Kiel outshines Wright-Baker

Midway through the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 24-21 loss to North Texas, IU had cut its deficit to 17 — in no part thanks to the offense.

When IU recovered the ensuing onside kick but squandered the possession with a punt, IU Coach Kevin Wilson said he decided it was time for a new tactic.

“We just went for a change,” Wilson said. “We just felt we needed a spark. We had played three quarters, hadn’t gotten to the end zone.”

That spark was sophomore quarterback Dusty Kiel.

The reported leader of the preseason quarterback battle coming out of spring practices, Kiel lost the starting job to sophomore Edward Wright-Baker in fall camp.
Kiel sat out IU’s first two games and played sparingly against South Carolina State, going four for six for 27 yards.

Saturday, after entering the game with 6:50 to play, Kiel led a pair of swift touchdown drives, pulling the Hoosiers to within three points before running out of time.

Both touchdowns — a 44-yard strike to freshman wide receiver Cody Latimer and a 67-yarder to sophomore Kofi Hughes ­— were largely the result of Kiel capitalizing on busted coverage by the secondary.

“It’s nice that he saw it, took advantage of it, but he missed a couple, too,”
Wilson said.

Kiel ended the game going 7-12 for 145 yards and two touchdowns while Wright-Baker, playing the first three and a half quarters, was 23 for 40 for 209 yards and an interception.

Regardless of who was under center Saturday, the IU passing game was never at full strength.

Senior wide receiver Damarlo Belcher did not travel with the team after reportedly suffering an undisclosed injury while Hughes and sophomore wide receiver Duwyce Wilson played sparingly, particularly in the first half, with wrist and back injuries, respectively.

The status of the receivers, as well as who will start at quarterback next week against Penn State for IU, is unclear.

Wilson said a change at quarterback is not necessarily imminent, but the situation will continue to be evaluated as he looks for each signal caller to reach his potential.

“Both those guys have been battling,” Wilson said. “We’ll keep working through it. It’s not like we have a controversy or a change happening, but the other guy’s pretty good or has a chance to be pretty good. I don’t think either one of them works hard enough. I don’t think they study enough. I don’t think they work at it, so we’re still a work in progress with those guys.”