Hoosiers ready for undersized Bulldogs

The Hoosiers need only to look within their conference’s recent history for a reminder to not overlook Football Championship Subdivision teams such as South Carolina State.

“College football is so competitive now that any team can beat any team on a given day,” junior defensive tackle Adam Replogle said. “Appalachian State beat Michigan when they were top-five, so everyone knows that everyone can play ball.”

IU Coach Kevin Wilson knows from experience that FCS teams, including Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponents such as the Bulldogs, can be dangerous. Wilson spent 1988 as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at North Carolina A&T, a MEAC school.

“It is a very athletic conference and in a great region, and because it is FCS, they get a lot of bouncebacks,” Wilson said. “Whether they get disenchanted where they are or they don’t like where they are at, (players) will sign with a Division I program and then transfer. And so, if they transfer down to an FCS program, you can play right away without sitting out a year.

“The MEAC gets some bouncebacks or some guys that didn’t do well in school or had an issue or it didn’t work out and he wanted to play right away.”

SC State entered the season as the preseason favorite in the MEAC after winning the conference crown the past three seasons.

“South Carolina State will come in as athletic and fast and solid on defense as most folks we are going to play,” Wilson said. “They have a running-style offense and a punt returner who averages 22 yards a pop. We don’t have 22 yards total in punt return yardage this year, and their guy is averaging 22 yards a pop. It will be a challenge, and we better be up for it or we will be embarrassed.”

Perhaps the greatest difference between the Bulldogs and other teams IU faces this season is their lack of size. The SC State starting defensive line averages about 263 pounds.

“They might be smaller, but to me it looks like they’ve got some strength to them,” Wilson said. “They are not going to be 300 pounds across the front and be this big wall that you can’t move, but they are going to be strong. They may not be the most overwhelming size guys, but they are going to have strength and they are also going to play with some speed. They’ve got speed on the front and also on the back end.”

SC State employs their defensive speed by frequently switching between a multitude of formations and necessitating a week of heavy film study for the IU offense.

“They’re all pretty small guys, but they move a lot. They stunt a lot,” junior center Will Matte said. “For defenses like that, you just watch film and pick out when and where they’re going to move. They don’t really have big interior guys, but they have a lot of defensive formations and blitzes. Every snap, it’s almost like they’re moving to a different gap.”

The Bulldog secondary features safety Christian Thompson, a former Auburn Tiger who leads the defense with 15.5 tackles and a pair of interceptions.

However, the Hoosier receiver corps is bolstered by the reemergence of sophomore wide receiver Duwyce Wilson, who caught a touchdown pass last week against Virginia. He joins a group that already included senior Damarlo Belcher and sophomore Kofi Hughes.

“With Duwyce and Damarlo, you have to feel like you’re playing at a high level,” Offensive Co-coordinator and Wide Receivers Coach Kevin Johns said. “Kofi Hughes is really playing good, solid football for us. Right now we feel good about them and bringing the freshmen along and some of those younger guys.”

Kevin Wilson said he believes that, despite the Bulldogs playing in a lower classification, they match up fairly well against the Hoosiers. 

He also said they utilize their athletes in such a way to be competitive with anyone.

“They know that they are going to have good enough athletes that they don’t try to over-coach them,” Kevin Wilson said. “They are very solid and solid in their structure. You watch their kids, and they cut it loose and play really good football.”