New head coach Kevin Wilson takes over in Bloomington looking to restore a program that has been sputtering now for the better part of two decades.
Star quarterback Ben Chappel has graduated which means Dusty Kiel likely gets the nod behind center this fall. Wilson is known to be an offensive guru so the Hoosier faithful are hoping he can turn Kiel into what he turned Sam Bradford into at Oklahoma. The ground game doesn’t look much more promising with Trea Burgess likely to get the bulk of the carries after amassing 600 yards in his first two seasons.
On the defensive side of the ball, things do not look much more promising for a unit that gave up 40+ points four times last season (including 83 at Wisconsin). Jeff Thomas returns at linebacker but that doesn’t figure to be enough for an Indiana team that ranked 102 in points allowed in 2010.
The non-conference schedule is light as usual with trips to Ball State and North Texas surrounding home games versus Virginia and South Carolina State. The Hoosiers likely come out of this with a 2-2 mark before heading to conference play where they travel to Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State and Michigan State. The only real hope for a conference win comes in their annual state showdown with Purdue. Prediction: 3-9 overall, 1-7 in conference.
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