There's a good chance that someone on the football team has wondered, "Who's the pencil-necked geek from the IDS that will be making fun of us this year?"\nThat would be me. But I'm not going to be making fun of the team -- yet. To put down a team before it has a chance to prove itself is a mean and unnecessary thing to do, like stealing candy from a small child.\nOf course, my first tangible memories of IU football are pretty comical. They involve Jerome Bettis dragging three Hoosier defenders (or maybe it was four) on his back for 10 yards as he ran into the end zone in a 1991 game at Notre Dame.\nHowever, I would go as far as to say that the future of football at IU is bright, and it is because of two people who are linked to the Fighting Irish. \nThe first is junior quarterback Matt LoVecchio. We have a real, honest-to-goodness Notre Dame quarterback playing for IU. And he was a starter, one that led the Irish to the Fiesta Bowl as a freshman. No one else has done that.\nThink about it. Most guys who have played at IU would have been third stringers at Notre Dame. That's right, if Rudy went to IU, they wouldn't have made a movie about him. He would have just been some other anonymous Hoosier defensive back that the 50 students in the stands would be making fun of every time he got burned.\nSpeaking of Rudy, one of his teammates is one of the other reasons that IU fans should be optimistic. That would be coach Gerry DiNardo or, as I would like to call him, "Uncle Gerry." Why Uncle Gerry? Because nobody has good nicknames these days, and there is nothing better than a truly good nickname. \nFor instance, you probably couldn't name Notre Dame's legendary Four Horsemen individually. But you know who they are because they are the "Four Horsemen." These days, nicknames are always half-assed, like J. Lo or A-Rod. (Bet that's the only time you'll see anything about J. Lo described as half-assed. But I digress.)\nBut DiNardo brings a lot more to the table than me trying to stick a nickname on him. His biggest plus is his ability to recruit. He has been around the state like a whirling dervish (whatever that is), visiting all 311 high schools in Indiana since his hiring. In addition, he has connections in his native Brooklyn and in Louisiana from his days coaching at LSU.\nThus, the day where big name recruits choose to come to IU could be sooner than anyone thinks.\nBut improvement in the future will only go as far as the Hoosiers bring it in the present. That process begins this Saturday as IU travels to Connecticut to take on the Huskies in their brand-spanking new stadium. While many might question whether a football game between two basketball schools will be any good, I think it should be an interesting match-up.\nThough the Huskies have only been in Division I-A since 2000, they will be joining the Big East next season when Miami and Virginia Tech jump to the ACC. Last year, they won their last four games of the year to finish 6-6. \nIn addition, everyone in the Constitution State seems be buzzing about this weekend. UConn's coach, Randy Edsall, described the stadium opening as a "great event for the state of Connecticut."\nDiNardo even said the UConn program was on equal footing with IU. \nSo don't be surprised if Saturday's game comes down to a three-pointer at the buzzer.
-- Contact staff writer Alex Hickey at ahickey@indiana.edu.
