Hoosiers hope for better outcome than in 2009

Two seasons ago, the Hoosiers travelled to Charlottesville, Va., for a seemingly even matchup between two teams looking for a non-conference statement win.

They left with a 47-7 loss, managing barely half as many yards on offense as the Cavaliers, a team that would go on to a 3-9 record and fire their coach following the season.

“It was a bad feeling — still sticks with me,” junior defensive tackle Larry Black Jr. said. “It was just one of the worst games I’ve been involved in.”

Saturday brings IU’s chance for revenge when the Hoosiers host Virginia at Memorial Stadium.

Five of IU’s projected starters for Saturday, including Black, also started against Virginia in 2009. Joining Black in a second start against the Cavaliers are fellow junior defensive tackle Adam Replogle, senior wide receiver Damarlo Belcher, senior offensive lineman Justin Pagan and junior center Will Matte.

“It’s going to be great to line up against them,” Black said. “They have great players, but we also have great players. It’s going to be a great matchup. We’re ready to attack them.”

Compared to Black, Replogle is not in as vengeful a mindset, noting that Virginia is now coached by Mike London rather than by Al Groh, as they were in 2009.

“It was two years ago,” Replogle said. “We’ve played a lot of football since then. Everybody’s gotten better.

“There really isn’t revenge. It’s just I’m trying to win and trying to compete and trying to beat the guy in front of me.”

Pagan finds his motivation somewhere between that of Black and Replogle, acknowledging that such a loss could never be completely out of a player’s mind.
“It’s in the past, but it’s always in the back of your mind,” Pagan said. “We’re just trying to go out there and compete for this year.”

Aside from just motivation, the defeat two years ago gave Black and his veteran teammates an idea of what kind of play to expect from the Cavaliers and how to exploit them.

“Their offensive line — they’re pretty big but not, maybe, as mobile,” Black said. “We’ve just got to use some of our movement to our advantage. We just have to play our technique and play our style, and everything will take care of itself.”

Though he did not start against Virginia in 2009, senior safety Chris Adkins, a cornerback at the time, played in the game and well remembers the events surrounding it. The country was in the midst of a swine flu scare and coincidentally, numerous players on the team feel ill, though it was ultimately determined not to be the flu.

Still, Adkins took no chances after seeing many of the team’s starters miss a week of practice. He wore a protective mask on the plane before making a pair of solo tackles in the loss.

With a new coaching regime and swine flu no longer a threat, Adkins said his focus is on the present.

“I don’t really feed off of past losses from years past, because those are previous teams,” Adkins said. “Obviously, this is a completely different team, and I’d like to think that as far as seniors, this is our era and we’re not necessarily thinking about those kind of things.”