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(08/21/12 4:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Only two weeks ago, junior walk-on running back David Blackwell was called into the office of IU Coach Kevin Wilson.He was pulled out of a lunch line and was ushered into a one-on-one meeting with the second-year head coach, who was about to tell him about a life-changing proposition.“I hadn’t done anything bad, so it couldn’t have been anything bad,” Blackwell said. “I walked up there, and he let us know one-by-one.”Blackwell was among seven IU football walk-ons awarded an athletic scholarship that day. Born and raised in Bloomington, Blackwell said it was a lifelong aspiration realized to be awarded that scholarship at his hometown university.“Being from here, I was always an IU fan,” Blackwell said. “As soon as I got the opportunity to play here, it was a dream come true. There was no other place I’d rather go.”During his high school days at Bloomington High School South, Blackwell was a two-sport star in both basketball and football.In his senior year, he was not named only the football team’s Most Valuable Player, rushing for 1,200 yards, but also was a member of the 2009 BHSS 4A state championship basketball team that went 26-0.Also an honors student and participant in school plays, he had the opportunity to attend multiple schools on scholarship. DePauw and Holy Cross had offered him the chance to play football at their schools. When former IU Coach Bill Lynch approached him with the opportunity to be a preferred walk-on at IU, it was something Blackwell could not refuse.“The reason I came here is because it’s the big time level,” Blackwell said. “And getting to this point, it’s pretty awesome. I don’t know if I could have done it if I was from somewhere else.”During his first two years at IU, Blackwell did not see any game action.He was a redshirt freshman for the 2009 season, and despite being named the Special Teams Scout Team Player of the Year, Blackwell failed to make it into a game the next year.To make matters more complicated, when Lynch was fired in November 2010, Blackwell had to start from scratch attempting to impress Wilson and the new coaching staff.“It was really difficult for me,” Blackwell said. “Being a walk-on definitely gives you a fire, and I just had to transfer it twice.”During the 2011 season, he finally found the field in competition. He received his first career carry on Nov. 19, 2011, against Michigan State, posting a five-yard gain on the final play.Since then, he said he’s worked hard to reach the point where he is now but knows this will not guarantee playing time.It is something Wilson stressed when he awarded Blackwell this opportunity and continues to emphasize to this day.“I just told all of them that we’ll be a better team not because you’re on scholarship, but because you stay hungry,” Wilson said. “And you keep playing hard to help us win.”For the townie in Blackwell, that’s all he needed to hear. Now that he is on scholarship for the team he has watched from his backyard and loved all his life, he said it has been easy for him to transfer that passion toward making Indiana football a winning program.“I’d rather go to the Rose Bowl than be on scholarship any day,” Blackwell said. “I strongly believe that we will get this ship turned around.”
(08/20/12 2:40pm)
Highlights from IU's football camp
(08/20/12 3:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Wilson names tentative starting quarterbackHeading into this season, IU Coach Kevin Wilson said every starting position on his football team would be an open competition.As of Aug. 11, one of those jobs has been filled. The second-year coach tabbed sophomore Tre Roberson as the tentative starting quarterback.Roberson is the only returning quarterback from the 2011 roster and started the final six games for the Hoosiers last season.After hiring former Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, however, Wilson says Roberson is successfully transferring his talent toward a pass-first offense.“Tre, for the athlete, is really throwing it better, and it’s great to see,” Wilson said.Wilson looks for improvement from wide receivers After the first five days of fall practice, IU Coach Kevin Wilson said he’s seen very little to be excited about from his receiving corps thus far.“Not very much,” Wilson said. “They’re not very good. It’s the worst part of the offense.”He proceeded to single out wide receivers sophomore Cody Latimer, junior Duwyce Wilson and junior tight end Ted Bolser as capable of improving. He expressed the need for them to compete.“For us to be where we want in our passing game, I expect those guys to really keep coming through, and they need to. And they should,” Wilson said.IU football season ticket sales soarIU Athletic Director Fred Glass said that as of Aug. 2, approximately 26,033 season tickets have been purchased, the most sold in more than 20 years.Glass does admit, however, that football season ticket sales are at a ceiling, and the only way to improve the numbers is for wins to come on the field.“We’re going to continue to try to have the greatest experience in and around the stadium that we can have,” Glass said. “We’re confident that the play on the field will soon be on that level as well.”
(08/16/12 1:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In the 2011 season, IU’s defense produced the sixth fewest interceptions in the Football Bowl Subdivision and a turnover margin that was the third-worst in the Big Ten.Heading into the 2012 season, defensive back improvement has been a point of emphasis for the Hoosier football team.“From a coach’s perspective, it’s probably my fault because we didn’t make turnovers an expectation last year,” IU Cornerbacks Coach Brandon Shelby said. “For a defense that maybe isn’t as talented, you definitely have to go get turnovers to help us win a game.”IU’s leading interception leader from 2011, junior Greg Heban is returning in 2012. Heban, who had two interceptions last season and was third on the team with 62 tackles, has taken on a leadership role for the Hoosiers in 2012.“Heban is a guy that every day is the one guy in the secondary that when we go to the practice, he practices hard,” Shelby said. “He’ll not only be successful this year, he’ll be successful in life. You’ll talk about that kid for a long time. I wish every player was like him.”Other returning players IU Coach Kevin Wilson expects to make an impact are junior Lawrence Barnett and sophomores Kenny Mullen and Brian Williams. After Wednesday’s practice, Wilson said Williams had been unable to “get over the hump” until recently. Wilson also said Mullen will be playing a lot this season.“We’re going to put those guys on islands sometimes,” Wilson said. “Last year, a couple of times we got burned. Sometimes we blew coverage. Sometimes we got burned. For our defense to work, those guys have to hold up for you. Whether they can, we’ll see.”One newcomer, junior Antonio Marshall, a transfer from Georgia Military College, has impressed his coaches in the short time he has been at IU, Shelby said. Marshall arrived in Bloomington just in time for fall camp and was initially out of playing shape, Wilson said.In a similar situation last season, junior running back Stephen Houston, a junior college transfer, arrived at IU in July “with a poor mentality,” Wilson said. He did not start the first four games of the season, but eventually started the final eight games and became IU’s leading rusher.With mentoring from Houston, Shelby said Marshall has drastically improved during his time at IU and will contend for playing time this season.“It takes you 30 days to break an old habit,” Shelby said. “It’s taken him a couple of days, but he’s getting better every day, and every day he goes out there and gives it his best. If he continues to do that, he’ll be a good player for us.”Shelby said IU will not be successful, even with their talent level, if the team cannot produce turnovers. He said the Hoosiers will model it’s 2012 campaign after the 2011 Oklahoma State defense, which led the NCAA in turnover margin despite allowing the 14th most yards per game in the FBS. That team went 12-1 and won the Fiesta Bowl.“If you go back from the beginning of football, if you’re typically plus-two in the turnover margin throughout the year, and you’re pretty good in special teams, you’re going to be a bowl team,” Shelby said. “That’s kind of how our motto is, and it tells our defense you can bend but not break. I truly believe we’ll see an increase in turnovers this year.”
(08/15/12 1:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Following Monday’s IU football practice, Indiana Daily Student football beat writer Jordan Littman sat down with Offensive Coordinator Seth Littrell. Here’s what the first-year coach had to say about his new team:IDS: I saw you a little bit fired up during practice today. What was going on?Littrell: Nothing was really going on. It’s just a part of two-a-days during camp where you really have to up the intensity, because if you don’t, it’ll be very easy to relax and go back to creating bad habits. I think every day when you step on the field, there has to be an intensity about you to make sure you’re not creating bad habits, you’re creating good habits. It’s very easy to create bad habits in camp when you feel a little bit fatigued and tired, and if that happens, it comes out in the first game. So we’re really trying to protect against that, and I want a certain edge about people when they come to practice. IDS: IU Coach Kevin Wilson said on Saturday that Tre Roberson is the starting quarterback. What are you seeing out of him at camp and why do you think he’s “the guy”?Littrell: As far as being “the guy,” that’s Coach Wilson. He’s the head coach, and I’m going to leave those answers up to him. The biggest thing I’ve seen, though, is watching all three of those guys grow, and they’ve worked extremely hard. Coach (Kevin) Johns and Coach Wilson have done an unbelievable job with those guys. They’re really starting to feel comfortable and see and understand different little aspects of defense that they’re going to see pre-snap and post-snap. We’re getting a lot of reps of the same play with a lot of different formations, so it may look a lot different, but really we’re trying to keep the schemes simple, but at the same time effective, so that they know pre- and post-snap where they’re going with the football. IDS: Earlier in preseason camp, Wilson said the wide receiving corps is the weakest part of the offense. At this point, do you agree with his statement?Littrell: Again, that’s for him to say, but my deal is acknowledging we all have deficiencies and we all have areas of the game we need to continue to develop. I can handle mistakes, but my thing is I can’t handle loss of focus and loss of playing full speed every snap. We have gotten better. When you turn on the film even during the first scrimmage, we have gotten better in that area since I’ve got here. That scrimmage was one of the best efforts that I’ve seen since I’ve been here, and that was encouraging, but again, we still have a lot of mistakes we have to correct. We’re not there yet, we don’t have to be perfect today, but I think those guys are working at getting better at their deficiencies. And that’s a hard thing to do because in films, it’s not always easy to get called out on something you’re not good at, and you have to be man enough and confident enough in yourself and your abilities to take coaching well. They have to understand it’s not a bad thing; it’s just something you have to work hard on to fix.IDS: Do you feel like you’ve seen improvement out of them?Littrell: I’ve seen improvement from the entire team, and we just have to continue to do that on a daily basis. In practices, the one thing I’m pleased at is we haven’t taken many steps back, but we’re working hard and they’ve been doing what they’re asked to do. At times, there will be lulls. At times they’ll feel a little bit sorry for themselves just like everybody, but they overcome it quickly, not only through us but through each other and the leaders on this team. Again, it’s getting better as we go, and we just need to continue to grow as a team.IDS: Do you like what you’ve been seeing out of your offensive line thus far?Littrell: Yeah, I think Coach (Greg) Frey does an unbelievable job with those guys, and we have a lot of young guys at that position. Especially with the eight freshmen on the O-Line, Coach Frey has done a really good job of studying and getting a grasp of what they need to do, because when it’s all said and done, they still need to be a physical group. For us to be successful, they have to be physical in all areas, whether it’s pass block or run block. Overall, I think they’ve done some great things. They just need to continue them.IDS: In your eyes, are there any freshmen in particular on the offensive side that have stuck out since practice has started?Littrell: I think Ricky Jones has really done some good things at slot. He’s a guy who, if he continues to work and practice the way he’s done, I’d really like the things I’d see from him. Tevin Coleman is another guy at a skill position who is starting to learn a little bit more about the offense. Early on, it’s hard, it’s fast-paced and there’s a lot of different stuff he has to know, so the more comfortable he gets, you’ll see him running for us more and more. And then all of those freshmen O-Linemen I think really have a chance to be really special. Coach Frey has done a good job with them. I’ve been impressed with them, but at the same time they need to get to a point where they’re not a really good freshman, but to a point where they’re a really good Big Ten football player. They just have to continue to work with the ball, and I think there are some guys who are on track to help us out.
(08/11/12 10:10pm)
Matte impressed with offensive line play
(08/09/12 6:40pm)
About one week ago, Ben Davis (Ind.) High School safety Antonio Allen rescinded his commitment from Ole Miss.
(08/09/12 3:19am)
Chaminade Madonna (Fla.) College Preparatory running back Myles Graham has committed to Indiana, becoming the sixth pledge for IU's 2013 recruiting class.
(08/07/12 7:55pm)
IU junior high jumper and 2012 NCAA runner up Derek Drouin can one more accolade to his name: Olympic Medalist.
(08/07/12 4:00am)
IU junior high jumper and 2012 NCAA runner up Derek Drouin can one more accolade to his name: Olympic Medalist.
(08/06/12 7:09pm)
Wilson looks for improvement from wide receivers
(08/05/12 1:27am)
Wilson looks to Houston for leadership
(08/03/12 8:20pm)
In spite of a 1-11 mark in 2011, IU Athletic Director Fred Glass announced significant increases to IU's football season ticket sales Thursday night.
(08/03/12 2:04am)
Athletic Director Fred Glass announced Thursday evening at IU Football Media Day several upgrades to Indiana's athletic facilities, including cell phone service capabilities that will make Assembly Hall and Memorial Stadium "the most cellular friendly intercollegiate athletic facilities in the country."
(08/01/12 8:52pm)
For seventeen of the past eighteen summer Olympiads heading into the 2012 London Olympics, an IU student-athlete or alum has medaled.
(07/27/12 4:24pm)
As Day 2 of the Big Ten Media Days finished, Michael Norman and Jordan Littman recap some of the major story lines, quotes and themes talked about by head coach Kevin Wilson and the three IU players in attendance. In this video, Mike and Jordan break-down what they expect to see from the Hoosiers this year, what will be different from last season and who will be some players to watch for.
(07/27/12 4:42am)
Day one of Big Ten Media Days is in the books, with talk ranging from the gravity of the Penn State situation to the humor of one coach talking about knowing the exact amount of time he has been married (Bret Bielema (Wisconsin) - 19 weeks and five days).
(07/26/12 9:15pm)
While IU Football Coach Kevin Wilson and much of the IU media converged in Chicago, Ill. for coverage of Big Ten Media Days Thursday afternoon, the Hoosiers added another recruit to the 2013 class.
(07/26/12 8:47pm)
IU Football Coach Kevin Wilson spoke to the media today at a press conference at the 2012 Big Ten Media Days. Below is a video of Wilson's press conference, followed by an entire transcript of the interview. Stay tuned for analysis and more videos regarding Indiana football over the next 24 hours.
(07/26/12 5:19am)
Big Ten Media Days