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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

sports football

Injuries, quarterback battle update and more from IU training camp

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IU had its first scrimmage Saturday, and today IU Coach Kevin Wilson took time to update IU’s progress in the lead up to the season opener against FIU.

Injuries

Sophomore wide receiver J-Shun Harris II will likely miss the entire 2016 season after suffering an ACL injury in IU’s scrimmage Saturday. The Fishers, Indiana, native also missed the 2015 season after he suffered a season-ending ACL injury, that time to the other knee, over the summer.

Wilson said Harris was making a cut when the injury occurred, and wasn’t even tackled during the play. He’ll have surgery in about a week, and so far Wilson said he’s been able to stay positive.

Harris’ injury means IU is in search of another reliable slot receiver option outside of senior Mitchell Paige. Wilson named freshmen Isaac James and Kiante Enis as the two leading options at the moment.

Outside of Harris, junior Robert McCray III hurt his shoulder and will require surgery. Wilson said McCray will miss half the season, and in his place sophomore Jacob Robinson has been playing more defensive tackle.

There were also some small injuries on the offensive line, but nothing serious.

Quarterback

If IU and FIU were to play today, junior Richard Lagow would be Wilson’s first choice under center. The junior college transfer has had the most impressive fall camp to this point, and through the last week has had the bulk of the work with the first team offense.

However, that doesn’t mean Wilson sees the battle as over.

Sophomore Danny Cameron was the most consistent as a backup after the first week of practice, freshman Austin King is more focused and showing a lot of talent and junior Zander Diamont has recovered from initially forcing things too much and being too greedy to having the most impressive three days out of any of the quarterbacks.

“Someone’s got to go out there first, and if we’re playing today (Lagow) is first,” Wilson said. “You can say he’s the starter, but when he gets in the game and he doesn’t play well, maybe he’s not the starter in the long run. We’ll see.”

Wilson said he likes how the other three are fighting, and respects how unselfish everyone is acting.

During the scrimmage, the quarterbacks played best when the offense got in a rhythm. They struggled more when the defense was able to get set and lined up.

Scrimmage

A hot, hard week was followed by a scrimmage filled with good effort and hitting.

Wilson said the Hoosiers were forced to move between inside and outside because of the weather. Of the 145 or 147 plays, 80 took place inside Memorial Stadium.

The defense controlled the line of scrimmage and had some takeaways, although it left more on the field. The offense left a few big plays of its own on the field, missing connections on some one-on-one opportunities.

Young players in freshmen Coy Cronk, Marcelino Ball and Tyler Natee played well. Wilson has continually been high on the trio, and said Cronk should see time on the offensive line this season.

“He’s probably as or more gifted than Brandon Knight or Jason Spriggs,” Wilson said, referencing how they all were when starting their careers in Bloomington. “He’s a very, very gifted young player. He’s going to be really good. He should be really good.”

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