Indiana 2012 Recruiting

Indiana Hoosiers - 2012 Season ... Head Coach: Kevin Wilson

Indiana Hoosiers 

2011 Record: 1-11

Sep. 3 at Ball State L 27-20
Sep. 10 Virginia L 34-31
Sep. 17 South Carolina St W 38-21
Sep. 24 North Texas L 24-21
Oct. 1 Penn State L 16-10
Oct. 8 Illinois W 41-20
Oct. 15 at Wisconsin L 59-7
Oct. 22 at Iowa L 45-24
Oct. 29 Northwestern L 59-38
Nov. 5 at Ohio State L 34-20
Nov. 12 OPEN DATE
Nov. 19 at Michigan St L 55-3
Nov. 26 Purdue L 33-25

2010 CFN Prediction: 5-7
2010 Record: 5-7

Sept. 2 Towson W 51-17
Sept. 11 OPEN DATE
Sept. 18 at WKU W 38-21
Sept. 25 Akron W 35-20
Oct. 2 Michigan L 42-25
Oct. 9 at Ohio St L 38-10
Oct. 16 Arkansas St W 36-14
Oct. 23 at Illinois L 43-13
Oct. 30 Northwestern L 20-17
Nov. 6 Iowa L 18-13
Nov. 13 at Wisconsin L 83-20
Nov. 20 Penn St (in Land.) L 41-24
Nov. 27 at Purdue W 34-31 OT
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The Entire 2012 Recruiting Class

Top 5 Indiana Recruits To Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. LB Jaccari Alexander
6-2, 250, Scout.com three-star JUCO transfer.

2. LB Jordan Wallace
6-1, 215, Scout.com 26th ranked, three-star middle linebacker.

3. RB Tevin Coleman
6-1, 190, Scout.com 47th ranked, three-star running back.

4. QB Nathan Sudfeld
6-5, 215, Scout.com 63rd ranked, three-star quarterback.

5. LB Nick Mangieri
6-5, 230, Scout.com 75th ranked, three-star outside linebacker.

The 2012 Class Was Heavy On... FBS players. Head coach Kevin Wilson openly groused about the talent level after coming over from Oklahoma, and now he has had a full recruiting season to change things around. While he lost top quarterback prospect Dusty Kiel to Notre Dame, he’s getting a few passers and some strong receivers. The defense has to be far better, and it starts up front with JUCO transfers Jaccari Alexander and David Cooper for the linebacking corps, and enough talent for the depth on the line to get an immediate upgrade.

Team Concerns For 2012: The offense has to start producing on a consistent basis. Tre Robertson is a fun quarterback to work around, and Stephen Houston is a promising, pounding back, but Wilson’s passing attack needs a deep threat and the line has to be night and day better. There’s experience, but the skill level is lacking.

Looking Ahead To The 2012 Season: The Hoosiers failed to beat an FBS team, but the biggest loss came this offseason when star QB prospect Dusty Kiel ultimately chose Notre Dame after verbally committing to IU. Second-year head coach Kevin Wilson had a really, really young team, and now the hope is for quarterbacks Tre Roberson and Edward Wright-Baker to play like experienced veterans. Stephen Houston and D’Angelo Roberts are promising backs to work the running game around, while Kofi Hughes is a good No. 1 target. The defense was a disaster finishing last in the Big Ten in yards, scoring D, and run defense, but all four starters are back on the line and three starters in the secondary are back. Leading tackler Jeff Thomas is gone from the middle.

The 2011 Class Was Heavy On … Defensive backs. New head coach Kevin Wilson wants receivers to be able to move the ball vertically even more than Bill Lynch did, and he loaded up with three excellent targets from the tiny but quick Shane Wynn to the 6-5 Jay McCants. Defense got plenty of help, especially in the secondary, with big safeties Forisse Hardin and Mark Murphy, potentially seeing time right away, while Kenny Mullen bring speed at corner and Nick Stoner and Michael Hunter are versatile options for the outside.

2010 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 64. That Class Was Heavy On ... Help for the defensive back seven. The Hoosiers need to go with the strength-in-numbers theory to find enough bodies to come up with a solid and steady defense. Five strong linebacking prospects were signed led by Matt Zakrzewski, a safety-sized guided missile for the outside, and Chase Hoobler for the middle. Shaquille Jefferson will be a starting safety in the near future, while JUCO transfers Andre Kates and Lenyatta Kiles will provide instant help on the corners.

2009 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 681. That Class Was Heavy On ... quarterbacks. IU was more than just competitive with Kellen Lewis was on, and it showed just how much the program needs a strong quarterback to carry the rest of the team. The Hoosiers might have picked up two with Edward Wright-Baker and great athlete, and Dustin Kiel a nice passing prospect. These two will get a little bit of time to develop with the future of the program to eventually ride on one of their shoulders.

Nov. 26 Purdue 33 … at Indiana 25
CFN Analysis: COMING

(AP) BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Purdue reclaimed the Old Oaken Bucket with a milestone achievement Saturday.

The Boilermakers are bowl eligible, but must wait to learn their fate.

Ralph Bolden and Antavian Edison each ran for touchdowns, Caleb TerBush threw for another and Cameron Wiggs made three field goals, leading the Boilermakers past archrival Indiana 33-25 and possibly into the postseason.

It's the first time since 2007, and the first time under coach Danny Hope, that Purdue has been bowl-eligible. But at 6-6 (4-4 Big Ten), Purdue is the 10th conference school to reach the mandatory six wins to become eligible for a bowl game. The problem: The Big Ten has only eight bowl tie-ins, so the Boilermakers are not guaranteed another game.

The big win was tarnished by an apparent injury to Bolden's right knee; also the same knee in which he sustained a season-ending torn ACL last season. Bolden rushed 14 times for 54 yards and scored on an 8-yard TD run. He also caught four passes for 63 yards but did not finish the game.

Purdue officials did not have an immediate update on Bolden's condition.

TerBush, who started and finished the game despite being replaced a couple of times by Robert Marve, was 16 of 25 for 192 yards with one TD and no interceptions.

The Hoosiers (1-11, 0-8) completed their first season under coach Kevin Wilson with nine straight losses. Indiana is the only BCS-conference team to go winless against Football Bowl Subdivision foes this season.

Freshman quarterback Tre Roberson was 17 of 26 for 147 yards with one interception, which was a controversial play that the officials decided to review before announcing that a dual-possession play was not reviewable.

Stephen Houston rushed seven times for 129 yards and one score, and D'Angelo Roberts scored on two of his four carries.

It looked like it would be a wild shootout early.

Houston opened the scoring when he found a hole in the middle of the line and sprinted 52 yards to give Indiana a 7-0 lead.

Purdue answered with a 14-yard TD pass from TerBush to Edison to make it 7-7.

Roberts followed that with a 6-yard TD run up the middle to give Indiana a 14-7 lead with 1:05 left in the first quarter, and after Indiana made it 17-10, Purdue flipped the game.

Raheem Mostert took a short kickoff, found a hole in the middle of the field, cut left and zigzagged his way to Indiana's 8-yard line. On the next play, Bolden converted the 81-yard kickoff return into a score with an 8-yard TD run to tie the game at 17.

The Hoosiers didn't get back into Purdue territory the rest of the half, while Wiggs made field goals of 43 and 48 yards to give the Boilermakers a 23-17 lead at the half.

The two defenses dominated the second half.

For the first time in 29 quarters, Indiana held an opponent scoreless for an entire quarter.

But Wiggs made a 22-yard field goal early in the fourth and Edison scored on a 5-yard run with 11:04 left to give Purdue a 33-17 lead.

Indiana closed to 33-25 on Roberts' 5-yard TD run and a two-point conversion with 8:22 left, and the Hoosiers appeared to be in position to tie it until Josh Johnson stole the ball away from Nick Stoner with 4:11 to go. The Hoosiers didn't get the ball back.

Akeem Hunt ran 10 times for 100 yards for the Boilermakers.

Nov. 19 at Michigan State 55 … Indiana 3
CFN Analysis: Indiana ran into a buzzsaw. Michigan State was shooting for the Big Ten Legends title, and it was ultra-focused and ultra-sharp; the Hoosiers never had a chance. The offensive line was destroyed and the offense couldn’t go anywhere. … Tre Roberson finally looked like a freshman, completing 10-of-23 passes for 92 yards with two picks while running for just 12 yards on ten carries. Edward Wright-Baker had a little bit of garbage-time success completing 5-of-9 passes. … After playing well in the loss to Ohio State a few weeks ago, the team showed improvement before getting rolled by the Spartans. For all the problems and all the ugliness of a winless season against FBS teams, a good game at home against Purdue would mean everything for the offseason. The program needs a positive, but this week’s game was a step back.

Nov. 5 at Ohio State 34 … Indiana 20
CFN Analysis: Indiana played well. The run defense wasn’t even close and the line got shoved around, but after getting obliterated over the last four games, this was a good, competitive game on the road against a team good enough to possibly win the Big Ten title. Tre Roberson didn’t run like Braxton Miller, but he threw far better with 174 yards before throwing a key interception late. The running game wasn’t stuffed by the good OSU defensive line, running for 159 yards, but the offense couldn’t score in the fourth quarter and couldn’t capitalize on enough opportunities early on. This was a good enough effort to hope for a win over Purdue in a few weeks, but it’s going to take all two weeks of break time, and several new wrinkles, to have a shot at Michigan State. 

Oct. 29 Northwestern 59 … at Indiana 38
CFN Analysis: The Hoosier defense is getting worse. Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Northwestern combined for 204 points over the last four games, and now comes the Ohio State running game. IU couldn’t tackle against the miserable Northwestern running game, and it didn’t generate any pressure on Dan Persa; the Wildcat passing attack did whatever it wanted. On the plus side, Tre Roberson was good, running for 121 yards and a score and throwing for 169, and Stephen Houston tore off 151 yards and two scores, but they didn’t get any help from the defense. Call this an ongoing step back to potentially leap forward. The Hoosiers are playing several true freshman and other untested young players, and they’re taking their lumps while the coaching staff is getting a look to see who can play. 

Oct. 22 at Iowa 45 … Indiana 24
CFN Analysis: There were signs of something positive going forward. The defense continues to be a mess with the line doing nothing, and the secondary was ripped to shreds, but Tre Roberson once again looked promising completing 16-of-24 passes for 197 yards and a score while running for 84 yards. Stephen Houston also came up with a decent day, running for 72 yards and two scores, and Kofi Hughes was used in a varies of ways averaging 7.3 yards per carry. To have any hope to be competitive this year, the running game has to control the ball and the clock a bit more, and if Roberson can do that, and if the IU defense can stay on the sidelines, there’s a chance to come up with an upset over a bad Northwestern defense next week.

Oct. 15 at Wisconsin 59 … Indiana 7
CFN Analysis: Alright, what can IU take away from yet another blowout loss to the Badgers? Stephen Houston looks like a keeper from the JUCO ranks, taking off for a 67-yard touchdown and finishing with 135 yards on 19 carries to give the Hoosiers the downhill runner they need. This is the first part of a tough stretch of three road games in four weeks, with Iowa up next, and at some point the Hoosier D line has to figure out how to get to the quarterback. Getting to Russell Wilson is always going to be a problem against the Badger line, but IU has to start getting more creative. The run defense continues to be a problem, but Iowa’s ground game is a lot easier to deal with than Wisconsin’s. 

Oct. 8 Illinois 41 … at Indiana 20
CFN Analysis: A.J. Jenkins is red hot, ripping up Northwestern last week and ripping off six catches for 182 yards and two touchdowns to get past the Hoosiers for the program’s first 6-0 start since 1961. The running game is still there, and the team can always fall back on it with Donovonn Young, Jason Ford, and Troy Pollard all taking turned and producing well, but over the last few weeks it’s been Jenkins and the passing game that’s made the attack complete. Whitney Mercilus continues to establish himself as one of the nation’s top pass rushers with three sacks against IU for 8.5 on the year. Ohio State might be struggling, but if Illinois wins next week, then it’ll really be time to get excited.  

Oct. 1 Penn State 16 … at Indiana 10
CFN Analysis: If Indiana had some semblance of an offense, any offense, it would’ve been able to pull this off. Penn State has a great defense, but the Nittany Lion offense gave IU several chances to stay in the game. Dusty Kiel only completed 22-of-45 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown with an interception, but there wasn’t any running game to help the cause. The offensive line didn’t do anything to give the skill players time to work. The defense did a decent job against a bad passing team, but until the offense can show some semblance of explosion, it’s going to be ugly with Illinois and Wisconsin up next.

Sept. 24 at North Texas 24 … Indiana 21
CFN Analysis: As if the first year under Kevin Wilson couldn’t be more disastrous, this is a particularly galling low point. On the plus side, the Hoosiers are only a few plays away from being 4-0. However, they’re not 4-0 and it’s because the lines have been awful. Dusty Kiel and Edward Wright-Baker combined to throw for 354 yards and two touchdowns, but the running game continues to be an embarrassment and there are way, way too many mistakes, missed tackles, and missed opportunities. It’s going to take something special for IU to win a Big Ten game, and it’s not going to happen unless the D line can come up with a sack at some point and if the O line can protect the passers. 

Sept. 17 at Indiana 38 ... South Carolina State 21
CFN Analysis: IU just can’t make anything easy on itself. Even in the blowout cupcake game, it did what it could to make it interesting with a whopping 19 penalties for 144 yards and with too many problems against the SCSU passing game. Edward Wright Baker came up with a terrific game, completing 21-of-27 passes for 273 yards and two scores, and he ran for 41 yards on ten carries. The defense has to start generating more plays in the backfield and the O line needs to be far, far better. A win is a win after suffering two close, tough losses, and beating North Texas next week shouldn’t be a problem if the mistakes are kept to a minimum. 

Sept. 10 Virginia 34 … at Indiana 31
CFN Analysis: IU got a little more of a running game with three different players, including quarterback Edward Wright-Baker, gaining 47 yards or more, and the team did a great job of rallying, but it’s an empty loss. The Hoosiers have to take advantage of every opportunity, and they had their chance late but failed in pass protection. The defense has to keep coming up with takeaways to make up for an offense that can’t seem to come up with any steady production. Damarlo Belcher is too good to only catch four passes for 53 yards. The South Carolina State game needs to be a time to make the inefficient passing game more effective, and it’s time to find someone who can rush the passer; the Hoosiers have just one sack and eight tackles for loss in two games.
 
Sept. 3 Ball State 27 … Indiana 20
CFN Analysis: The Indiana offense moved the ball, but it didn’t come up with the points in the second half needed to avoid the brutal upset. Edward Wright-Baker wasn’t supposed to be the passer in the quarterback derby, but he did a decent job with 272 yards and a score on a 20-of-32 day. The offense desperately missed Darius Willis, Nick Turner, and some semblance of a ground game, finishing with just 103 yards. The defense was miserable against the Cardinal running game and was beyond awful on third downs; the Hoosier offense never had the ball. With a great-looking Virginia team up next, who was sharp in its opening day win over William & Mary, the Hoosiers have to get more aggressive on defense and more physical on offense in a big hurry. 

The 2011 Recruiting Class Is Heavy On … Defensive backs. New head coach Kevin Wilson wants receivers to be able to move the ball vertically even more than Bill Lynch did, and he loaded up with three excellent targets from the tiny but quick Shane Wynn to the 6-5 Jay McCants. Defense got plenty of help, especially in the secondary, with big safeties Forisse Hardin and Mark Murphy, potentially seeing time right away, while Kenny Mullen bring speed at corner and Nick Stoner and Michael Hunter are versatile options for the outside.

Five Indiana Recruits You Should Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. CB Michael Hunter
6-1, 175, Scout.com’s 120th ranked cornerback. Hunter has good height and long arms you want to see in a corner. He closes on the ball pretty quickly and plays faster than his 40-time will indicate. Hunter is a pretty instinctive defender and uses his body well in coverage. Wrapping up on tackles and providing a little more punch in run support are some areas he can improve on.

2. TE Jake Reed
6-3, 221, Scout.com’s 46th ranked tight end. Will finish his career as a four year letterman and three year starter. Was named honorable mention All-Area as a sophomore and junior. He made All-Conference honorable mention as a junior as well. Carries a 3.73 grade point average.

3. OG Bernard Taylor
6-2, 280, Scout.com’s 69th ranked guard. Defensive tackle and offensive tackle for head coach Mike Giannone at Dakota High School ... projects as a defensive lineman at Indiana ... all-state, all-county, All-East Detroit and all-conference selection in 2010 ... posted 103 tackles, 67 solo, with 10 sacks ... also named the team’s offensive lineman of the year ... team went 9-3 and advanced to the 2010 state playoffs ... Dakota captured the District 8 championship in 2009 and 2010.

4. RB D’Angelo Roberts
5-10, 175, Scout.com’s 71st ranked running back. Projects as a running back at Indiana ... closed career with 6,002 rushing yards, the most in Monroe County history, and 75 touchdowns ... set career and single-season school records for rushing yards, scoring touchdowns, rushing TDs and single-game rushing yards (429) ... 2010 Indiana Football Coaches Association (IFCA) Top 50 and Indiana Football Digest Prime Time 25 ... Indiana Associated Press Class 5A All-State, first team All-Conference Indiana and Bloomington Herald-Times All-Area Most Valuable Offensive Player in 2009 and 2010 ... led team to Class 5A semistate and the school’s first sectional title in 2010 ... closed the year with 2,008 yards on the ground on 317 carries with 24 scores

5. WR Jay McCants
6-5, 195, Scout.com’s 158th ranked receiver. 2010 first team All- Greater Miami Conference selection ... made 34 receptions for 413 yards and six touchdowns as a senior ... earned the team’s Iron Viking Award for most dependable, reliable and toughest player ... posted 29 catches for 446 yards (15.4 average) and one score in only seven games during junior campaign ... three-year football and three-year basketball letterwinner ... honor roll student

2011 Entire Recruiting Class
Peyton Eckert OL 6-6 295
Ralston Evans OL 6-4 275
Forisse Hardin S 6-1 205
Michael Hunter CB 6-1 170
David Kaminski OL 6-4 275 Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville
Kyle Kennedy LB 6-3 220 Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral
Cody Latimer WR 6-3 205 Dayton, Ohio/Jefferson Township
Gregory Lewis OL 6-5 300 Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Chaminade-Madonna College Prep
Jay McCants WR 6-4 195 Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton
Kenny Mullen CB 5-9 170 Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers
Mark Murphy S 6-2 205 Akron, Ohio/St. Vincent-St. Mary
Adarius Rayner DL 6-2 275 Largo, Fla./Largo
Jake Reed DL 6-4 240 Columbus, Ind./Columbus North
Mike Replogle LB 6-1 225 Centerville, Ohio/Centerville
Bobby Richardson DL 6-3 275 Tampa, Fla./Plant
Tre Roberson QB 6-0 180 Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central
D’Angelo Roberts RB 5-10 180 Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North
Zack Shaw LB 6-3 225 Coshocton, Ohio/Coshocton
Nick Stoner CB 6-1 170 Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove
Bernard Taylor DL 6-2 280 Detroit, Mich./Dakota
Shane Wynn WR 5-7 165 Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville