IU's Good Football Men Start With Chappell, Replogle

Indiana needed a few good football men, and who better to lead the way than quarterback Ben Chappell and linebacker Tyler Replogle. They have been elected season captains entering Thursday night’s season opener against Towson.

Chappell is poised for a big-time senior season. He’s on the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List, plus is a nominee for the AFCA Good Works Team and the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. He ranks among the top-20 returning quarterbacks nationally in completions per game (22.33), passing yards (2,941), passing yards per game (245.08) and total offense (2,932 yards). Those totals all lead the Big Ten.

He’s in IU’s top 10 for career completions (59.9 percent, first), passing yards (3,956, 10th), passing touchdowns (21, 9th) and total offnse (4,022, 10th).

Replogle is the Big Ten’s sixth-leading returning tackler at 7.3. He finished with 80 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.

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Today we’re going to help you get to IU football games without resorting to road rage, photon torpedoes or becoming a Purdue fan.

For instance, did you know IU will send messages on traffic information to ticket holders via letters, emails and a Twitter page www.Twitter.com/IUTraffic)? Plus, information is available at IUHoosiers.com

This is important because of the potential traffic headaches caused by the widening of the 45/46 Bypass.

The No. 1 thing to do is get to the game early. Traffic will circle the stadium in clockwise rotation, so brace yourself for one-way traffic (north-bound) on Dunn Steet and Fee Lance, and plus the 45/46 Bypass (west-bound from Fee Lane to Walnut Street.

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) also will alter traffic signals at SR 37 and SR 67 from Indianapolis to ease traffic problems. Finally, Indot will measure average travel time from Indianapolis using a new detection technology.

The bottom line -– it needs to be easy to get to IU football games. If it’s not, people won’t come and in these economically bad times, that’s potentially disastrous.


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You might think of Lee Corso as a funny college football TV analyst with a habit of putting on mascot heads, but did you know he was actor Burt Reynold’s roommate at Florida State, plus a multiple letter winner in football and baseball for the Seminoles.

Oh, yes. He coached a little football for Indiana and while he didn’t deliver a consistent winner (he did guide the Hoosiers to a 1979 Holiday Bowl victory over previously unbeaten Brigham Young) he did produce perhaps the most hilarious coach’s show ever. One of the most memorable moments was when the show began with Corso lying motionless in a coffin. He then popped up and said, “We ain’t dead yet.”

Anyway, we know this because it was part of the bio after Corso was named the winner of the National College Football Awards Association 2010 Contributions to College Football Award. It recognized contributions to college football and a lifetime of achievement and integrity.

Other award winners include TV announcer Keith Jackson, Nebraska coach Tom Osborne, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, Georgia coach Vince Dooley and Texas coach Darrell Royal.

Corso joined ESPN in 1987 after a 28-year coaching career. In 2001 The Sporting News magazine named him as the 17th most influential person in college football.

He also was the head coach of Louisville, Northern Illinois and the Orlando Renegades of the U.S. Football League.

Doss Out For Thursday Night Opener

Tandon Doss isn’t going to play. For now, with Towson coming to Memorial Stadium on Thursday night, this is no big deal. Indiana should roll with or without this returning All-Big Ten receiver.

A grooin injury has sidelined the 6-3, 205-pound junior. That means the Hoosiers will be without a guy who, as a sophomore, caught 77 passes for 962 yards and five touchdowns.

Given their receiver depth (talented redshirt freshman Duwyce Wilson will replace Doss) and Towson’s likely secondary vulnerability, this should not be a problem on Thursday. It could become one later in the season if Doss remains out, but all indications are that won’t happen.

“He’s not going to play (against Towson),” coach Bill Lynch said. “In fairness to him and to the other guys, he’s just not making the progress he needs to make to play at full speed.

“It’s a long year. We don’t want it to be a lingering injury.”

IU gets an apparent scheduling break in that, after Thursday’s game, it doesn’t play again until Sept. 18 when it goes to Western Kentucky. Those 16 days will go a long way toward getting Doss, and other injured Hoosiers, healthy.

“There’s no question we can use the time (for Doss) and anything else that happens Thursday night,” Lynch said. “It helps with a kid like Chris Adkins (out until midseason after ankle surgery). We hope to get him back. You always spin your schedule to a positive. That’s how we’re looking at it.”

The Hoosiers are gearing for what they hope is a major turnaround after winning a combined seven games in the past two seasons.

“We’ve spent a lot of time finding out who is ready to play,” Lynch said. “We won’t have tryouts on Thursday. We’ll play the guys who have proven they are ready.

“From a scheme standpoint we’ve worked hard on third downs on both sides of the ball. We did a lot of things in camp to make it more competitive. We had drills where there were winners and losers. There was conditioning after practice depending on who won and who lost.

“We worked on red zone offense and red zone defense. We’ve got to score more touchdowns in the red zone. The defense has to have that mindset that it will force field goals. We’ve spent a ton of time in those areas.”

Coaches also have focused on attention to detail and maximum effort on every play.

“The defense is supposed to run to the ball on every play,” Lynch said. “We chart every loaf and if we see it they run as a group. Offensively it’s about ball security. If we see a ball on the ground or a turnover, the entire offense does something after practice. That includes things like pre-snap penalties.”

The bottom line is IU needs to show this will be a special season. Yes, that means little things matter. And it starts, but certainly doesn’t end, with a victory Thursday night.

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To clarify an earlier blog, freshman receiver Kofi Hughes is the only true freshman likely to play against Towson. He's the only true true freshman listed on the two-deep roster. The injury to Doss and Dre Muhammad's ankle injury increases the chances that Hughes will see action.

Top 5 Signs IU Football Will Rock

Football season is here and it's time for REAL MAN prognasticating. That means we’re going to reveal the five key signs that will let you know, four days before the first kickoff, if Indiana is going to have a break-through season.

We’ll do this by analyzing all the data from every Indiana and BCS team game ever played. Also by climbing the highest mountain in Colorado. As a result, these signs are 100 percent guaranteed accurate, or your money back.

Any questions before we get started?

THIS IS THE INTERNET. WE DIDN’T PAY ANYTHING TO READ YOUR BLOG. BESIDES THERE’S NO WAY YOU ANALYZED ANYTHING CLOSE TO ALL THOSE GAMES.

First, that’s not a question. Second, let’s not confuse knowledge with wisdom. Third, go bake a cake.

Anyway, these are the five key areas that will determine Indiana’s success. If it goes 5-0, bet the house on a bowl game. If it’s 4-1, bet your neighbor’s house. If it’s 3-2 or worse, well, there’s always next year.


SIGN NO. 1: Indiana beats Towson by at least 25 points.

The Hoosiers need a decisive win. None of this hanging on in the fourth quarter stuff. They need to blow out the Tigers by halftime, then keep going in the second half.

Towson is, and we’re begin diplomatic here, not a powerhouse. It is a struggling Division I-AA team or whatever the name for that division is. The Tigers went 2-9 last year and lost their final six games by a combined 241-61. They lost 47-14 to Northwestern last year. The Wildcats, in case you’ve forgotten, went to a bowl game.

If IU struggles to beat Towson at home, what’s going to happen when it faces Big Ten teams?

Yes, Iowa barely beat Northern Iowa in last year’s season opener, then went on to kick rump, but as Confucius once said, Indiana ain’t no Iowa.

DID CONFUCIUS REALLY SAY THAT?

We’re professional journalists. We never make mistakes except when remembering Tyler Replogle’s first name. Or is that Adam?


SIGN NO. 2: The Hoosiers rush for at least 150 yards against Towson.

Nothing shows dominance like smash-mouth football. IU should be bigger, stronger and faster. It should -– as Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed once told Rocky in what should have been an Oscar-winning performance -– “be more man than him.”

The Hoosiers need to run over, through and around the Tigers. The line should open holes so big five sumo wrestlers could stomp through. The running backs should stiff-arm would-be tacklers into Brown County.

If they can’t, if the Tigers stuff the run and turn IU one-dimensional, well, break out the Barry Manilow CD. That would be easier to take.


SIGN NO. 3: Quarterback Ben Chappell completes at least 60 percent of his passes for more than 200 yards and never gets sacked.

Chappell set an IU single-season record by completing 62.6 percent of his passes last season, a big chunk of that against Big Ten defenses. He’s a 4.0 graduate student in the Kelley School of Business. He has one of the Big Ten’s best group of receivers at his disposal, plus is being protected by what should be a solid Big Ten offensive line. He’s a fifth-year senior who knows the offense inside and out. It’s an offense, by the way, designed to capitalize on his strengths.

Towson allowed opponents to complete 63.9 percent of their passes last season. It should be out-gunned all over the field. It should get torched so bad, IU’s new $2 million scoreboard should lock up from all the activity.

If not, well, did we mention Barry Manilow?


SIGN NO. 4: IU holds Towson to less than 10 points, 100 rushing yards and 150 passing yards.

If the Hoosiers really do have a solid defense, they need to show it right away. Stuff the run. Pressure the quarterback into irrelevance. Allow no big plays. Get off the field on third down.

This is their chance to make a big first defensive impression and that can only happen by doing their best Steel Curtain impression.

The Tigers remind nobody of, say, Oklahoma. They averaged just 13.5 points and 251.1 total yards last season. The Hoosiers with their young talent and 3-4 scheme should dominate.

If IU really is tired of being defensively mediocre, prove it.


SIGN NO. 5: Towson coaches accuse Hoosier coach Bill Lynch of going all Steve Spurrier and running up the score.

Forget all that touchy feely stuff about being nice and not trying to embarrass anybody. This is football. It’s about doing your best on every play. If you don’t like getting hammered, do something about it, like tackle somebody, score touchdowns and make a defensive stand.

If IU can score 60 points, do it. If it can get a shut out, do that, too.

And if somebody gets his feelings hurt, well, don't take the $50,000 or so guarantee money, put on a dress and start knitting.

Okay, we gotta go and eat some nails for breakfast.

One IU Freshman Likely To Play In Season Opener

Indiana has 24 true football freshmen and only one has a real chance of playing against Towson in Thursday night’s season opener.

Can you guess who it is?

Here’s a hint -– he has a cast on his hand and he still might play.

Remember this Bill Lynch program rule –- true freshmen generally don’t play unless they’re going to start or play a whole bunch.

Consider the leading candidates. Linebacker Chase Hoobler was in the mix in training camp, and at 6-2 and 225 pounds, is probably physically mature enough to handle it. However, IU’s linebacker depth likely means he won’t play unless there’s a bunch of injuries. Right now, all the veterans are healthy.

“I’m not sure we’ll go with Hoobler because of the depth at linebacker,” Lynch said, “but things can change with injuries.”

Running back Matt Perez put up big numbers at Maine South High School in Illinois. In his last two years he rushed for 3,393 yards and 56 touchdowns. He added an Illinois Class 8A record by rushing for 316 yards and five TDs in the championship game. He is 5-11 and 200 with good speed. His Hoosier prospects are bright, but veterans Darius Willis, Tre Burgess, Nick Turner and Zach Davis-Walker are ahead of him.

Another running back, Antonio Banks, enrolled in school last January and participated in spring ball. But the 5-11, 200 pounder has been a little banged up and that leaves immediate playing time in question.

The plan right now is to let them get some practice work this week and see how healthy the veteran running backs are come Thursday. Given the pounding running backs take, health is always a concern.

“We’ll probably rotate (Banks and Perez) to give them a taste in practice,” Lynch said.

So who does that leave as far as freshman candidates? Try Kofi Hughes. He was a quarterback in high school, but he’s a receiver at IU good enough to get consideration at the Hoosiers’ best position.

Yeah, that says a lot about his potential.

“Kofi is the one freshman who will practice up,” Lynch said. “We felt that way when we recruited him. He is an outstanding player and has proven that. He’s playing wide receiver with a cast on his hand, which is obviously not the ideal situation. We’ll find out how that is going to play itself out.”

The 6-2, 200-pound Hughes’ extreme athleticism gives him a playing chance. At Indianapolis Cathedral he was a do-it-all quarterback. He threw for 1,584 yards and 19 touchdowns. He rushed for 1,552 yards and 22 TDs.

This kind of versatility is what drew IU coaches. Wide receiver is a position a true freshman can make an impact because size and strength aren’t as crucial as they are at other positions.

Injuries at receiver will likely be the deciding factor if Hughes plays this season, but one thing is for certain -– he is the kind of improved recruit the Hoosiers have landed in recent years, and that likely will make a huge difference in IU’s quest to return to bowl relevance.

The other freshmen will likely redshirt and play on the scout team, which basically means pretending to be the key players on the opposing team of the week. That approach, Lynch said, is the best way to develop the Hoosiers into consistent bowl contenders.

Hungry IU Defense Aims To Prove Its Strength

So now we’re less than a week away from getting our first indication, but certainly not our last, of how good Indiana’s defense will be. Here’s one thing we can say with absolute certainty:

They’re tired of being bad mouthed.

Of course they are. They have competitive pride. Nobody wants to be labeled as the team’s weak link.

There are reasons for that label, centering on eight new players, including a brand new secondary, and a history of defensive mediocrity. But here’s the deal. There is talent here and just because it’s young doesn’t mean it can’t make an impact.

Granted, Towson (the Division I-AA season-opening opponent) should not be a team that has its way with the defense. The Hoosiers should dominate. Truer tests will come in future weeks. But in terms of the unit’s potential, well, you can see in coach Bill Lynch’s eyes that he believes good things are about to happen.

“I’m anxious to watch them play. There are a lot of new faces. I’m going off watching them in practice, when our offense goes against our defense for 15 days in the spring and now like 23 practices in camp.”

What he sees is what should be a good IU offense struggle to move the ball in practice. Yes, a cynic would say this is bad news for the offense. A realist could mention that, because both units have gone against each other for so long, and know each other’s tendencies so well, a struggling offense is to be expected.

“There’s a little bit of cheat there because they know what’s coming,” Lynch said, “but I think we’re a good offensive team and they have not moved the ball on this defense. That excites me that our defense is pretty good.

“This is a group that is hungry and motivated. They have a new personality. They’ve been reading about what people have said about them. They’re anxious to prove this is a good group. They’re out there to be the IU defense. We don’t have a bunch of ‘ME’ guys. They’ve all bought in. They know their roles. It’s going to be a fun group to watch.”

Fun will include four solid defensive tackles in Mick Mentzer, Adam Replogle, Larry Black and Nicholas Sliger; a pair of do-everything defensive ends in Kevin Bush and Darius Johnson; an aggressive group of linebackers led by senior Tyler Replogle (“He’s as intense a guy as I’ve ever been around,” Lynch said), and a competitive-sharpened group of defensive backs (look for a break-out year from senior Richard Council).

The bottom line -- these guys are motivated and talented, perhaps not to the level of Ohio State (few teams are), but enough to win with. Starting on Thursday, we’ll get the chance to see how realistic that is.

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After 44 years, Harold Mauro’s IU run is over. That run started as a linebacker for some bad Hoosier teams, included a stint as starting center on a Big Ten tri-champion Rose Bowl team, ended up as an Indiana assistant coach, offensive coordinator, senior associate athletic director and, for the last six years, director of football operations. He was involved in every bowl game in Hoosier history. He was an assistant coach on the 1979 Holiday Bowl winning team, plus was an administrator for the 1986 All-American Bowl, 1988 Peach Bowl, 1988 Liberty Bowl, 1990 Peach Bowl, 1991 Copper Bowl, 1993 Independence Bowl and 2007 Insight Bowl.

Mauro was honored during Friday’s Farewell Reception at Memorial Stadium’s Hall of Champions.

“It has been an honor to work for some great presidents, directors of athletics and head coaches,” he said in a university release. “It was a great journey. I met so many great people along the way. I will always be a Hoosier.”

IU Football – Sizing Up The Offensive Line

You can talk all you want about the quality of Indiana receivers, the accuracy of quarterback Ben Chappell and the potential of running backs such as Darius Willis, but if the big guys up front struggle, the whole offense breaks down.

That would mean the season would come down to the defense. Given recent history, that is not the best of scenarios, although this unit might surprise people.

Anyway, let’s take a look at the offensive line. It is not a line that rates with the Big Ten’s best in reputation, but nobody wins games on reputation. You need size, strength, toughness, maturity and two-eyes-for-an-eye nastiness.

It starts with right tackle James Brewer, who looks big enough to scare a grizzly bear. He is listed at 6-8 and 335 pounds and he’s in his fifth season. He didn’t play much his first three years because of redshirting and injuries. Last year he started all 12 games and has shown enough improvement that a shot at the NFL is a distinct possibility.

Then there’s center Will Matte. He was one of the nation’s best freshman linemen last year (he only allowed one sack) and, at 6-2 and 295 pounds, has the athleticism to thrive at the position.

Cody Faulkner is another mountain-sized guy. He’s a 6-5, 315-pound redshirt senior. He was a right guard force as a sophomore, a banged-up reserve as a junior. He’s a little banged up again, but he needs to stay healthy to provide much needed maturity and physical play.

Justin Pagan is a 6-5, 332-pound junior left guard who was good enough to play as a true freshman. That is not a typo. On a program known for redshirting freshmen, at a position few first-year guys are physically mature enough to play, he played seven games and started the last five.

He started 11 games last season and allowed just one sack.

Finally there’s junior left tackle Andrew McDonald, who is 6-6 and 304 pounds. He’s played in 13 games over the last two seasons.

Toss in such guys as Jordan Marquette (6-3, 290), Chris Ahlfeld (6-1, 276), Pat McShane (6-5, 297) and that leads to the obvious question:

Where does IU find such big guys?

In truth, a lot of that size is a credit to the strength and conditioning staff and program led by Mark Wateska, as well as target recruiting. Coach Bill Lynch likes athletic linemen, and taller guys are fine.

Most of the linemen got plenty of work in last Saturday’s scrimmage, although Brewer and Matte didn’t get much work.

“At this point,” Lynch said, “they’ve earned starting positions.”

The coaches tried to give a lot of guys reps to develop depth in case a starter goes down during the season.

“Our guys do a great job of pass blocking,” Lynch said. “Our run game has been solid.

“We did a lot of moving around, but it’s hard to do (from now on). We wanted to get as many looks as we could. We wanted to give them some experience at different positions so if something happens and they have to pop out there and play, it’s not new to them.”

IU has enough offensive-line size, strength and athleticism to get the job done. If it does, and Chappell has enough time to pick apart opposing defenses, well, all that talk about this being a special season won’t be just talk.

For the record –- that season opens next Thursday against Towson.

IU Basketball Recruiting –- Good Coaching Matters

So what exactly does Tom Crean look for in a recruit?

Yes, there are the obvious traits –- basketball skill, athleticism, good character, committed to academics, hard working, mental and physical toughness, a high motor, a good basketball IQ.

Crean also looks for something not so obvious –- good coaching.

“There’s a lot to be said about a way a player is coached,” he said. “It goes back to what you want to get out of your recruiting. It’s not just about any area. Is this a young man who is a year-round winner? Is he getting coached year round?”

Back in the day, like when the Bee Gees ruled the airwaves, players only competed during the high school season. Now, of course, they play high school ball in the winter and AAU or travel ball in the spring and summer.

Both matter and to emphasize one over the other, Crean said, is a mistake.

“You can’t just look at a kid and say, ‘Wow, he’s in a good high school program,’ and then he’s bouncing around in a AAU program or a not-as-good AAU program.

“You might hear, he’s better in the summer. That’s a kiss of death to me. He’s better in the summer than with his high school team? Wait a minute. The high school team has him practicing every day. AAU teams don’t get to do that. So what does that say about him?

“When you find a kid who is a year-round winner with two great programs with high school and AAU ball, that just sticks out.”

Crean said incoming freshmen Will Sheehey and Victor Oladipo meet that criteria. Neither player is from an in-state program (Sheehey is from Florida, Oladipo is from Maryland), but both are expected to have significant impacts this season.

The Hoosiers continue to emphasize in-state recruiting. The high quality of in-state players reflects, in part, the quality of the travel and high school (and even earlier) coaching.

“There is so much good coaching in this state,” Crean said. “And the coaching in the summer time is also outstanding. Those things are really strong for us."

That strength is likely to produce a winning record this season. Five of the team's 15 players come from the state of Indiana. That in-state number is likely to grow in the coming years.

“(Recruiting in-state players) is something we want to do," Crean said, "something fans want us to do, but most important, it makes sense for us to do.”

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In case you missed it, former Hoosier Eric Gordon has made the U.S. team that will compete in the FIBA World Championships. Gordon has averaged 16.4 points in two years with the Clippers. He averaged 21.5 points in his lone season in Bloomington.

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To answer a reader comment, it just didn’t work out with Jerimy Finch and the IU football program. He was injured a lot after transferring from Florida. He was out of position even more. Coaches could never trust where he'd be on any given play. He never played the way you’d expect from a guy rated the nation’s No. 1 prep safety coming out of Indianapolis Warren Central. In two years he played a total of 12 games and dominated none of them. He couldn’t crack the starting lineup last year in what was a mediocre secondary racked with injuries. He left the program in the off-season.