Special Seniors Aim for Memorable Send-Off
/
Ten Indiana seniors will be playing or appearing in Memorial Stadium for their final home game. Image: IUHoosiers.com
Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
The following seniors will be suiting up (or, if injured, participating in Senior Day festivities) for the final time at Memorial Stadium: Ricky Jones, Dawson Fletcher, Wes Rogers, Dan Feeney, Jacob Bailey, Dimitric Camiel, Mitchell Paige, Ralph Green, T.J. Simmons and Clyde Newton. The Hoosier Huddle staff thanks them for their contributions to IU football.
Writer’s note: This “article” is multiple things: part quotes from player availability, part quotes from Kevin Wilson, part facts and figures about this class and part editorial and my personal thoughts and feelings on this group of players.
The fifth-year seniors that arrived in Bloomington prior to the 2012 season came to a program that had won one game in 2011 and had not been to a bowl game since 2007. Dan Feeney was a three-star recruit from Orland Park, Illinois. He’ll leave Indiana as one of the best offensive lineman to ever don the Cream and Crimson. Ralph Green came to IU as a low three-star recruit from San Antonio, Texas. He’ll leave as a productive multi-year starter and a member of the most improved defense in the country. Ricky Jones was an unheralded two-star recruit from Florida. After struggling with injuries early in his career, he exits IU with two terrific seasons as a vital part of one of the best passing games in the Big Ten. Jacob Bailey has played through chronic pain in his knees, Wes Rogers has been a versatile cog on a dominant line and Dimitric Camiel turned himself from a two-star recruit to an All-Big Ten level right tackle before an injury derailed his senior season. Mitchell Paige was a complete afterthought recruit from a small Christian school in Indianapolis (Guerin Catholic) but he’s become a fan favorite and a reliable slot receiver, punt returner and holder. Every exiting player has a story and every departing class leaves behind contributions. This senior class, although small, will leave behind a much different football program than the one they entered and a win Saturday will allow them to exit IU while accomplishing things that haven’t been done in decades.
A victory over Purdue in the seniors’ final game at Memorial Stadium would send IU to back-to-back bowl games for the first time since 1990-1991. It would be the fourth straight Old Oaken Bucket victory, matching IU’s longest winning streak in the long rivalry. Those are lasting accomplishments that should be remembered a long time and they would be tangible representations of how much has changed within the program since they arrived.
“It’s completely different,” fifth-year senior Wes Rogers said. “The guys we have, the practices we do, the way our team acts compared to the team when I got here is a complete 180-turn. Guys really care and work and go as hard as we can. Our team is a lot tighter too.”
The improvement on the practice field and the commitment to the program has shown up in the on-field results. The Hoosiers went 4-8 in 2012 and nearly made a bowl game in 2013, going 5-7. They won the Old Oaken Bucket and likely would have won six games if not for some untimely injuries. Injuries and a couple of poor outings caused the Hoosiers to backslide in 2014 but they rebounded with a couple of clutch late victories in 2015 that sent IU to the Pinstripe Bowl. Now, as this group nears the completion of their college careers, they are one win away from four straight Bucket wins and two straight bowl trips.
Kevin Wilson knows the on-field success is a result of the practice habits and leadership and culture developed by this group of seniors.
“Well, they’ve (Ricky Jones and Mitchell Paige) both been really good special teams players. But where they’ve been is when they talk to our team, the way they talk about their preparation and the way they play and then they go out and put it on tape. Those kids play very, very hard. They practice very, very hard, and it’s a joy to watch. Like last week, Jacob Bailey was on a scramble block, and he was on his hands and feet, the old kind of bear crawl thing, going ten yards fighting and scratching on a Friday practice when it was light, because it was a senior knowing he needed to go hard and get ready for this game. They’re set to graduate, they’re going to be successful. They’ve been great Hoosiers.”
I hope the Indiana Hoosiers hammer the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday and win their fourth straight Bucket game. Few things are as enjoyable to me as a sports fan as beating Purdue. It would send IU to another bowl game and give our site extra weeks of game content. Plus, it’s fun to watch IU play football. Those are all selfish reasons. A non-selfish reason to root for an IU victory is so that these seniors that have changed this football program so much can remember their final home game fondly and can play one more game together. Their journey together can extend for another month. They can practice fifteen more times together. They can keep on hanging out as best friends and teammates.
“The games are awesome but really the relationships you form and the people you meet, that’s really what you take out of sports,” Jacob Bailey said. “The bonds and relationships I’ve formed with my teammates are truly great.”
Wes Rogers agreed, “They’ve been my best friends for five years. Those are my guys. I love these guys and they mean the world to me. I hope that we get a win for all of us seniors.”
The expectations for the Indiana University football program have been substantially raised during the class of 2016’s time as Hoosiers. They committed to one of the worst FBS programs in the country, came to Bloomington and went about turning it into a competitive program that now has a chance to go to back-to-back bowl games with no reason to think there won’t be more in the very near future. They have represented Indiana University well and it’s been a real pleasure to watch them grow as individual players and as a team.
Kevin Wilson summed it up accurately when talking about the class as a whole, “I love them to death. It is a great group of guys who are going to be very, very successful. It is a good group and they have set a pretty good standard.”