2008 Indiana Hoosiers Preview

Play 13 was the late Terry Hoeppner’s battle cry for an Indiana University football program that had gone 13 consecutive seasons without playing in a bowl game. That came to an end last year, a few months after Hoeppner’s passing, with a New Year’s Eve trip to the Insight Bowl.

Two Minute Drill

A Quick Look at the Hoosiers

As long as Kellen Lewis is running the show, Indiana should have no trouble putting up a lot of points again in 2008. Lewis gives the running game instant credibility with his ability to take off and run at any point. The fleet-footed junior has a knack for taking what the defense gives him. Put Lewis in the new no-huddle offense and he should even have more chances to shine. If the running game could be a little more formidable, it could potentially make Lewis that much more dangerous. The Hoosiers, though, need to do a better job of running between the tackles, which will force opposing defenses not to key as much on Lewis. In the passing department, Ray Fisher and Andrew Means need to stretch the field in order to open up more opportunities underneath. Still, as is always the case with Indiana football, the defense will dictate just how far this team is capable of going. Last season the defensive front, led by Greg Middleton, recorded a school-record 42 sacks, but the Hoosiers still gave up 28.5 points and more than 400 yards of offense per game. Stopping the run will once again be the key. Last season, IU gave up nearly 160 rushing yards per game and 24 rushing touchdowns, numbers that both need to shrink.

One season later the goals have changed. Instead of ‘Play 13’, IU players are committed to not only getting to a bowl game, but winning one, too.

“I’m not going to say that people were just satisfied to get there, but I think we learned something pretty valuable at the bowl game last year,” says junior defensive end Greg Middleton, who led the nation in sacks with 16 last season. “We still want to play 13, but our goal this year is to win No. 13. And I think we have the team to do it.”

Optimism is high at Indiana. With the exception of game-changing wide receiver James Hardy, the majority of the pieces return from a team that averaged nearly 32 points per game last season. The 2008 schedule features a school-record eight home games. There is no Michigan or Ohio State on the schedule for a second year in a row, and eight of the first 10 games of the season will be played in the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium. The two road games in that stretch are at Minnesota and Illinois.

Still, there’s a major question mark surrounding the Hoosiers entering the 2008 season. Junior all-everything quarterback Kellen Lewis did not participate in spring practice after being suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules. Coach Bill Lynch says Lewis has some work to do to be a part of the IU team in the fall.

With Lewis under center, and the Hoosiers employing a new no-huddle offense, the sky appears to be the limit for Indiana. But if Lewis isn’t there, and Indiana is forced to use backup Ben Chappell, an explosive offensive attack will have taken a major hit.

It’s a fluid situation that will have Hoosier fans on the edge of their seats throughout the summer wondering if 2008 has a chance to be as magical as 2007.

Quarterbacks

Lewis, the player who is constantly compared to former IU standout Antwaan Randle El, doesn’t merely direct the offense; he is the offense. A year ago, he was Indiana’s leading rusher with 736 yards and nine touchdowns. That was exactly half of the number of rushing touchdowns for the team. As for his passing skills, Lewis completed nearly 60 percent of his passes for 3,043 yards with 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Chappell appears to be a capable backup and handled the offense fine in the spring. But the no-huddle offense under the direction of a player like Lewis, who can take off and run at any time, has much more potential than it does with a much-less-mobile Chappell running the show.

Running backs

Marcus Thigpen has been called the fastest man in Bloomington because of his 4.3 track speed, and he’s tough to catch in the open field. The difficult thing is getting him there. Running to the outside, Thigpen has been effective, but he has struggled between the tackles. Still, he was IU’s second-leading rusher behind Lewis with 568 yards. It will help that IU’s other top two tailbacks, Bryan Payton and Demetrius McCray, return. McCray missed most of the 2007 season with a leg injury, and Payton filled in admirably, gaining 381 yards. One other player to keep an eye on is true freshman Darius Willis, the runner-up for Indiana’s Mr. Football award for the top player in the state last season. At 6'0", 220, Willis is a powerful back who will challenge for playing time right away.

Receivers

Gone are Hardy and James Bailey — the latter left the team for personal reasons — but Indiana shouldn’t miss a beat. Guys like Andrew Means, Ray Fisher and Terrance Turner are all explosive receivers and have been waiting in the wings for their turn. Last year, Means and Fisher combined to catch 100 passes for more than 1,000 yards. Turner was hurt early in the year but is expected to be 100 percent by the fall. All three of those players missed the spring game for a variety of reasons, but that just gave players like Brandon Walker-Roby, Matt Ernest, Chris Banks and Collin Taylor a chance to shine. The one thing that is clear is there will be lots of quality competition for playing time at the wide receiver spot this season. Keep an eye on redshirt freshman Max Dedmond to make an immediate impact at the tight end position. Tight ends only caught five passes total last season, but Dedmond could change that in a hurry. Look for him to become a favorite target regardless who the IU quarterback turns out to be.

Offensive linemen

Hoeppner’s second recruiting class at Indiana included seven offensive linemen, whom he dubbed the “Seven Blocks of Limestone.” Line coach Bobby Johnson said in the spring that it’s possible that five of those players could occupy the starting lineup for the Hoosiers in the fall. Left tackle Rodger Saffold and left guard Pete Saxon have been the mainstays at their positions the last two seasons and will continue there as juniors. But three other members of the ‘Seven Blocks’ — Alex Perry, Cody Faulkner and Mike Stark — could also start this year. Fifth-year senior Kenny Love will battle Faulkner at right guard, as will 350-pound redshirt freshman Dennis Zeigler.

Defensive linemen

Middleton is on every preseason watch list for defensive players after his first-team All-Big Ten season last year at end. He led the nation in sacks with a school-record 16 and constantly created havoc in the opponent’s backfield. Jammie Kirlew, the pass rusher on the other side, benefited from all the attention paid to Middleton last season and had 4.5 sacks of his own. Another defensive end, Ryan Marando, had five sacks last year and will platoon with Kirlew. Defensive tackles Deonte Mack and Greg Brown, along with brothers Kevin and Keith Burrus, give Indiana plenty of depth and experience up front in a group that boasts three returning starters.

Linebackers

Two of three starters return in Will Patterson and Geno Johnson, and Matt Mayberry and Tyler Replogle have lots of experience as they fight for the starting spot at middle linebacker. Patterson was IU’s second-leading tackler a year ago with 104, including eight tackles for a loss and three fumble recoveries. Johnson was seventh in tackles and is another player who is always around the ball. Keep an eye on converted running back Justin Carrington and Darius Johnson as two other players who could see some time at linebacker this fall.

Defensive backs

Both safeties are back in Nick Polk and Austin Thomas, but IU entered the spring with major question marks at the cornerback position, which lost its two starters to graduation. But the one thing that was obvious coming out of the spring was that it’s going to be a dogfight in the fall for the two positions with four very talented players vying for the jobs. Fifth-year senior Chris Phillips is penciled in as a starter, but Richard Council will give him a run for his money. On the other side Bruce Hampton and Adrian Burks are the two leading candidates for that job.

Specialists

Austin Starr was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, given to the nation’s top placekicker, a year ago after making a school-record 21-of-23 field goals, including a career-long-tying 49-yarder against Purdue with 30 seconds to play in a 27–24 victory that sent the Hoosiers to a bowl game. He set a school record with 15 consecutive field goals at one point. As steady as the placekicking game is for IU, the punting was up for grabs coming out of the spring. Redshirt freshman Chris Hagerup will get the first shot, and Kyle Lambeck will be next in the pecking order. The kick returners are solid with Thigpen bringing back kickoffs and Fisher returning punts.

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