2012-13 Football Previews – (Big 10) – Indiana Hoosiers
Kevin Wilson’s first year with the Indiana Hoosiers didn’t go exactly as planned. Everyone knew he was walking into a difficult situation, but a 1-11 season in 2011 was definitely a disappointment. In fact, the team’s only win came over a non FBS school (South Carolina State).
Big 10 Conference 2012-2013 College Football Previews: Indiana Hoosiers
Head Coach: Kevin Wilson
2011 Record: 1-11
Indiana Gambling Odds from 5Dimes to win BCS Championship: +90,000
Indiana Gambling Odds from 5Dimes to win Big 10 Conference: +7,500
Indiana Team Page – Players Stats – Roster – 2012 Schedule –>
Wilson realizes this team is bad right now, and he is working hard to make sure his players realize how far they have to go to be competitive.
The Hoosiers were stunned by Ball State in the season opener last year. As if it couldn’t get any worse, Indiana lost to lowly North Texas just a couple weeks later. The Hoosiers weren’t even competitive in many of their Big Ten Conference games. They were beaten 59-7 by Wisconsin and 55-3 by Michigan State. It’s hard to imagine that things could get any worse in Bloomington. Will they get any better in 2012?
Team Strengths:
When you go 1-11 and don’t beat an FBS opponent all year, you probably don’t have many strengths. It’s tough to find them in this group, but there are a couple stronger areas.
The Indiana backfield has some pretty good running options. Stephen Houston came into his own as the season went along in 2011. Houston had multiple 100 yard games in the final stretch of the season. Tre Roberson is a good running option at the quarterback spot. In addition, tailback is the deepest spot on this roster. D’Angelo Roberts and Isaiah Roundtree are both guys who could see quite a bit of action. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The linebacker spot should be much better this year after Wilson had a nice recruiting haul in this area. David Cooper and Jacarri Alexander are two junior college transfers who should step right in and help the defense right away.
Team Weaknesses:
The secondary has been awful for the last few seasons. Indiana gave up all kinds of long scoring plays, largely because this group couldn’t tackle in open space. Missed assignments seemed to be a commonplace for this unit last year as well. Mark Murphy is a solid sophomore at safety, but the Hoosiers cornerbacks haven’t proven they can cover anyone in one-on-one situations.
The passing offense is virtually non-existent. Indiana didn’t throw for more than 200 yards in any of their last six games in 2011. There are many questions regarding who the long-term solution is at the quarterback spot. Indiana’s receivers aren’t a very deep group, and it remains to be seen if anyone can get the ball to them.
Indiana’s defensive line was a major disappointment in 2011. The Hoosiers recorded just 18 sacks all year. In addition, the best teams in the Big Ten constantly shredded Indiana by just running the ball right up the middle every single play. If the Hoosiers defense is going to improve, it must start up front.
2012-2013 Indiana Hoosiers Football Prediction: 3-9
Indiana isn’t going to be good at all in 2012, but I’m going to assume they take some positive steps. It will help that the Hoosiers have an extremely easy non-conference schedule. Indiana should at least win two of their first three games, and I’ll guess that they can pick up one more win somewhere during the season. Don’t expect much in the Big Ten Conference though, because this team is still a long ways from being competitive against the big boys.
2012 Indiana Schedule
9/1/12 8:00 PM ET INDST
9/8/12 3:30 PM ET @MASS
9/15/12 8:00 PM ET BALST
9/29/12 TBD @NWEST
10/6/12 TBD MCHST
10/13/12 TBD OHIST
10/20/12 TBD @NAVY
10/27/12 TBD @ILL
11/3/12 TBD IOWA
11/10/12 TBD WISC
11/17/12 TBD @PENST
11/24/12 TBD @PURD
