A couple of random observations from the first day of practice at IU:
* The Hoosiers are going no huddle. IU coach Bill Lynch explained that he and the offensive coaches decided to switch to a no huddle offense to try and keep opposing defenses on their heels. Lynch also said his defense struggled to adjust to no huddle teams, so hopefully practicing against one all season will help them in the upcoming season.
* The offense is still in the spread - the same scheme as it was with Kellen Lewis. Ben Chappell was running the ball out of the shotgun, same as Lewis. He wasn't as fast, obviously, but was running the ball none the same. You could look at this one of two ways;
1) Lynch is confident in the offensive scheme that he has, regardless of who the quarterback is.
Or
2) The team is fully expecting Kellen Lewis to be back before the fall practices, so there's no point in trying to adjust to the strengths of another quarterback.
* Mitchell Evans is currently the backup because of the injuries and suspension of Lewis. You may remember Evans as the safety with two interceptions against Western Michigan. Evans was a high school quarterback, and by the looks of practice is clearly athletic. It will be interesting to see how he progresses throughout the spring.
* Both Tracy Porter and Darius Willis were at practice for a little while. Porter was there earlier, while Willis stayed until the end. Willis occasionally would be called aside by Billy Lynch, the younger Lynch would explain certain things to Willis as the offense was running plays. Willis was pretty attentive, which is a good sign.
* It looked like Ray Fisher is going to be the new punt returner, replacing Porter. Fisher certainly is fast, and has some nifty moves, but occasionally got himself into some bad situations trying to make something out of nothing. If anything, it should be an adventure out there if he's returning, for better or for worse.
* Freshman punter Chris Hagerup had a couple of booming punts, and just as important, a quick release. Michael Hines was a serviceable punter last season, but it appeared at first glance that Hagerup could be a far more talented punter for the Hoosiers.
