Notebook: Lynch recongnizes senior award winners

Before IU coach Bill Lynch mentioned anything about the Hoosiers’ 20-17 loss against Northwestern, he made sure to recognize the awards received by his senior captains.

Quarterback Ben Chappell was named a recipient of the National Football Foundation Award last week. The award gives Chappell an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship and makes him eligible for the 21st William V. Campbell Trophy, recognizing the best scholar-athlete in the nation.

For Lynch, the award stands out on the list of accolades that Chappell has received this year.

“Having been at that banquet before, that is an unbelievable honor,” Lynch said. “It really is the elite that get the opportunity to go to that, and I think some of the awards given out are nice but this one really is special, and I don’t know of anyone more deserving.”

Linebacker Tyler Replogle was named one of the 10 finalists for the Awards and Recognition Association National Sportsmanship Award, given to Division I college football players. The senior captain is also a 2010 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award recipient.


RICHARD COUNCIL’S RETURN
The last time senior cornerback Richard Council defended a pass was when Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson completed the 42-yard pass to Junior Hemingway to set up the Wolverines game-winning touchdown in their 42-35 victory against IU.

Council suffered a knee injury on the play and underwent surgery that kept him on the shelf until the Northwestern game.

He played an estimated 15 to 20 snaps against Northwestern, returning from an injury that has sidelined many in their final season.

“I’ve seen guys in similar situations in their fifth year that have knee surgery with a knee injury, and that’s the end of their career,” Lynch said. “They’ve had enough, and they can kind of fade off into the sunset, so to speak, and it was out of their control.”
But that was not the case for Council.

“From the day he got done with that surgery he worked as hard as you could to get back in there, because it’s important to him and he wants to be a part of this, and that’s the way he worked,” Lynch said. “That was sheer effort and wanting to be back out there.”

USING LAST YEAR’S GAME AS AN EXAMPLE
After the first three quarters at Iowa last year, the Hoosiers were in position to hand the then-No. 4 Hawkeyes their first loss of the season. A double-digit lead on the road against the first place team in the Big Ten might have shown that the Hoosiers were firing on all cylinders.

Then, the fourth quarter happened.

Iowa outscored the Hoosiers 28-0 in the final quarter and cruised to a 42-24 win. But what that game did do was provide the Hoosiers with a game plan for Saturday’s contest against Iowa.

Preparing for a team that has had a high level of success during the past few years, such as Iowa, is the challenge for the Hoosiers.

“There are similarities year in and year out, and I think that’s what a great football program looks like,” Lynch said. “But the system itself hasn’t changed, so you get something out of going back, and we’ll certainly go back and look at last year’s game.”