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Takeaways from Week 7 of College Football: Indiana earns defining win, James Franklin on the hot seat

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Takeaways from Week 7 of College Football: Indiana earns defining win, James Franklin on the hot seat


College football is unpredictable and delightful, which is why we live for what happens on Saturdays. Week 7 certainly delivered, from a statement win by Indiana in Autzen Stadium to the biggest win for USC in years.

Each Sunday, I’ll publish my biggest takeaways from the college football weekend. I’ll highlight the most interesting storylines, track College Football Playoff contenders, and specifically shout out individual and team performances that deserve the spotlight.

1. Indiana just had its biggest win in program history.

I have seen all sorts of stats celebrating the Hoosiers’ win over then-No. 3 Oregon. Probably the most notable one is that it’s the first road win over an AP top-five opponent in Indiana football history. But let’s be real for a second. We don’t need qualifiers. This is the best and biggest win in program history, full stop. This is the losingest program in the history of college football! The high points have been few and far between. Last year’s 10 wins were the most in a single season. Indiana has only started a season 6-0 three times in its history … and two of them have come under Curt Cignetti (last year and this year). We are in uncharted territory here! And we might as well say as much!

I don’t know if Indiana is the best team in the country or if the Hoosiers are going to — gasp! — win a national title. But I do know it would be unwise to put any limits on this team.

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Indiana secures program-defining win over Oregon

Indiana showed that it can compete with the big boys by walking into Eugene and defeating Oregon.

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2. Steve Sarkisian finally found a winning formula for Texas.

The Longhorns’ second-half performance vs. Oklahoma had to be therapeutic for Texas fans. This was an offense that finally had some balance, which made everything easier — both for quarterback Arch Manning (who completed 21 of 27 passes) and play caller Steve Sarkisian, who could finally put his quarterback in positions to succeed thanks to a functional run game. Plus, the vaunted Texas defense returned to form after a rough outing against Florida, forcing three John Mateer interceptions and holding the Sooners to just 88 total yards of offense in the second half. Throw in a fourth-quarter punt-return touchdown, and you’ve got wins in all three phases. Boy, did Texas need a performance like that.

Manning encouraging in Texas’ win over Oklahoma

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Arch Manning and Texas got a desperately needed win by playing virtually mistake-free football against rival Oklahoma.

3. Texas A&M might be the best team in the SEC.

Every weekend, I attempt to figure out the pecking order in the SEC, and I often end up more confused than I was when I started. For a few weeks, I felt best about Alabama and Heisman hopeful Ty Simpson, believing I’d pick them on a neutral site against any other SEC opponent. But now I think I’m going to join the Aggies’ bandwagon — even knowing that Texas A&M has a history of late-season collapses. This team feels different, not just because I trust Mike Elko defenses. I like how explosive the pass game can be, with Mario Craver and KC Concepcion, and a fairly reliable rushing attack. I know that Marcel Reed doesn’t always dazzle, but when he’s on, he makes this offense one that can strike fear in opposing SEC defenses.

That, and Alabama’s offensive line continues to be a problem. And Ole Miss nearly lost to Washington State. So, that’s where I am for now.

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4. USC might be back.

Well, maybe. At the very least, Lincoln Riley earned the first signature win of his Trojans tenure so far. USC averaged 7.2 yards per play against one of the better defenses in the Big Ten in Michigan. Coming into the game, I thought it could be a huge opportunity for the Trojans to prove they can be tough and physical — that they could win a game at the line of scrimmage. And they did so despite injuries to their running backs. USC has spent the past two seasons trying to develop on the defensive side of the ball (both with coaching hires and personnel), and the Trojans limited a previously prolific rushing attack (that also dealt with injuries) to just 3.5 yards per carry.

But beyond the nuts and bolts of the win, it was just extremely impressive for a program that has had a history of close, painful losses. What better way to make a statement than by not letting Michigan stay close enough to have a chance late? Entering Saturday, Riley was 4-11 vs. ranked opponents at USC. The only way to start to change a narrative is to win a game like that.

5. It’s hard to imagine James Franklin remaining the head coach at Penn State.

I don’t know how soon James Franklin and Penn State will part ways, but it feels impossible to imagine him on the sideline in Nittany Lions’ gear next season. Does Penn State just find frustrated donors to pony up and pay a buyout of more than $50 million? Or does athletic director Pat Kraft get with Franklin to negotiate down the buyout, knowing that Franklin deep down doesn’t want to stay in an environment (and fan base) that has grown so toxic?

Last week, I argued that Franklin should be the one to leave — that he should find one of the Power 4 jobs that open this season and get a fresh start. But at this point, after two inexcusable losses to two of the worst teams in the Big Ten (with a season-ending injury to quarterback Drew Allar to make things even worse), I don’t know that it will be his choice after all. Penn State cannot move forward with him; the situation feels far too untenable.

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‘No way forward’ for Franklin at Penn State

With three consecutive Big Ten losses and Drew Allar out for the season, Nicole Auerbach and Joshua Perry have a hard time seeing James Franklin at Penn State moving forward.

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Police shoots man armed with knife in Gary, Indiana, officials say

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Police shoots man armed with knife in Gary, Indiana, officials say



A man wielding a knife was shot by a police officer on Sunday in Gary, Indiana.

A spokesperson for the city said officers responded to the 2100 block of Tennessee Street for a call of a suicidal man who was armed with a knife in his hand. The man had already stabbed himself a couple of times before they arrived.

Officers found the man in the east alley of 22nd and Ohio. At this time, he was standing in the alley still with the knife in his hand and refused to drop it as ordered by officers. The man then started to advance toward the officer, who shot the man three times in the arm, the spokesperson said.

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The officer notified the department that shots were fired, and the man was down. The condition of the man is unknown as of Sunday night.

Other officers responded to the scene to set up a perimeter around the area. The Gary Fire Department and Lake County Crime Scene Investigation personnel were also contacted.

No further information was immediately available. 


If you or someone you know is in emotional distress, get help from the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. Trained crisis counselors are available 24 hours a day to talk about anything.

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50+ Indiana counties under travel advisories after snow storm. See map

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50+ Indiana counties under travel advisories after snow storm. See map


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At least 50 Indiana counties are under a travel advisory, and 20 counties were issued a travel watch for Dec. 14, following an overnight snow storm.

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) travel advisory map has each county shaded in red for a travel warning, orange for a travel watch, yellow for a travel advisory and gray for a county without an elevated status report on it’s current travel conditions.

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Here’s how you can check your county to see where it lands on the map.

Travel advisory

According to DHS, a travel advisory is the lowest level of a related advisory.

“Routine travel or activities may be restricted in areas because of a hazardous situation, and individuals should use caution or avoid those areas,” the department says on its website.

Watch advisory

According to DHS, a watch advisory is issued when conditions are threatening to a county’s safety.

“Only essential travel, such as to and from work or in emergency situations, is recommended, and emergency action plans should be implemented by businesses, schools, government agencies and other organizations,” the department’s website states.

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Warning advisory

According to DHS, a warning advisory is the highest level of a related advisory, where people may be told not to travel at all.

“Travel may be restricted to emergency management workers only,” the department’s website states.

Here’s the winter weather info you need

🚨 Indiana Weather Alerts: Warnings, Watches and Advisories.

⚡ Indiana power outage map: How to check your status.

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💻 Internet outages: How to track them.

🚫 What you should and shouldn’t do when the power is out.

🐶 Your neighbor left their pet outside. Who you should call.

Indianapolis weather radar

Jade Jackson is a public safety reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON



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What Darian DeVries, Tucker DeVries Said After Indiana Basketball’s Loss at Kentucky

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What Darian DeVries, Tucker DeVries Said After Indiana Basketball’s Loss at Kentucky


LEXINGTON, Ky. — Indiana basketball coach Darian DeVries and senior forward Tucker DeVries met with reporters after the Hoosiers’ 72-60 loss to Kentucky on Saturday night at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

Here’s what the DeVries duo said during their near-seven-minute press conference.


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Q: I guess, Darian, it’s sort of another night where it feels like it just kind of gets difficult to really break down an opponent off the dribble, kind of get that inside-out sort of paint touch to three looks you want, just like what, I guess, are you guys, what’s not happening there, what’s just kind of sort of failing at the source offensively when that’s not working? 

DD: Yeah, I thought the first half, you know, we got some pretty good action, pretty good movement, I thought the second half, Kentucky certainly turned up the pressure and was able to get into us and we didn’t respond well enough and we turned the ball over too much and live ball turnovers against them are really hard because now they’re out in transition playing in space, so the turnovers and the offensive rebounding, I mean, that flipped the game around that second half. 

Q: On Kentucky’s long run, what was the problem there?

Yeah, I thought the turnovers, it was a combination of things, I thought, you know, we left our feet a few times, I thought we just, you know, got on our heels a little bit and didn’t play as disciplined as we needed to, you know, as that, you know, the crowd got cranked up and things, that’s the time where you got to really dig in a little bit more, your screen’s got to be better, you got to play off of two feet more, and then the offensive rebounds, you know, they just went and got them and, you know, we didn’t do a good enough job of creating space and getting bodies and going and securing the ball. 

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Q: What do you think you need to improve on, the team needs to improve on against ball pressure at the point of attack? 

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DD: Yeah, the number one thing when you get at ball pressure is everything from an execution standpoint and a movement standpoint, it’s just got to be done with more force, you can’t continue just to get pushed out and everybody stands, so you have to find ways to give yourself up with a back hook, give yourself up with a screen, set up those screens with more force, you know, and get some movement to, you know, even as, you know, they had gotten ahead and we started to break it off a little bit, once we got movement again, we were able to get those clean looks or better looks, so it’s something we got to get better at, there’s no question.

Q: Tucker, your individual line tonight was really great, I mean, your effort was fantastic, 15 points, 7 rebounds, a lot of the three point shots tonight didn’t go down like they normally do for the Hoosiers, what do you think that is, was it just not seeing the basket as well, was it the defense, was it not in the offense where you were getting clean looks? 

TUCKER DEVRIES: To be honest, making and missing shots, I thought tonight, honestly, wasn’t a problem, I know, certainly, I did not shoot it great, as a team we didn’t shoot that great either from three, but, you know, even with that being said, I think there were certainly areas that we needed to be a lot better at, as a group, and if we were able to, you know, especially in the second half, execute in those areas, I think that would have made up for some of those, you know, shooting habits and miscues, but, you know, making them missing shots sometimes is basketball, but I thought in the other areas, if we could just, you know, execute there a little bit.

Q: On that, if shots maybe weren’t the problem, what kind of was, do you think?

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TUCKER: I mean, he hit on it pretty good, the turnovers and obviously the offensive rebounds they had, especially in the second half. I mean, I take full responsibility for both of those areas. Obviously, four turnovers is far too many. As a group, I think when they pick up the pressure, I think we just need to really focus on our execution a little bit more on every possession. But good thing is we get a good week here before we play again to really dial in on some of those areas that we’ve maybe lacked in the beginning.

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Q: When Lamar picked up his fourth foul and missed nearly nine minutes, what went wrong offensively?

DD: Yeah, I don’t remember the exact sequences there, but, you know, not having Lamar out there is certainly a big part of our offense, and, you know, his foul trouble tonight certainly limited him with only the 21 minutes because he was, again, he’s, you know, a big focal piece of what we try to run our offense through, so, you know, I believe during that little stretch that he wasn’t out there, that’s when the turnovers started to happen and 

we weren’t able to get into, you know, maybe some of our actions the way we needed to. 

Q: Darian, you mentioned Kentucky’s offensive rebound and kind of flipping that game. Was that just their physicality, their effort out beating you guys or something else that you saw going on? 

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DD: Yeah, I thought their effort, their physicality in the second half was, you know, really good. I mean, they certainly cranked it up a notch in that second half and we needed to respond to it, but, you know, I thought their aggressiveness defensively, their aggressiveness in the offensive glass, you know, was ultimately the factor. 

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Q: Darian, you mentioned Lamar, but how much did the foul trouble for not just him, but other guys, affect you tonight?

DD:  I mean, foul trouble is foul trouble. You have it every night, so you’ve got to figure out a way to deal with it and, you know, we just didn’t do a good enough job with that.

Q: Just to follow up on that, with this team, and you’ve talked about sort of where you are with the two bigs and things like that, like does foul trouble become sort of a compounding problem when it disrupts rotations? It felt tonight like maybe guys were just not either on the floor long enough to find the rhythm or maybe had to be on the floor too long because other guys were in foul trouble. 

DD: Again, our guys, you know, their numbers are called, they’re ready to go. You know, certainly, you know, a guy like Lamar, you want him out there, but when he’s not out there, I feel very confident that the guys that are coming in are going to do their part and do their job and, you know, we certainly have a lot of faith in them, so, you know, unfortunately it just didn’t work out the way we wanted it to tonight.

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