Indiana Hoosiers (East Division)
Location: Bloomington, IN
Stadium: Memorial Stadium (52,929)
Coach: Kevin Wilson (6th year): 8-32 v B1G, 20-41 overall
2015 Indiana Hoosiers (6-7)(2-6) 2016 Indiana
Hoosiers
48 Southern Illinois 47 S1 at Florida International (Thursday)
36 Florida International 22 S10 Ball State
38 Western Kentucky 35 S17
31 at Wake Forest 24 S24 Wake Forest
27 Ohio State 34 O1 Michigan State
7 at
Penn State 29 O8 at Ohio State
52 Rutgers 55 O15 Nebraska
26 at Michigan State 52 O22 at Northwestern
27 Iowa 35 O29 Maryland
41 Michigan (2OT) 48 N5 at Rutgers
47 at Maryland 28 N12 Penn State
54 at Purdue 36 N19 at Michigan
41 Duke (OT) 44 N26 Purdue
(Pinstripe Bowl)
It took five
seasons, but Coach Kevin Wilson finally led Indiana to a bowl game in
2015. The Hoosiers lost 44-41 to Duke in
the Pinstripe Bowl, but it was a step in the right direction for a program that
has been down trodden for years.
Indiana’s
top priority on the offense is replacing the backfield tandem of quarterback
Nate Sudfeld and running back Jordan Howard; Sudfeld led the conference in
passing and Howard was third in rushing.
However, Coach Wilson has a trio of quality quarterbacks waiting in the wings. Two of them have seen action; junior Zander
Diamont has played well against the likes of Ohio State and Michigan the past
two seasons and Danny Cameron has also played well when given the reins. The Hoosiers got some much-needed depth at
this position over the winter when junior college transfer Richard Lagow
arrived on campus. Spring practice ended
with Diamont and Cameron neck-and-neck for the starting role. Diamont had a 79-yard run against Ohio State
last year and threw for 166 yards in his two appearances. Cameron appeared in one game, completing six
passes for 65 yards. Junior Devine
Redding will take over for the departed Jordan Howard, but the Hoosiers should
be in good hands as Redding managed over 1000 yards and nine scores. Sophomore Mike Majette should prove to be a
capable backup. He racked up 181 yards
in 2015 on 37 attempts. The receiving
corps will be in good hands, led by junior WR Simmie Cobbs, recently named to
the Maxwell and Bilitnikoff watch lists.
His speed and moves in the open field can be tough on any secondary to
contain as last year, he had over 1000 yards receiving. Seniors Ricky Jones and Mitchell Paige will
join Cobbs as the best unit on this team will should continue to put up big
numbers and get into the end zone quite a bit.
Paige and Jones were just behind Cobbs, snagging 57 and 54 receptions
respectively. Junior Jordan Fuchs stands
to get more than the four receptions he managed last year, although he is known
more for his run blocking abilities. The
offensive line appears to be in good shape, returning four seniors. Dimitric Camiel and Jacob Bailey appear to
have the left side of the line locked down, at LT and LG respectively. Wes Rogers returns to anchor the line at
center, while Dan Feeney will continue to be a stalwart at RG. Joining them at RT is newcomer Brandon
Knight, a sophomore.
Unfortunately,
the defensive side of the ball looks less promising, as they will still have a
tough time stopping anybody. Indiana
ranked last in the B1G in scoring defense a year ago, giving up 37.6 points per
game. As a result, the Hoosiers replaced
defensive coordinator Brian Knorr with Tom Allen, who came up from South
Florida. The first objective is shoring
up the run defense that gave up almost 200 yards per game in 2015. Unfortunately, all three starters on the
defensive line have departed, leaving only junior NT Ralph Green III with any
appreciable experience (17 tackles).
Sophomore Jacob Robinson and junior Robert McCray III each had very good
spring practices and, as of now, are slated to start alongside Green at DE and
DT respectively. Leading tackler Marcus
Oliver (JR) returns at one inside linebacker spot and was one of the few bright
spots on defense, as he managed 112 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss. Senior T.J. Simmons joins him on the inside
and he was third on the team in tackles in 2015 with 73. Juniors Tegray Scales and Clyde Newton should
get the nod at the other inside and outside backer positions respectively. Scales ranked just behind Simmons with 64
tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.
Newton turned in 50 tackles and also had a fumble recovery. Sophomore Jonathan Crawford has the most
experience in a young secondary, with 76 tackles and four picks from his FS
spot. Joining him at SS should be junior
Chase Dutra with 61 tackles last year.
Junior Rashard Fant and sophomore Andre Brown man the corners. Fant saw extensive action in all 13 games in
2015 and managed 52 tackles and an interception, while Brown managed 35 tackles
in limited action.
Junior
Griffin Oakes is back after a very productive 2014 campaign in which he hit 24
of 29 field goals, while junior Daniel
Pasquariello will have to replace Erich Toth at punter.
Indiana is
an intriguing team, trying to build off of last year’s bowl trip, and close
shaves against Ohio State and a double-OT loss to Michigan, a game Indiana
should have won. They should be 3-0
entering the conference schedule. The
B1G schedule, however, doesn’t do them any favors as they play host to Michigan
State, travel to Ohio State and host Nebraska in the first three weeks of
October. Then, a trip to Michigan awaits
before the season finale against archrival Purdue. The Hoosiers are good enough to make a second
consecutive bowl trip, but it remains to be seen if the defense can improve
enough to have them compete and move to the upper half of the division.
PROJECTION: 6-6 (4-4) 4th
in Eastern Division
No comments:
Post a Comment