Never Daunted: An Indiana Hoosiers Dynasty (NCAA 14)

[apate93]

Indiana season preview

The Hoosiers finished just one loss short of their ultimate goal last year. Will their defeat in the National Championship fuel their fire this season, or will they suffer a post-title game hangover? As practice gets underway in Bloomington, let's take a look at the 2021 Hoosiers as they gear up for another run at the BCS Championship.


Players to watch
Danny Novak, Senior (RS), HB
Now that Michael Keenan is gone, Novak will be taking over running duties full time. Novak quietly had a strong year last season in relief of Keenan, rushing for over 660 yards on 101 carriers for 10 touchdowns. IU has had a strong batch of running backs under coach Pate, and we'll now see if Novak can live up to the high standards that have been set for him.


Joe Long, Senior (RS), QB
Long takes over at a position that the Hoosiers have been spotty at over the past few years. He saw limited action last season when Leonard Bell was out, going 11 of 16 for 200 yards and a touchdown, but was considered a real threat to Bell's job for much of the season. Can Long restore the passing game for the Hoosiers?


Bret Rodriguez, Senior (RS), WR
Indiana lost much of their receiving corps to graduation, meaning Rodriguez takes over as the top receiver for IU. Rodriguez scored two touchdowns on just 9 catches last year. Expect both of those numbers to rise as Rodriguez will see a lot more playing time this year.


Tyler Thomas, Senior, SS
One area that didn't feel the sting of graduation in the offseason is the defensive secondary, led by safety Tyler Thomas. Thomas was third on the team in tackles last year, while also bringing in 3 interceptions. A strong senior season seems likely for him.


Roshaun Brant, Sophomore, CB
Joining Thomas in the secondary is Roshaun Brant, last season's freshman MVP. Brant recorded 3 interceptions last year, and has quickly become one of the team's top defenders. Time will tell if he can build on his strong rookie performance, or suffer a sophomore slump.


C.J. Harrison, Junior, MLB
Indiana had the top defense in the nation last year, led by linebacker and team defensive MVP C.J. Harrison. Harrison led the team in tackles and interceptions last year on his way to winning the Linebacker of the Year Award. IU is poised for another strong defensive season, and Harrison will play a major part in it.


Deon Jackson, Senior (RS), RE
Jackson recorded 9 sacks a season ago, second on the team and first among returning players. Expect him to cause some trouble for opposing quarterbacks in his final season.


Erik McCarty, Sophomore, LE
On the opposite end of the line from Jackson is Erik McCarty, who had a breakout freshman season last year. His 5 sacks ranked 4th on the team, and with a year under his belt, he could be looking at an even bigger year this time around.



Practice notes
Strengths
Passing- Yes, you read that right. Indiana could very well have a strong passing game this season. Joe Long showed good accuracy in practice, while his receivers did a good job at getting open. After relying heavily on the rushing game in years past, the Hoosiers could open things up this season.

Secondary- Indiana's defense is strong again, and the defensive secondary could cause real problems for opposing passing offenses. DBs in practice showed a lot of success at defending passes in their areas.

A mobile QB- We saw last year that Joe Long isn't afraid to get out of the pocket and run with the ball if necessary. He's shown some good speed and agility for a quarterback, which could open up the option and allow him to scramble for some good yards when he needs to.


Weaknesses
Offensive line- Graduation probably hurt the offensive line the most, as many of the Hoosiers' starters have little to no experience at their positions. Quarterbacks in practice were often under pressure and were sacked too often.

Kicking- Gone is Marty Hampton, so kicking duties, both punting and placekicking, will likely fall to JUCO transfer John Ervin, who's field goal range is only in the mid-40 yard range without wind, a downgrade from Hampton who routinely kicked 50+ yarders, even in poor conditions.

Indiana Hoosiers Depth Chart - 2021
Regular Offense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
WR	Bret Rodriguez	Vince Pressley	Carlos Coley	Robert Medlock
TE	Greg Clark	Thurman Armstrong	Stephen James
LT	Thad Ford
LG	Tim Whitaker
C	Melvin Siegel
RG	Steve Crowell
RT	Jeremy Hill
QB	Joe Long	Mario Watson	Kevin Atkinson
Base 4-3 Defense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LDE	Erik McCarty		John Wood
LDT	James Richardson	Nathan Wheatley
RDT	Scott Durbin	Jason Boyd
RDE	Deon Jackson	Tim McDaniel
WLB	Mike McGill
MLB	C.J. Harrison	David Burke	Ross Davis
SLB	James Harris
CB	Roshaun Brant	Jerrell Silva	A.J. Hunter	Joey Williams
SS	Tyler Thomas	Courtney Berry	Jeff Smith
FS	Brett Harris
Special Teams
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
K	Bryant Swan	Brandon Dean	John Ervin
P	Bryant Swan
KR	Lee Hurst	Bret Rodriguez	Vince Pressley	Roshaun Brant
LS	Thad Ford	Melvin Siegel	Thurman Armstrong

Indiana's Preseason All-Americans
First team
MLB C.J. Harrison
SS Tyler Thomas
Returner Bret Rodriguez

Preseason All-Big Ten
First team
HB Danny Novak
RE Deon Jackson
MLB C.J. Harrison
SS Tyler Thomas
Returner Bret Rodriguez

Second team
CB Jerrell Silva
CB Roshaun Brant


Indiana Hoosiers 2021 Schedule
Sep. 4 vs West Virginia, 8:00 PM
Sep. 11 vs Ball State, 9:00 PM
Sep. 18 vs Northwestern, 6:00 PM
Sep. 25 @ Illinois, 6:00 PM
Oct. 9 @ Kentucky, 6:00 PM
Oct. 16 vs Purdue, 8:00 PM
Oct. 23 vs Michigan State (Homecoming), 6:00 PM
Oct. 30 vs Rutgers, 6:00 PM
Nov. 6 @ Maryland, 8:00 PM
Nov. 13 @ Michigan, 8:00 PM
Nov. 20 @ Ohio State, 12:30 PM
Nov. 27 vs Penn State, 1:00 PM

Games to watch
Kentucky- Indiana renews their rivalry with Kentucky this season with the first of a 3-game series between the two teams. Coach Pate hasn't beaten the Wildcats in his two tries, could that change this year in Lexington?

Purdue- The Hoosiers will look to do something against Purdue they haven't been able to do the last two times the Boilermakers have come to town: win. Just another layer of excitement to the Battle for the Old Oaken Bucket.

Ohio State- ESPN has Ohio State as the favorite to win the Big Ten East, with Indiana finishing second. IU will travel to Columbus in a game that, once again, could decide who goes to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship.

Projected record: 11-1. The Hoosiers have a slightly easier schedule than they did last year, which is nice. But this is a different IU team, with a lot of youth and guys seeing real playing time for the first time. That inexperience could cost the Hoosiers a win or two, but Indiana should have another good season regardless.

Also worth noting, Indiana will dominate primetime this year, playing only two games this season earlier than 6 PM eastern, with those two being the final two games of the year. Get used to seeing the Hoosiers under the lights in 2021.

[apate93]

This week's headlines
Starting from the top- Notre Dame looks to repeat, opens as #1
Sooners, Hoosiers try to make up for one-loss seasons
Georgia on my mind- UGA, Tech start in the top 10
Virginia and Wake look to prove last year's success was no fluke
Hero or hype? Louisiana Tech & Toledo stars make Heisman watch

Heisman watch
Bill Brooks- Junior- QB- Clemson
Jacob Carter- Senior (RS)- QB- TCU
Trent Brewer- Senior (RS)- QB- Louisiana Tech
Jonathan Davis- Senior- QB- USC
Melvin Williams- Senior- HB- Toledo


Conference division champion projections (projected conf. champ in bold)
ACC- Florida State (Atlantic), Georgia Tech (Coastal)
American- Navy (North), USF (South)
Big 12- West Virginia (North), Oklahoma (South)
Big Ten- Ohio State (East), Minnesota (West)
C-USA- Old Dominion (East), Western Kentucky (West)
MAC- Miami (OH) (East), Toledo (West)
MWC- Air Force (Mountain), Fresno State (West)
Pac-12- Stanford (North), UCLA (South)
SEC- Tennessee (East), Arkansas (West)
Sun Belt- UL-Lafayette


This week's big games
Utah State @ Utah
Tulane @ Ole Miss
Georgia @ Texas A&M
South Carolina @ Alabama
Colorado vs Colorado State
Tennessee @ Miami (FL) (College Gameday)
Oregon @ Missouri

Indiana has a bye this week

[apate93]

Preseason top 25 (plus 5)

1. Notre Dame
2. Florida State
3. Ohio State
4. Clemson
5. Oklahoma
6. Stanford
7. Tennessee
8. Georgia Tech
9. Georgia
10. Indiana
11. TCU
12. UCLA
13. Minnesota
14. Arkansas
15. LSU
16. USC
17. Navy
18. North Carolina
19. Ole Miss
20. Pittsburgh
21. Nebraska
22. Michigan
23. Toledo
24. Auburn
25. Miami (FL)
26. Virginia
27. Baylor
28. Washington
29. Western Kentucky
30. Wake Forest

[apate93]

Top 25 scoreboard
Georgia 42, Texas A&M 13
Ole Miss 48, Tulane 12
Miami (FL) 27, Tennessee 17

Other notable games
Utah State 31, Utah 27
UTSA 34, Vanderbilt 27
Alabama 42, South Carolina 23
Colorado State 31, Colorado 24
Oregon 35, Missouri 22


This week's headlines
Tennessee's comeback falls short, Miami earns big opening win
Bulldogs have no problem with Texas A&M
Bama's offensive explosion lifts Tide past Carolina
Ducks seal the deal in second half, top Mizzou

Heisman watch
Bill Brooks- Junior- QB- Clemson
Jacob Carter- Senior (RS)- QB- TCU
Trent Brewer- Senior (RS)- QB- Louisiana Tech
Jonathan Davis- Senior- QB- USC
D.D. Cade- Junior (RS)- HB- Georgia



This week's big games
West Virginia @ Indiana
Virginia @ Wyoming
Old Dominion @ Florida State
Ohio State @ Boston College
NC State @ Nebraska
Northwestern @ Kent State
Alabama @ Fresno State
Southeast Louisiana @ UCLA
Northern Colorado @ Wisconsin
Cal Poly @ Purdue
Montana @ Rutgers
Oklahoma @ Cincinnati
Tennessee @ Ole Miss
Maryland @ Florida
Houston @ Louisville
Western Carolina @ Connecticut
Alabama State @ Eastern Michigan
Iowa @ Kansas State
Oklahoma State @ UCF
Portland State @ Tulane
North Carolina @ Notre Dame
Washington State @ USC
Stanford @ Colorado
Miami (FL) @ FAU
Baylor @ Texas A&M
Arizona State @ Duke
Kansas @ TCU
Kentucky @ Auburn
South Carolina @ Georgia
Pittsburgh @ San Diego State
Virginia Tech @ Michigan State
Georgia State @ Georgia Tech
Colorado State @ Clemson
Weber State @ Minnesota
Illinois State @ Penn State
Texas @ Arkansas (College Gameday)
Vanderbilt @ LSU
Iowa State @ UNLV

[apate93]

Top 25

1. Notre Dame (0-0)
2. Florida State (0-0)
3. Ohio State (0-0)
4. Clemson (0-0)
5. Oklahoma (0-0)
6. Stanford (0-0)
7. Georgia Tech (0-0)
8. Georgia (1-0)
9. Indiana (0-0)
10. TCU (0-0)
11. UCLA (0-0)
12. Minnesota (0-0)
13. Arkansas (0-0)
14. LSU (0-0)
15. Tennessee (0-1)
16. USC (0-0)
17. Navy (0-0)
18. North Carolina (0-0)
19. Ole Miss (1-0)
20. Pittsburgh (0-0)
21. Nebraska (0-0)
22. Michigan (0-0)
23. Toledo (0-0)
24. Miami (FL) (1-0)
25. Auburn (0-0)

[thesportsguru11]

Glad to see you back and ready to roll!

It's obvious that this will be an interesting year with all of the new faces in the starting lineup. I hope West Virginia doesn't trip you guys up to open the year while you're breaking everyone in.

[apate93]

Quote: Originally Posted by thesportsguru11

Glad to see you back and ready to roll! It's obvious that this will be an interesting year with all of the new faces in the starting lineup. I hope West Virginia doesn't trip you guys up to open the year while you're breaking everyone in.

I'm confident we'll be competitive again this year, but I guess we won't really know until we hit the field for the first time. I'm excited to get things under way, though.

Thanks for checking in!

[apate93]

Matchup Preview *|* September 4, 2021
	@
West Virginia Mountaineers (0-0, 0-0 Away)		#9 Indiana Hoosiers (0-0, 0-0 Home)
Game Notes It's been a busy few months since the Hoosiers fell to Notre Dame in the National Championship, and hopes are high in Bloomington that the Hoosiers can get a chance to finish the job this year. Meeting them today is West Virginia, who starts the season outside of the top 25 for the first time in a few years. But don't let that fool you, the reigning Big 12 North champs are projected to go back to their conference championship game again this year, and would love to get things started with an opening game upset. Keys to victory Indiana- Grow up fast- Indiana's biggest weakness appears to be the offensive line, which suffers from inexperience. They'll have to get up to speed quickly if they want to hold off the Mountaineer defense. West Virginia- Embrace underdog status- WVU isn't getting the attention this year that they have in years past, but that may just fuel their fire for respect. A big opening win could show the poll voters they made a mistake in overlooking West Virginia. Prediction: Indiana 29, West Virginia 17. When these two teams met two years ago in Morgantown, the Hoosiers needed some late defensive heroics to hold on for the win. This game probably won't be as close, but this early in the season, it's all speculation. 8:00 PM, ABC