things talk usually came up when the Hoosiers had two defensive backs run into each other and the opposing receiver catches a bomb 50 yards downfield and does the Ohio State Waltz into the end zone. I have many more examples. The 1989 Purdue game is the worst. Or Blake Ezor running 76 yards down the East sideline with no less than 8 Hoosiers with at least one hand on him is another. I need to stop there. That pain is still real.
Indiana doesn’t need fans that sound like they listen and call into The Paul Finebaum Show. These gridiron Hoosiers just got here. They have barely been around elite talk since lunch. Fans, give yourself a while longer to just sit there and enjoy it all. You can become like cranky old Alabama or LSU fans later.
Don’t start complaining about a 52-16 season opening victory, Hoosier fans. Those were the most points scored by an IU team in the opener against an FBS team since the 1969 Hoosiers beat Kentucky 58-30. 52-16 is REALLY GOOD. If you are complaining about the defense, you’ll either regret it one day or you’ll never learn. The Indiana offense did not give the Indiana defense much rest on what was probably the hottest day Memorial Stadium has ever felt. North Texas had the ball for over 37 minutes. Even with all this time, the Mean Green only scored one touchdown. That is a pretty good Indiana defense.
Welcome to the Big Time, Indiana fans. Try to act like you have imagined you have been there before.
So this week Indiana gets the mighty Howard. That’s all I have to say about that.
Last week we had 12 winners and 2 losers. I honestly thought Louisville would get Ole Miss. They almost did. I also picked Tulane.
This week’s picks:
Louisville beats Villanova… The Cards played well against Ole Miss. Lincoln Kienholz really showed great play at QB in the second half. The Cards will handle the Fighting Howie Longs.
Indiana beats Howard… Howard?
Oklahoma beats Michigan… It is great to see Michigan and Ohio State out on a limb with their non-conference schedule. That, and a game like this will only help your street cred and your players finding out where they really are. Oklahoma wins this one. Folks in Kalamazoo will be delighted.
Oregon beats Oklahoma State… If a team did show a reason for concern last week it might have been Oregon. They barely pulled away from Boise at home. I said in the preview. Losing both coordinators will put a toll on a team, regardless of how much talent is out there.
Penn State beats Temple… Classic PA matchup. Hope the Owls hang with the Nittany Lions for a while.
Washington State beats Kansas State… KState is a huge favorite. This is my upset of the day.
Alabama beats Kentucky… Kentucky played well against Youngstown State. They were supposed to. Bama beat East Carolina 48-10. No doubt that was not enough for some Tide faithful.
Illinois beats Duke… The Illini should win this one. That scoreboard they had put in this year should be worth 10 points alone in a game like this. Coach Bielema has Illinois on very solid ground.
Minnesota beats Mississippi State… Hats off to State for heading up to where the Mississippi River starts as a trickle. Hats off to Goldy for inviting them. QB Drake Lindsay looked like he belonged there last week. Additionally, Goldy returned two punts for six each. State won’t be a pushover.
Notre Dame beats Rice… Another tough game for ND. That schedule of theirs is a gauntlet…of something.
UCLA beats San Diego State… UCLA flexed for 461 yards of total offense last week. The Bruins D put Cal in 21 3rd down situations and Cal converted 11. The UCLA defense also forced 3 turnovers. 12 penalties by UCLA will need to be remedied moving forward.
Iowa beats Iowa State… The game is in Iowa City and that is a great place for a football game. These two will be like two mules fighting over a turnip.
Texas beats Ohio State… Arch will put up some numbers and the football world will gush about him again like they did before last season when Texas and Penn State were SUPPOSED to be two powerhouses. This is truly another ‘good-for-you’ in the scheduling department.
USC beats Louisiana Lafayette… A third less than Marquee matchup being played in successive weeks in The Coliseum. It kicks off at 11 ET. The darkness will help to mislead the empty seats.
Above is a picture I took as Coach Curt Cignetti’s 2024 Indiana Hoosiers were making their debut against the Florida International Panthers. The Hoosiers won 31-7. Home game # 1 of the Cignetti era. Attendance: 44,150. Many of those showed up after kickoff for the new coach’s first game and the school that had spent more time perennially losing instead of winning.
Fast-forward. Yesterday a sign was unveiled in the South endzone marking the teams 2025 National Championship. I saw it all last year. I still find time when I have processing issues. It was remarkable, amazing, unlikely, unheard of, and unreal. We’ll never see anything like it again.
Yesterday was a little bit different. Attendance 54,439, beyond published capacity. The Hoosiers defeated the North Texas Mean Green yesterday 52-16. QB Josh Hoover shut down some doubters yesterday. Not only did he hang tough after getting his helmet turned around on his head, but he was also 13-16 for 231 yards and 4 touchdowns…and NO interceptions.
Now kids enjoying their blood on Halloween can either go as Rocky, Gene Simmons, or Josh Hoover. It’ll happen.
Indiana’s offense looked pretty good yesterday. The defense spent more time chasing runners downfield than we saw last year. Who cares? It was 150 degrees on the Memorial Stadium turf yesterday. Folks were falling out all over the stadium. It was hotter on the field. Next game up.
Did you see the end of the Michigan game last night? Unreal. I don’t spend a great deal of time rooting against Michigan. What the Big Ten did to Western Michigan is unforgiveable. The game was clearly over. The last play notwithstanding, Western had so many missed calls that went against them. Holding, facemask, running into the kicker. It was awful. It was blatantly awful.
I joked last night that Bert Jones must have a cousin working as the Michigan clock operator. Of course, this is an allusion to ONE SECOND that was preserved on the clock when Bert was playing QB for LSU in a game in Baton Rouge against Ole Miss in the early 70s. Last night’s ONE SECOND episode may not have been as blatant as Bert’s. Still, it was even worse. There was inexcusable video review in play here in good ole 2026. Michigan won 13-12. What was even more telling that things are worse in Ann Arbor that I ever imagined they could be was when the crowd rushed the field. You win by one point, thanks to the Big Ten refs, over a team you were favored against by nearly 30 points. Then you rush the field. Bo Schembechler would not approve and has obviously been largely forgotten.
Ohio State rolled over Ball State as was expected. The Buckeyes play Texas next week. I think this one is in Austin. Ohio State sits as a slight favorite right now. That’s subject to change. Julian Sayin and Arch Manning. In the parlance of Keith Jackson, “It should be a good one.”
Iowa cruised to a 40-0 victory over Northern Illinois. Looks like Coach Ferentz was a good sport. It was 33-0 at the half.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, Washington is ahead of Washington State in The Apple Cup game. Nice to see these old PAC-12 teams playing each other and keeping this rivalry alive. Husky Stadium is packed in Seattle.
In a similar matchup, Big Ten team UCLA was the visitor at ACC foe California last night. Cal’s stadium was packed and it looked wonderful, as these two old PAC-12 teams were going at it again. Much more fun than watching UCLA play Wisconsin in a conference game. UCLA pulled away. Tied 24 each at the end of the third quarter, UCLA put up 21 uncontested points in the 4th to win it 45-24.
Oregon had a time with Boise State yesterday. 34-27 was the final score in favor of the Ducks. It was tied 27 up. This was a game played at Oregon. I made mention in my college football preview that I believe Oregon losing both their OC and their DC to supposedly greener pastures (greener bank for sure) will have an adverse effect on said Ducks. We’ll see.
My Mississippi mother was aghast this afternoon when I told her I had picked the Louisville Cardinals to beat the Ole Miss Rebels tonight in a game played in Nashville. “Why would you do that?” That was the question I had to answer. I told her I was for the Rebs too. I just feel this a Jeff Brohm W in the making. This neutral site favors Louisville. Why? It’s just down I-65 and Brohm was successful once upon a time along that road in Bowling Green, Kentucky at WKU. That, and I think U of L’s running game will go and go tonight. Yes. I am for the Rebs, Mom. Hotty Toddy!
The Indiana Football fan in me would have been okay with this year’s season kicking off in October. Some of us have not gotten used to the college football landscape in Bloomington, Indiana these days. We’re good with it. We just still spend some of our time rubbing our eyes wondering how it all happened. Well, I guess we know how it happened. Coach Curt Cignetti made it happen. I know Coach Cig often gives credit to Indiana President Pam Whitten and Athletic Director Scott Dolson. Sure, they wanted it to work out and were prepared to do what they thought would be best for Indiana. Pam and Scott had no idea what was ahead of them. This is special.
Week One Picks
Alabama beats East Carolina… I am sure the Pirates will be ready. They won’t have as been big dogs.
Indiana beats North Texas… Time to move on for the Hoosiers. The Indiana defense is loaded.
Ohio State beats Ball State… Do you think David Letterman has any eligibilty?
Cincinnati beats Boston College… This should be a great game. BC has improved.
Oregon beats Boise State… A great deal of love has been bestowed on the Ducks this off season. Oregon lost their OC and DC. That will matter down the road.
Kentucky beats Youngstown State… New coach Will Stein will bring an entertaining offense.
Penn State beats Marshall… New Penn State coach Matt Campbell is a good fit in Happy Valley.
Texas beats Texas State… Texas State? The Armadillo’s? Either way, Arch Manning will do just fine this year leading the Horns.
Iowa beats Northern Illinois…. Look for the Hawkeyes to be back to their 9-win selves.
LSU beats Clemson… There are times when I hope I am wrong. This is one of those times.
Tulane beats Duke… The Green Wave is on the road. They’ll find the folks in Durham very helpful.
Notre Dame beats Swissconsin... The Irish are getting the love this off-season. Their schedule is suspect at best. When they get to the CFP, they’ll finally be tested and maybe bested.
Louisville beats Ole Miss… I suppose this is my upset this week. I’ll be rooting for the Rebs. I just have a Jeff Brohm feeling.
Washington beats Washington State… Oh, the Apple Cup. Glad they are still playing this. The Huskies will be much improved this season. They will give some Big Ten teams fits.
So here we are. It’s on. Enjoy the games. It all goes way too quickly.
This was the fastest offseason in college football history. When you have the ongoing soap operas that are college athletics these days, the days run together in a hurry. Is he in the portal? Is he out of the portal? Will he make an NFL roster? Will he be cut and then go back to college for year 5? Did the conference just say that is a no-no? Are we really giving these players five years to play five years? Did a judge just rule otherwise? Where in the heck does it end? We didn’t start the fire.
In the summer of 2024, I was listening to The Paul Finebaum Show. A caller was complaining about the state of college football and said it was starting to look like pro football. Paul turned his head a quarter turn to the left, smirked a bit, and said, “I hate to be the first one to tell you, but this is pro football.” Then he went to commercial. Things haven’t been the same.
I have said it before I will say it again. When the ref gives the kicker the sign to kick off the game, it’s on. Your eleven against their eleven on each and every down for four quarters. There won’t be any lawyers in the huddle. The dimensions of a football field are still the same, no matter how wild and crazy things are off the field. These things are what make our gamedays that much more special now. When the parking lots turn into tailgate meccas. When the grills are cooking burgers that smell wonderful. When there is a line for the port-a-pots. When music is playing in all directions amid voices talking sense or nonsense. When satellite dishes show up next to tables filled with chips and dips and cookies and pie. We watch GameDay and Big Noon Kickoff as we await a big noon kickoff or a 3:30 kickoff or a 7:00 kickoff. The stadium fills up and life, for a few more hours, looks like an old friend that will take us away from the unorthodox state of play off the field that makes many of us hold our noses and swallow hard and still find something in us to relish every moment of the playing season.
Last year was incredible. Did you see the Indiana Hoosiers going 16-0 and redefining college football as we thought we knew it? No, you didn’t. Could it happen again this year? No, it won’t. Don’t get me wrong. The Hoosiers have as good a shot as anyone at making noise in CFP this year. Still, you can never go back again. There’s only one first kiss. If you were an Indiana Hoosier Football fan, you know what I mean. If you are an Alabama Crimson Tide fan, you are still in denial. If you’re listening to Paul Finebaum every day, you are still in denial. Why do you think the Rose Bowl was filled with 80% Indiana Hoosier fans? There were more fans there than Indiana can put in its stadium at home on Saturday. I saw it. I was there.
The Tide fans at The Rose Bowl couldn’t show out because they didn’t show up. It was Indiana. Aside from Tulane and JMU, Indiana was the last team Tide fans wanted to think about playing in the playoff last year. Had they put Ohio State out there, Tide fans would have showed up. That would have been a “real” opponent. Deny. Deny. Bryant-Deny.
Whatever the malady, the SEC fans need to come to grips. Things have changed. Tide fans should understand this, after going through Mike Shula, Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione, and even Ray Perkins. No one wants to be the man to follow “the man”. That is why I tip my hat to Kalen DeBoer. He took that challenge. And don’t write him off yet. Things have changed, more so than any other era we can point to. In the meantime, Indiana has a coach that seems more Nick Sabinesque than any other coach prowling any of the 16 SEC sidelines. That has to hurt. That too will bring on a degree of denial. Fortunately, for SEC fans, we are living in a time of automatic excuses that can be hurled around. “They don’t play anybody.” “They had to buy their roster.” “Their conference schedule is weak.” Just “call Paul” and tell him about it. I think Paul would agree that right now the SEC leads the nation in “Talking Season” and the Big Ten leads the land in “Walking Season”.
Putting down the SEC is not my nature. This is awkward. There’s no way I write most of what I have written here had I not been in Pasadena to witness the most surreal football moment of my life. Playing Bama is one thing. Whipping them like a JV team is another. SEC Football is excellent to watch and follow. I hope Ole Miss wins every game. My family is rooted deep in Mississippi. I’ve seen the Rebels play in more stadiums that I have seen the Hoosiers play in. Things change. Seeing Arkansas in the shape they are in is sad to watch. There’s only so much room at the top and having conferences with 16 or 18 teams only makes it worse for so many teams that were once in much better shape. Ask the fans in Nebraska. Talk to some Husker fans my age and older and you’ll certainly hear talk about some great Orange Bowl appearances that had nothing to do with The Big Ten. There’s an identity crisis in Lincoln and it’s a shame.
PREVIEW
In years past, I have looked at every team from every major conference. Last year, I did not do this. This year I will highlight the teams I think will make the most noise in each major conference and attempt to tell you why I believe so. When I say CONTENDER, I mean conference and playoff.
The ACC Contenders:
Miami: They aren’t going anywhere. The date circled for all of us is November 7th @ Notre Dame. It’ll be cold. The first date circled for Hurricane faithful is October 3rd @ Clemson followed by Florida State on October 17th. I don’t care who you are moving from the QB spot at Duke to the QB spot at Miami is a HUGE leap. Darian Mensah has a task and half ahead. He’s shown he has the goods.
Louisville: This will be one of “those” Jeff Brohm seasons. What tells me he finally has “that” quarterback this year? Miami and Clemson are not on the schedule until they meet Miami in the ACC Championship game. I said earlier that I hope Ole Miss wins all their games. I do. I’m a Reb fan. Look for the Cards to give the Rebs plenty. Jeff Brohm has a track record of pulling off some big ones. And he has a great run game too. This feels like one of those. That, or Trinidad Chambliss makes the Cards defense look bad.
SMU: You better believe it. College Football is alive and well again in Big D.
Clemson: How can you deny Coach Swinney a mention at the table?
The Big 12 Contenders:
BYU: A loss in the Big 12 Championship game last year had to smart. Then they had to turn around, and watch Texas Tech get shut out 23-0 against Oregon in the Orange Bowl. The Cougars have no less than seven starters returning on a returning defense that didn’t give up more than 29 points in their first 12 games that yielded an 11-1 regular season. QB Bachmeier is back. So is LJ Martin at running back. LJ ran for over 1300 yards last season. Don’t sleep on the Cougars. I am sure they are looking forward to their shot against Notre Dame in Provo on October 17th. That will be an important game for both of those programs.
Houston: Conner Wiegman. Heisman material. 25 TDs in the air last year and 11 TDs on the ground last year. Coming off a Texas Bowl Trophy addition after defeating LSU, these Cougars will be a force to deal with. The schedule is kind. Look for them to take care of Texas Tech in a Friday game on September 18th. Most of a very steady D will be back. So are the Houston Cougars.
The Independent Contender:
Notre Dame: I hear it every single day leading up to the season. This team plays a suspect schedule. Compared to an SEC or Big Ten schedule, perhaps. For all the folks that make note of a suspect schedule, many of them are the same ones who have the Irish playing in the CFP Championship on January 25, 2027. They’ll be good. Will they be that good?
The SEC Contenders:
Georgia: If they run the table in the SEC, it will be because they are that good. If they lose two conference games, we’ll all hear about how great the conference is from top to bottom. There will something to each of those theories. UGA has to visit Bama and Ole Miss. Those will be good ones. They also host Oklahoma. Gunner Stockton behind center won’t hurt their cause.
Texas: Oh yes, Texas. You remember them. The darlings of preseason last year. They didn’t make the CFP. The Horns have several on both sides of the ball returning. Arch Manning. That just sounds good. The play needs to improve, and I look for it to. If they beat Ohio State in Austin on September 12th, we’ll know something. The Red River Rivalry should be a good one. Both Mississippi schools come calling the last two weeks of October. Two weeks later, there is a little trip to Baton Rouge to be settled. That should be a good one. If Texas wins 10, they make the playoff this year.
Ole Miss: The Rebs have to get past Louisville. First game of the season and played in Nashville. The Rebs look to have at least 5 starters on both sides of the ball returning. Will Echoles anchoring the D-line and Suntarine Perkins behind him at linebacker will help a stout defense. Keywan Lacy is returning at running back and the best QB in the conference, Trinidad Chambliss, is back for more. Reb fans will get exactly that. The LSU game on September 19th is well placed. Get that one out of the way.
Oklahoma: Don’t sleep on John Mateer, especially if he has a running game. Bolstering the run game was a priority in Norman in the off season. A trip to the Big House in early September should help. Look for the Sooners to dismantle the Wolverines.
The Big Ten Contenders:
Ohio State: The Buckeyes deserve to be near the top of the heap. Julian Sayin has probably put in more reps this year than he has any time before. Losing the Big Ten Championship Game to Indiana was another dark day for Columbus. Can you stop Sayin and Jeremiah Smith along with a veteran o-line? No. You’re not going to stop them. You only try to slow them down, get the ball on your side when you can and run as much clock as you can. The Buckeyes are one of those. The Buckeyes D will have to reload they lost a great deal to the NFL. They reloaded. October 17th in Bloomington will be the game of the year in The Big Ten.
Penn State: Call me crazy. Bring that Iowa State bunch headed up by the quarterback Rocco Becht and Head Coach Matt Campbell to Happy Valley with some happy folks supporting them and I promise you’ll see good things happen for the Nittany Lions. Indiana AD Scott Dolson and Coach Curt Cignetti showed the mold. Penn State hopes they borrowed a part of it. USC at home, at Michigan, and at Washington are the toughest games on the schedule for this bunch. No Oregon, Ohio State, or Indiana until the post season.
Oregon: I am not going to give the Ducks as much love as so many others around the land have. I still believe coaching means something. If you don’t, you haven’t been paying attention. The Ducks lost two games last year – both to Indiana. One in Eugene and one in a playoff massacre in Atlanta. Both of the Ducks’ coordinators moved on to other things. That’s hard to replace. I don’t care how great you think Dante Moore is. And yes, he has some serious weapons back on the receiving end. Most of their stout defense returns. They will make the CFP.
Indiana: Folks who don’t know usually never know. Last season Indiana averaged 212 yards rushing a game and 239 yards passing a game. Fernando Mendoza threw for 300 yards or more in only one game. The last Heisman winner to say that was Troy Smith at Ohio State twenty years ago. Indiana’s new QB, Josh Hoover, comes from a TCU team that last year averaged 131 yards rushing and 290 yards passing. Those 13 interceptions folks are talking about that Hoover threw at TCU last year? They came in 413 attempts. Most of us would take that percentage. Indiana won’t ask Josh Hoover to pull every game out. The IU defense (too many names to mention- Hardy, Jones, Tucker, Landino, Ferrell et al) is stacked. Look for their D to be stronger this year. That’s good news for a veteran o-line, a room full of great receivers headed up by Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh, and a three-headed running attack from Lee Bebee, Jr., Khobie Martin, and Turbo Richard.
As a college football fan and writer of such, I have never been more ready for a football season to kickoff. This country needs it!
As an Indiana Football fan who spent decades in Memorial Stadium dreaming about what it could feel like to come run out on this field as last year’s National Champ, or better yet a participant in last year’s Rose Bowl (my gold standard), and now I know. I’d be good just hanging on to that for a few more months. Next week Big Noon Kickoff comes to Bloomington. I’ll be ready.
Best of luck to you and your team. That is easier to say and understand now.
Just like that. Poof. Magic happened. Indiana’s Memorial Stadium, a place I once referred to twenty-five years ago as the ‘Safest Place in America’, is now a goldmine. Recently I have heard some talking heads on TV and the interwebbers put this place down. Shame on them. I have said it before. Saying it again. I show up at a stadium to watch the game. I am not there to party. I am not there as a social caller. This place is the “friendly confines” of college football. If you are there to WATCH a game, there is no other stadium I have been to that is better with perhaps the exception of Wake Forest.
Coach Cig and other powers at be in Bloomington are making noise about expanding the place. I ($) get it. One day the entire west stands, the side with the press box, will be top of wall to top of wall with luxury boxes on both sides of the press box. Also, there will be a new press box. A new press box, I can attest, will not be a bad idea. An upper deck on the east side? Maybe. That’ll be decided after the numbers are run on just how lucrative those future luxury boxes will be. Either way, my apologies to Bob Dylan, the times they are a-changin.
More Indiana Memorial Stadium goldmine evidence is the “get in” price on one secondary market, Ticketmaster for the October 17th tilt between Indiana and the visiting Ohio State Buckeyes. Two tickets through TM start at $1110 as I put these words down. Most are MUCH more than that. Though it saddens me, looking at all the resale offerings, there will probably be more Ohio State Buckeye fans in Bloomington this year than any other visitors that comes to town. Times being what they are, I don’t begrudge anyone who would sell this game to finance next year’s seats. Me? I can’t do it. Games like these are the ones a guy like me has dreamed about for fifty years.
This was the opening kickoff of the 2017 Rutgers game. I realize it was Rutgers. Still. This was bad. Bad bad. Not unlike the bad bad of having this year’s game against Howard figured in with season tickets. Indiana should pay the fans to watch a practice game against Howard. Still, the place will be packed and that is a very good thing.
Being there (Memorial Stadium) to watch the Hoosiers will be at a premium this year. All games are completely sold out except the, wait for it, Howard game. I don’t know Howard. Is Howard a college or university or a community college. No offense, Howard. I was shocked to find they were the Howard Bisons. I was hoping for the Howard Cosells. Regardless, when the Hoosiers run out of the tunnel at noon on the first Saturday of the season, there will be thunder heard as some players from last year’s National Championship Team will return with a new edition filled with a great deal of promise. Folks like me are still getting used to all of this. That may never happen.
In the irony department, I received an email from Michigan State University trying to entice me to come to East Lansing on November 14th to watch Sparty take on the Washington Huskies. Tickets to this one can be had for 20 bucks. I just chuckled again.
You won’t be able to park in Bloomington for 20 bucks that day.
Go get’em Fernando.
Last week I watched Fernando Mendoza make his debut with the Las Vegas Raiders. Muscle memory had me reaching for the “O” as in Oakland. A man can dream.
I thought Fernando played well. The speed of the NFL is something you manage, or you don’t as an NFL quarterback. I will be shocked if he is not under center starting for the Raiders in late October. I hope not. I’ll never root against Kirk Cousins. He’s earned that.
Looking back on Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks from the last 30 years, the list of didn’t do so well in the NFL to did well in the NFL is much longer. Danny Wuerffel, Chris Weinke, Matt Leinart, Troy Smith, Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, RG III, Johnny Manziel; they had their struggles. The last ten years of Heisman winners have fared much better. Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow have done well. We’ll have to wait and see about Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, and Bryce Young. They certainly have not dropped the ball yet.
The NCAA Football Coaches Preseason Poll came out this week. The Top Ten went like this (with their rank last year in the same preseason poll):
Ohio State (2)
Oregon (7)
Georgia (4)
Texas (1)
Notre Dame (5)
Indiana (19)
Miami (10)
Texas A&M (21)
Oklahoma (NR)
Ole Miss (15)
What do you think about that?
The only two teams up there that did not make the CFP last year were Notre Dame and Texas.
For me to see Indiana and Ole Miss in a preseason Top 10 for the first time in my life is still hard to process. But I don’t mind the process.
Notice there is a Big Ten team at number 1. This is the first time a Big Ten team has been name #1 in this poll since 2015. That team, too, was Ohio State.
This was the Indiana game against Ohio State in 2015. Indiana got beat by the #1 Buckeyes 34-27.
Notice too that a team that beat Oregon twice and Ohio State once last year is four and five places behind them in this preseason poll. What do think about that? Does Indiana really deserve a #6 ranking?
Am I the only one not disappointed that Alabama and LSU are not in the top ten? Bama lost 4 games last year. They are ranked #11. More bended knee and bowing to a by gone era will get you a #11 ranking. I can hear Bear Bryant now. “Any team that got whipped by a Big Ten school, and Indiana makes it worse, doesn’t deserve to haul water heading into the next season.”
LSU lost 6 games last year. They, with newly hired media darling Lane Kiffin, are ranked #13 in this preseason coaches poll. The only other two schools in this poll with 6 losses last year are Penn State at # 17 and Clemson at # 23. What do you think about that?
You know, the last thing I want to do is give an old coach the “business”. However, I am over Coach Nick Saban, with his office still on campus, showing up on ESPN Gameday with his “we” mentality when it comes to talking about the SEC and the Tide. It was fashionable for Coach Lee Corso to talk nice about the Hoosiers. They were the losingest team in history before Coach Curt Cignetti showed up to rewrite history. I know. I know. ESPN is in cahoots with the SEC where it just means more and all that malarkey. What do you think about that?
I fully understand why the Indiana Hoosiers are #6 in this poll after going 16-0 last season. Things take time. Coaches don’t want to accept what happened in Bloomington last year. It’s against the natural order of things. When the AP preseason poll comes out, expect a little more Hoosier love. I predict the Hoosiers will be either # 3 OR # 4 in that poll. The media will give Indiana a little more credit.
The Indiana Hoosiers just got a defensive bolster, thanks to the judge that said you got five years to play five years. Poor Stephen Daley, the DT who hurt himself celebrating after the Big Ten Championship Game, is back and will be on the field for the Hoosiers. He had 19 tackles for loss last year. Kellan Wyatt, an edge guy on defense, got hurt during the Michigan State game last year. He too is back. Think about what these guys will give after not being able to participate in the playoff run the Hoosiers had last year. They all want more. This Hoosier story is still be written. What do you think about that?
Finally, I don’t understand how the coaches can deny a place in this poll for the Louisville Cardinals.
Coach Jeff Brohm has done nothing but win consistently. WKU, Purdue, Louisville. His record is 94-56. Louisville’s offense is loaded. Just wait and see. How important is that 94-56 record? Well, it’s a winning percentage that qualifies him for the College Football Hall of Fame. Numbers his old coach, Howard Schnellenberger, does not possess. No, I am not saying the Cards will make it to the College Football Playoff. Only 12 can do that. Watch out this season. Remember in 2018 when Brohm’s unranked Purdue team beat #2 Ohio State 49-20? Look, I root for the Ole Miss Rebels. When these two teams meet Labor Day Weekend in Nashville, one can only surmise that money got them to this location, Ole Miss better be ready. This a game that a Jeff Brohm coached team has a great shot at. I look for the scoreboard to suffer power failure when this one is played. And know this, the Cards will reach into the bag of tricks and unleash a few plays that will make one wonder where in the heck that came from? What do you think about that?
Before I got on the elliptical today, I looked for the 1986 Independence Bowl on YouTube. I was there. I found it!
This was the first bowl game I attended. I was 18. My grandparents lived in Shreveport. I had just finished a leg-swinging fall at Louisiana Tech. To see the Ole Miss Rebels come to Shreveport for the Independence Bowl was BONUS city! This child of the Midwest has parents who were both born in Mississippi. My dad was an Army brat. He lived all over. My mother rarely got out of Scott County, Mississippi until it was time for Nurses Training in Jackson. I have long had an affinity for the Ole Miss Rebels, thanks in large to a cousin of mine. I have seen the Rebs play in more stadiums, nine, than any other team I have ever seen. I’ve seen 80 FBS teams play from coast to coast. When I think about that I just stop and say thanks.
But on this night in 1986, the Ole Miss Rebels restored a part of my soul. Just seeing them run out of tunnel did that. So much angst was released. Look, my grandfather, there in Shreveport, was battling cancer. In the summer of 1986, I dropped him off and picked him up after a cobalt treatment that was progressive in its day. This guy I had always seen as a piece of steel, a WWII vet, was doubled over in the car as I drove him home. I have never felt more hopeless before or since.
Back to the game. A game I needed all those years ago.
Kids, you have no clue as to how excited I was to watch this game today almost 40 years later.
To see Rebel Kicker Bill Smith with a kicking shoe tied up just like the one I had was enough to bring a tear to my eye.
I’m surprised more and more at the symmetry of the games in my life that have been important to me. Yes, I saw hundreds of games in Bloomington, Indiana before Coach Cig got there. Some of those were Michigan-Butt ugly. Let’s just say the 15-0 record in Bloomington under Coach Cignetti is certainly appreciated.
The 1986 I-Bowl?
The Rebels won that I-Bowl 20-17. Sophomore QB Mark Young completed 31 of 50 for 343 yards for Ole Miss.
Watching this game meant a great deal to me. My dad played many of his high school games on the field I was looking at that night in 1986. His high school, St. John’s in Shreveport, didn’t have a stadium. They played at “The Fairgrounds”, as it was called back then.
Just another installment in the life of the midwestfootballwriter.com.
Her daughter, Laura, didn’t know how to contact me. So today, through a friend of mine and Carrie’s, I got word that Paula Lincoln died this past Saturday. Our last email correspondence in December spoke of her having congestive heart failure. She said, “It’s not as bad as it sounds.” Of course, she said that. This past March I received my annual birthday card from her. She never failed there. I didn’t send her one every year. She would have been 85 this fall.
Paula Lincoln was a great lady. A gifted math teacher, she was one of those who could look at calculus and not break into a sweat. I always appreciated those people. She taught for decades at North Harrison High School. She enjoyed teaching at North. She could do her job there. She was good at it.
My first official introduction with Mrs. Lincoln was when I was in the 9th grade. Our English teacher, Mrs. Kain, had a sub that day. After a message over the intercom inviting choir members to the gym, Mick Rutherford and I decided to join the choir that day. We got halfway down the hall. Paula looked at us and growled, “Get where you belong!” It sounded a great deal worse than that.
Over time, we got to know her better and appreciated her. She taught us how to play bridge. She worked high level math problems with my pals Mick and Kelly Samons. I just watched. She knew I was a writer. I was not a gifted math student. I had Paula for college algebra at IUS. She was tough on me. And she gave me more math confidence than I ever expected to find. When I signed up to take the National Teacher’s Exam, my math worried me. So much so, I registered for a second test before I got my results from the first one that I took in Terre Haute. I did fine on both of them, thanks to her.
Thankfully, we never lost touch. And for many years, we kept up with each other closer than we had the last fifteen or so. That’s life. We knew that. When we did catch up it was like we picked up where we left off. That’s great friendship.
My favorite birthday card from Paula was this one:
She knew my proclivity for kicking the football. I still have this card close.
When I graduated from college more than thirty years ago, she was there. She gave me a series of books. They too have always been close. She added a note to each one of them.
Paula was Catholic. We enjoyed religious speaks!
I enjoyed it all.
My dear wife, Carrie, took this picture in 2017. It was my 49th birthday. I didn’t expect to see anyone in this picture that day. Carrie got me. Thankfully, she got me. From left to right: Walt Lincoln, Paula Lincoln, me, Kelly Samons, Nancy Samons, and Jerry Brown.
It was an honor to be Paula’s friend. That is the greatest tribute and the greatest thanksgiving. I will miss her immensely.
The Indiana Hoosiers made their biggest splash in football recruiting history this past Friday when a wider receiver from Lawrence North High School not far from downtown Indy said he plans to spend “three or four years” in Bloomington. Monshun Sales made his announcement on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show not long after the clock struck noon. He apparently wants to be a Hoosier.
This is still a big deal, even in today’s weirdo college football landscape. The kid chose the Hoosiers over Alabama, Texas, Ohio State, and LSU. That had to hurt some folks all over again.
Admittedly, the receiver position is one that has made my head turn sideways for some time, thanks to the shenanigans of some of football history’s recent players who have been gifted at the position. Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson, Odell Beckam, and we could go on. We’ve seen some good receivers suck a great deal of promise out of more than one football huddle.
Will this happen to Indiana with this new kid from Lawrence North? Probably not. Look, he’s got to get to Indiana first. He has another season in high school and who knows what is going to change between here and fall camp 2027 on the college campus he finally lands on. Do I think it will be Indiana? Yes, yes, I do. Will it be the end of the world if Sales never makes it to Bloomington? Not at all. Indiana had a stable of great wideouts on the 2025 team that won the CFP Championship. One of them, Charlie Becker, is back on the team for the 2026 season. Two of them, Omar Cooper, Jr. and Elijah Sarratt were NFL draft choices. Translation: Indiana’s Coach Cignetti will put the best team he can assemble on the field. That is his MO. Everybody is wanting to do it. Coach Cig has done it.
You know the line from the movie Miracle when actor Kurt Russell portrayed Coach Herb Brooks who was putting together his roster of players for the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team. “I’m not looking for the best players. I’m looking for the best team.”That made such an impression on me. I’ll say it every time I can. While in college, I wrote a paper about the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team and interviewed Coach Brooks in doing so. It took forty-five years, but we finally have been able to see this dynamic work out in real time for what it is and may never be seen again. What Coach Cignetti did with Indiana was Miracle Part II.
So, when 2027 does actually roll around, Munshon Sales watch will be on again. I hope he makes it to Indiana eventually. If not, there will certainly be a good reason.
The best receiver I have ever seen with my two eyes is a guy named Isaac Curtis. We can thank Coach Don “Air” Coryell for everything we saw out of Isaac Curtis the All-Pro wide receiver. At Santa Ana High School, Curtis played running back and was a track star. He took his athletic prowess in both sports to Cal-Berkley still in track and was still running and returning on the gridiron. Curtis transferred to San Diego State in 1972; that is where the then head coach of the Aztecs, Coach Don Coryell, told Isaac Curtis to line up wide and “go long (and fast)”. Isaac Curtis was drafted by the Bengals in the first round of the 1973 NFL Draft. Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson found his deep threat in a hurry. Nine TD passes to Curtis in 14 games as a rookie. 10 TD passes to Curtis in 14 games in 1974. Looooong TD passes. 77 yards. 77 yards. 54 yards. 85 yards. Isaac’s first 160 receptions went for 3167 yards his first four years in the league.
As I type these words, I can see across the Ohio River where old Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati stood. I was fortunate enough to see Isaac Curtis catch a few of those balls from Ken Anderson back in the 1970s. I never enjoyed watching football more than I did when I was nine. Kenny to Isaac still plays out in my dreams.
One day in 1976 at Bengals Training Camp at Wilmington College, I saw Isaac Curtis reach down and catch a ball with one right hand that no man in any era, place, or time had any business holding onto at all. I have seen more football than I deserve. This shoestring one-handed catch of a ball that was what we used to call a “bullet” hanging only a scant few inches above the ground was amazing. Isaac Curtis. The best receiver I have ever seen play the game of football.
Look, I don’t care who gets the credit as long as we do the right thing.
Looking at the calendar, the thing says we are in the 21st Century. We’re getting close to Buck Rogers here. It is time we acted like it and rebranded the special teams moniker with something it deserves: URGENT TEAMS. The game deserves it. Guys playing will make more sense of it when they are in the huddle and the BIG play on a punt or a kick needs to be made NOW…right now because it is an urgent situation.
I am the punter in 1985. We were playing Corydon Central that night.
Below: Thirty years later on the same field.
When there is a head full of angst, a bag of balls and an empty field can be a cathartic experience. I wish my leg still had the same pop in it.
Back to our point. I’ll just say it. It is 2026 and it is about time we changed the moniker “special teams” as it applies to that phase of the game that involves kicking, punting, returning, blocking kicks and punts, et al.
I say it every year. Birthdays are special. Graduation is special. Weddings are special.
There is NOTHING SPECIAL about being a punter in a fourth and twelve situation when your team has the ball on their own half yard line and you are checking your feet one last time before the snap to make sure you are standing inside the endline and not about to cost your team a safety. If you have been there, you just relived part of it and a nervous tension just fell upon you, if for only a few fleeting moments. It’s a real thing.
Your team just held the other team to a punting situation and you are down 6 points with 3:13 to go in the game. A punt block will help you out. If your returner gets loose, it could save the ballgame for you. All the while, before this play happens, there is no coach on the sideline hopping up and down spreading their arms out like a they are wearing a tutu saying, “Oh, this is sooooo SPECIAL!” Hell no. Coach has a wide base. Hands on his knees. Watching each and every part of this play literally play out. Coach is feeling anything but special.
None of these things are special. These things are URGENT. Show of hands. Remember what it feels like when your team is lining up for a game-winning field goal with three seconds to go. Hit it you win. Miss it you lose. That’s not special. That moment brings with it an urgency like no other scene you will experience on a football field. It can be a beautiful thing. It can haunt you for the rest of your life. That, my friends, is URGENT.
I wrote about a these things last fall and I am going to revisit one small part of this story now:
When the 1992 high school football season came around, I was on the sidelines again. This time I was a Corydon Central Panther. I distinctly remember playing the North Harrison Cougars that year. It was 0-0 at halftime on a beautiful autumn night. I was the Urgent teams coach and had a ball showing youngsters how to swing their legs to the fullest. When the second half got under way, Billy Powell intercepted a pass from his linebacker spot and returned it for a TD. Our sideline erupted. During that week of practice, though it was not about me, players came up to me to stick a finger in my chest and tell me they were going to win this one for me. I told them to just go win it. Of course, I appreciated the gesture. When Billy hit the end zone, our sideline went berserk. Guys were on the field rolling around like Curly of the Three Stooges. I was celebrating. Our whole team was on the field soaking up the moment. When revelry went on longer than the ref thought it should, he threw a flag. 15 more yards! Hooooo-ray! That means a 35 yard extra point and that will be an even nicer exclamation point. I was good with it. I was great with it. Reminded me of the night in 1985 when I was kicking PATs with a square-toed shoe that I had to change into while I was playing center. One night this endeavor was taking a while. The ref came over to me. “Hustle up 56, you’re short on time.” I looked over at him and said, “Just go ahead and throw it.” He did and moved us five yards back. I suppose he could have moved us 15 yards back had he wanted. Was the kick good? Yes. It hit the track. I looked at the ref and gave him a thumbs up. He just shook his head and chuckled.
Now, that back and forth between me and the ref was special and yes, the only plea for urgency on that play seemed to be at the behest of the ref himself. The 17-year-old version of me had yet to learn that we need to rebrand “special teams” into “URGENT TEAMS”. The 24 year-old version of me as coach brought such a confidence in our high school leg swingers and holders and snappers and blockers because they understood the urgency. That’s why we called it Urgent Teams and worked it as hard as they did. That is today’s lesson. Urgent teams from now on. Pick it up and run with and call it your own. It won’t be the first time. We can debate the origin of The Run and Shoot for days, but that’s another story.
And to the Kirk Herbstreit’s and the Tim Brando’s and the Brad Nessler’s of the world, please don’t use the term “chip shot” when you are calling a game and there is a short field goal coming. There is a snap. There is a hold. There is an urgency to keep 11 guys with a different colored shirt on their side of the field. Then there is a kick. Nothing routine about any of this. A great deal has to go as planned. It is an URGENT TEAMS play.
