Indiana coaches deep into the fine art of manufacturing outrage

Late in a game week coaches are always looking for extra juice, something to get their players riled up about, a narrative to seize on, usually some version of "nobody believed in us."

Oddly, Tom Brady employed the strategy on the way to winning his sixth Super Bowl. Then he won a seventh one just to drive home the point.

This week at Indiana defensive line coach Pat Kunz told the "Inside IU" radio show, “I keep hearing about how we're smaller than them, how they're gonna maul us, and hopefully we got a fire lit up in us to take care of that and all the talk that’s happening."

The funny part is none of that armchair analysis came from the Oregon players or coaches. They've all had media training and are unfailingly polite and respectful when talking about an opponent. Back in September they even said nice things about Oklahoma State before beating them 69-3.

Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines even got into it with a fan on X, employing his best Samuel L. Jackson, saying in essence, "Allow me to retort."

The very weird part of this exchange is that Nick Rodecap, the author of the "Indiana is giving away size" tweet is a reporter for the Indiana campus radio station WIUX. This is literally Hoosier-on-Hoosier crime.

When reporters asked Dan Lanning about the Indiana defense, what he said was, "They create a lot of havoc on defense... They're aggressive by nature and they do a good job of eliminating explosive plays."

Not exactly controversial or inflammatory.

Indeed, the Bison from the Midwest are second in the Big Ten in total defense, giving up just 221 yards a game. They create havoc, a league-leading 49 tackles for loss plus 16 sacks, third in that category.

Edge rusher Mikail Kamara is 6-1, 262 and built like an oak tree, an All-American in 2024, a finalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy. Defensive tackle Tyrique Tucker is 6-0, 302, a junior with 17 tackles, three sacks and five tackles for loss.

It's true that they are smaller than the Oregon offensive linemen but that's true generally. No one is making that an issue, except coaches trying to get a rise out of their team, even if they have to use the outside noise they generally tell them to ignore.

Even if the noise came from their own campus.

No. 3 Oregon hosts No. 7 Indiana 12:30 p.m. PT at Autzen Stadium Saturday, broadcast on CBS, a matchup of 5-0 teams and playoff hopefuls. The Hoosiers are as mad as Forest Whitaker in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," like somebody wrecked their new car.

Dan Lanning can totally fix it. He's got tools.