Wilson works for ‘good game performance’ for 1st homecoming

Saturday will be the 99th Homecoming in IU’s history, but it will be the first for head football coach Kevin Wilson.

He has experienced homecoming games at the other places he has coached, such as Miami (Ohio), Northwestern and Oklahoma, but for the first time, he will oversee an entire team coming onto the field for its homecoming game.

In past seasons, teams Wilson has coached haven’t spent much time getting involved in homecoming festivities, and the Hoosiers will likely also stick to a similar schedule they have had in previous weeks.

Although his routine and the routine of the team hasn’t changed much from what it is normally like, the game itself will take on a little more magnitude than other games because of who and how many will be in attendance.

“As a coach and a team, you know this is one of the weekends that a lot of the alumni target to come back, and you want to play well,” Wilson said. “To me, it’s a little more about making sure that you have a really good game performance.”

Performing in games has been tough for the Hoosiers this season, as they enter Saturday’s matchup against Northwestern with a 1-7 record. The past two weeks, IU has played in front of loud, rowdy crowds at Wisconsin and Iowa, which has provided many younger players on the team a great deal of energy, Wilson said.

The stands in Memorial Stadium have looked barren at times, even though Wilson commended the energy of the crowd at games like the season-opener against Virginia.

“It’s our fault on performance that we’re not getting a more enthusiastic or bigger crowd now,” Wilson said. “We need to change the way we play and our culture, and the fans will follow what we do.”

Wilson was the offensive coordinator at Northwestern from 1999 to 2001. He traveled there with coach Randy Walker after they had coached together at Miami (Ohio) and led an offense that was top in the Big Ten in 2000 and went to the Alamo Bowl.

Wilson said he knows a couple of the guys on the Wildcat sideline but said the top priority is getting a win Saturday. 

If IU were to beat Northwestern (2-5) on Saturday, it would be the first Big Ten win of the season and the first of Wilson’s head coaching career. He also said it would mean a great deal for seniors and fans as well.

“We need to start winning games. We need to win at home,” Wilson said. “We need to win Homecoming. It would mean a lot for us to start putting the product on the field that we take pride in playing in this house.”