Football

Hoosiers display improvement

Moving junior Ben Chappell to the primary quarterback position this spring seemed to be working well. 

Star football player tries his hand at film

Senior defensive end Jammie Kirlew, last season’s team MVP, said he likes doing things people don’t expect him to do and setting an example for others.

IU has many changes heading into its spring scrimmage

The loss of No. 1 running back Marcus Thigpen, an unsettled quarterback situation and the movement of Ray Fisher, one of last year’s most productive wide receivers, to corner back all have the IU offense in flux.

Pistol offense excels at spring scrimmage

If IU has any shot to beat any conference foes in its challenging schedule, Chappell, Lewis and Payton must set the tone early and take control when things go into disarray. Don’t be alarmed if you see the ball in their hands when the game is on the line, either.

Lynch vows to make offense more productive

IU coach Bill Lynch vows to improve the Hoosier offense. Among his new implementations, Lynch said  the Hoosiers must gain respect in its running game. Bolstering the backfield attack will alleviate a lot of pressure off quarterbacks Kellen Lewis and Ben Chappell.

Jordan Marquette signs with IU

IU announced March 17 that Jordan Marquette has signed a National Letter of Intent and will play football for the Hoosiers in the fall.

Brown’s attitude deserves recognition

Brown is the epitome of the blue-collar football player. He brings his lunch pail to every game and does everything in his power to help the team win. Taunting is not in his vocabulary.

Ready to rebuild, take two

Jammie Kirlew was lost for words. And to be honest, I felt for the Hoosier defensive end. I really did.

A LOOK AT THE ROCK: Glass and I agree: Keep Lynch

IU suffers worst loss to Purdue in more than a century

With more than nine seconds remaining the game, IU made its first defensive stop of the day. In the 84th annual battle for the Old Oaken Bucket, IU was dominated in every facet of football en route to a 62-10 pounding. The Hoosiers managed just 214 total yards as their defense let up 596.

IU-Purdue rivalry more than just a game

Coming to the end

One year ago, senior Austin Starr was Bloomington’s hero. Back then, Hoosiers everywhere rejoiced when the then-junior sent a 49-yard field goal through the uprights in the season’s penultimate moment. His celebrated kick sent the Hoosiers to their first bowl berth since 1993 and seemingly revitalized the program. But now, in a downtrodden year marked by disappointment, Starr and his team have sunk back to the bottom of the Big Ten. But they’ll get one last shot at redemption Saturday. “It is kind of surreal, but it hasn’t gone too fast,” Starr said, reflecting on his upcoming final game. “I’ve been taking it in.” Injuries and inconsistencies have plagued the 2008 Hoosiers, and Starr is no exception. A nagging hip injury prohibited him from putting up the same performance throughout his senior campaign that he displayed as a junior. A year ago, Starr kicked 21-of-23 field goals, hit all 48 extra points and, at one point, nailed 15 field goals in a row.

IU's lame second half leads to Penn State rout

STATE COLLEGE, PENN. – It was a different week for the IU football team, but it was the same story as had been reported after seven of their 10 games this season.

What I know and what I think

Football wracked with injuries ahead of Penn State clash

Last week, both the IU and Penn State football teams had dreams dashed. IU lost its seventh game of the season, making it impossible for them to go to a bowl, while Penn State had its undefeated season busted, likely knocking the team  out of contention for the national championship.

Alvarez: Greenspan good for IU football

When Rick Greenspan cleans out his Assembly Hall office at the end of December, he’ll leave four emotional years and plenty of memories – good and bad – behind him. He’s saddened by the loss of his colleague and friend, former IU football coach Terry Hoeppner, to cancer. He’s frustrated by the IU football team’s regression in 2008, a season many expected to end with a second-straight bowl appearance. Most of all, Greenspan regrets that he won’t be a Hoosier when that program prospers and reclaims Big Ten relevancy. But he’ll also leave the foundation upon which that program must be built, something many fans have overlooked. Inundated with criticism mainly attributed to the sanctions levied on former IU men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, Greenspan announced his resignation June 26, effective at the end of the calendar year. Even with the cloud hovering over IU athletics, Greenspan’s decision to resign shocked many co-workers. “I didn’t think Rick was going to step down, and neither did a lot of us,” Mark Deal, associate director of football operations, said. “To say Rick Greenspan’s legacy is the whole Kelvin Sampson saga is about one-hundredth of all the good things he’s done here.”When Greenspan stepped foot on the Bloomington campus in 2004, he faced a struggling athletics department welcoming its third leader since 2001.Prior to his arrival, the IU football team wasn’t the primary focus of the department, despite being the top revenue-generating sport at most schools. The program was also in the midst of a lengthy postseason drought.

Badgers blow away IU 55-20

On their final home game of the season, everyone inside Memorial Stadium was treated to one more blowout. Losing to Wisconsin 55-20, the Hoosiers officially lost the chance to become bowl eligible long before the final whistle blew. Down 21-20 at the end of the first half, the Badgers rolled off 34 unanswered points in the second half. Decimated by injuries, IU failed to capitalize after winning the turnover battle and effectively hanging with Wisconsin in the first half. For the first two quarters, it was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, and as the half came to a close it appeared as if the Hoosiers might head into the locker room with the lead. Driving inside the Wisconsin 10-yard line, sophomore quarterback Ben Chappell took an injury to the head, fumbled and the Hoosiers metaphorically fumbled away their season as the Badgers never looked back.

Optimistic future? Yeah, right.

Football down but not feeling out just yet

Following a 37-34 loss to Central Michigan on Saturday, the Hoosiers are approaching the breaking point of their 2008 season. Junior linebacker Will Patterson was so perturbed by his team’s performance he somewhat called out them out following the game. “We’ve got certain guys that go out and play like warriors every Saturday,” Patterson said. “Then you’ve got the few guys that just kind of do their own thing. It showed today and we’ll get it fixed.”

Goodbye, 2008. See you next year

No crystal ball, no tarot card, not even Ms. Cleo could have correctly hypothesized IU’s season up to this point. 2008, as we all know, was supposed to encompass the resurgence of Hoosier football.