I know, I know...it’s only Indiana State. But there’s a lot more to feel good about this season when it comes to Indiana football than just the fact that they shellacked a Division I-AA team in their first game of the season.
It’s good to know that the enthusiasm former head coach Terry Hoeppner brought to the locker room at Indiana is alive and well - even though Coach Hoeppner, so very sadly, is not. Hep lost his battle with brain cancer this summer, and though he is no longer physically present on the sideline, it’s hardly like he has left the building.
Even though the IU football team has still not been to a bowl game since 1993, Coach Hep made football fun again in Bloomington. His infectious spirit and seemingly endless energy made the guys want to show up every Saturday and give it everything they had. And all of that energy is carrying over to the new season, begun on Saturday with the aforementioned drubbing, 55-7, of Indiana State.
“Play 13” is the motto for the Hoosiers this year - it means that the singular goal for this season is to play thirteen games. There are twelve games on the schedule, and if they can manage to win just half of those games, they will qualify for a bowl game, which would be the thirteenth.
The schedule, as usual, is built to help Indiana achieve that goal, as much as that is possible for a not-very-good team that has to play in the Big Ten. The next two contests are winnable games against Western Michigan and Akron, and then the Big Ten schedule starts when the Hoosiers host Illinois, the other awful team in this conference. A 4-0 start for Indiana is not out of the question, and that would leave only two games that they would need to win in order to qualify for a bowl game. As a bonus, there is a fourth non-Big Ten game buried near the end of the season, a home date with Ball State that is also winnable. Another bonus is that this year’s schedule does not contain Michigan or Ohio State.
And there is simply no telling what an inspired team with tons of drive can get done. The Hoosiers beat Iowa last season - and they can maybe do it again this year. Wide receiver James Hardy seems to have gotten his life on track after the legal troubles he faced last year, and seems ready to shatter most of IU’s receiving records, provided quarterback Kellen Lewis continues to develop. Hardy had three catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday - and Lewis was 12 of 21 for 285 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for a score. The defense will give up a lot of points, but if Lewis and Hardy stay sharp, they will be able to keep Indiana in a lot of games just by themselves.
Coach Hep was only on the sidelines for two seasons at Indiana, but he may have done more in those two seasons to change the face of IU football than any coach since Bill Mallory, a victim of the Myles Brand Inquisition that has forever sullied the face of sports at Indiana University. Coach Hep is gone, but his legacy has yet to be written - though it has a fine beginning. Indiana football is exciting again - and that, all by itself, is a remarkable achievement.
Thanks, Coach.
3 comments:
Excellent. Good to see IU pigskin getting some love. I was actually gonna do a post too, but you hit the nail on the head. I just hope we can use this as a positive, and don't get crushed by the emotion if things start to go badly. Schedule is set up for us, but it was after the win over Michigan State last year as well. The hardest thing is changing the losing culture. one bowl win could do that, and this would be a terrific honor to coach Hep.
With a weaker Big 11 this year, who knows? They don't play Ohio State, they could very well win 6 or 7 games. Too bad Hep passed away, you could see IU football changing for the better.
Great Post--I can't remember what it's like to be excited about IU football.
On a separate note, I was a little dissapointed that bartman got in the way of my message the other day...I was thoroughly proud.
But back to the topic at hand; it is time for some Big Ten Football....GO BIG RED!
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