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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

sports football

No decision yet on redshirt for Willis, other freshmen

IU quarterback Ben Chappell eyes receiver Terrance Turner before letting it fly during practice on Tuesday at the football practice field.

The first and second teams, including quarterbacks Kellen Lewis and Ben Chappell, respectively, continued taking equal snaps in the Hoosiers’ practice on Tuesday. The only thing different from past weeks’ practices was that the players were in shells – shoulder pads, helmets and shorts.

IU coach Bill Lynch said he didn’t want to ramp up the hitting in practice until later in the week before giving his team time off this weekend. The Hoosiers do not play again until Sept. 20 against Ball State.

Means, Fisher take very few reps


Wide receivers Andrew Means and Ray Fisher both sat out the majority of Tuesday’s practice.

Both are dinged up, but nothing severe enough to threaten their status for Ball State.
“Means and Fisher are not (seriously injured),” Lynch said after Tuesday’s practice. “We just decided we were going to give them a chance to rest up a little bit.”

No decision on Willis, others redshirting

One of their most touted recruits in recent memory, freshman running back Darius Willis, has yet to take a snap in-game. Lynch said no final decision has been made on whether the Indianapolis native will redshirt.

“With Darius, what we basically have told him, we have to keep him going, but there is a possibility we would redshirt him,” Lynch said.

Lynch said he would not send Willis out on to the field during a game, disqualifying him from a possible redshirt, unless Willis would get solid playing time. Four different Hoosier running backs scored during last week’s 45-3 win over Murray State, though Willis saw no playing time.

“What you wouldn’t want to do with a guy like (Willis) is play him just a little bit,” Lynch said. “That wouldn’t be fair to him. But, the thing about Darius is he is such a great kid and such a great team guy that he’ll do whatever is best for him and whatever is best for the team.”

Lynch added that he would not make his final decision on any redshirts until the beginning of Big Ten play.

Doss, Belcher make great grabs

Two players Lynch certainly won’t redshirt are freshman wideouts Tandon Doss and Demarlo Belcher.

Both Doss and Belcher made great grabs in seven-on-sevens toward the end of practice.

“What I did was I brought them in at the end of camp, and I talked to each freshman,” Lynch said. “I told them this is what it looks like. And at that point we had a real good idea that Doss and Belcher were going to play.”

Doss, in tandem with Chappell, successfully play-faked the Hoosier corner lined up opposite Doss in practice Tuesday, yielding a long gain down the sideline.

Belcher’s grab came across the middle, and as the 6-foot-5 wide receiver came down with the ball, he was met with forceful shoulder checks from defenders.

The hits jarred the ball loose from Belcher’s grasp before he reached out and made a one-handed squeeze and continued running on to the end zone.

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