Column: With a new year comes new hope

There’s something special and unique about this time of the year.

As the leaves begin to fall and the mercury on the thermostat initiates its inevitable plummet from the 80s to the 50s and lower, the sound of shoulder pads and helmets cracking can be heard from stadiums across the country.

It’s a brief three-and-a-half month period that takes what seems like an eternity to arrive and whizzes by like a gust of wind.

At 8 p.m. Saturday, Hoosiers will echo those sounds of fall on the field at
Memorial Stadium, where they’ll face the Sycamores of Indiana State.

While a high percentage of the Hoosier Nation might have its sights set on basketball season, this season’s Hoosier football squad is no team to scoff at. Last season’s abysmal 1-11 record is now in the rearview mirror, a season from which IU Coach Kevin Wilson, his staff and his players are long removed.

No, the program hasn’t forgotten the dreadful 2011 season. The team has derived a slew of valuable lessons from it. Remember, the Hoosiers remain an overwhelmingly young squad with 15 sophomore starters.

Those who aren’t familiar with Indiana football would likely write off a team with a chunk of underclassmen in starting positions, but those familiar with the program understand young players have made tremendous strides since starting as freshmen a season ago.

The most promising aspect of Wilson’s squad is the continued progression of the spread offense the second-year head coach brought from Oklahoma, where he served as the Sooners’ offensive coordinator.

The most critical aspect of that progression is returning sophomore starting quarterback Tre Roberson, who accumulated 937 passing yards as well as 426 rushing yards a season ago. With the growing pains out of the way and with legitimate starting experience under his belt, expect to see the former Indiana Mr. Football have a breakout season.

Roberson will be the Hoosiers’ key figure against Indiana State on Saturday night. It’s likely he’ll be without top-receiving target junior wide receiver Kofi Hughes, one of three players facing one-game
suspensions.

Even if Hughes sits out Saturday evening’s contest, Roberson will have a field day against a Sycamore defense that finished last season ranked outside the top 50 in passing defense at the Football Championship Subdivision level.

The lesson to be learned here is that IU fans will be rewarded for attending Saturday evening’s game. A metaphorical fireworks show will be on display from the Hoosier offense.

It’s a unit that will give all IU fans reason to pay attention and to keep the daydreaming about basketball season away for a while.

It’s time to believe.

­— ckillore@indiana.edu