Well, there goes the hope for next year.
It seems like IU football fans have withstood the team's 1-6 start this season because they knew top quarterback prospect Gunner Kiel would be here next season.
Not anymore.
According to multiple reports, the Columbus East (Ind.) senior has opened his commitment and will attend the Notre Dame-USC game tomorrow night. Could Wilson's first year at IU be going any worse?
The obvious question is: Why?
The obvious answer is Kiel finally came to his senses and realized he was never going to win at IU. That definitely has to be part of it. But I think there might be even more to it than that.
If Kiel really opened his commitment because of the Hoosiers' struggles, I don't get that. He had to expect they would struggle this year, especially with it being Wilson's first in Bloomington.
Maybe Kiel heard negative things about Wilson from his brother and current IU quarterback Dusty Kiel. Maybe he committed to IU thinking other top recruits would follow him, and it didn't happen. Maybe he just had a change of heart. He is a kid after all.
What we do know is it's a sad day for all involved with IU football. The savior is no longer coming to Bloomington, and that will take a while for die-hard fans to get their heads around.
What's this mean for IU now? Nothing good. It leaves Wilson with hardly any time to find another good quarterback for next year, which means he's stuck with Dusty Kiel, Ed Wright-Baker and Tre Roberson for next season. That's a scary thought for IU fans. Each of those guys has been wildly mediocre this year.
For Wilson, this is going to be a tough one to swallow. You have to wonder what's going through his mind as he travels to Iowa City today for his team's game against the Hawkeyes. It's going to be incredibly hard to focus on the game going on in front of him with the knowledge that this season has already been lost and next season's likely has been as well.
Many of us thought it was too good to be true when Gunner Kiel committed in the summer. As it turns out, it was.
