Hoosiers Head South To Open 2016 Season at Florida International
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Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
For the first time since 1992, the Indiana Hoosiers have a chance to earn back-to-back bowl bids (they last went to successive bowl games in 1990-1991). The quest for a second straight postseason appearance begins on Thursday night in Miami as the Indiana Hoosiers take on the Florida International Panthers at FIU Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU and will kick-off at approximately 7:30 pm.
Thursday will be the second meeting all-time between the two schools and it is a rematch of last season’s 36-22 Indiana victory in Bloomington on September 12, 2015. The Panthers threw for 283 yards and gained 406 yards in total offense but three turnovers proved costly and Jordan Howard churned out 159 rushing yards to help salt away the victory, and a 2-0 start, for the Hoosiers. Indiana would go on to finish the regular season at 6-6 before dropping the Pinstripe Bowl and ending their season at 6-7. The FIU Panthers finished just short of bowl-eligibility, going 5-7 (3-5 in Conference USA).
Much has changed since that matchup but the head coaches and much of the personnel remain the same. The 2016 season will be the sixth season in charge at Indiana for Kevin Wilson while Ron Turner begins his fourth season at the helm of the FIU program. Both coaches return 17 of their starters from last year’s teams and both fan bases are expecting a bowl berth in 2016. Indiana will be playing their first game under new defensive coordinator Tom Allen and his 4-2-5, attacking and aggressive defense. They’ll be forced to deal with an FIU offense that returns nine starters, including veteran quarterback Alex McGough, wide receiver Thomas Owens and dangerous tight end Jonnu Smith.
“Alex (McGough) is in such control, understands the offense so well, he makes it easy on everybody,” FIU head coach Ron Turner said of his quarterback. “He came in a couple years ago as a freshman, played really well at times but played like a freshman. Now, he’s got a great grasp off it and he’s showing great control.”
Turner didn’t shy away from expectations for his team during a preseason interview, “I see confidence and I think I’d be selling these guys short if I said that just they’d be okay with just a winning record. I think they want to go after more than that and they believe they can do it.”
IU head coach Kevin Wilson knows that Thursday night will be a challenge, “They have a veteran offensive line. The whole crowd’s back. Quarterback’s going to be one of the best players in their conference. He’s very mature, very competent. Their running back is back, so everyone is basically back on offense. Defensively, they have been very, very good on defense for years. We saw last year, we struggled a lot against those guys, it was a close game and a tough game.”
There is no doubt the Panthers attack will be a tough first challenge for an IU defense that is desperately trying to reverse years of being pushed around and finishing among the worst defenses in the FBS. However, IU head coach Kevin Wilson recently declared the defense “won the offseason” and he believes they are working with a higher level of talent and confidence than they’ve had during his time in Bloomington. In addition, a young and inexperienced FIU defense will be tasked with slowing down the explosive Hoosiers attack. IU led the Big Ten in total offense and scoring offense in 2015 and, despite a new quarterback, they expect to be among the top offenses in the nation once again. This will be the first FBS start for new IU quarterback Richard Lagow but the rest of the offense is loaded with experience. The Hoosiers will lean on an offensive line with four seniors (including All-American Dan Feeney), a deep and versatile running back corps and a veteran wide receiver group while FIU returns only five starters on defense.
Non-conference games are always important and Kevin Wilson’s teams have actually done very well in the past two seasons, going 7-1 in the non-conference portion of the schedule. These games become even more vital this season as the Big Ten has moved to nine conference games, narrowing the margin of error as teams strive for bowl eligibility. Indiana has made recruiting the Sunshine State a priority in recent years and this game serves as a homecoming of sorts for twelve IU players that hail from Florida. Several of those players will play important roles in this opening night clash and playing in your home state, in front of friends and family will likely bring some increased emotions. In addition, playing in the season opener, on the road, under the lights and on national television will amp up anyone with a pulse. Indiana will need to control their emotions and adjust to a new quarterback and a new defensive scheme quickly because their quest for a second straight bowl is about to begin.