This game may not hold as much interest on Skybox as it does here in Indiana, but I thought I'd open a topic for whatever conversation might ensue. For starters, here's a stat that has me worried: IU's QB Kurtis Rourke completed 70.4% of his passes over the entire season for 2,827 and 27 TDs with only 4 INTs. That last stat, displaying incredible accuracy, concerns me. Any thoughts?
OK some stats to sooth the worry. ND is 3 in pass yds. allowed, 4th in interceptions and first in turnovers gained. I'll take the home team.
Through the 1st half, ND appears to have IU’s number. I saw a stat that may be a mistake (ESPN supplied so a mistake it might be). They said that IU hasn’t won in South Bend since the late 1800’s. I don’t see them ending the streak. I wouldn’t want to be a player in the IU locker room at halftime.
IU DL has played very well with the exception of the 98 yd TD, Riley has played well but not dominant. He's made some good throws and has made some key runs/scrambles. Irish defense for the most part has played very well, IU QB hasn't been able to find any groove. He's made a couple of very crisp passes on slants but that's about it. They have to figure out how to get to him, he's had a lot of time on too many of his passes. Overall good 1st half by the Irish.
1898. They haven’t played often except for the early 1950s. I was there the last time they played in 1991.
Georgia DL and overall defense is likely to prove to be too much for the Irish. I hope we play well though and keep it close. Longhorns with a better OL and QB couldn't beat them in 2 tries.
The game turned out about the way I expected. Irish deserved the win. Indiana still had a great and surprising season.
I don't want to say anything to make fans of either team mad...but I had not really bought into IU (even though they creamed my hapless Boilers). I was going to come here and state that this shows that schedule strength is indeed important...then at the end of the game the announcers made the point that they felt strength of schedule would and should be looked at a bit harder in the future. In my opinion, despite the great year that IU had (and Kudos to them) this was a case of an over-rated team facing a vastly under-rated team.
While I certainly respect everyone's right the their opinions, I'm not a fan of post game analyses that use broad brush judgements without doing homework. I also am not a fan of game commentators who go with the flow and don't do their homework. One element for the CFP committee other than the "eye test" was SOS. Whatever their criteria was for SOS, they assigned IU, 11-1 and tied for 2nd in the B10, a SOS of 42. Arizona State, 11-2, had a SOS of 46; SMU, also 11-2, had a SOS of 49, and Boise State, 12-1, had a SOS of 70. Yes, SOS is important. So is the body of work aka eye test. For those who question IU's presence in the CFP based on SOS, do you also question the presence of ASU, SMU, and BSU? If so, who do you think should have taken their places? I'm sure 9-3 Alabama immediately comes to mind, with losses to Vanderbilt, TN, and Oklahoma. What other teams? Given the aforegoing information, I have one last question: What's the criteria for calling IU "overrated"? I'll wait. P.S. The CFP committee assigned ND a SOS of 19.
They played 2 ranked teams this season and lost to both of them. They didn’t come close to beating either of them. Alabama played 4 ranked teams and lost to one of them. It’s ok, if the only criteria is how many losses do you have, then so be it, but just say so don’t pretend that it is anything else.
By the way there are other teams that can say pretty much the same thing. Ole Miss being one of them and South Carolina being another.
I should just keep.my mouth shut. Was just saying that I didn’t buy into IU. Got no reason to gloat or disrespect their good season, especially looking at what’s gone on with my teams. Was hoping they’d do better against the Irish As far as SOS, Sagarin has IU’s schedule at 74. Also has IU ranked up there at 11 so you have good and bad in the computer ranks, if you buy into computer rankings at all.