Indiana

Michigan State football grades vs. Indiana: Offense gets passing grade for timely plays

Published

7 months ago

November 18, 2023

Michigan State football grades vs. Indiana: Offense gets passing grade for timely plays

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Chris Solari rates Michigan State football on a scale of A to F after the Spartans’ 24-21 win at Indiana.

THE GAME: Michigan State football’s late TD holds up in wild 24-21 win at Indiana

Offense: C+

When MSU needed big plays, quarterback Katin Houser delivered. The redshirt freshman, despite missing some receivers badly with passes and others who were wide open and didn’t get throws, had a career day with 245 yards and three touchdowns on 26-for-41 passing with two interceptions. He completed 16 of those throws to Maliq Carr and Montorie Foster and used his legs to create at times and to extend plays at others. Carr put together his best performance of his career, finishing with 10 catches, 100 yards and two big-time touchdowns, including on MSU’s first drive. Foster’s highlight-reel 29-yard scoring grab, one of his seven for 93 yards, was the team’s catch of the year until Carr’s pinball game-winning 36-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Nate Carter’s third-quarter injury ended his day with 42 rushing yards, but senior transfer Jaren Mangham had his best game as a Spartan with 23 yards on 13 carries and five catches for 33 yards, including three first downs. MSU did all that despite losing starting center Nick Samac to a leg injury in the first quarter.

Defense: B-

This is graded on a curve with the injuries before and during the game on the defense. The Spartans allowed 258 yards through three quarters, but Brandon Wright, Jalen Sami, Aaron Brule and Simeon Barrow all got hurt in the final quarter. All but Wright returned to play through the pain and fatigue as Indiana put up 144 yards in the fourth, including 104 on the ground. MSU sacked Indiana quarterback Brendan Sorsby three times and hurried him two others, though the Spartans’ front seven lost him at times in the run game. The Hoosiers had two pass plays over 15 yards, a 38-yarder and a 24-yarder from Sorsby to Donaven McCulley, but Indiana’s top receiver had only one other catch and Sorsby finished 19-for-34 for 192 passing yards. Even though the Spartans gave up 402 total yards and 210 yards rushing, they also had four three-and-outs and forced a critical turnover on downs late in the third quarter.

Special teams: A

Barrow’s second blocked field goal in the past four games, coming at the end of the first half, proved to be a major difference-maker. Redshirt freshman Ryan Eckley put together perhaps his most consistent punting performance, averaging 51 yards on four attempts and landing three inside the Indiana 20-yard line, one of which pinned the Hoosiers at their 1-yard line. And when the Spartans needed Jonathan Kim, he delivered a 43-yard field goal in his only attempt. He also had four touchbacks among his five kickoffs.

COUCH: 3 quick takes (from afar) on Michigan State’s 24-21 win at Indiana

Coaching: C+

The good is clear: Harlon Barnett and his staff went on the road with fewer than 50 scholarship players due to injuries and other attrition and somehow came out with a second win in the past three weeks. They’ve done an impressive job keeping players motivated and engaged despite the turbulence since Mel Tucker’s firing and the volatility of the roster. The bad starts with the near-disaster at the end, as Indiana caught MSU off-guard and with field-goal personnel after a fourth-and-1 timeout with 18 seconds to play, bringing on its offense to pick up the first down and take a deep shot on the next play. It worked out, because Tom Allen’s short-term winning gamble ultimately backfired with Sorsby being called for intentional grounding, the Hoosiers having to burn their final timeout and kicker Chris Freeman backing up 5 yards from his original spot and missing a kick that could have sent the game to overtime. The Spartans’ offense also continued to try and run the ball in the middle after Samac’s injury despite averaging just 2.1 yards per carry. But also credit Jay Johnson for taking the training wheels off for Houser to throw 41 passes.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

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Indiana

Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell has contract become fully guaranteed for 2024-25 season

Published

5 hours ago

June 29, 2024

Press Room

Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell has contract become fully guaranteed for 2024-25 season

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers did not waive point guard T.J. McConnell prior to June 28, and with the calendar now rolling to June 29, the veteran point guard has a fully guaranteed contract for the 2024-25 season.

McConnell, 32, signed a four-year, $33.6 million contract in August of 2021. The first three seasons of the agreement were fully guaranteed, but the fourth and final season only had $5 million out of $9.3 million guaranteed. In theory, had the Pacers waived McConnell before Friday ended, they could have saved $4.3 million.

But there was no sense in doing so. $4.3 million in savings is nothing compared to the value McConnell has on the hardwood — if anything he is underpaid at $9.3 million — and the Pacers are over the salary cap anyway. They would have gained little to no flexibility with the savings.

The veteran ball handler is one of the best reserve guards in the league and just averaged career-best numbers across the board. “Getting this franchise back into the playoffs and making a run to the Eastern Conference Finals when not a single person had us going there, it was really fun,” McConnell said of his 2023-24 season.

He averaged 10.2 points and 5.5 assists per game this past year. His scoring down the stretch of the campaign and in the playoffs was remarkable as he did everything for the second unit. Indiana needed McConnell to step up in the scoring department once Bennedict Mathurin went down with an injury, and he did.

“I don’t know, I try not to focus on stuff like that,” McConnell said of having a career year at his age. “Just the team success, really just getting back to the playoffs. That was the goal for us. Just tried to contribute in any way I could.”

The nine-year veteran was never going to be waived. It would have been incredibly misguided for Indiana to do so, but now it’s official. His contract is fully guaranteed for the coming season, and the veteran guard currently projects to be the backup floor general to open the upcoming season.

The more interesting question with McConnell’s contract is about a possible extension. Reporting has suggested that the Pacers would like to add years on to McConnell’s deal this summer, and he is eligible for a longer contract starting on July 6.

Indiana could add up to four years and up to about $80 million to McConnell’s contract this offseason if they are so inclined. “To have him here long term, we’d love to keep T.J. as a Pacer for life. The business part eventually comes into play for everybody, but would hate to lose that guy,” Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan said of McConnell late last month.

“His value to us is obviously very, very high,” the GM added. McConnell averaged 11.8 points and 5.1 assists per game in the playoffs.

McConnell, a Pittsburgh native, has been a key veteran for the Pacers ever since he joined the franchise. His fierce mentality after going undrafted in 2015 has never faded, and it makes him the competitor that he is. If Indiana wants to keep playing their up-tempo style that is possible because of star guard Tyrese Haliburton, keeping McConnell as a high-paced backup makes all the sense in the world. As of right now, they have him under contract for one more season.

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Indiana

Pornhub ‘ban’ in Indiana blocked by judge

Published

13 hours ago

June 28, 2024

Press Room

INDIANAPOLIS (WXIN) — A judge has blocked a new Indiana law from going into effect which would have effectively cut off Hoosiers from accessing adult content websites, such as Pornhub. In his decision, the judge called the law “likely facially unconstitutional.”

Previously, Indiana lawmakers passed Senate Bill 17 which was signed into law by Governor Eric Holcomb and set to go into effect on July 1. Under the restrictive bill, websites hosting “material harmful to minors” would have required Hoosiers to upload sensitive documents, such as driver’s licenses, in order to prove their age.

While proponents of the law argued the age-verification law was meant to protect minors from accessing explicit material, such as pornography, critics pointed out that the law was not only a potential violation of the First Amendment but also opened up Hoosiers to substantial risk of having their sensitive information and documents stolen.

Screenshot of the warning displayed on Pornhub’s page for Indiana users. (WXIN)

While Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita defended the age-verification law as a “shield” to protect children from “the psychological and emotional consequences associated with viewing porn,” the Free Speech Coalition filed a lawsuit to stop the law from going into effect.

“We will continue to fight for the rights of adults to access the internet free of shame and surveillance,” said Alison Boden, executive director of Free Speech Coalition. “While they may sound reasonable on their face, laws like SB17 have effectively functioned as state censorship.”

On Friday, a judge with the United States District Court of Southern Indiana issued a preliminary injunction blocking the law from going into effect on July 1. In his decision, the judge concluded that the law “likely violates the First Amendment” and echoed many of its critics such as pointing out how the law could be easily circumvented with technology and the broad, vague scope of the law.

The vagueness of the law was previously called out by the ACLU of Indiana who sounded the alarm against the age-verification law and its vague use of “material harmful to minors,” which the ACLU speculated could go beyond just blocking pornography and be used to also block “age-appropriate LGBTQ+” or be used to censor sex education content.

The ACLU also pointed out how the law could be easily circumvented, needlessly putting Hoosiers’ sensitive information at risk.

“The worst part, the law won’t even work,” said the ACLU of Indiana. “Minors will just go to sites that aren’t regulated by Indiana law or use technology to bypass the verification method. A @CommonSenseMedia report found 6 in 10 older teenagers already use VPNs to browse the internet.”

As part of his decision, the judge wrote in defense of his injunction by stating, “Indiana’s legislature chose an ineffective and more broad method to protect minors from harmful materials than other alternatives. The First Amendment does not allow such imprecision.”

The injunction will remain in effect until a final judgment is made or a higher court dissolves the injunction.

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Indiana

Arby’s franchisee Miracle Restaurant Group files Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Are stores closing?

Published

20 hours ago

June 28, 2024

Press Room

Arby’s franchisee Miracle Restaurant Group files Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Are stores closing?

Arby’s franchisee Miracle Restaurant Group has once again filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and could sell multiple stores in three states, according to court documents.

Court documents show Chapter 11 bankruptcy was filed by Miracle Restaurant Group on June 20, 2024. The business was formed in 2005 and currently own and operates 25 Arby’s restaurants across Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Several restaurants have been filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy or closing stores in 2024, including Red Lobster, Hooters, Tijuana Flats and Alamo Drafthouse to name a few.

Hooters closing 2024: Locations are closing; 2 restaurants near Louisville among dozens closed

The court documents for Miracle Restaurant Group state:

“In September 2023, the Debtor sold three of its stores located in Indiana and used the proceeds to pay down its notes with First Franchise Capital Corporation (“FFCC”), the LH Mortgage, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”). The Debtor’s remaining two stores in Indiana remain operating.”

Additionally, stores in other states are also being impacted:

“The Debtor intends to continue to market and sell its seven Texas Stores, eight Illinois Stores and two remaining Indiana Stores through the Bankruptcy Process, and to focus on its Louisiana and Mississippi Stores. To accomplish this, the Debtor has retained Peak Franchise Capital, LLC as financial advisor to assist in marketing the Debtor’s stores.”

CEO Donald Moore declined to answer questions about the bankruptcy when contacted by phone. In the filing, Moore notes he has “experience in senior officer roles at public and private restaurants since 1990.”

Red Lobster closing 2024: Red Lobster lists 99 restaurants closed in 28 states: See locations closing in your state

Here’s what to know:

Is Arby’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy?

No. Franchise operator Miracle Restaurant Group is filing for bankruptcy and owns 25 Arby’s locations in Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Who owns Arby’s?

Arby’s is owned by Inspire Brands. They own several restaurants including Baskin Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s and SONIC.

Are Arby’s restaurant locations closing via Miracle Restaurant Group’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy?

No. Miracle Restaurant Group is attempting to sell the remaining locations in Illinois (8), Indiana (2) and Texas (7), according to court documents.

Has Miracle Restaurant Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy previously?

Yes, this is Miracle Restaurant Group’s second Chapter 11 filing. The franchisee used to own 60 Arby’s franchise locations before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010, according to court documents. A number of stores were closed after the plan was confirmed and all creditors were paid in full under the plan.

What Arby’s restaurant locations could be closing in Illinois, Indiana and Texas?

Miracle Restaurant Group has not confirmed a list of store closings or which restaurants are being sold. Below is a list of locations posted on the website at mrgarbys.com/locations.htm. Three Indiana locations were sold in September 2023, but which stores were sold is unclear.