Top 5 hopes for the 2009 season

1. The re-emergence of Greg Middleton- There is no doubt in my mind that Greg Middleton will have a bounce back season. Everything I have heard this off-season points in that direction. He had one of the best winter conditioning’s he has ever had and the best off-season he has had since being at Indiana. With the emergence of Jammie Kirlew there won’t be the possibility of double teaming anybody on our D-line. They key will be to get a good pass rush with just the front four this season. If both Middleton and Kirlew can play there best at the same time they will wreak havoc in the backfield.

2. Improved fan support- People underestimate how much impact a sell-out crowd can have. The players would love to run out into Memorial Stadium with tons of fans in the seats. I think the fact that Coach Lynch has made around 75 public appearances this off-season that the program seems to be promoted much better than years past. The game-day experience will be 100% different from last year. Hopefully people can come to the games and see the brand new stadium and enjoy themselves. Fred Glass has had a ton of ideas to help improve attendance and I think it will improve the overall attendance numbers. I’m sure when it comes down to it winning will be the number one factor of attendance rates but it would be nice for the football team to have good support year in and year out. Dont’ forget that we have 3 night games (Thursday night against Eastern Kentucky, Ohio State, Illinois) which should make the atmosphere more exciting.

3. Improved o-line play- I think the you will see a different o-line this year and here is why. The

biggest reason is going to be the switch to the “pistol” offense. When we were strictly a spread team the offensive line is constantly in a two point stance and relies on quickness to protect the quarterback and allow seams to open up. In the pistol our offensive line will be the aggressors and really be able to get after people. This fits the mentality of pretty much our whole offensive line. Saffold has bulked up tremendously this off season, Pagan is a mauler and has developed beyond his years, Matte may be undersized but could be one of the most aggressive lineman up front, Saxon has gotten bigger and stronger this off-season, and Brewer has made a ton of strides this off-season and is a load at 6’8 and almost 340lbs. 4 out of our 5 starters weighed in well above 300lbs which is something we haven’t had in a very long time. The o-line has played together for many years and have a good combination of experience, size, and power.

4. Further development of skill positions- We have a solid young group of players at the skill

positions. I think Demarlo Belcher has had a huge off-season and you will see it real quick when the season starts. Same thing goes for Tandon Doss. Darius Willis will finally get to show what he can do on the field and will be the feature back for the next few years. Throw in some promising young talents like Duwyce Wilson and we have the potential to have one of the best wide receiving core’s in the big ten for the next few years. Probably won’t be this year but if they can continue to develop they should be very hard to stop for years down the road.

5. Get back to a bowl game- I think it will be something that will be very hard to do but, if a few things can go our way and we can stay healthy while playing to our potential, I can see it happening. This group of upperclassmen need to leave there marks and I think they will. Everything I’ve read and heard this off-season points to the fact that the players have a completely different mentality and have worked so hard to come out and turn the program around. After seeing the impact of what one bowl game can do to recruiting it is extremely important this year to bounce back and show that Indiana is still a football program on the rise.