Weekly Feedback

I will be taking reader's questions and answering them on a weekly basis. Feel free to e-mail me about anything IU football related. It could be about specific players/positions, predictions for upcoming games or performances. Anything that has something to do with IU football I will be more than willing to answer. I want to give reader's a chance to ask any questions that arise so they can get them answered. My e-mail address is clark49@indiana.edu. Just put IU blog or something of that nature in the subject line.

Another Position Switch for the Hoosiers

There have been many position switches this off-season (Ray Fisher, Jarrod Smith, Shane Covington, Johnson etc...) and the most recent player to be added to that list is Chris Adkins being moved to safety.

Why I like the switch:

This switch makes a lot of sense. When watching Chris Adkins play he seems like the safety position would be a better fit for him than corner. Coach Lynch said that when they recruited him out of high school they saw the same thing. This switch might not help out a ton this year but will be very beneficial to us in the upcoming years. At the end of the season both Nick Polk and Austin Thomas will have graduated. Then we will have Finch, Drane, Covington, Zachery and a few others at the position. None of them at this point really have had a ton of game experience at the position. This off-season Donnell Jones and Richard Council have really stood out at the position. Same goes for freshman Lawrence Barnett. Between those three and Ray Fisher we should have some good depth at corner in case somebody gets hurt. Next year Andre Kates will likely be an instant starter (assuming he sticks with his commitment) so that will leave one corner spot open to tons of quality players who will compete for it. This switch seems like a very logical one and will help us out down the road.

Top 5 hopes for the 2009 season

1. The re-emergence of Greg Middleton- There is no doubt in my mind that Greg Middleton will have a bounce back season. Everything I have heard this off-season points in that direction. He had one of the best winter conditioning's he has ever had and the best off-season he has had since being at Indiana. With the emergence of Jammie Kirlew there won't be the possibility of double teaming anybody on our D-line. They key will be to get a good pass rush with just the front four this season. If both Middleton and Kirlew can play there best at the same time they will wreak havoc in the backfield.

2. Improved fan support- People underestimate how much impact a sell-out crowd can have. The players would love to run out into Memorial Stadium with tons of fans in the seats. I think the fact that Coach Lynch has made around 75 public appearances this off-season that the program seems to be promoted much better than years past. The game-day experience will be 100% different from last year. Hopefully people can come to the games and see the brand new stadium and enjoy themselves. Fred Glass has had a ton of ideas to help improve attendance and I think it will improve the overall attendance numbers. I'm sure when it comes down to it winning will be the number one factor of attendance rates but it would be nice for the football team to have good support year in and year out. Dont' forget that we have 3 night games (Thursday night against Eastern Kentucky, Ohio State, Illinois) which should make the atmosphere more exciting.

3. Improved o-line play- I think the you will see a different o-line this year and here is why. The biggest reason is going to be the switch to the "pistol" offense. When we were strictly a spread team the offensive line is constantly in a two point stance and relies on quickness to protect the quarterback and allow seams to open up. In the pistol our offensive line will be the aggressors and really be able to get after people. This fits the mentality of pretty much our whole offensive line. Saffold has bulked up tremendously this off season, Pagan is a mauler and has developed beyond his years, Matte may be undersized but could be one of the most aggressive lineman up front, Saxon has gotten bigger and stronger this off-season, and Brewer has made a ton of strides this off-season and is a load at 6'8 and almost 340lbs. 4 out of our 5 starters weighed in well above 300lbs which is something we haven't had in a very long time. The o-line has played together for many years and have a good combination of experience, size, and power.

4. Further development of skill positions- We have a solid young group of players at the skill positions. I think Demarlo Belcher has had a huge off-season and you will see it real quick when the season starts. Same thing goes for Tandon Doss. Darius Willis will finally get to show what he can do on the field and will be the feature back for the next few years. Throw in some promising young talents like Duwyce Wilson and we have the potential to have one of the best wide receiving core's in the big ten for the next few years. Probably won't be this year but if they can continue to develop they should be very hard to stop for years down the road.

5. Get back to a bowl game- I think it will be something that will be very hard to do but, if a few things can go our way and we can stay healthy while playing to our potential, I can see it happening. This group of upperclassmen need to leave there marks and I think they will. Everything I've read and heard this off-season points to the fact that the players have a completely different mentality and have worked so hard to come out and turn the program around. After seeing the impact of what one bowl game can do to recruiting it is extremely important this year to bounce back and show that Indiana is still a football program on the rise.

General Observations Around the Big Ten

Although I strongly believe IU will be vastly improved from last season, I think it is also important to know what is going around in the big ten. I feel like in general the conference will be stronger than last year which could make the big ten strength of schedule a little bit more difficult. Here are just some brief notes on the other big ten teams so far.

Illinois- I believe they have the best receiving core in the big ten. So many weapons there with Arrelious Benn, Jarred Fayson, Jeff Cumberland and many of the young guys as well. Juice is poised to have a great senior season. On the defensive side look for Martez Wilson to be a star.

Iowa- at first glance I was surprised to see how highly rated this football team was. I kept thinking about the loss of both DT's which were 4 year starters, Shonn Green and a few other players. Then the more I dug into the team the more I believe that the experts could be right about them. They return arguably the best O-line in the big ten and have a stud at LT in Bryan Bulaga. Now that Jewel Hampton's freak injury in the summer isn't as bad as originally thought look for him to fill the void at RB and surprise many people.

Michigan- It isn't going to be a complete 180 turnaround with the wolverines but Rich Rod has a history of taking a huge leap in the second year of coaching new teams. Look for Brandon Minor to have a big year at RB and it will be interesting to see how well Tate Forcier can play at QB as a true freshman.

Michigan State- Losing Javon Ringer will be tough to swallow but I think they have a good crop of young players at the position. Mark Dell is one of the better receivers in the big ten and they should be solid overall.

Minnesota- Tim Brewester's new offensive coordinator would like to establish a more tradition power running game. The Weber to Decker combo will be extremely tough to stop next year. They have a chip on their shoulder from last year because they started out 7-1 and ended the year 7-6. There should be excitement for the opening of brand new TCF Bank stadium.

Northwestern- Originally I felt the same way about them as I did Iowa. I didn't think they would be that good but they were rated pretty high. The more I looked at them the more I was impressed. Mike Kafka showed some flashes last season especially with his feet last year against Minnesota when he rushed for 217 yards. There secondary is going to be very tough but they will have to retool at the skill positions after losing Tyrell Sutton and there top 3 receivers. And you can't forget about the all big-ten DE Corey Wootton.

Ohio State- When the Big Ten network was at Ohio State's practice yesterday they commented on how Terrelle Pryor looks like he could play Linebacker. With a year under his belt he should be much improved. They have one of the better o-line's in the big ten and are clearly the team to beat in the big ten.

Penn State- It will be Daryl Clark's last go around so look for him to have a good senior year. Them and Ohio State have almost made it a two team race in my mind but there is still some opportunities for other big ten teams as well to compete for the crown.

Purdue- This is going to be an interesting year for Purdue. Coach Hope is in his first season as the head coach and they need to reload at many positions. They have a strong set of running backs who will compete for the job but will need to fill many holes on the defensive side.

Wisconsin- another QB controversy heralds the program going into camp. I won't be surprised if Dustin Sherer starts the opener. John Clay will be running over people this year and will be a beast in the running game. They have a softer schedule which will probably help them out as well.

A Few Notes from Monday's Practice

Monday was the first practice with shoulder pads. On Wednesday the hoosiers will be in full pads. A few things I just wanted to point out that seemed interesting.
- During 7 on 7 drills Chappell looked very sharp completing 11-14 passes. Most of them to Belcher, Turner, and Adetona with Belcher having the best catch of the day.
- Both Dusty Kiel and Ed Wright-Baker have impressed and Dusty may be have the 3rd spot now.
- Starting across from Ray Fisher has been Donnell Jones which might surprise a few people. I like Donnell a lot, his only knock being his height. He is a quick corner who is also pretty physical. I remember him making a great diving interception last year at Penn State.
-So far the starting lineman on offense look to be Saffold, Pagan, Matte, Saxon, Brewer. Faulkner and Perry have been limited with some minor injuries.
- Because there will be a lot of upper class men this season Lynch has been able to put in much more of the offense the first few days then previous years.

For the 2009 season...

I would like to have a few regular posts per week. The first being a post about the upcoming match up with different keys to the game. I would also like to have a post game post about my reaction to the game followed by a post with the performers of the week from our 2010 commits during their high school year. Let me know what you think or if you would like to be write about anything else during the year.

Start of fall camp

Hello everybody, I am back from vacation and getting excited for the season to start. Yesterday was the first day of fall practice for the hoosiers. If you haven't seen pictures they are sporting some new practice uniforms that are looking pretty good. It was also the first time that the players and coaches are using all of the new tools in the north end-zone. All of the weights are almost done being put into the weight room and the players had their first meeting in the new meeting rooms. Here are a few notes from the first day of practice:

-Secondary coach Joe Palcic was thrilled to have both Austin Thomas and Nick Polk back at 100%. Nick said that he knee feels perfectly fine.

-Everybody was pretty much back onto the field except Fred Jones (foot injury) and Alex Perry (knee injury). Both of them have pretty minor injuries and should be fine.

-At this point everybody kind of wonders what freshman might be able to make in instant impact and one of the names that is surfacing is Duwyce Wilson. He had a pretty good first day of practice.

-Chappel was clearly the best players on the offensive side of the ball. This is a pretty encouraging sign because he needs to have a good year if we want to make some noise.

-There are new videos up on iuhoosiers.com of Fred Glass and Bill Lynch visiting Joe's Bar on Weeds Street downtown Chicago a week or so ago. Jeremy Gray will also be interviewing many players throughout the next couple of days as practice gets underway.

Here are some pictures from day 1 thanks to the heraldtimes online.