2013-14 Football Previews – (Big 10) – Hoosiers
The 2012 season was a massive improvement from 2011 for the Indiana Hoosiers. Kevin Wilson’s team piled up the points last year, and they were able to come out on top in four games. While this team certainly still has lots of room to grow, they are definitely on the right path.
Indiana plays in the weaker of the two Big Ten divisions (Leaders), so they have an opportunity to make a little more noise this season.
Big 10 Conference 2012-2013 College Football Previews: Indiana Hoosiers (Team Link)
Head Coach: Kevin Wilson
2012 Record: 4-8
Indiana Gambling Odds to win BCS Championship (Part of Field): +2,000
Indiana Gambling Odds to win Big 10 Leaders Division: +1,800
Indiana Gambling Odds to win Big 10 Conference: +4,800
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The fast-paced spread offense at Indiana has already been proven a success. Now, it is time of the defense to step up and make this team much more competitive. No one should expect Indiana to be playing with the big boys of the Big Ten Conference just yet, but this is a team that could compete for a bowl. The Hoosiers have been to a bowl game just once in the past 19 years.
Team Strengths:
Indiana has three great options at quarterback this year. Tre Roberson is the most athletic quarterback of the bunch. Cameron Coffman proved himself very capable of running this offense after Roberson went down with an injury last year. Nate Sutfield is a sophomore who was a very highly touted recruit who the coaching staff is high on. All of these guys will get plenty of chances, and they are all capable of doing big things for this offense.
The Hoosiers have tons of talent at the skill positions on offense. Stephen Houston, Tevin Coleman, and De’Angelo Roberts will form one of the best tailback trios in the conference. At wide receiver, the Hoosiers return 10 of their top 11 pass catchers from a year ago. Kofi Hughes is one of the top receivers in the league.
The offensive line was surprisingly good a year ago, and most of the unit is back for another season. This unit does a nice job blocking effectively in this fast-paced system. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Team Weaknesses:
The Indiana defense allowed 35.3 points per game last year. Nine starters return from last year’s starting defensive unit, but I’m not sure that’s a plus when they were shredded up by just about every offense they faced.
Indiana’s single biggest weakness is stopping the run. Big Ten teams often just line up and run the ball right down the Hoosiers throat every single down, and there seems to be nothing this team can do about it. Opponents ran for 231 yards per game on Indiana last season. There’s no sign that will change in the year ahead, and that’s a big problem.
Indiana’s defense needs to force some more turnovers. This isn’t a unit that is going to get a lot of three and outs, so they need to become ball hawks. Indiana only had seven interceptions all year in 2012.
2013-2014 Indiana Football Prediction: 6-7
I’m going to predict that Indiana gets to a bowl game for the second time in 20 years. The Hoosiers aren’t going to be a good team, but they don’t have to be a good team in this division to get to six wins. Wilson’s team is improving, and if the defense can find a way to slow down the running game then this team could spring an upset or two. Indiana should be fun to watch in 2013.
2013 Indiana Schedule
8/29/13 7:00 PM ET INDST
9/7/13 6:00 PM ET NAVY
9/14/13 12:00 PM ET BGREN
9/21/13 8:00 PM ET MISOU
10/5/13 TBD PENST
10/12/13 TBD @MCHST
10/19/13 3:30 PM ET @MICH
11/2/13 3:30 PM ET MINN
11/9/13 TBD ILL
11/16/13 TBD @WISC
11/23/13 TBD @OHIST
11/30/13 TBD PURD
