The Wooden Rollercoaster of IU Football: Strong but shaky
Bill Lynch is now 4-0 in season openers. Taking down the Towson Tigers may only be the start to Lynch’s master plan to have one of the best teams in the Big Ten.
Moving Evans and Ernest to defense and starting Ted Bolser at tight end may have been the coaching decisions that can change IU Football into a winner this season.
Despite the Hoosiers' 4-8 record last year, it is an attainable dream for IU to increase their wins and have a better chance at a bowl appearance at the end of the season.
Now that we are strapped in and ready for this rollercoaster, let’s start off with the “strong” part. The Hoosiers ended the game 6-for-6 in the red zone, which to me is incredible. When I saw that stat I about got up out of my chair and cheered in the press box, which is not really allowed.
The offense for IU showed promise. The receiving corps that played for the first half and some of the second was something special to watch. IU had 165 passing yards in the first half, and Ben Chappell never left the shotgun all night.
Think there's a reason for that? You bet there is --- the kid can flat out throw the ball and score touchdowns. Watching number 4 break down the Towson defense was a sight all IU football fans should have enjoyed.
You can’t overlook what running back Darius Willis does for this offense, either. He had 100 yards in the first half. How many players in the Big Ten can accomplish that?
Let me tell you about two other guys that will have major impacts on IU offense this year: Ted Bolser and Duwyce Wilson. Bolser stands 6’6’’ and 252 lbs. Every writer, journalist, reporter, and coach in the Big Ten will be talking about this guy after tonight. He had 3 receptions for 47 yards and a touchdown.
How about Duwyce? Is he just another freshman? I hope you answered no. He is the new kick returner, standing alongside Nick Turner. Wilson had a 46 yard kickoff return that I thought was going to be the guy’s first touchdown as a Hoosier. He is quick and can read the holes the special teams open for him.
Remember we are still on the “shaky” wooden rollercoaster, so I’ll show you the brackets that need to be tightened.
In the first quarter, the IU defense held Towson to a total of 29 yards and one first down. Towson only had 9 rushing yards. 9. That seems good, right?
Wrong. By the end of the second half, Towson accumulated over 200 yards of total offense. What went wrong? If IU did not score as much as they did that first half and did not stop Towson from making a comeback, we would not be so happy with this win.
You may say the defense had three picks by three different players, two of which used to play offense, and held the Tigers to only 3 of 9 on third-down conversions. But I say that defense needs work. The Towson quarterback had 91 yards rushing. Hart isn’t a cook so he can’t be that good at scrambling.
There were some big plays that caught the Hoosiers off-guard and behind a quick quarterback that reminds me of Terrelle Pryor. What is this IU defense going to do when we see him on Oct. 9th?
All I’m saying is that the defense needs to work and work hard if we want to keep big time offenses in the Big Ten down. Otherwise, who couldn’t be happy with this win?
Other than Towson, of course.
Photography by Samantha Dewig
