Saying the 2011 season in Bloomington, IN was not good might be the understatement of the year so far. The Hoosiers had one of the worst Big Ten seasons in recent memory as they took up the bottom of the league in Kevin Wilson’s first season at the helm. So, there’s nowhere to go but up right?
But the question is could that be the bottom and the building of something special for the Indiana program? Watching what happens this Spring should give us a great clue as to if it’s a building block or if there’s still that much more work to be done for this dormant program.
What we do know is that 2011 saw a lot of freshman gain valuable playing time with 16 true/redshirt freshman earn starts in throughout the year.
One of the more interesting things was that Wilson wasn’t content to just sit back with his players and his staff as well. He brought in 6 Juco players and a new offensive coordinator in Seth Littrell who comes from Arizona where the offense was ranked third nationally in passing and has ties to Oklahoma, where Wilson came from, as he was the captain of the 2000 National Championship team.
So, with the changes and experience gained, what is Spring football all about in Bloomington in 2012?
2011 Record: 1-11 (0-8 6th in Leaders Division)
Postseason: None
Head Coach: Kevin Wilson, 1-11 at Indiana and Overall
Returning Starters: 16 (7 offense, 8 defense, 1 special teams)
Spring Game Info: April 14th – noon (BTN & BTN.com)
Spring Outlook: With a new offensive coordinator that molded a pretty good QB in Nick Foles at Arizona it will be interesting to see how Littrell will work with the super athletic and talented Tre Roberson. But one of the most interesting things actually happens on the other side of the ball and that’s who replaces the heart and sole of this program in Jeff Thomas.
Thomas led the team in tackles (80) and was the clear vocal and spiritual leader of a very young group of guys last year. Replacing that leadership is going to be huge for this Hoosiers team. To that end Kevin Wilson brought in 5 Juco defensive players to help give them a shot of experience and talent while they build up the younger players.
Head Coach Kevin Wilson did mention that the 5 Juco players are all on the two deep depth chart already this spring and some are competing at a high enough level that they could be starters coming out of the spring game this Saturday.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s some talent on this defense already there too. One of the players I think you should really be watching for is 2011 Freshman all-Big Ten LB Chase Hoobler. If he can make the necessary adjustments from year one to year two he may well take control of more of the duties in terms of play-making as he’s the only returning starter at that position group so his experience in the Big Ten will be a key to helping the two guys that will be playing at that group alongside of him.
One of the biggest issues last year was the inability of the defense to force turnovers and now that sophomore Mark Murphy (Freshman all-Big Ten last year) is settled in at one of the Safety positions the Hoosiers may have a play-maker on their hands. Seeing how he’s working at just one settled position and how he’s developed technique and communication wise will be worth noting this spring.
The strength of this defense could be the defensive line that returns intact and watching to see if they have gotten more technique and assignment sure on Saturday is another thing to watch for. The inside of Larry Black, Jr. and Adam Replogle are going to be the key to success for this line.
Offensively we’ve mentioned Tre Roberson already, but he’s not a lock to be the starter this year as they brought in a nice Juco QB in Cameron Coffman who’s competing at a high enough level to have Wilson say that they are in an open competition. Roberson has been working on his mechanics and becoming a better long ball thrower, so watching how these two QB’s work the vertical passing game that made Oklahoma famous on Saturday should give us a clue as to who’s leading out of the spring and into the fall.
The biggest bright spot offensively last year besides finding Roberson was the emergence of Stephen Houston as a real threat rushing the ball. What will help him the most is the developement of a stronger, bigger, and meaner offensive line and that all starts with Center Will Matte. Again a key player to watch on that side of the ball.
Obviously a team that won only one game in their coaches first year sounds a big familiar to those of us around at the start of the Alvarez era, so watching one of our Leaders division foes as they try to become more competitive is something we should be keeping an eye out for and Wilson could already have some of the necessary building blocks in place.
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