Chapter 1: What led to Indiana's remarkable 16-0 season?
We're coming, and we ain't backing down. We don't need a bunch of cats in here looking in the mirror. Everybody just do your job! You understand that? Hey, will you shut up? I'm bitterly disappointed with the officiating today. Guys being dudes. And they run through our like through a tin horn, man.
Thank you, Lee. And we really do mean thank you, Lee, the former head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers. Thank you, Lee Corso. Thank you to our Splits on Duo subscribers and our Splits on Duo listeners. Thank you, Alex Kirshner. To you, we come to an end of yet another college football season. This is...
Honestly, I really enjoy this, even though it is right now basically four in the morning Eastern time in South Florida as I record this podcast. I do love that this is how the two of us have come to put an end, a capper, a period on the college football season that we share together.
Yeah, I very much enjoy the late night, last hurry up of the year. Crazy to think that we have done six of these now following games, following national title games. We are very appreciative to all of you who have been with us for yet another season. It's a real joy to do this for you. And Richard, I felt like this national championship game was...
I'm not going to say the best national championship game I've ever seen, but it was in the top handful, right? I mean, we've seen some less than competitive BCS championship games, college football playoff national championship games. This one was pretty good and was in very legitimate doubt, at least in my head, until 45 seconds left.
Yeah.
Interesting. Okay. All right. We'll get to that in a second. Yeah, I think that this goes up. I knew Carson Beck was going to do that, but I didn't know Carson Beck was going to do that. Obviously, this goes up with Georgia-Alabama overtime. Well, frankly, this goes up with Georgia-Alabama, the other one, the Keely-Ringo interception, which made the final score look different than it really was.
This goes up with Clemson-Alabama-Tampa version. Yeah, this was a tremendous... football game in its own way. It's obviously not a game that didn't have any lead changes. Really? It didn't have any lead changes, right?
No, Indiana did lead the whole way.
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Chapter 2: How did Indiana perform in the national championship game against Miami?
I went back and looked a bunch of times. They said it. Weird, but he gets a hand on this kick, this punt. It becomes the Indiana touchdown. That's seven right there. I think you could certainly quibble with at least a better chance at three and maybe seven being passed up by Mario Cristobal at the end of the first half with some bizarre game management that he had outrun for a while.
Let's go there real quick because So, okay, you didn't like that they kicked. I didn't love that they kicked.
I hated it. And I've been pro the way Mario's handled this playoff. I've seen it on the show, including when conservatism has been called for, as it was, for example, in College Station. It was not called for here.
First of all, it's very big of you. I'm proud of you. Thank you. But the other thing is... You should also note, though, that he did bleed the clock in that moment. So Indiana does not get a chance to come back down the other way with much time, at least, to do anything at the end of the half there. They kind of throw a Hail Mary and Peter out, and then we go in the half.
I actually thought, not that it matters now, that Kurt Cignetti himself did not cover himself in glory at the end of the first half. They had 33 seconds. from their own 30-something after that. And they wanted to take an Hail Mary shot, but they called it kind of conservatively. I just thought if you're Miami, that you're going to have not many better chances to score touchdowns.
They had not gotten past their own 48-yard line to that point in the game when they opt for the 50-yard field goal. And Miami's kicker is not great. And he doinks it. And this game was very marginal. Indiana wins by six points. And between the block putt and the joint field goal and, oh man, that crippling Ruben Bain offside. I mean, maybe crippling is strong, but Ruben Bain.
It wasn't even just Bain, honestly. There were two guys who were off. I think 12 was also offside. Turns a third and I think 13 into a third and eight. And then Indiana stuns them by running up the middle. For the first down, that sets up a touchdown. And that was there, by the way.
The whole night, it was there from Black and Hemby. And I think a lot of that is because of how fearsome Miami was up front and how vertical they were coming up front. You have got to give Miami's front four especially credit. They kicked Indiana's ass for most of the night. Indiana did not win the line of scrimmage in this game. No, no, they did not. And I think that... So it's funny.
So I was down on the field before the game, right? If you had just... If you had no idea that Indiana had done what it's done to date this season, or if they had done what they'd done to date, being 15-0 at the time, against straight-up Mickey Mouse. Pretend Indiana was actually a Cinderella and they had played this Boise State schedule last year, right? And they'd been 15-0, whatever.
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Chapter 3: What were the crucial moments that defined the game?
No, I was actually standing right. I was literally standing right there when it happened. It's Scott. I think who was the receiver? I can't remember. It was not Tony. No, it was not Tony. He literally just doesn't look at And I think it is Marion because I think Marion said after the game that it was on him because Marion didn't convert the route and look back.
And I will say this again goes back to some things that Haynes said before the game. Haynes was basically saying it's not just about fooling Beck. It's about fooling the receivers with coverage too. And Indiana ran a ton of drop eight in this game.
When they had to have it, a lot of that is because they were able to get in long down and distance situations on the third downs because it was like two and a half quarters before Miami converted a third down. And a lot of that is because Indiana basically was just able to go and drop eight and fool back in some different ways and fool that offense, I should say, in some different ways.
Indiana was very committed not to getting rope-a-doped by the screen game into the open top game. There was one particular play in the second half where Beck fakes a screen or maybe. Yes, I know. No, I know exactly what you're talking about. And they dropped eight. Didn't work. I think almost almost completed it anyway. I believe DeAngelo Pons, the amazing Indiana corner was down there.
But yeah, it just wasn't there because Indiana decided we are not going to permit you to do that after that was done. Certainly to Ole Miss and a couple of other times in the playoff. Overall, good against the run was Indiana.
Probably better than I thought they were going to be.
Six for Indiana, who is known as a pass rusher. That has been his calling card. He's their best pressure rate guy. To me, it was whipping Francis Malagoa, the future first-round NFL right tackle, in the run-stopping game. I was like, we were too. Yeah, I mean, he was immense in this game even before you got to the punt return, or the punt block.
And that was big because he had looked pretty hurt earlier in the playoff. He was not very effective. And Stephen Daly, their other big pass rusher, or one of their other big pass rushers, didn't play in the playoff because he got hurt celebrating the Big Ten Championship. And Camara just came through for them huge in this game. Championship player making championship plays.
James Madison guy, by the way.
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Chapter 4: How did officiating impact the national championship game?
Was it Cooper or Surratt? And almost did have a game-turning pick. I didn't understand why Miami didn't do that from the start, because you knew that Indiana's big problem would be blocking those guys, Bain and Mesidor in particular, but also Mahmoud and company were really good in the middle of the line. But if you're pressing...
then you're kind of taking away the ability to just quickly throw the ball, which is what all first half.
First of all, I'm glad you brought Moten up. I thought Moten was Miami's best player on defense. But I will say I thought that some of that probably has to do with the prowess of the back shoulder thing. You cannot just sit there and give them tight press coverage all day or give them off coverage all day.
Now, again, the off stuff didn't really work because they sort of kept taking those free access. But because how good they are at the back shoulder, you can't just press all night. You press all night. What happened against Oregon is going to happen. And I think Miami knew that the Indiana in the second half comes out of halftime and they did not do any like credit to Miami, right?
Miami, Miami goes or Indiana goes three and out, three and out, three and out on Miami for an intermittent of three on those plays. Miami sacks him three times. Miami gets the Fletcher run, I believe. And you're starting to, that's the moment where you're starting to say,
oh boy it because if if indiana's not really going to be able to exert themselves and they tried because indiana at that point in time starts coming in with bigger personnel they start coming in with six offensive linemen they are really trying to throw the kitchen sink uh to to try to win the line of scrimmage you said at the top of the show they did not win the line of scrimmage in this game at least offense defense not mostly yeah and and they're really trying their
but that drive that they have where they go 12 for 75 and they March it down there and they score the touchdown. I wrote about this in my, my game story. Like that to me, that to me is the encapsulation of Indiana, what Indiana is and what Miami, I don't want to say isn't, but at least wasn't tonight because Indiana,
indiana gets in that spot it's fourth first of all this is the first fourth down they've gone for it in the cfp you guys couldn't see it because you're in commercial but the the first one the first fourth down indiana's kick team is on the field and it would have been like a 50 ish one yeah and then he called time out and signetti calls time out And then they come and they do the Becker.
It was the Becker back shoulder. So you've got Surratt on one side. You've got Becker on the other side. Mendoza has either one is an option. And Mendoza looks to the left, looks at Surratt. Surratt is covered enough to not throw the back shoulder. The DB is inside of him. And it's not a good throw. He immediately goes to back on the right side.
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Chapter 5: What role did player performance play in Indiana's victory?
I've got nothing really negative to say about this Miami team. I guess I do about the quarterback. Carson Beck had an interesting college career that has basically spanned the lifespan of this show. He's in his seventh year in college or sixth, either way. Sixth. He covers the entire history of SportsZone Duo. Anyway, this is a great point by David Hale of ESPN that he posted after the game.
Carson Beck lost six games as a college quarterback. Jeez. And four of them, of which I could think of three immediately off the top of my head because they were all this year. ended essentially on a Carson Beck pick in crunch time.
I don't know how – I think that he will mostly be remembered by college football fans as more of a show horse than a work horse, which might partially be because Georgia tried to kind of character assassinate him when he left, kind of with this subtle gunner's got the locker room thing that they were doing. It's not that subtle, actually. I was about to say. Not subtle. Not subtle at all.
And, you know, some of it's like the stuff with the Lamborghini and just his whole demeanor. I feel like he's not very well liked by the broader college football fan base, which I guess makes sense to me. We're kind of in the era of the celebrity college quarterback now. But he was really good, except when he was not, which was when it was most important, repeatedly.
Just a complicated college football legacy for this guy.
Complicated, I think, is the best way to put it. He was not good in this game. I think that he stepped up late, kind of, when they kind of had to have it. And he had a couple nice throws. He had the one scramble drill to, I think, Daniels. That was a big gain. That was like their first first down in like God knows how long at that point in time.
He did some nice things, but I thought he was the limiting factor to Miami in this game. especially on offense. Yeah. He just was in my opinion.
Yeah. You don't get to, you don't really get to do this obviously, but if the young man who I think is going to play quarterback for them next year, we're playing quarterback for them tonight. Would it have been a different outcome? Darren? I don't know. Hey, you'll never know, but maybe, I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, we're not doing portal. What we are doing is,
is saying congratulations to some people that we love, that we're very happy for. Who sponsored this show? A pair of them. This is the Splits Into a Sunday Hurry Up presented by Dabwater, even though it's coming out on a Wednesday morning. We have been so appreciative of having Dabwater in the fold with us all season, sponsoring our recap shows. They've been delightful partners.
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Chapter 6: How did coaching decisions affect the outcome of the game?
Home field had a gift suite at the... There are two classes of hotels down here in Miami for... The media, which I'm at the media hotel. And then there's another one, which is on South Beach, not in downtown, not in Biscayne Bay and South Beach called the Lowe's Hotel on South Beach, where the playoff bigwigs and execs are there and some VIPs and home field has a gift suite there.
And they were a guest of ESPN.
etc this weekend they had a tremendous uh event on sunday night during the bear game with crimson cast i was able to appear on that with host emeritus stephen godfrey who was also down here and we had a great time at uh at that event as well and uh got to hang out with home field i just there's nobody who i feel better than better for personally uh in the indiana uh cinematic universe than connor i mean it's it's our relationship with connor
go goes way back he is foundational to this show's development to this show's success they are day ones always have been hopefully always will be their success is our success and our success is their success in a lot of different ways and so we love and appreciate home field and you know what i uh i he is the person who i was thinking of as i was standing on the field watching confetti rain down because he's
built a shirt company on the back of, God, Indiana football. Football. Were you crazy? Specifically football. Yeah. So congratulations to Indiana and congratulations to home field. I don't want to do the 2019 LSU comparison, but I do want to ask you, how do you think you will choose to remember this Indiana team?
I don't know if there's actually a Wikipedia page for this. There probably is. But say that there's a Wikipedia page for greatest team in college football history. They get a subheading on that page. It's pretty good, in my opinion. To be the first 16-0 playoff champion, the first 16-0 period outside of the team in 1894. A thing that I did not think we were. Gonna see.
I did not think it was really going to be possible. I didn't think never, but I, I really think that it's, it's very hard to over index on this point, how hard it is to not fuck up in this iteration of the sport.
I mean, they almost did.
They came six inches away from doing so. And I even say not fuck up. I even just mean not lose period. I mean, Iowa could have had them. Ohio State absolutely could have had them. Miami could have had them tonight. Oregon could have had them the first time. I mean, there's all kinds of could have had thems.
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Chapter 7: What are the future implications of this championship for Indiana football?
That's what he said after the game. He was like, I didn't want to be a 60 year old assistant. I know what that life's like. So I'm going to take a bet on me and I'm going to go to now, obviously there are family connections. I'm going to go to Indiana university of Pennsylvania. A thing that I did not know existed until Kurt's story became mainstream. And I'm going to end up
at Indiana university of Bloomington and win. And like, I, I think that we can hold both truths, which is that this was an ass kicking team and still just like, I think I'm going to be texting Indiana just won the national championship in football, LOL to Connor for months.
Like when you think about it, I would be done with sports. If I were an Indiana football fan. Oh yeah. It ain't getting better.
Godfrey made that point at the Crimson. Godfrey was like, it ain't getting any better than this.
No, it's not.
Even if you come back, it is going to come back.
Has to. Sorry. It just, it's how it goes. Yeah. Yeah.
Like a quarterback with terror and ACL, a ref will give you a bad call. You will lose to Ohio state at some point. Like it's, it's sorry. Yeah. No, but this is such a special thing because it doesn't really fit into... They don't fit into the Cinderella box. Now, at the macro level, they do.
But at the micro level, they are the embodiment of their head coach because there is... I don't want to say there's nothing special about them because that's not really what I mean. But they go about it in this ruthless, execution-oriented, fundamental way. They are vegetables in a society that wants fast food. They just execute. And it would be...
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Chapter 8: How does this championship change the perception of Indiana football?
I hear it that way whenever I say this about BYU, which has a bunch of its players having taken two years off before they got to school. I mean, it also is just a fact. It's just a fact.
I mean, so Indiana gets like, Indiana's first win of the season was in a courtroom three weeks before the season when Lewis Moore got, I think, a restraining order to the NCAA's eligibility rules, the safety, so he could play this year as a 24-year-old. That's great. I mean, he's not a quarterback, so I can support his eligibility crusade. That's fine.
But it's just, you know, we get further away from 2020. I'm sure there will still be 2020 college football players in the sport next year for some reason that I just cannot get behind, but... All of these things were just an alignment of the stars for this Indiana season to look like this. And so much of it was great process and planning. So much of it was luck.
What it wasn't was buying, again, and I don't criticize this. We didn't criticize it with Ohio State last year. It wasn't buying a title either. Our understanding is that they had a roster in the mid $20 million range this year. I expect that it will go well up next year, north of $30 million. But They did not have the most expensive team in the sport either. They still had to stretch a dollar.
And so I give full credit to the process, but also think that the luck and the timing are parts of the story that you should never overlook because it makes it special.
Yeah. And so, by God, Indiana. your national champions in the sport of football. You heard it here first.
No one else is talking about it. No one else is talking about it. This was a very special week. It was obviously our Nokian Tires road trip of the week in the college football universe. If you have ever wondered which type of tires is right for you, Nokian Tires has a tool that will make it very easy for you to figure out that information. You can go to nokiantires.com slash choose.
That's nokiantires with a Y dot com slash choose. Answer a quick question and you can discover the best tire for your own vehicle. Again, that's nokiantires.com slash choose. Would be a great thing to check out, especially this time of year and especially if you are in the tire market. Richard, spinning forward from here.
I expect that we're going to see both of these teams make more college football playoffs. I don't know if they will next year or not. Something that I say on the season preview every year is that some team that you're sure is going to make it isn't. This year, there were two or three of those, Penn State, Clemson, and Texas. Who knows? That could be Notre Dame too.
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