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  1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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  3.  <title>Addicted To Quack -  All Posts</title>
  4.  <subtitle>An Oregon Ducks Blog: Often Imitated, Never Duplicated, Always Fashionable</subtitle>
  5.  <icon>https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46661/atqfavicon.png</icon>
  6.  <updated>2025-07-06T17:46:00-07:00</updated>
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  8.  <link type="text/html" href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/" rel="alternate"/>
  9.  <entry>
  10.    <published>2025-07-06T17:46:00-07:00</published>
  11.    <updated>2025-07-06T17:46:00-07:00</updated>
  12.    <title>MBB Big Ten Preview: Michigan State</title>
  13.    <content type="html">  
  14.  
  15.    &lt;figure&gt;
  16.      &lt;img alt="Syndication: Detroit Free Press" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4rOJQRKpX_clt49_JTo0hFZvqbM=/0x0:4904x3269/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74165514/usa_today_26534441.0.jpg" /&gt;
  17.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  18.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  19.  
  20.  &lt;p&gt;Sparty was dominant in 2025. Can they continue to impress in 2026?&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="0nTzbj"&gt;In 2024 Michigan State, always a basketball fixture under future Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo, had a “down year”, per say.&lt;/p&gt;
  21. &lt;p id="JZyK9N"&gt;The Spartans finished 20-15 and 10-10 in conference. &lt;/p&gt;
  22. &lt;p id="vxQVo4"&gt;All that being said, they still made it to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament before bowing out to North Carolina. &lt;/p&gt;
  23. &lt;p id="e1BSzj"&gt;In 2025 they came in like a freight train, going 30-7 overall, 17-3 in conference, and winning the Big Ten regular season title.&lt;/p&gt;
  24. &lt;p id="2g6DdS"&gt;This earned them a 2 seed in the Big Dance, which they rode all the way to the Elite Eight where they lost a close contest to 1 seed Auburn. &lt;/p&gt;
  25. &lt;p id="8uMHfT"&gt;There’s not much reason to believe they couldn’t again be a significant force in the Big Ten and across the nation, as they had only three seniors on their roster last year. &lt;/p&gt;
  26. &lt;p id="AE6XTz"&gt;They’ll lose their leading scorer in guard Jaden Akins, as well as 7-footer Szymon Zapala, but return Jase Richardson, who averaged 12 ppg on 49 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent shooting from beyond the arc. as well as Jaxon Kohler, who provided eight points and eight rebounds again while compiling 29 blocked shots. &lt;/p&gt;
  27. &lt;p id="otjKxR"&gt;Oregon couldn’t ever overcome this squad last season, losing once in East Lansing and again in the Big Ten Tournament, both times giving up what appeared to be solid leads. &lt;/p&gt;
  28. &lt;p id="pDA6Tp"&gt;The Ducks are bringing back their own Big Three in Nate Bittle, KJ Evans, and Jackson Shelstad, and are set to host MSU in Eugene this coming season, which should be an absolute barn-burner. &lt;/p&gt;
  29.  
  30. </content>
  31.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/7/6/24462873/michigan-state-university-spartans-basketball"/>
  32.    <id>https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/7/6/24462873/michigan-state-university-spartans-basketball</id>
  33.    <author>
  34.      <name>ADAM HOLLAND</name>
  35.    </author>
  36.  </entry>
  37.  <entry>
  38.    <published>2025-07-05T16:21:00-07:00</published>
  39.    <updated>2025-07-05T16:21:00-07:00</updated>
  40.    <title>How Did The First-Year B1G MBB Coaches Do In 2024-25?</title>
  41.    <content type="html">  
  42.  
  43.    &lt;figure&gt;
  44.      &lt;img alt="Syndication: The Indianapolis Star" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ym08lGao2SNAi0OcE4c8FPtT4yc=/0x438:4850x3671/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74164352/usa_today_25692000.0.jpg" /&gt;
  45.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  46.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  47.  
  48.  &lt;p&gt;A look at how the newbies did in their first season with new teams&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="BcZdQ3"&gt;There is always some sort of movement on the coaching carousel, and last season was no different for Big Ten men’s basketball. &lt;a href="https://mgoblue.com/sports/mens-basketball"&gt;Michigan&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="https://usctrojans.com/sports/mens-basketball"&gt;USC&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="https://gohuskies.com/sports/mens-basketball"&gt;Washington&lt;/a&gt; all had new coaches last season, so how did they do?&lt;/p&gt;
  49. &lt;h2 id="dWOtkG"&gt;Dustin May - Michigan&lt;/h2&gt;
  50. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  51.        &lt;img alt="Syndication: Detroit Free Press" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jtPHURBjiAcXqwZFpJVodbUjD_I=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26048174/usa_today_25798320.jpg"&gt;
  52.      &lt;cite&gt;Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  53.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  54. &lt;p id="a6z9hT"&gt;Former head coach Juwan Howard was hired to a five-year contract in 2019, and the early part of his coaching career at Michigan went well. The Wolverines reached the Elite Eight in the 2021 NCAA tourney, but then their play slipped after that. In the 23-24 season, Michigan lost a program record 24 games and the Wolverines did not renew Howard’s contract.&lt;/p&gt;
  55. &lt;p id="Vd7Vl1"&gt;Michigan hired Dustin May from Florida Atlantic, where he had come off back-to-back NCAA appearances with the Owls, including reaching the Final Four in the 2023 tournament.&lt;/p&gt;
  56. &lt;p id="0PKnxW"&gt;Dusty May appears to be the fix that Michigan needed. In his inaugural season last year, Michigan finished 27-10 (14-6 Big-10/T-2nd place) and reached the Sweet Sixteen.&lt;/p&gt;
  57. &lt;h2 id="Zivllw"&gt;Eric Musselman - USC&lt;/h2&gt;
  58. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  59.        &lt;img alt="NCAA Basketball: Southern California at Oregon" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2hnCBP7o9D27dvf5Cn9H5mgh29A=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26048175/usa_today_25552214.jpg"&gt;
  60.      &lt;cite&gt;Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  61.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  62. &lt;p id="wWsSEF"&gt;After 11 seasons with the Trojans, former USC coach Andy Enfield sought different pastures and hired on with SMU, who was then a newcomer to the ACC. USC hired Eric Musselman from Arkansas, where Musselman had led the Razorbacks to three NCAA appearances before they fell off in 23-24 and did not make the tournament.&lt;/p&gt;
  63. &lt;p id="CusWYa"&gt;Enfield ended his last season with a 15-18 (8-12, Big-10/8th place). In Musselman’s first season, the Trojans finished 17-18 (7-13 Big-10/12th place). They did not make it to the postseason, &lt;a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_College_Basketball_Crown"&gt;unless you consider the CBC postseason play&lt;/a&gt;. The jury is still out on Musselman, but it is only his first season.&lt;/p&gt;
  64. &lt;h2 id="jmZS2C"&gt;Danny Sprinkle - Washington&lt;/h2&gt;
  65. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  66.        &lt;img alt="NCAA Basketball: Purdue at Washington" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vGTe7Ne9pa_orEBwYLBUkCYCk-c=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26048178/usa_today_25196847.jpg"&gt;
  67.      &lt;cite&gt;Steven Bisig-Imagn Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  68.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  69. &lt;p id="97C4S8"&gt;Former head coach Mike Hopkins’ first two seasons with the Huskies finished well enough, but after Hopkins dragged UW through endless mediocrity for the next five seasons, Washington did not renew his contract. Hopkins’ last three seasons held records of 17-15, 16-16, and 17-15.&lt;/p&gt;
  70. &lt;p id="fdIgpC"&gt;UW hired Danny Sprinkle from Utah State. Sprinkle had taken the Aggies to the NCAA second round in 23-24, and Montana State to the first round in the two seasons before that. Sprinkle - and Washington - are still facing challenges, as they went 13-18 (4-16 Big-10/18th place) last season. They’ll have to find a way to climb out of a B1G cellar.&lt;/p&gt;
  71.  
  72. </content>
  73.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/7/5/24462321/big-ten-how-did-the-first-year-b1g-mbb-coaches-do-in-2024-25"/>
  74.    <id>https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/7/5/24462321/big-ten-how-did-the-first-year-b1g-mbb-coaches-do-in-2024-25</id>
  75.    <author>
  76.      <name>Badwater</name>
  77.    </author>
  78.  </entry>
  79.  <entry>
  80.    <published>2025-07-05T07:01:00-07:00</published>
  81.    <updated>2025-07-05T07:01:00-07:00</updated>
  82.    <title>Big Ten Softball Review - Part 1</title>
  83.    <content type="html">  
  84.  
  85.    &lt;figure&gt;
  86.      &lt;img alt="Syndication: Journal-Courier" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SSeEXImifhBVxVQtDu12yhKx1Lo=/0x0:3687x2458/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74163667/usa_today_26145727.0.jpg" /&gt;
  87.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  88.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  89.  
  90.  &lt;p&gt;We first review the bottom half of 2025 aoftball&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="rMj3HW"&gt;We now look at how Big Ten softball fared in 2025. Because USC does not field a softball team and we already know about Oregon, we’ll first review the bottom eight teams in the B1G: &lt;a href="https://www.onthebanks.com"&gt;Rutgers&lt;/a&gt;, Maryland, Minnesota, &lt;a href="https://www.theonlycolors.com"&gt;Michigan State&lt;/a&gt;, Illinois, Purdue, Penn State, and Indiana.&lt;/p&gt;
  91. &lt;p id="ZJoJjd"&gt;Of these teams, only Indiana saw NCAA tournament play in 2025.&lt;/p&gt;
  92. &lt;h2 id="Jvb5sE"&gt;Rutgers &lt;/h2&gt;
  93. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  94.        &lt;img alt="Syndication: Lansing State Journal" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/a3-pZU0PaROCwnc54xn8CqL3_QM=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26047592/usa_today_25046966.jpg"&gt;
  95.      &lt;cite&gt;Robert Killips | Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  96.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  97. &lt;p id="jlbIOl"&gt;2025 record: 20-23 (3-19 Big-10/T-16th)&lt;/p&gt;
  98. &lt;p id="LlNljR"&gt;&lt;em&gt;2024: 33-22 (14-9 Big-10/3rd)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  99. &lt;p id="vosn5A"&gt;Head coach Kristen Butler has been running the Rutgers program for seven seasons. After posting back-to-back 30-win seasons, Rutgers fell off in 2025. They were swept in all of their series except against Maryland, and miraculously managed a series win against Illinois. &lt;/p&gt;
  100. &lt;p id="Bk8b6d"&gt;There are two reasons for this dropoff. First, the 2024 class was virtually all upperclassmen; out of the roster of 19 players, there were only four Fr. or R-Fr., and no sophomores. 11 players were seniors. Second, pitching disappeared, because their primary pitchers were (of course) seniors. The pitching room had an overall ERA of 3.04 in 2024, and two pitchers carried the load. In 2025, the pitching room had an ERA of 4.32. Freshman Ella Harrison carried the load with 177 innings with an ERA of 2.61, but the rest of the pitchers had an ERA of 5.07 or higher.&lt;/p&gt;
  101. &lt;p id="ddl3ES"&gt;2025 was going to be a rebuilding year anyway. The 2025 roster was nearly a mirror image of 2024 - with a roster of 20, only 5 were upperclassmen, and 11 were true freshmen. 2026 is certain to continue the rebuilding for the Scarlet Knights.&lt;/p&gt;
  102. &lt;h2 id="tp4hGe"&gt; Maryland &lt;/h2&gt;
  103. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  104.        &lt;img alt="Syndication: The Register Guard" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/y6L3fcF2gcKTah8Yk4qXKJHVbos=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26047593/usa_today_22677317.jpg"&gt;
  105.      &lt;cite&gt;Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK&lt;/cite&gt;
  106.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  107. &lt;p id="BAC2mw"&gt;2025 record: 18-31 (3-19 Big-10/T-16th)&lt;/p&gt;
  108. &lt;p id="ipKc6f"&gt;&lt;em&gt;2024: 24-30 (8-15 Big 10/T-10th )&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  109. &lt;p id="lPUPBM"&gt;Lauren Kern was in her third season heading the Terps in 2025. Maryland was 38-19 (11-11, B1G) in 2023, so they have been decidedly on a slide under Kern.&lt;/p&gt;
  110. &lt;p id="I2vWeX"&gt;Looking over hitting and pitching stats, we run into what we might expect. Hitting as a team dropped from .277 to .267, and all other significant stats also dropped. Pitching posted a 4.56 ERA in 2024, and that rose to 5.59 in 2025.&lt;/p&gt;
  111. &lt;p id="8BHixl"&gt;When I looked at former Pac-12 teams entering the league as being a factor, I found that Maryland only had UCLA on their conference slate. Not a factor- this team was just &lt;em&gt;bad&lt;/em&gt; in 2025.&lt;/p&gt;
  112. &lt;h2 id="wBWeps"&gt;Minnesota &lt;/h2&gt;
  113. &lt;div id="EwATgc"&gt;
  114. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  115. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;.&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/breez_y22?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@breez_y22&lt;/a&gt; brings two more home for the Maroon and Gold!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Make it 4-0, &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gophers?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#Gophers&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;a href="https://t.co/i7lUy3le7j"&gt;pic.twitter.com/i7lUy3le7j&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Minnesota Softball (@GopherSoftball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/GopherSoftball/status/1916545321745719346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 27, 2025&lt;/a&gt;
  116. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  117. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  118.  
  119. &lt;/div&gt;
  120. &lt;p id="fYpU3K"&gt;2025 record: 20-30 (5-17 Big-10/15th)&lt;/p&gt;
  121. &lt;p id="Iqu7WP"&gt;&lt;em&gt;2024: 28-25 (13-11 Big-10/5th)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  122. &lt;p id="j0z53q"&gt;Head coach Piper Ritter was in her fifth season leading the Golden Gophers in 2025. Minnesota’s record has a curious trend to it, where they’ll have an up year, followed by a down year, then an up year, and a down year. 2025 followed this pattern. The Gophers had no series wins this year.&lt;/p&gt;
  123. &lt;p id="mdxiS2"&gt;Minnesota lost their best hitter from 2024, sophomore Jessica Oakland (.452), who transferred to Duke. Their next best hittier, Morgan DeBord, was a Gr.-Sr. The Gophers had only three players that hit over .300 in 2025, and all of their numbers dropped significantly.&lt;/p&gt;
  124. &lt;p id="9xWwjw"&gt;The stats show an overall improvement in pitching, but that’s misleading. In 2024, Minnesota’s two most-used pitchers had an ERA of 3.16 (110 innings) and 4.83 (100 innings, respectively. In 2025, Jr. Sydney Schwartz pitched 158 innings with a 2.84 ERA, but the rest of the room pitched 5.08 and above.&lt;/p&gt;
  125. &lt;p id="cdBMzS"&gt;We shall see if recent trends continue for the Gophers and they improve this coming season.&lt;/p&gt;
  126. &lt;h2 id="lVYOs2"&gt;Michigan State&lt;/h2&gt;
  127. &lt;h2 id="BD3y8W"&gt; &lt;/h2&gt;
  128. &lt;div id="zRALg2"&gt;
  129. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  130. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;A wholesome move by &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/OregonSB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@OregonSB&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The Ducks’ seniors gave flowers to the &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/MSU_Softball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@MSU_Softball&lt;/a&gt; seniors before their final game of the season  &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/B1GSoftball?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#B1GSoftball&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/4yCZPNvZ4q"&gt;pic.twitter.com/4yCZPNvZ4q&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Big Ten Softball (@B1Gsoftball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/B1Gsoftball/status/1919129859529277909?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2025&lt;/a&gt;
  131. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  132. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  133.  
  134. &lt;/div&gt;
  135. &lt;p id="5IkHXH"&gt;2025 record: 16-29 (6-16 Big-10/14th)&lt;/p&gt;
  136. &lt;p id="c4gQzW"&gt;&lt;em&gt;2024: 21-30 (7-16 Big-10/13th)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  137. &lt;p id="xDnsbL"&gt;Sharonda McDonald-Kelley was in her third year leading the Spartans in 2025. 2024 and 2025 have only modestly improved on 2023’s 14-32 record.&lt;/p&gt;
  138. &lt;p id="cCynku"&gt;Michigan State doesn’t hit very well. They only had one player that hit over .300 in ‘24, Hannah Hawley at .349. (She drops to .295 in ‘25). In 2025, they had one player hit .375 and another hit .308, and that was it.&lt;/p&gt;
  139. &lt;p id="x4TYVM"&gt;Pitching hurt MSU this last season.In 2024, the room had a 3.96 ERA. In 2025, that was 5.74, with their most-used pitcher throwing a 3.99 ERA - worse than the &lt;em&gt;combined &lt;/em&gt;room in 2024.&lt;/p&gt;
  140. &lt;p id="Ae3UNZ"&gt;MSU’s roster is fairly evenly divided between youngsters and veterans. It looks like the Spartans need to attract some talent if they care about rising in the conference standing.&lt;/p&gt;
  141. &lt;h2 id="CeZvsK"&gt;Illinois&lt;/h2&gt;
  142. &lt;h2 id="IDZhsV"&gt; &lt;/h2&gt;
  143. &lt;div id="BkEWV8"&gt;
  144. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  145. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Illinois downs No. 21 Ohio State  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;They secures their first win against a ranked opponent since 2022  &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/B1GSoftball?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#B1GSoftball&lt;/a&gt; x &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/IlliniSB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@IlliniSB&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/jP4wtfE5zW"&gt;pic.twitter.com/jP4wtfE5zW&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Big Ten Softball (@B1Gsoftball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/B1Gsoftball/status/1918421766961037698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 2, 2025&lt;/a&gt;
  146. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  147. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  148.  
  149. &lt;/div&gt;
  150. &lt;p id="D5h7Ky"&gt;2025 record: 22-28 (6-15 Big 10/13th)&lt;/p&gt;
  151. &lt;p id="dSHyls"&gt;&lt;em&gt;2024: 21-31 (7-15 Big-10/12th)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  152. &lt;p id="TT03XC"&gt;Head coach Tyra Perry entered her 10th season leading the Fighting Illini in 2025. Illinois last saw NCAA postseason action in 2022, but they’ve been 12th or 13th in the conference since then. Their roster jumped from 22 in 2024 (with 5 true freshmen) to 27 in 2025 (with 10 true freshmen).&lt;/p&gt;
  153. &lt;p id="lIHkkd"&gt;Their hitting dropped from a team average of .296 in ‘24 to .271 in ‘25, even as their home run production increased by 69%. Six players hit .305 and above, led by Delaney Mosley (who was not a starter) with .379.&lt;/p&gt;
  154. &lt;p id="WHz2hr"&gt;The pitching room improved in 2025. The #1 and #2 pitchers had a 3.45 and 4.83 ERA in ‘24. The #1 and #2 pitchers (both were transfers in) had a 4.01 and 3.31 ERA in ‘25.&lt;/p&gt;
  155. &lt;p id="bvCFXx"&gt;The Fighting Illini might be underperforming given their talent. I mean, they did lose a series to Rutgers.&lt;/p&gt;
  156. &lt;h2 id="A9PMac"&gt;Purdue &lt;/h2&gt;
  157. &lt;div id="sCcA8t"&gt;
  158. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  159. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Nobody quicker than &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/KhloeBanks4?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@KhloeBanks4&lt;/a&gt;  ‍♀️ &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BoilerUp?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#BoilerUp&lt;/a&gt;   &lt;a href="https://t.co/4S4BHzz731"&gt;pic.twitter.com/4S4BHzz731&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Purdue Softball (@PurdueSoftball) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/PurdueSoftball/status/1921011342560895304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 10, 2025&lt;/a&gt;
  160. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  161. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  162.  
  163. &lt;/div&gt;
  164. &lt;p id="ZLClJU"&gt;2025 record: 30-23 (9-13 Big-10/12th)&lt;/p&gt;
  165. &lt;p id="FvfeWN"&gt;&lt;em&gt;2024: 25-27 (11-12 Big-10/9th)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  166. &lt;p id="YJJWTQ"&gt;Magali Frezzotti was in her second season as head coach of the Boilermakers in 2025. While Purdue’s overall record went down in 2025, their conference record went up. Purdue has a series win over Minnesota and swept Illinois. They also did well in the &lt;a href="https://www.sbnation.com/big-ten-basketball-tournament"&gt;Big Ten tournament&lt;/a&gt;; as a 12-seed, they beat #5 Northwestern and #4 &lt;a href="https://www.landgrantholyland.com"&gt;Ohio State&lt;/a&gt; before falling to #8 Michigan in the semifinals.&lt;/p&gt;
  167. &lt;p id="lkJAZr"&gt;Purdue’s offense took a jump in ‘25, going from a .254 team average to .290. So. OF Moriah Polar shot up from a .297 average to lead the team with .444 hitting. She was also the stolen bases leader, going 30-34. Two other players hit .301 and above, and all three return in 2026.&lt;/p&gt;
  168. &lt;p id="leTRDD"&gt;Pitching stayed about the same, even as they went from three primary pitchers in 2024 to two in 2025. &lt;/p&gt;
  169. &lt;p id="wYNKpQ"&gt;Purdue showed in 2025 that they’re on track to stay in the middle of the pack in 2026. In order to improve, they need power hitting that doesn’t presently exist, and they need improvement in the pitching room.&lt;/p&gt;
  170. &lt;h2 id="7AdaOi"&gt;Penn State &lt;/h2&gt;
  171. &lt;div id="BVBo8u"&gt;
  172. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  173. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;TWO MORE ON THE BOARD! Brookie laces one down the line!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;T5 | 1 OUT | PSU 5, IOWA 1&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAre?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#WeAre&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NextStop?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#NextStop&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/SDDvP2Verr"&gt;pic.twitter.com/SDDvP2Verr&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Penn State Softball (@PennStateSB) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/PennStateSB/status/1920156212240302281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 7, 2025&lt;/a&gt;
  174. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  175. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  176.  
  177. &lt;/div&gt;
  178. &lt;p id="p6rvah"&gt;2025 record: 25-27 (10-12 Big-10/T-10th)&lt;/p&gt;
  179. &lt;p id="9DDYkJ"&gt;&lt;em&gt;2024: 35-20 (12-11 Big 10/T-6th)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  180. &lt;p id="ngGke8"&gt;Head coach Clarisa Crowell was in her fifth season leading the Nittany Lions in 2025. PSU had 30+ wins in the previous three seasons, but their record dropped in 2025.&lt;/p&gt;
  181. &lt;p id="PNKjYA"&gt;PSU’s offense took a tremendous jump in 2025, going from .279 hitting with three players hitting .333 and up, to .329 hitting with seven players hitting .321 and up, led by So. infielder Brooke Klosowicz hitting .422 with 13 HRs.&lt;/p&gt;
  182. &lt;p id="pz9jxP"&gt;Pitching is where Penn St. took a hit. So. Bridget Nemeth was a freshman phenom, pitching 210 innings with a 1.77 ERA, who only faced four batters before being pulled, and was lost due to injury for the rest of the season. PSU was not prepared in any way for that, and their pitching was, shall we say, not very good. They went from a 3.48 ERA to a 5.67 ERA.&lt;/p&gt;
  183. &lt;p id="9h50cm"&gt;If PSU can fix their pitching room, expect a bounce back in 2026.&lt;/p&gt;
  184. &lt;h2 id="MYx8DW"&gt;Indiana &lt;/h2&gt;
  185. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  186.        &lt;img alt="NCAA Softball: Fayetteville Regional-Oklahoma St at Indiana" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HA01GAqXi1NNUs0N6Fa7V31mSWo=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26047604/usa_today_26214083.jpg"&gt;
  187.      &lt;cite&gt;Brett Rojo-Imagn Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  188.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  189. &lt;p id="rBZ1FV"&gt;2025 record: 34-20 (10-12 Big-10/T-10th)&lt;/p&gt;
  190. &lt;p id="2flsH9"&gt;&lt;em&gt;2024: 40-20 (12-11 Big 10/T-6th)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  191. &lt;p id="HXMLgm"&gt;Shonda Stanton was in her 8th season as head coach of the Hoosiers. Coming off consecutive 40+ win seasons in 2023 and 2024, could Indiana keep it up? The answer was: Not quite; however, Indiana did earn a third trip in a row to the NCAA tournament.&lt;/p&gt;
  192. &lt;p id="yl61pm"&gt;The Hoosiers did not play a particularly challenging non-conference schedule, and the only team of note that they faced was Texas Tech. They lost both of their games to the eventual NCAA Championship runners-up. In Big Ten play, Indiana swept Penn State and Maryland, and picked up a series win against Purdue. They were a #10 seed in the Big Ten tournament and won their first-round match against #7 Washington before falling to #2 UCLA. Indiana ended their season with their elimination at the hands of Oklahoma State in the Fayetteville Regional.&lt;/p&gt;
  193. &lt;p id="1LeT4R"&gt;The Hoosiers’ offense in 2025 was very good. In 2024, the team batting average was .311, with nine batters hitting .304 and up. That went up to a .365 average this last season, and all of their batters except one (that would be 13 batters) hit .311 and up. Starters Madalyn Strader hit .413, and Taylor Minnick hit .484 and led the team in HRs and RBIs.&lt;/p&gt;
  194. &lt;p id="PkiCh1"&gt;But then we get to the pitching, and like Penn State, Indiana’s pitching dramatically worsened in 2025. The pitching room had an ERA of 3.09 in ‘24, but that rose to 4.60 in ‘25. The pitching completely collapsed in the first game of the postseason, where they held a 2-1 lead in the second inning against OK St., only to give up 12 runs in the third inning. Then, in the second (elimination) game, Indiana held a 3-2 lead after three innings, but the Cowboys then scored nine unanswered runs to put Indiana’s season to bed.&lt;/p&gt;
  195. &lt;p id="jFB7aV"&gt;The Hoosiers have already lost one of their pitchers to the transfer portal, and will need serious help in the pitching room if they want to overcome their 2025 problems.&lt;/p&gt;
  196.  
  197. </content>
  198.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/7/5/24461905/big-ten-softball-review-part-1"/>
  199.    <id>https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/7/5/24461905/big-ten-softball-review-part-1</id>
  200.    <author>
  201.      <name>Badwater</name>
  202.    </author>
  203.  </entry>
  204.  <entry>
  205.    <published>2025-07-04T12:30:00-07:00</published>
  206.    <updated>2025-07-04T12:30:00-07:00</updated>
  207.    <title>Poll: Happy 4th of July!</title>
  208.    <content type="html">  
  209.  
  210.    &lt;figure&gt;
  211.      &lt;img alt="Washington v Oregon" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/L7DGPh9mbIiv9MvjNkcN9j94wBM=/0x2:8192x5463/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74162895/1441488449.0.jpg" /&gt;
  212.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  213.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  214.  
  215.  &lt;p id="GuAeQi"&gt;Happy 4th of July, everyone! Since it’s a holiday today, I thought I’d keep things simple and on theme: what is your favorite 4th of July food? I’m personally partial to the classic home-barbequed cheeseburger, preferably off one of those old dome charcoal grills. There’s just something so simplistic and, honestly, super nostalgic about that taste. But I’ve also got a pretty special spot in my stomach for some fresh watermelon too. The juicier the better, I want to constantly be in danger of staining my shirt. But what about y’all? I’ll throw some options your way, and if I don’t get to your personal favorite, let us know in the comments what we’re missing out on. &lt;/p&gt;
  216. &lt;p id="gmCX7D"&gt;Happy 4th! And, as always, ‘Sco Ducks!&lt;/p&gt;
  217. &lt;p id="0k4EUz"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  218. &lt;div id="3TJXRJ"&gt;&lt;div data-anthem-component="poll:12653288"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  219.  
  220. </content>
  221.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/7/4/24461465/poll-happy-4th-of-july-foods"/>
  222.    <id>https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/7/4/24461465/poll-happy-4th-of-july-foods</id>
  223.    <author>
  224.      <name>ItsCrawdaddy</name>
  225.    </author>
  226.  </entry>
  227.  <entry>
  228.    <published>2025-07-04T08:01:00-07:00</published>
  229.    <updated>2025-07-04T08:01:00-07:00</updated>
  230.    <title>Football: WR Breakout Candidates</title>
  231.    <content type="html">  
  232.  
  233.    &lt;figure&gt;
  234.      &lt;img alt="NCAA Football: Oregon at Michigan" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1s25pb4e9C37ToCLDG7kXpHNF4s=/0x0:3759x2506/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74162638/usa_today_24656668.0.jpg" /&gt;
  235.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  236.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  237.  
  238.  &lt;p&gt;Which returning receivers may be due to breakout this season&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="MkQ1bz"&gt;Heading into the 2025 football season, wide receiver is one of the biggest question marks surrounding the Oregon Ducks. That question mark grew even larger with the announcement that &lt;a href="https://247sports.com/college/oregon/article/evan-stewart-releases-statement-following-summer-knee-injury-250723298/"&gt;Evan Stewart will likely miss the season&lt;/a&gt;. It’s not for a lack of talent in the room, but rather a lack of meaningful collegiate experience.&lt;/p&gt;
  239. &lt;p id="j8sr2d"&gt;But the thing about experience is—everyone has to start somewhere. Take Dillon Mitchell, for example. He had zero meaningful action as a freshman but went on to lead Oregon in receiving in back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018.&lt;/p&gt;
  240. &lt;p id="bEXy6K"&gt;Speaking of Mitchell, he’s part of &lt;a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/6/25/24454245/football-favorite-oregon-wr"&gt;an exclusive club of wide receivers&lt;/a&gt; who have posted a 1,000-yard season at Oregon since 2000. I took a look at the collegiate careers of those receivers to see if any current Ducks might be poised for a breakout this fall.&lt;/p&gt;
  241. &lt;p id="CwKst8"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The 1,000-Yard Club at Oregon&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  242. &lt;p id="S5WItv"&gt;Here are &lt;strong&gt;seven of the eight&lt;/strong&gt; 1,000-yard seasons by Oregon receivers since 2000. I excluded Byron Marshall, who made the transition from running back to wide receiver before his junior year—a path I don’t expect any current Ducks to follow.&lt;/p&gt;
  243. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  244.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fKBKN59MQ23M9270VTkuh95f-g8=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26042334/00.png"&gt;
  245.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  246. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  247.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4KCOveZ_Xagc5SC_3SAYWL_r-hk=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26042335/10.png"&gt;
  248.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  249. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  250.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/j0278u_IEHROlNZx3NXiPLTaGLs=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26042336/3.png"&gt;
  251.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  252. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  253.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/T7b0TgJH0gAZJw20L3FfMaxU-BE=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26042337/TR.png"&gt;
  254.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  255. &lt;p id="AgjZUA"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Takeaways from the 1K Seasons&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  256. &lt;p id="r7nFdI"&gt;Looking at the college careers of these players, a few patterns emerged:&lt;/p&gt;
  257. &lt;p id="Lbq398"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Freshman Production Was Limited&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  258. &lt;p id="yPrrvy"&gt;The most impactful freshman season came from Josh Huff, who posted 303 yards and accounted for 8% of Oregon’s receiving yards in 2010. &lt;a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/6/24/24453837/football-5-star-true-freshmen-wrs?_gl=1*wv9urd*_ga*ODg2ODc4NDU3LjE3MDgwOTkyMTU.*_ga_2M5GYNY1YS*czE3NTEyNDQzMjIkbzYyJGcxJHQxNzUxMjQ1NTcxJGoxNiRsMCRoMA.."&gt;(I discussed freshman WR expectations in more depth last week if you’re interested.)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  259. &lt;p id="QSSDsz"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sophomore Year Jump&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  260. &lt;p id="xUzZn1"&gt;After a quiet freshman year, each of these players took a significant leap in their second season, contributing at least 421 yards and 14% of the team’s receiving output.&lt;/p&gt;
  261. &lt;p id="PlfIOL"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Breakout in Year 3 or 4&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  262. &lt;p id="0WIyxN"&gt;All seven receivers reached the 1,000-yard milestone in either their third or fourth season.&lt;/p&gt;
  263. &lt;p id="NqdQAy"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Potential Sophomore Leaps in 2025&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  264. &lt;p id="0W6FLA"&gt;There are three Oregon receivers entering their second year:&lt;/p&gt;
  265. &lt;ul&gt;
  266. &lt;li id="9x04No"&gt;Jack Ressler&lt;/li&gt;
  267. &lt;li id="1JEFY6"&gt;Dillon Gresham&lt;/li&gt;
  268. &lt;li id="rKWzRC"&gt;Jeremiah McClellan&lt;/li&gt;
  269. &lt;/ul&gt;
  270. &lt;p id="QOAIoZ"&gt;Of the three, only McClellan recorded a catch in 2024, finishing with 3 receptions for 24 yards. Of the historical 1K group, only Dillon Mitchell failed to hardly register any stats as a freshman before contributing in Year 2. That suggests it’s unlikely any of these second-year players will break out in 2025—but not impossible.&lt;/p&gt;
  271. &lt;p id="A2HLFM"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Year 3 or 4 Breakout Candidates&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  272. &lt;p id="ZZpWYr"&gt;Oregon has three receivers entering either their third or fourth season:&lt;/p&gt;
  273. &lt;ul&gt;
  274. &lt;li id="tSW7k9"&gt;Jurrion Dickey&lt;/li&gt;
  275. &lt;li id="do73GB"&gt;Kyler Kasper&lt;/li&gt;
  276. &lt;li id="GNRmRd"&gt;Justius Lowe&lt;/li&gt;
  277. &lt;/ul&gt;
  278. &lt;p id="M2ruok"&gt;All three have seen game action, but only Justius Lowe has surpassed 50 career receiving yards. Last season, he posted 21 receptions for 203 yards and 1 TD—accounting for about 5% of Oregon’s total receiving output.&lt;/p&gt;
  279. &lt;p id="qAt4sx"&gt;Based on past trends, breakout receivers typically show more early production. However, just because these players aren’t following the same statistical trajectory as past 1,000-yard receivers doesn’t mean they can’t contribute significantly in 2025.&lt;/p&gt;
  280. &lt;p id="Doon31"&gt;In fact, using Hythloday’s “Rule of Thirds”, we might expect:&lt;/p&gt;
  281. &lt;ul&gt;
  282. &lt;li id="MGhJq0"&gt;One player to become a major contributor&lt;/li&gt;
  283. &lt;li id="Lbg6j2"&gt;One to play a supporting role&lt;/li&gt;
  284. &lt;li id="tiUXRZ"&gt;One to fade from the rotation&lt;/li&gt;
  285. &lt;/ul&gt;
  286. &lt;p id="nWZIUw"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Transfer Wild Card: Malik Benson&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  287. &lt;p id="GVLRGo"&gt;Oregon added one transfer to the receiver room this offseason: Malik Benson. While his junior and senior season stats were underwhelming, &lt;a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/football/2025/2/27/24373017/quacking-the-roster-oregon-ducks-wide-receiver-transfer-malik-benson-film-study"&gt;film analysis from our resident expert Hythloday &lt;/a&gt;suggests Benson may have untapped potential. His modest numbers may have been more reflective of the &lt;a href="https://fbschedules.com/2024-florida-state-football-schedule/"&gt;situation at Florida State&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  288. &lt;p id="3wk8z9"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What It All Means&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  289. &lt;p id="PyZgHR"&gt;Based on this research, it seems unlikely that Oregon will have a 1,000-yard receiver in 2025. But that doesn’t mean the passing game is doomed. What Oregon &lt;em&gt;does&lt;/em&gt; have is:&lt;/p&gt;
  290. &lt;ul&gt;
  291. &lt;li id="mQ52SS"&gt;An elite 5-star freshman (Dakorien Moore) likely to contribute&lt;/li&gt;
  292. &lt;li id="R1T6IT"&gt;Three highly recruited second-year players, one of whom is likely to emerge&lt;/li&gt;
  293. &lt;li id="1tHfW1"&gt;Three highly recruited third-year players, one of whom should make a leap&lt;/li&gt;
  294. &lt;li id="hm7WB6"&gt;Two super senior transfers with untapped potential in Benson, or looking to stay healthy in Gary Bryant Jr. &lt;/li&gt;
  295. &lt;/ul&gt;
  296. &lt;p id="9XtJfI"&gt;In Will Stein’s first two seasons, he’s benefited from veteran quarterbacks and returning, high-production receivers. This season feels different. Oregon may need to rely on a committee approach at receiver rather than leaning on one or two elite stat leaders.&lt;/p&gt;
  297. &lt;p id="ezWLAE"&gt;The good news? A successful passing attack doesn’t require a 1,000-yard receiver.&lt;/p&gt;
  298. &lt;p id="Pcwh0R"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Context: Oregon Without a 1,000-Yard WR&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  299. &lt;p id="UnNFOC"&gt;Since 2011, here are the seasons when Oregon &lt;em&gt;didn’t&lt;/em&gt; have a 1,000-yard receiver but still had an above median QBR from the starting QB. &lt;/p&gt;
  300. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  301.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nt6SuPgwOtHEB5j4dt1eT0k8n4g=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26042353/QBR.png"&gt;
  302.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  303. &lt;p id="i2asno"&gt;The only season Oregon has not had above average passer and no 1,000 yard season was 2017 when Justin Herbert didn’t qualify for season long QBR evaluation due to his injury. But as you can see many seasons Oregon did not have a 1,000 yard receiver but still consistently had an adjusted YPA close to 7.9 or higher. Based on the talent and depth in this receiver room I see no reason that the receivers can’t hold up their end of the bargain when it comes to Oregon’s passing game in 2025. &lt;/p&gt;
  304.  
  305. </content>
  306.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/7/4/24458608/oregon-football-wr-breakout-candidates"/>
  307.    <id>https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/7/4/24458608/oregon-football-wr-breakout-candidates</id>
  308.    <author>
  309.      <name>Thomas Cicansky</name>
  310.    </author>
  311.  </entry>
  312.  <entry>
  313.    <published>2025-07-03T13:00:00-07:00</published>
  314.    <updated>2025-07-03T13:00:00-07:00</updated>
  315.    <title>Football: QB Polls</title>
  316.    <content type="html">  
  317.  
  318.    &lt;figure&gt;
  319.      &lt;img alt="NCAA Football: Idaho at Oregon" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/C4y2NwbJnfhSVolYen8D7_sNlmk=/0x1339:4685x4462/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74161607/usa_today_24156121.0.jpg" /&gt;
  320.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  321.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  322.  
  323.  &lt;p&gt;Determining the pulse on former Oregon QBs&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="GqWTYs"&gt;The Oregon Ducks has been very fortunate to benefit from some stellar QB play over the years and currently Dante Moore and Austin Novosad are locked in a battle to be the next great Oregon QB. While Dante appears to be the clubhouse leader based on both his recruiting ranking and having some meaningful experience at the college level nothing will be official until August 30th at 2:00PM. With that being said who do you think will be the starting QB for that game:&lt;/p&gt;
  324. &lt;div id="786avK"&gt;&lt;div data-anthem-component="poll:12650274"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  325. &lt;p id="VsDXLv"&gt;While I suspect Dante will gather the strong majority of the votes I think the more interesting question is who we think the starting QB will be in 2026 because their is a wide range of possibilities&lt;/p&gt;
  326. &lt;ul&gt;
  327. &lt;li id="poukMw"&gt;Does Dante succeed this season and go to the NFL&lt;/li&gt;
  328. &lt;li id="26Poh7"&gt;Does Dante succeed and return for another year of college&lt;/li&gt;
  329. &lt;li id="SLZKGn"&gt;Does Novosad take over if Dante goes to the NFL? Does he transfer?&lt;/li&gt;
  330. &lt;li id="UKniEc"&gt;Do Luke Moga or Akili Smith Jr. develop into anything?&lt;/li&gt;
  331. &lt;li id="3pv9Y9"&gt;Does Oregon look to go the transfer route?&lt;/li&gt;
  332. &lt;li id="OGoPqT"&gt;Does a true freshmen start?&lt;/li&gt;
  333. &lt;/ul&gt;
  334. &lt;div id="5kkB85"&gt;&lt;div data-anthem-component="poll:12650275"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  335. &lt;p id="GvuOtt"&gt;Lots of possibilities a year plus out. One way or another Oregon appears to be set-up as good as you can be at QB for the next 2 seasons. &lt;/p&gt;
  336.  
  337. </content>
  338.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/7/3/24458613/oregon-football-qb-polls"/>
  339.    <id>https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/7/3/24458613/oregon-football-qb-polls</id>
  340.    <author>
  341.      <name>Thomas Cicansky</name>
  342.    </author>
  343.  </entry>
  344.  <entry>
  345.    <published>2025-07-03T07:01:00-07:00</published>
  346.    <updated>2025-07-03T07:01:00-07:00</updated>
  347.    <title>Duck Dive: Indiana Football 2025 Preview</title>
  348.    <content type="html">  
  349.  
  350.    &lt;figure&gt;
  351.      &lt;img alt="Indiana v Northwestern" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_BktUXeZhGZhrCtUlz57h8tIaCI=/0x0:3909x2606/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74161107/2176996373.0.jpg" /&gt;
  352.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  353.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  354.  
  355.  &lt;p&gt;Going deep with the Hoosiers’ scheme, returning personnel, and unknowns&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="dEVvmK"&gt;Special thanks to L.C. Norton who writes about Indiana for SBNation and joined me on this week’s podcast to discuss the Hoosiers’ roster:&lt;/p&gt;
  356. &lt;div id="ELpbgN"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 200px; position: relative;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=RRTET5430010065" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen=""&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  357. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="o2LGIp"&gt;
  358. &lt;p id="ljMP6k"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2024/8/15/24218998/duck-dive-indiana-football-2024-preview"&gt;Last year’s preview&lt;/a&gt; of Indiana was &lt;a href="https://i.imgur.com/7iz7bYD.png"&gt;one of the very few&lt;/a&gt; in the 2024 offseason that accurately predicted the Hoosiers’ leap in performance in the coming Fall under new head coach Cignetti and his staff brought over from James Madison as well as a nearly total roster overall.&lt;/p&gt;
  359. &lt;p id="5sg8t4"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  360. &lt;p id="bmYgDa"&gt;The main observations that led me to this conclusion were that first, I’d charted the entire Big Ten for the previous three seasons and had seen how poorly most of the teams on Indiana’s 2024 schedule dealt with modern college football schemes from &lt;a href="https://x.com/hythloday1/status/1809222089884471766"&gt;outside this league’s bubble&lt;/a&gt;. Those opponents were simply not athletically ready to defend OC Shanahan’s RPO scheme with five viable options on any given play, nor did they have offensive answers to 2&lt;sup&gt;nd&lt;/sup&gt; or 3&lt;sup&gt;rd&lt;/sup&gt; &amp;amp; long pressure packages against DC Haines’ approach that would completely sell out on 1&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; down to stop the run and deny them short-yardage efficiency plays. These strategies and how they matched against the Hoosiers’ conference slate were readily apparent during Indiana’s 2024 Spring game which L.C. and I discussed extensively last Summer, yet were curiously absent from that offseason’s larger discourse … it was as if most of the media hadn’t watched Spring practices at all.&lt;/p&gt;
  361. &lt;p id="JvXfWQ"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  362. &lt;p id="wHXR6k"&gt;The second observation came from my experiences &lt;a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2023/5/4/23710456/duck-dive-arizona-state-football-2023-preview"&gt;previewing Arizona State&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2023/6/28/23776223/duck-dive-colorado-football-2023-preview"&gt;Colorado in 2023&lt;/a&gt;. This was when head coaches Dillingham and Sanders respectively had taken over those programs, and the NCAA had removed the initial counter cap so that teams could bring in as many new players as they wanted in a single offseason. Sanders got all the media attention by turning over all but ten of the scholarship players he inherited, but Dillingham was nearly as aggressive with a massive roster overhaul of his own. As I detailed in my preview at the time, Sanders had the advantage of bringing over a core of talented and proven players as well as the operational coaching staff from his previous school, Jackson State, so they could hit the ground running.&lt;/p&gt;
  363. &lt;p id="kCupC1"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  364. &lt;p id="YLDwwz"&gt;But while he avoided this problem at several position groups, at several others I thought Sanders was committing a classic roster management mistake of “falling in love” with a single unproven transfer for a spot, that is, betting on one new player and not getting multiple options and letting the best guy prove it in camp (as well as providing backup options in case of unavailability). As the inevitable disappointments without alternates have happened, it’s limited Colorado’s progress so far. For Arizona State, I was much more impressed with Dillingham’s balance in management — there weren’t any glaring errors — but he simply didn’t have the advantage Sanders did with importing a core group from a previous school or the pull of the limelight to get the same level of immediate-impact talent, and so I was on record at the time that it was going to be a longer term but more bankable build for the Sun Devils … and they made the playoffs (and gave Texas all they could handle) in year 2.&lt;/p&gt;
  365. &lt;p id="MxjZR8"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  366. &lt;p id="pEXMxi"&gt;When L.C. and I talked last Summer and we went through the roster overhaul Cignetti was engaged in at Indiana, it struck me as the best of both: like Sanders he had the core group of talented players and coaches to import from James Madison, but like Dillingham he’d done an excellent job of balancing all of his position groups so that every spot had multiple options to choose from and there were always more than enough guys who’d proven they knew what they were doing so that they had a good plan A and plan B everywhere. With the ruthless and unsentimental approach that he brought to management as we’ve discussed on the podcast — no playing favorites, no schematic hangups — the Hoosiers were set to barnstorm this league.&lt;/p&gt;
  367. &lt;p id="mJt3kM"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  368. &lt;p id="mKkDNR"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  369. &lt;p id="lUJW0U"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  370. &lt;p id="fxRnWK"&gt;In 2025, most of the elements that contributed to Indiana’s 11-win season last year remain in place — almost no staff change, a ruthless approach, a league that’s in many ways still stuck in the mud, and several of the star players from last year’s team at multiple units on both sides of the ball — and so I think they’ll continue to find success. But I’m a bit less sanguine than last offseason, as the schedule has toughened up (the main differential is three games: Michigan, Nebraska, and Washington leave off, while Illinois, Iowa, and Oregon come on) and as we encountered a few times throughout the podcast, this offseason the staff hasn’t been as thorough as the last time at giving themselves multiple options at every position group that they needed to restock. If everything works out with the guys that they have and everyone stays healthy all year, then this same staff which has already shown they know what they’re about should do great, but those are much thinner margins this year with more possibilities for something going wrong.&lt;/p&gt;
  371. &lt;p id="NYNIj9"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  372. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="R7TGlq"&gt;
  373. &lt;h1 id="Lwy5fI"&gt;Offense&lt;/h1&gt;
  374. &lt;p id="8mmenK"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  375. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  376.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5Mx00OP8AeALJkYDoEScJCEiPUM=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26045912/Indiana_offense.png"&gt;
  377.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  378. &lt;p id="xYVbkF"&gt;Indiana’s starting quarterback last year, Kurtis Rourke, had transferred in from Ohio after a long career with the Bobcats, and played in every game with the Hoosiers except one he missed with an injury. Rourke distributed the ball beautifully in the scheme with an outstanding 176 NCAA passer rating more than two deviations above FBS median.&lt;/p&gt;
  379. &lt;p id="hwkPg2"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  380. &lt;p id="sn1RmL"&gt;To the extent the passing offense would get in trouble, it would come on quick pressures - Rourke’s mobiliy was fairly limited, and either because Shanahan only had hot routes built in for a single receiver or Rourke would just seek out the same guy every time in a panic, it was very predictable where the ball was going if a defense could get penetration quickly. This resulted in the big discrepancy in Indiana’s down &amp;amp; distance situational effectiveness in the passing game: around 70% on early downs (1&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; &amp;amp; 10, 2&lt;sup&gt;nd&lt;/sup&gt; &amp;amp; short/medium) but collapsing to the 40s or worse on late downs (2&lt;sup&gt;nd&lt;/sup&gt; &amp;amp; long, all 3&lt;sup&gt;rd&lt;/sup&gt; downs). That was far easier said than done and it was pretty much the only way to stop the Hoosiers’ offense, but for defenses that could do so (and understood that’s what they were doing, Maryland stumbled into it in week 5 but then wandered off from the strategy) they could completely lock the RPO scheme down for entire games.&lt;/p&gt;
  381. &lt;p id="YDmzhr"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  382. &lt;p id="kVgmjF"&gt;Rourke was drafted in the 7&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; round by the 49ers. Backup Tayven Jackson, part of a two-QB rotation in 2023 after coming in from Tennessee, has transferred back out, though he saw his passer rating shoot up to 171.1 in the one game he played against UW. Indiana had taken two prep recruits last year, low 4-star #15 QB Cherry and mid 3-star #16 QB A. Mendoza, both of whom redshirted. Cherry is going to miss the 2025 season with an injury, and due to an unusual but consistent policy of Cignetti’s, he’s off scholarship this year and will be a student coach of the team - L.C. told me that Cherry is fully expected to return to the roster with no problems in 2026. Mendoza is the younger brother of the &lt;a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2023/11/3/23944585/duck-tape-film-analysis-of-california-2023"&gt;Cal QB whom Oregon faced in 2023&lt;/a&gt; and who has now also transferred into Indiana, #15 QB F. Mendoza. The second transfer in is #5 QB Wilson from Old Dominion, who missed most of 2024 with an injury but was the starter in 2023. Finally, they’ve taken a prep recruit this cycle, low 3-star #12 QB Jac. Bell, who’s expected to redshirt.&lt;/p&gt;
  383. &lt;p id="OVM04B"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  384. &lt;p id="S1polb"&gt;The older Mendoza will almost certainly have the starting job, and I think he’s an even better fit for Shanahan’s offense than I thought Rourke would be at this time last year. Even as a first year starter with the Bears coming off of running the practice squad I could see how his big frame, fast release, and command of quick over-the-middle passing was going to tear up Pac-12 defenses that were accustomed to RPO offenses, and he did better in 2024 with a noticeable tick up in passer rating. I also think he’s considerably more mobile than Rourke, and it’s unlikely that he’ll be more infatuated with going to the same target under pressure, so I think he’ll provide some relief for that issue with the offense as well.&lt;/p&gt;
  385. &lt;p id="iDlUjD"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  386. &lt;p id="EGPVwg"&gt;As for the backup, from what L.C. told me it seems like they’d only go to Wilson if they had to and would prefer to go with the younger Mendoza if possible. Wilson is considerably more experienced but it seems like he’s hit his ceiling, and he’s already coming off of a major injury. L.C. said that Mendoza could be the QB of the future and so unless there’s a significant gap in readiness at the time a backup is called on, they’d want to go with him.&lt;/p&gt;
  387. &lt;p id="ZGJSAC"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  388. &lt;p id="eDtrwu"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  389. &lt;p id="y0KvGv"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  390. &lt;p id="UIijyr"&gt;Last year’s running back room had six available guys, all of whom were new to Bloomington. Three were transfers in from JMU, #8 RB Black, Ty Son Lawton, and #18 RB Vanhorse, while two were ACC transfers, Justice Ellison from Wake Forest and Elijah Green from North Carolina, and the last was a prep recruit who L.C. told me had committed earlier to the previous staff but happened to fit the body type the new staff prefers so he stuck around, #28 RB Martin. All of them except the freshman Martin were covid-era super seniors with considerable experience, and this unit was Exhibit A in Cignetti’s approach to getting plenty of options and letting the top ones prove it without sentimentality.&lt;/p&gt;
  391. &lt;p id="ZJjQsk"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  392. &lt;p id="YWrl2I"&gt;Those turned out to be Ellison and Lawton, who split nearly identical meaningful carries (Ellison had a significantly higher per-carry success rate, 66% vs 49%, though their adjusted YPC was nearly identical just under 5). Both have graduated, while Green has transferred out. Black, Martin, and Vanhorse return. The three additions are mid 3-star prep recruit #20 RB Cuono, #29 RB Beebe from UAB, and #1 RB Hemby from Maryland.&lt;/p&gt;
  393. &lt;p id="BxcNn9"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  394. &lt;p id="I3s0bk"&gt;Black only got 16 meaningful carries during the year, about a tenth of what Ellison or Lawton had, with the rest of his coming in garbage time. Black’s per-carry numbers are suggestive that he would have had comparable production if they’d used a three-back system, though with so few touches outside garbage time that’s only a guess. It’s also murky whether the staff has firm preferences for using only two backs and that’s why Black was getting so little last year, or if there was a more substantive issue - L.C. allowed both might have been at play. Both of us agreed he’s likely to get first crack at being a primary ballcarrier in 2025, but the Hoosiers have alternate options and nothing is guaranteed.&lt;/p&gt;
  395. &lt;p id="T1229D"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  396. &lt;p id="ulpuqb"&gt;We also saw the rest of the room the same way - Beebe and Hemby are the other main competitors for primary back, while the youngsters Cuono and Martin are developmental and Vanhorse is depth as he’s sort of undersized for Power conference play. Beebe’s raw stats look solid though I don’t have much eyes on him; I have been charting Hemby for several years and think he’s the least likely of the three main options to emerge for Indiana, since he’s been stuck at a 44% success rate and 4.1 adjusted YPC for the last two seasons with just about &lt;a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/football/2024/11/8/24291021/duck-tape-film-analysis-of-maryland-2024-oregon-ducks-football"&gt;every other Maryland back outperforming him&lt;/a&gt; in the same offense.&lt;/p&gt;
  397. &lt;p id="QXysoE"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  398. &lt;p id="aK2dBE"&gt;While this room isn’t quite as chockful of proven options as in 2024, it’s got three solid ones and three seemingly viable depth pieces for what was a two-back system last year. That’s a good ratio to hit and there’s no signs of trouble here - I’m expecting a comparable performance, or at least for any step back to not really be of significance given the playcalling leans into the pass when the chips are down.&lt;/p&gt;
  399. &lt;p id="0cFvkj"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  400. &lt;p id="w9mCZP"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  401. &lt;p id="gRGL7v"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  402. &lt;p id="0KkBb6"&gt;The tight end unit had five scholarship players in it last year, including two developmental guys retained from the previous staff, but they really only got any production in the 11-personnel offense from the JMU transfer Zach Horton. Even Horton’s stuff was more or less limited to checkdowns and dumpoffs, he had a very nice 63.5% efficiency rate on his targets but a mediocre 7.5 adjusted YPT. He signed a UDFA with the Lions while almost everyone else transferred out: Brody Foley and Sam West whom the new staff inherited plus Brody Kosin whom they’d recruited last cycle. The only returner is #48 TE Bomba, who’d transferred in from Miami of Ohio a few years ago and has been sporadically used as a blocker by both staffs.&lt;/p&gt;
  403. &lt;p id="KPGX1c"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  404. &lt;p id="yYnLlu"&gt;This cycle they’ve taken four additions. Two are mid 3-star freshmen L.C. and I expect to redshirt, #85 TE Barker and #84 TE Thiry. It’ll likely come down to a Fall camp competition between the two transfers, #37 TE Nowakowski from Wisconsin and #19 TE Staes from Tennessee. I happened to chart both last year for different reasons; neither was really a primary passing target in their offenses - Staes came in at 54.5% efficiency and 5.7 adjusted YPT on 11 meaningful targets while Nowakowski was at 40% and 6.8 on 15 (Staes’ raw stats show him with bigger numbers than that but they’re propped up by one big catch in garbage time against an overmatched opponent, which is a synecdoche for Tennessee’s entire season). L.C. and I both tentatively picked Staes to win the pass-catching tight end job between the two of them while Nowakowski would get the blocking job to the extent one is needed, but frankly that could just as easily flip and I don’t think it much matters to Shanahan’s offense.&lt;/p&gt;
  405. &lt;p id="vnCL01"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  406. &lt;p id="gGsGYN"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  407. &lt;p id="UQ3ah3"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  408. &lt;p id="BXraW0"&gt;In my opinion the wide receiver unit was the key to understanding Indiana’s offensive success last year, both in the sense that opponents simply could not cover all the excellent options the Hoosiers put on the field which the scheme rendered simultaneous viable threats due to constant tension plays, and in that during the offseason the sheer volume of previously productive options the staff had given themselves allowed them to be selective and handle problems without consequence. Going into Fall camp in 2024, Indiana had &lt;em&gt;eight&lt;/em&gt; scholarship receivers with previous quality college production - almost all of it from G5 or somewhat maligned Power programs, but for those with an eye for talent or statistical evaluation this was an extraordinary collection. As one particularly prescient analyst put it, “this room constitutes a significant upgrade between the additions, retentions, and shedding some unproductive players, and could be one of the most dangerous WR groups in the league.”&lt;/p&gt;
  409. &lt;p id="f1DofN"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  410. &lt;p id="mFXYGM"&gt;That level of depth allowed Indiana to take several events in stride that might have sunk more poorly managed programs: for one, bluechip #7 WR EJ Williams who’d previously transferred in from Clemson and has had a long productive career but checkered by injuries still wasn’t healthy and had to redshirt the season — he was another who left the roster due to Cignetti’s policy and briefly got in the portal, but has returned; L.C. told me to no problem — for another, one of the best receivers Indiana had produced in Donovan McCulley wasn’t working out in Shanahan’s RPO offense because of a stylistic mismatch and wound up sitting out the season to preserve his redshirt (he’s just too much of a tall, loping flanker who fits a more traditional offense, I think &lt;a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/6/26/24456144/duck-dive-michigan-wolverines-football-2025-preview"&gt;he’ll do well at Michigan&lt;/a&gt;). With two down, they &lt;em&gt;still&lt;/em&gt; had enough depth to be choosy and didn’t really play another fairly productive receiver from the room, Andison Coby, because he also wasn’t the best fit, while getting steady rotational play for five main guys plus developmental backup time for a true freshman I haven’t even mentioned yet.&lt;/p&gt;
  411. &lt;p id="v5Sz3n"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  412. &lt;p id="ZARU3z"&gt;The crown jewel of the room, and of the JMU transfer group, was #13 WR Sarratt, who proved to be the leading target - about half again as many as any other wideout on normal throws, but since he was also the sole “panic button” guy alluded to earlier he got an extra chunk of targets that pushed his proportion even higher. Despite all the focus his per-target numbers were stellar, a 63.5% success rate and 10.4 adjusted YPT. Sarratt returns, as does #3 WR Cooper, whose numbers were also incredible at 60.5% and 11.4 adjusted YPT, though on basically the same number of targets as the other three wideouts in the rotation.&lt;/p&gt;
  413. &lt;p id="qbT5zO"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  414. &lt;p id="KefJy6"&gt;Those three have all graduated, each of them on the shorter side and mostly rotating with each other in the slot although getting some outside play as well since other than the 6’2” Sarratt at X the staff played fairly loosely with the formation. They were Myles Price and Ke’Shawn Williams, who had nearly identical success rates and YPTs around 64% and 9.4 and signed UDFAs with the Vikings and Steelers respectively, and Miles Cross who came in at 60% and 7.9, and L.C. reminded me was a relatively late addition from Ohio who had a previous connection with Rourke.&lt;/p&gt;
  415. &lt;p id="d8e0VK"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  416. &lt;p id="l5kS4m"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  417. &lt;p id="W1jI0Y"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  418. &lt;p id="gaihJL"&gt;Presumably the staff wants to get up to at least five playable guys again, but this year I think they’re in a much tighter spot to pull it off. Sarratt and Cooper returning is great, and Williams coming back from injury and being re-recruited by the staff for a second time is probably a good signal that he has a job waiting for him. The now true sophomore they were getting reps for last year is #80 WR Becker, though L.C. said he doesn’t expect him into the main rotation unless there’s an injury.&lt;/p&gt;
  419. &lt;p id="zDHthu"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  420. &lt;p id="Xk9ayk"&gt;They’ve taken three portal additions: #0 WR Brady from Cal and New Mexico State before that, #2 WR M. Jackson from Appalachian State, and #9 WR Morris from Michigan. Brady was fairly productive at NMSU, a bit less so at Cal though still the third leading receiver for Mendoza and was obviously brought in for the same reason Cross was for Rourke. Jackson has been highly productive both of the last two seasons with App St and no doubt has a job waiting as well. I’ve been pretty skeptical of Morris, his numbers were awful last year of course but they significantly lagged a couple other targets during Michigan’s title run, though L.C. told me he was lighting it up in Spring practices and was on his way to quite a redemption arc … but that it’s been unfortunately cut short because of an injury and Morris will miss the season.&lt;/p&gt;
  421. &lt;p id="oPkYbu"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  422. &lt;p id="WbQKxF"&gt;Indiana has five great looking and experienced receivers, some of whom already have phenomenal numbers with this staff, plus a young wideout for depth - this situation precisely describes what the Hoosiers hit the field with throughout 2024, so in a sense expectations should be very high. But they started out with two fewer veterans than they had at this time last year — six instead of eight — and they’ve already had one lost to injury this year just like they lost EJ Williams to injury in 2024, so they’re down to five. That means they don’t have the same slack they had last year to be choosy or let a guy go who wasn’t quite perfect for the system. The alternatives are an unproven players like Becker or the three mid 3-star true freshmen they took this cycle - that’s starting to look pretty different, in terms of depth and selectivity. It means rolling the dice, and I can’t predict if they’ll turn up boxcars or snakeeyes. More to the point, what I praised this staff for last year was that they weren’t gambling at all.&lt;/p&gt;
  423. &lt;p id="I2M8Z9"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  424. &lt;p id="XSL6yr"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  425. &lt;p id="Gq6JPY"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  426. &lt;p id="5AiXVz"&gt;Given the &lt;a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2024/2/28/24084991/quacking-the-roster-ol-transfer-matthew-bedford"&gt;parlous state of Indiana’s offensive line&lt;/a&gt; and the previous staff’s reluctance to replace an obviously inept OL coach well past the point when it was clear that needed to happen, L.C. and I had predicted last Summer that this unit was going to be the bottleneck that ultimately limited how far the offense could go since transfer solutions were most constrained here and that proper organic growth was going to take more time. Both of us agreed that current OL coach Bostad, a veteran from Wisconsin and the one holdover from when he was hired in 2023, will likely take the room in the right direction, but even with a hot iron coming off a great season in 2024 the recruiting hasn’t been striking a lot of sparks and this will likely be a pretty slow build.&lt;/p&gt;
  427. &lt;p id="ZbA98v"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  428. &lt;p id="SpmfSC"&gt;In 2025, the Hoosiers return multi-year starter #65 LT C. Smith, as well as guards #74 OL Lynch who was recruited to Indiana and #62 OL Evans who walked on at Wisconsin, all of whom started out in 2022. I had Lynch down as the starting RG and Evans as the 6&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; man from their rotation patterns, but L.C. told me that it was more complicated and Evans was more likely to have had a starting job along with JMU transfer Nick Kidwell, but injuries disrupted that. Kidwell wound up not playing at all and running out of eligibility, while JMU transfer Tyler Stephens took over at LG and longtime Indiana vet Mike Katic swapped in at center somewhat unexpectedly; both Stephens and Katic have graduated as well.&lt;/p&gt;
  429. &lt;p id="67vNTb"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  430. &lt;p id="slBl6L"&gt;What further complicates the returning situation is that the last three older players have departed without much explanation. Tackle Cooper Jones, who I believe still had a year of eligibility left — and I would have liked to see play at RT instead of Wisconsin transfer Trey Wedig who was on his last year to minimize the multiple transfer effect — is no longer listed on the roster but there’s no record of him transferring out either. L.C. told me there were no reports of him being hurt and it’s unknown why we haven’t seen him. Redshirt senior Vince Fiacable and redshirt sophomore Austin Barrett have also transferred out. That means Indiana has only seven returners on the roster - the three who played last year, and four mid 3-star freshmen who redshirted and L.C. said were probably not going to be options in 2025.&lt;/p&gt;
  431. &lt;p id="RIcxly"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  432. &lt;p id="vpZvlk"&gt;They’ve taken six additions to the room. Three of them are prep recruits — more mid 3-star freshmen; L.C. said it’s just the nature of Indiana’s recruiting profile and it’s not reasonable to demand bluechips to roll in yet — and three are transfers: #67 OL Benson who started at Indiana, went to Colorado last year, and is now back, #78 OL Coogan from Notre Dame, and #75 OL Michalski from Ohio State. I think Coogan is the pick of the litter, his background is nearly identical to Rocco Spindler &lt;a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/6/19/24451992/duck-dive-nebraska-cornhuskers-football-2025-preview"&gt;who landed at Nebraska&lt;/a&gt; - high grades and lots of starting experience over the last two years despite not winning the job out of Fall camp either time because of injuries to the starters. Benson was Indiana’s starting RT in 2023, I wasn’t wild about him then, then at Colorado he played RG but was hurt and only played a few games. Michalski was, depending on how you count it, Ohio State’s maybe fourth-string option at left tackle and after a string of injuries put him in place to start against Nebraska in a eye-watering outing was replaced by moving the starting left guard over to finish the season.&lt;/p&gt;
  433. &lt;p id="MHWDrZ"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  434. &lt;p id="pI0UlP"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  435. &lt;p id="DmFgRM"&gt;L.C. and I agreed on three of the positions: Coogan has played LG and center before; the need for a competent snapper is much more pressing so he’s got that locked down. Both of us thought that Smith was serviceable but not a world-beater and that his stiffness would get Indiana in trouble against elite pass rushes in 2024 — though L.C. said he looked better live in the 2025 Spring game, which wasn’t recorded so I didn’t get to observe — and at any rate the Hoosiers have no better option to replace him so Smith will be back at LT again. Evans had an Achilles injury last year which I hadn’t known about, it kept him out of the Spring game, but L.C. said that if he’s ready by the Fall he should have the LG spot, if not it’ll go to Lynch, and I agree.&lt;/p&gt;
  436. &lt;p id="3IfxZI"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  437. &lt;p id="3assoI"&gt;If Evans is out, then there’s only one solution for the right side of the line: Benson at RG, Michalski at RT. That’s what L.C. thinks it’ll be even if Evans is available, and Lynch will be switch to backup in that scenario. But in a world where Lynch is flexible because Evans is healthy, I differ from that opinion: I think that Lynch is more playable than Michalski, and so I would put Lynch in at RG (where he was in 2024) and Benson in at RT (where he was in 2023), while relegating Michalski to the bench.&lt;/p&gt;
  438. &lt;p id="sZbdAa"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  439. &lt;p id="pOb3bT"&gt;Regardless, there’s only one guy on this entire line I actually like (Coogan, though maybe Evans is starter-caliber too and I just didn’t get a good enough look last year) while multiple guys I think are somewhere between injury risks and active liabilities. They’re locked into playing at least two transfers directly out of the portal and possibly three, which longtime readers will know has empirically translated into far from ideal performance. And the depth situation is nothing but unheralded and inexperienced freshmen. Bostad has his work cut out for him.&lt;/p&gt;
  440. &lt;p id="wCUULR"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  441. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="Bx4KYT"&gt;
  442. &lt;p id="WJ89Rx"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  443. &lt;h1 id="h7180A"&gt;Defense&lt;/h1&gt;
  444. &lt;p id="m2gaqL"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  445. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  446.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hb8Wb4MoH85vz7qcDjs8hNat4c0=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26045911/Indiana_defense.png"&gt;
  447.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  448. &lt;p id="96UC6W"&gt; Indiana’s defensive strategy in 2024 played into their strengths and covered up their weaknesses, while exploiting most opposing offenses’ inability to play from behind the chains. Their strongest three defensive players were all in the front (I’d argue the two of the next three strongest were also starters in the front), and DC Haines used them in high-leverage aggressive postures to smash 1&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; down rushing so as to deny plodding Big Ten offenses the short-yardage subsequent downs they relied on for conversions. This resulted in a big imbalance over the course of the year towards longer-distance 2&lt;sup&gt;nd&lt;/sup&gt; and 3&lt;sup&gt;rd&lt;/sup&gt; downs, at which naturally any defense is more successful but the Hoosiers hit even harder with pressures from those same talented front players to get off the field.&lt;/p&gt;
  449. &lt;p id="1Uss4P"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  450. &lt;p id="xyKdq2"&gt;This covered up weaknesses that are apparent in the situational analysis - absolutely atrocious short-yardage defense at just 30% defensive success (only 12% on 2&lt;sup&gt;nd&lt;/sup&gt; &amp;amp; short, when they’d give up big plays to analytically minded OCs and competent QBs) and a massive 35+ percentage point differential in any given short vs long yardage down situation indicating that the pass rush rather than the coverage was doing all of the work since the front has to hold back and set the edge in short yardage. There’s also a big split within the 1&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; down numbers - a phenomenal 63.7% success rate against the run, but only 50% against the pass. However, most of the opposing offenses were too benighted to take advantage of any of these weaknesses - they’d just keep on running on 1&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; down, if they ever got into short-yardage situations they’d take a guaranteed pickup instead of taking a shot, and of course few of the noodle-armed QBs in this league can convert a 3&lt;sup&gt;rd&lt;/sup&gt; &amp;amp; long to save their lives.&lt;/p&gt;
  451. &lt;p id="05VjDs"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  452. &lt;p id="Rhxmvr"&gt;Structurally I’ve seen it described as a hybrid 4-3 / 3-4, although since they’re virtually always in a nickel this is really better understood as a 4-2-5 with a stand-up end who’ll drop into coverage fairly frequently and so it hybridizes into an odd surface but without a true two-gapping nose - it’ll remind Oregon fans of former DC Andy Avalos’ defense in 2019-2020. They lose the two big tackles in the middle from 2024, Kent State transfer CJ West who was drafted in the 4&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; by the 49ers and JMU transfer James Carpenter who signed a UDFA with the Jaguars.&lt;/p&gt;
  453. &lt;p id="vTBS9t"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  454. &lt;p id="EYS8bs"&gt;The two backups behind them during meaningful play were Marcus Burris who’d come in from Texas A&amp;amp;M and #95 DT Tucker, another JMU transfer. This was another unit were I had a lot of praise for the new staff’s management in 2024 for bringing in plenty of options and not playing favorites - they also had #90 DT Monette and ASU transfer Robby Harrison, both from the 2022 cycle, and had recruited #97 DT Landino, so seven guys in the room, but they didn’t give precedence to both JMU guys or the Power conference transfers, and they gave Landino the developmental reps instead of the older Monette or Harrison.&lt;/p&gt;
  455. &lt;p id="IqQhKg"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  456. &lt;p id="efB4Do"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  457. &lt;p id="Zn8sBX"&gt;Harrison transferred out, not a huge shock without any playing time, but Burris hit the portal in Spring while looking like he was in line for a lot more, which I discussed with L.C. as a surprising move. Tucker returns and doubtlessly has a spot, though we agreed the ship has probably sailed on Monette after not playing for three years under two staffs. Landino is interesting, L.C. repeatedly mentioned him as being able to play tackle or end and seeing him at end in the Spring game, but his size says tackle and the depth situation looks like they need him much more in the middle than on the edges. Considering that they played four, arguably five last year (a standard number for tackles in this type of front) and they’d only have three playable tackles without Landino in 2025 assuming both of the transfers work out, I don’t understand why him moonlighting anywhere else is even under consideration.&lt;/p&gt;
  458. &lt;p id="he4dsn"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  459. &lt;p id="FV16PM"&gt;Those transfers are #91 DT Ratcliff from Texas State and #0 DT Wheeler from Western Kentucky. Both are redshirt seniors with multiple years in the primary rotation, and they fit right in with the staff’s previous track record of taking proven but not well known G5 transfers. The issue that L.C. and I talked about is similar to the wide receivers - they took fewer options here than they did last year. Including Monette but excluding true freshmen, it was six options in 2024 to find four so they had two for slack, but it’s only five in 2025 so they can only afford to slack Monette and everybody has to work out: Tucker and Landino have to handle stepping up, while Ratcliff and Wheeler have to translate to the Power conference level. If anything goes wrong they have to play some mid 3-star true freshmen, or go without rotation, neither of which are good options for maintaining last year’s level of play which was instrumental to their strategy.&lt;/p&gt;
  460. &lt;p id="WTz2gH"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  461. &lt;p id="HDnkDH"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  462. &lt;p id="8EfiGe"&gt;There wasn’t much rotation at the two edge spots. JMU transfer and covid-era super senior #6 DE Kamara played virtually every rep at the fist-down end spot, while West Virginia transfer and fellow super senior Lanell Carr played the fist-up STUD, though Jacob Mangum-Farrar (who’d transferred in previously from Stanford where he was an ILB in that 3-down defense, then was converted to this more OLB-adjacent position) relieved him in some games but missed a good chunk of the middle of the season.&lt;/p&gt;
  463. &lt;p id="20a75e"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  464. &lt;p id="j99kzh"&gt;This isn’t to say that Indiana had a thin room in 2024, they just redshirted two freshmen, had a promising transfer get hurt, and elected not to play two other guys they inherited. The guys they passed up have now transferred out, those were Ta’Derius Collins and Venson Sneed, both of whom I think were the size to play fist down end behind Kamara but they just didn’t get any time, and when Kamara decided to come back for a sixth year in 2025 they bounced.&lt;/p&gt;
  465. &lt;p id="27D93k"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  466. &lt;p id="LTcllA"&gt;Last year Indiana got the transfer of mid 4-star #42 DE A. Depaepe from Michigan State, who hadn’t played as a true freshman in 2023 for the Spartans, and recruited his younger brother #98 DE W. Depaepe as a prep. The older Depaepe got hurt and missed the 2024 season and was still out during the Spring game, while the younger redshirted last year and was in a reserve role during the Spring game, so nobody has really seen either of these guys play at all and L.C. told me we have no clue if or when they’ll ever contribute for the Hoosiers. The other 2024 recruit was #17 DE Ndukwe who was reserved for special teams last year; L.C. said he hasn’t heard anything about him contributing in 2025 either.&lt;/p&gt;
  467. &lt;p id="PKLZFA"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  468. &lt;p id="C2Sgwq"&gt;The two transfers this cycle are #8 DE Daley from Kent State and #13 DE Wyatt from Maryland. Daley has a build very similar to Kamara at 6’1” and 260 lbs and has been very productive, and going back to the Kent State well where they got West from makes sense to me. I’ve been charting Wyatt for a while, he’s been an OLB in a different 3-down bear front so while he’s graded out pretty well in that system he’s not really the lean twitchy edge rusher for this one … in fact he has almost exactly the same build as Daley and Kamara. I think Wyatt could play STUD, and that’s what L.C. has him penciled in at as well, but he’s a suboptimal body type fit for it. It’s more likely he’s a two-for-one backup, in my mind - he’s a safety net in case the better option Depaepe doesn’t come online, or for Kamara if he takes an injury.&lt;/p&gt;
  469. &lt;p id="vQIcLY"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  470. &lt;p id="MChfpy"&gt;The oddest thing L.C. told me during our entire conversation is that Kamara has switched to STUD, possibly as a result of some NFL evaluations (although it would explain why such an otherwise effective end would return to college for a 6&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; year). I don’t think he has anywhere near the length for it or has ever shown the coverage ability to drop out, and it’d be wasting his gifts as a power rusher. L.C. allowed that he could switch back to the fist-down spot and since he was held out during the Spring game this is tough to verify, but I don’t understand how they resolve the rotation at this point as the three most viable, experienced guys — Daley, Kamara, Wyatt — all have exactly the same body type, in a system that didn’t rotate at all last year. Meanwhile they have four possibilities who look like the right body type for STUD, but none have ever played football: Ndwuke, the Depaepe brothers (the older would need to slim down a bit but he’s 6’5”), and true freshman #96 DE Abram.&lt;/p&gt;
  471. &lt;p id="wRQ4Lt"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  472. &lt;p id="jtUJu0"&gt;It’d be a mistake to mix up my frustration with the ineligance of the edges’ management (our lengthy conversation about it on the podcast was quite disjointed) with an assertion that it’ll work out poorly in 2025. Evidently this system just needs Kamara and another operational edge opposite him to be highly functional, and they’ve got Kamara plus two of his clones as well as four bites at the apple to find his counterpart. It just strikes me as very odd they didn’t get a couple of experienced replacements for Carr’s exact body type, since that’s where the uncertainty is.&lt;/p&gt;
  473. &lt;p id="ekgajK"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  474. &lt;p id="I2vcpx"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  475. &lt;p id="PhogKd"&gt;The new staff inhereted three returners last year at linebacker: Joshua Rudolph who was one of the rotational guys the previous year, plus #46 LB I. Jones and #14 LB Turner who hadn’t gotten any meaningful play since coming in during the 2022 cycle, though Turner got some garbage time reps. They took three experienced transfers: from UMass they got Nahji Logan, and a pair from JMU in #4 LB Fisher and Jailin Walker.&lt;/p&gt;
  476. &lt;p id="flQayW"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  477. &lt;p id="ergVDR"&gt;The starters were hardly a surprise, they went straight to Fisher and Walker, who were essential to the 1&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; down and pressure package strategies with excellent havoc stats — TFLs, sacks, QB hurries, RB spills, pass knockdowns, forced fumbles — for any position but rarely seen for off-ball backers. Fisher returns in 2025 while Walker signed a UDFA with the Raiders.&lt;/p&gt;
  478. &lt;p id="2A01BP"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  479. &lt;p id="SnDNKK"&gt;The rest of the LB room was harder to figure out. Three other backers rotated in regularly, an unusual number in a 4-2-5 defense, and two of them were non-scholarship guys whom L.C. and I didn’t even mention last Summer, #21 LB Hardy who was an unrated Juco addition and #34 LB Utzinger who walked on several years ago. The backup who got by far the most tackles of the three was Jones, who was the least experienced of any of the scholarship guys going into last season, although he didn’t have the same kind of havoc production Hardy did. Other guys I might have expected the staff to like a lot more than any of those three — Logan, Rudolph, and Turner — instead got zero playing time. Logan and Rudolph have transferred out while Turner didn’t come up in my discussion with L.C. at all.&lt;/p&gt;
  480. &lt;p id="IQ14S0"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  481. &lt;p id="IrcvaJ"&gt;All five of the mystery men — the unrated Hardy and Utzinger, Jones who leaped ahead of more experienced guys but wasn’t getting havoc plays, and Turner who failed to transfer out with the rest of the backers who were passed up — return for their shot to play next to Fisher. L.C. told me that Hardy was getting the most reps in the Spring game and is his pick for starter. That makes enough sense, with Jones as the backup and the rest for depth, including redshirt freshman #40 LB Q. Clark and true freshman #30 LB Nelson.&lt;/p&gt;
  482. &lt;p id="X1kf2K"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  483. &lt;p id="znycRz"&gt;Getting Fisher back is great but I have a hard time believing they’ll seamlessly replace Waller’s production. The peculiarities in the 2024 backup order and statistical production don’t look like the staff finding some diamonds in the rough to me, they look like a whole bunch of developmental stallouts. If Jones is the best of the 6’2” scholarship guys and a 5’11” unrated backer a year younger than him is still beating him out in Spring practices then the odds are that they just don’t have any high end players besides Fisher and should have taken a transfer here. The only other explanation I can think of is that someone else is coming online and they were just keeping him under wraps during the Spring … but we won’t learn who that might be until the Fall.&lt;/p&gt;
  484. &lt;p id="B9MQPW"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  485. &lt;p id="OMIpt7"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  486. &lt;p id="QFbtLL"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  487. &lt;p id="JOLUlF"&gt;There was a four-man rotation at cornerback in 2024. The starters were Texas transfer Jamier Johnson and JMU transfer #5 CB Ponds, while the backups were Cedarius Doss and #22 CB Sharpe. Ponds and Sharpe return, Doss graduated, while Johnson somewhat unexpectedly transferred to UCLA (L.C. and I both suspect that was homesickness for southern California rather than getting poached and Indiana failing to ante up). A couple other corners, Josh Philostin and Jojo Johnson, didn’t really see the field and have transferred out. There was a low 3-star freshman from last cycle who redshirted and returns in 2025, #20 CB Henderson.&lt;/p&gt;
  488. &lt;p id="Eve3Xs"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  489. &lt;p id="PQWN7t"&gt;They’ve taken two transfers: #10 CB Gandy who was a starter at Pitt, and #23 CB Knighten who was a backup at NIU. Three of the prep defensive backs look like corners and L.C. thought so too: #3 CB Jay. Bell, #19 CB Z. Smith, and #9 CB Stewart. Knighten has a fun story, he got what was effectively the game-sealing interception in the Huskies’ momentous upset of Notre Dame last year, but he was on crutches in the Spring game and L.C. thinks he’s the most likely of the four experienced corners to be a second-stringer. That leaves a competition between the returner Sharpe and the transfer Gandy for the starting spot opposite Ponds; L.C. thinks Sharpe is ahead and he’s probably right but I could see this going down to the wire with Gandy’s starting experience since they don’t have big differences in age, body type, or talent rating to separate them.&lt;/p&gt;
  490. &lt;p id="coNbnu"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  491. &lt;p id="zMxMJ0"&gt;Ponds is certain to have a starting spot and is a team hero for some exciting plays - and as we discussed on the podcast, in the game against UW in which the offense was having a bit of trouble getting going for a couple reasons, his interceptions were essential and iconic to the season. The irony here is that in every other game I have Ponds graded out middling to poorly, and in quite a few as an outright liability against taller flankers as he’s just not big enough to cover them and lacks recovery speed if he guesses wrong off the line. His counterpart Johnson generated far less enthusiasm and attention but much better grades on my tally sheet for staying off camera - Ponds was targeted by opposing QBs on almost a 2:1 basis more often than Johnson.&lt;/p&gt;
  492. &lt;p id="zhSFvB"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  493. &lt;p id="kYOVrB"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  494. &lt;p id="sztb65"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  495. &lt;p id="r0RUU1"&gt;There was a five-man rotation at the three safety spots in the middle of the field. Two of the positions had clear starters, #1 DB Ferrell (wearing jersey #25 last year) at the “rover” nickel position and ODU transfer Shawn Asbury at boundary safety, but it got pretty fuzzy after that as Ferrell would spin up to play field safety in backup configurations as well as another ODU transfer, Terry Jones, and backups #24 DB Bonds and Josh Sanguinetti would play both deep safety positions.&lt;/p&gt;
  496. &lt;p id="amdwVr"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  497. &lt;p id="L4NZ3f"&gt;Asbury, Jones, and Sanguinetti have graduated. Stanford transfer Nic Toomer has run out of eligibility, he didn’t play last year. An older Juco, Tyrik McDaniel, and an Arizona/UCLA transfer the new staff brought in, DJ Warnell, both played sparingly in four games then shut it down to preserve a redshirt and have transferred out.&lt;/p&gt;
  498. &lt;p id="fm1wtV"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  499. &lt;p id="2Mh2sd"&gt;Ferrel returns and L.C. told me he’s switched from nickel to fulltime deep safety, he graded out pretty well last year and I think they’ll be fine there. The only two other returners are Bonds, a sixth year backup who’s never broken in, and #16 DB Boyd, an undersized redshirt freshman.&lt;/p&gt;
  500. &lt;p id="95Piul"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  501. &lt;p id="CBUoRd"&gt;The two transfers are #12 DB Boykin, a starter at North Carolina State last year whom L.C. told me will take over the nickel spot from Ferrell, and #7 DB Moore who was a Juco starter for Indiana in 2023, transferred to Ole Miss last year, and is now returning to doubtlessly reclaim his starting safety job in 2025 since Indiana doesn’t look to have any other viable options.&lt;/p&gt;
  502. &lt;p id="PUQZ7Q"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  503. &lt;p id="OKmmf7"&gt;I don’t know much about Boykin; I wasn’t wild about Moore in 2023 but he’s certainly experienced at this point and had to play all over in &lt;a href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/football/2025/4/4/24400078/oregon-ducks-football-quacking-the-roster-db-transfer-jadon-canady"&gt;his last team’s defense&lt;/a&gt;. But this is yet another position where there are just far fewer options to choose from in 2025 than there were in 2024. Last year, excluding true freshmen, they had eight options, all of them experienced. This year, they have five, and only four have played ball before. They have precisely three guys for three spots, each of which is new to the position either as a positional switch or a transfer in to this defense, and if something goes wrong with any of them they have to turn to an also-ran, a redshirt freshman, or a true freshman (#2 DB Baldwin, a low 4-star, being the only bluechip on the entire defense). This is &lt;em&gt;exactly&lt;/em&gt; the situation Sanders put himself in for his safety unit at Colorado in 2023 and is where I developed the “don’t fall in love with one guy for one spot” metaphor in the first place.&lt;/p&gt;
  504. &lt;p id="YeGITU"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  505. &lt;p id="xs0ojV"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  506. &lt;p id="Kfb8rs"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  507. &lt;p id="6PY4pb"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  508.  
  509. </content>
  510.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/7/3/24460884/duck-dive-indiana-hoosiers-football-2025-preview"/>
  511.    <id>https://www.addictedtoquack.com/2025/7/3/24460884/duck-dive-indiana-hoosiers-football-2025-preview</id>
  512.    <author>
  513.      <name>hythloday1</name>
  514.    </author>
  515.  </entry>
  516.  <entry>
  517.    <published>2025-07-02T07:01:00-07:00</published>
  518.    <updated>2025-07-02T07:01:00-07:00</updated>
  519.    <title>Softball: Second Year Pitching Slumps</title>
  520.    <content type="html">  
  521.  
  522.    &lt;figure&gt;
  523.      &lt;img alt="Syndication: The Oklahoman" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cPf9XdcppTQxInd4LwHpHbQluSo=/0x0:4254x2836/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/74159635/usa_today_26352017.0.jpg" /&gt;
  524.        &lt;figcaption&gt;SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  525.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  526.  
  527.  &lt;p&gt;There is a perception that Coach Lombardi’s pitchers routinely dip in performance their second year in the program. Do the numbers back this up?&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="cX7Dal"&gt;Following their first Women’s College World Series appearance of the Lombardi era, I took a look at the &lt;a href="https://www.sbnation.com/e/24220866"&gt;pitching in 2025&lt;/a&gt; and how it compared to other recent WCWS teams. The numbers indicated there was room to improve. &lt;/p&gt;
  528. &lt;p id="2auhNy"&gt;After listening to some remarks hythloday made on a recent &lt;a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5qjNkzQCKX9txMMxEki9gx?si=a72c0a577b2b4933"&gt;podcast&lt;/a&gt; I wanted to take a second look. Most recently with Taylour Spencer, there has appeared to be a phenomenon where pitchers do well in their first year as a part of Oregon’s rotation but then experience a “sophomore slump” (whether they truly are sophomore’s as far as eligibility or it is just their second year in the program). Do the performance statistics support this perception?&lt;/p&gt;
  529. &lt;p id="vK9Zws"&gt;The most detailed performance statistics I have been able to find come from &lt;a href="http://d1softball.com"&gt;d1softball.com&lt;/a&gt;. Since the 2020 is bad data to analyze for obvious reasons, and 2019 was Lombardi’s first year with the program, as with my previous articles I only looked at performance numbers from 2021-2025. Of all the performance metrics available, I chose four to concentrate on. These are briefly described below, and full formulas can be found &lt;a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&amp;amp;xs=1&amp;amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mlb.com%2Fglossary%2Fadvanced-stats&amp;amp;referrer=sbnation.com&amp;amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.addictedtoquack.com%2Foregon-ducks-softball%2F2025%2F7%2F2%2F24459827%2Foregon-ducks-softball-second-year-pitching-slumps" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  530. &lt;p id="2g1UJZ"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ERA&lt;/strong&gt; - Earned Run Average estimates how many runs a pitcher will surrender in the course of a given game. It is computed by taking the total earned runs a pitcher gives up, dividing by innings pitched, then multiplying by 9.&lt;/p&gt;
  531. &lt;p id="bQNmff"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WHIP&lt;/strong&gt; - Walks Plus Hits per Inning Pitched adds the total number of base hits and walks a pitcher gives up, then divides by the number of innings pitched. The result estimates how many players a pitcher will allow on base in a typical inning.&lt;/p&gt;
  532. &lt;p id="z5D9ei"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;xFIP&lt;/strong&gt; - Expected Field Independent Pitching attempts to produce a measure similar to ERA but that only depends on aspects of the play in a pitcher’s control. Essentially it tries to measure the number of runs a pitcher would give up if they had league average fielding on defense. Additionally, xFIP substitutes a league wide average of home runs per fly ball rather than using home runs directly. This is meant to adjust for pitchers whose home parks are easier to hit homers in.&lt;/p&gt;
  533. &lt;p id="55LBpY"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SIERA &lt;/strong&gt;- Skill-independent Earned Run Average also attempts to replace ERA with a statistic that is independent of the defense outside of the pitcher’s performance. The major difference between SIERA and FIP is that SIERA takes into account the type of hits a pitcher gives up, so pitchers who give up more pop-ups and grounders than line-drives will have a better SIERA than FIP.&lt;/p&gt;
  534. &lt;p id="whtF43"&gt;Going in chronological order, we find a perfect case to examine in &lt;a href="https://d1softball.com/player/1578919/"&gt;Makenna Kliethermes&lt;/a&gt;, who was on the roster in 2020 and saw significant action in both 2021 and 2022 before transferring to Ole Miss in 2023.&lt;/p&gt;
  535. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  536.        &lt;img alt="Bar chart showing career peformance statistics for Makenna Kliethermes at Oregon" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/F84UN9OTlCfhkVcb1UZ5cRpRJuk=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26044228/mk_2021_2022.png"&gt;
  537.      &lt;cite&gt;Tristan Holmes and d1softball.com&lt;/cite&gt;
  538.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Makenna Kliethermes performance statistics&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  539.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  540. &lt;p id="tn3upu"&gt;Though Kliethermes role in the circle expanded significantly in her second year, all of her performance metrics suffered. The advanced stats in particular show her pitching declined markedly.&lt;/p&gt;
  541. &lt;p id="nqxGq7"&gt;Kliethermes’ team mate Raegan Breedlove spent her entire career at Oregon, mostly as a reliever but most used in 2023.&lt;/p&gt;
  542. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  543.        &lt;img alt="Bar chart showing Raegan Breedlove’s performance statistics at Oregon" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/k61Pofr4qzTcV-XYQiGdlyjREDI=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26044234/rb_2021_2024.png"&gt;
  544.      &lt;cite&gt;Tristan Holmes and d1softball.com&lt;/cite&gt;
  545.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Raegan Breedlove performance statistics&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  546.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  547. &lt;p id="Ubgq9W"&gt;One doesn’t need advanced stat formulas to see that an increase in over four earned runs per game average indicates a deep sophomore slump. Breedlove never regained her freshman form even in her most active 2023 year, though part of that could be that she was seeing action against stronger batting lineups as part of the regular rotation. Worryingly, a second slump saw her circle time decline in 2024 with other options available.&lt;/p&gt;
  548. &lt;p id="RnbN8Z"&gt;Stevie Hansen spent her first two seasons at Oregon as part of the regular pitching rotation before being relegated to a reserve role in 2024 and transferring to ‘that school to the north’ in 2025.&lt;/p&gt;
  549. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  550.        &lt;img alt="Peformance statistics for pitcher Stevie Hansen while at Oregon" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/k3uqX7oHOhM5WjXqq8TIcN_E1SE=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26044252/sh_2022_2024.png"&gt;
  551.      &lt;cite&gt;Tristan Holmes and d1softball.com&lt;/cite&gt;
  552.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Stevie Hansen performance statistics&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  553.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  554. &lt;p id="H9UhGv"&gt;Going by the raw numbers, Hansen seems to have avoided the ‘sophomore slump’ in 2023. However, her advanced stats show a continuing decline in performance over her Oregon career. This suggests she may have benefited from a combination of better defense around her, and possibly weaker overall batting line ups, in the 2023 season.&lt;/p&gt;
  555. &lt;p id="Enz3RO"&gt;Morgan Scott is an interesting case to examine as she transferred to Oregon in her fourth year of college softball after starting at UNC Greensboro.&lt;/p&gt;
  556. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  557.        &lt;img alt="Bar chart showing performance statistics of pitcher Morgan Scott at Oregon" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/l3IrUoLNBlg8N-wdYBHRMfCS8K8=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26044277/ms_2023_2024.png"&gt;
  558.      &lt;cite&gt;Tristan Holmes and d1softball.com&lt;/cite&gt;
  559.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Morgan Scott performance statistics&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  560.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  561. &lt;p id="MKJOir"&gt;Scott’s ERA and xFIP do suffer in her second year, though by little enough that one might think the batters she faced in 2024 have more to do with that than her performance. The jump in SIERA is more difficult to excuse, so I would conclude her pitching suffered a bit in her second year at Oregon as well as facing more capable batters.&lt;/p&gt;
  562. &lt;p id="1ktKPH"&gt;We now reach players who are still on the team. Elise Sokolsky started for Connecticut as a freshman before transferring to Oregon in 2023. Her 2023 numbers should be taken with a hefty grain of salt, as she only pitch 15 innings all season. Even with this proviso, she provides a pleasant surprise.&lt;/p&gt;
  563. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  564.        &lt;img alt="Performance statistics for pitcher Elise Sokolsky at Oregon." data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gEEG2RvT_luVKf8t7zojaeT_enQ=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26044287/es_2023_2025.png"&gt;
  565.      &lt;cite&gt;Tristan Holmes and d1softball.com&lt;/cite&gt;
  566.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Elise Sokolsky performance statistics&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  567.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  568. &lt;p id="zhDf00"&gt;Sokolsky became a valued member of the rotation in 2024, overcoming the transition period she experienced in 2023. Moreover, all of her performance metrics &lt;em&gt;improved&lt;/em&gt; in her second season as a full time starter in 2025. At least some of this improvement is likely due to facing Big Ten as opposed to former Pac-12 batting line ups, but the numbers indicate it is extremely unlikely her performance was &lt;em&gt;worse&lt;/em&gt; in 2025. Sokolsky, at least, seems to have dodged the second-year slump.&lt;/p&gt;
  569. &lt;p id="Bp7f4J"&gt;Finally we come to player who inspired me to look into this phenomenon in the first place, Taylour Spencer. Spencer saw significant action as a freshman in 2024 with over sixty innings pitched, but was pulled from the rotation early in the 2025 season due to disappointing performance.&lt;/p&gt;
  570. &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  571.        &lt;img alt="Bar chart showing performance statistics for pitcher Taylour Spencer during her Oregon career." data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Pyfo28iG3MTJAhUxn43jUxoKJPw=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26044301/ts_2024_2025.png"&gt;
  572.      &lt;cite&gt;Tristan Holmes and d1softball.com&lt;/cite&gt;
  573.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Taylour Spencer performance statistics&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  574.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  575. &lt;p id="UeKtnc"&gt;I would have to do a deep dive into Spencer’s raw numbers and the respective formulas to figure out why her advanced stats performance actually &lt;em&gt;improved&lt;/em&gt; in 2025. The one metric that matters most is the scoreboard, however, and given the sharp jump in raw ERA it is not surprising that Spencer spent conference play and the post season in the dugout.&lt;/p&gt;
  576. &lt;p id="nEUvUk"&gt;Taking all of these cases together, the reasonable conclusion is that &lt;em&gt;Oregon does have an issue with second year pitchers declining in performance.&lt;/em&gt; This raises two major questions for the 2026 season:&lt;/p&gt;
  577. &lt;ol&gt;
  578. &lt;li id="O6NqIl"&gt;Lyndsey Grein had an up and down season in 2025, what happens if she suffers a ‘second-year slump’ of her own?&lt;/li&gt;
  579. &lt;li id="U7MqNO"&gt;Can Spencer recover in her third year and become a regular part of the rotation?&lt;/li&gt;
  580. &lt;/ol&gt;
  581. &lt;p id="lAmCsN"&gt;Just looking at the performance metrics doesn’t give a good idea of what the root of this issue is, let alone how to fix it. A reasonable conjecture was given by hythloday on the podcast however, and it comes from a very knowledgeable source. &lt;a href="https://d1softball.com/player/1577387/"&gt;Jordan Dail&lt;/a&gt; was brought in from Virginia Tech in Coach Lombardi’s first year and carried the majority of the pitching load for the 2019 team. I didn’t include her in this analysis as her career was interrupted by the 2020 pandemic season, but if you look at her raw numbers she does seem to experience a similar slump in her second full season with the team in 2021 before becoming a regular reliever in 2022. &lt;/p&gt;
  582. &lt;p id="MSWctP"&gt;Dail has a &lt;a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/35Arfb6103t9WBsxAyzRXK?si=1e7cb405508a4281"&gt;podcast&lt;/a&gt; of her own where she discussed a wide range of experiences she had as an elite college athlete. An entire episode is dedicated to the mental health issues she experienced during her “slump” year of 2021. Part of what she describes is the nature of the psychological stress all pitchers at high level college programs experience. To be very clear: she does &lt;strong&gt;not &lt;/strong&gt;indicate Lombardi’s program is in any way abusive of its players or more stressful than other high level programs. It does leave open space for a more nuanced possibility that it would behoove the Oregon softball staff to investigate: are the Ducks doing enough to &lt;em&gt;actively assist, support, and provide resources&lt;/em&gt; to their players to manage the psychological stress of being high level college athletes?&lt;/p&gt;
  583. &lt;p id="GWtf8R"&gt;This is not a question that can be answered by investigating performance statistics. But if the program wants to change the trajectory their pitchers have experienced during Lombardi’s tenure, it is clear that some kind of change is necessary.&lt;/p&gt;
  584. &lt;p id="pbQmvi"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  585.  
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