Little 500 is done, and gone are the concerts and events that fill the week leading to the race. But that doesn't mean campus will be dead this week. Following a week with performances by hip-hop artists Nelly and Jurassic 5, the IU chapter of The Hip Hop Congress will host a hip-hop awareness festival today in Dunn Meadow.
Antwaan Randle El plays a lot of roles on the football team. He's the quarterback, the team's second-leading rusher, the punt returner and sometimes a punter. Right up there with his football duties are his off-the-field tasks. One of those is being a captain, which requires keeping his teammates level-headed.
Finally. At last, an IU football team won a game without having to score 40 points. Without having to gain 500-plus yards. Without trading touchdowns and hoping to score the final one. IU beat Purdue 13-7 Saturday because of defense. Finally. "It feels so great to be a defensive player on this team right now," junior safety Joe Gonzalez said. "The offense has bailed us out a lot of times. They've put a lot of points on the board. The offense shouldn't have to do that.
All eyes remain on Antwaan Randle El and Tommy Jones this week, following a poor offensive performance in the season opener against North Carolina State. During and since the game, commentators and fans have wondered aloud if the new offensive plan would work. But quarterback, coach Cam Cameron said, isn't IU's prime concern. "I know the number one thing we've got to solve is our punting problem," he said. "I can promise you. It doesn't matter who your quarterback is. You are not going to be able to overcome our punting performance in that last game."
The IU football team kicked off its spring football season Wednesday with its first official spring practice. The practice, the team's first of 15 this spring, was far from flawless, with dropped passes and fumbles. But, senior Antwaan Randle El said, practice wasn't all that bad, either. "The first day went OK," Randle El said. "I'm not just looking at offense and defense, I'm looking at the whole team. I think we got out, and we did some good things. We did some bad things, and of course, we've got to improve, but that will come in the next 14 (practices). I think one of the biggest things we did today was we came out and worked on basically technique -- new guys learning different things, changing positions and that kind of thing."
Four wins in its last five games proved the football team started heading in the right direction this season, but it didn't convince Athletics Director Michael McNeely to keep Cam Cameron as head coach. McNeely fired Cameron Wednesday afternoon. Cameron finished his five-year tenure at IU with a 18-37 (12-28 Big Ten) record and no bowl appearances. The lack of improvement over the past five years led to McNeely's decision. "Five years is an important measuring standard for a program to demonstrate a high level of competitiveness and consistency, both on the field and in the classroom," McNeely said. "It is not an either-or proposition.
The formula for success at IU last season wasn't an effective one: Score at least 40 points or lose. And that formula seemed to be the case again early this season. The football team won only one of its first six games, and the lone victory was a 63-32 offensive onslaught against Wisconsin.
Sophomore forward Lucas Christian scored 11 minutes into the game and the men's soccer team dominated the match Friday in its spring season opener, a 1-0 victory against IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis. The Hoosiers, playing their first of six games this spring, created scoring opportunities early against the Jaguars but failed to convert most of them. The same problem plagued IU last season against IUPUI, when the Hoosiers tallied 25 shots but needed two goals in the final five minutes to win 2-0. Sophomore Pat Noonan, who created many of IU's chances, called the team's effort "decent."
MADISON, Wis. -- So this is what good defense looks like. This here, just past midfield, senior Sharrod Wallace running step-for-step with Wisconsin's Lee Evans and breaking up Brooks Bollinger's bomb on the first play of the game, is how pass coverage is supposed to go.
Ask critics of Cam Cameron and IU football about job security, and they'll tell you Cameron doesn't have much of it. Ask Cameron, and he'll tell you, well, quite a bit.
Solutions by The State News