The Indiana Memorial Union Board and IU athletics announced today that IU basketball coach Tom Crean will provide a free lecture to IU students at the IU Auditorium on Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a pep rally at 7 p.m. in front of Showalter Fountain. The lecture is also open to the public.

"Union Board is thrilled to have Coach Crean as part of our lecture series again this year," an unidentified member of the Union Board Lecture committee was quoted as saying in the press release."The event has been a huge success in the past. This is a great way to get the students excited about the upcoming basketball season."

The release went on to say that in his lecture, Crean will discuss the upcoming basketball season, recruiting highlights, and his expectations for the program. The program will conclude with an extended question - and- answer session.

For more information please visit imu.indiana.edu/board.

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It has been pretty quiet this week on the home front. With IU having 16 days off after the Towson victory and not playing again until next Saturday (Sept. 18) at Western Kentucky there hasn't been much to write about.

A new four-week basketball recruiting contact period began yesterday and the IU staff is out making a lot of visits today. The IU football team has been going about its business and will have a normal week next week with Bill Lynch's press conference on Monday, and practice open on Tuesday and Wednesday. Other than that, it has been pretty quiet.

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the firing of Bob Knight at Indiana. We have a pretty comprehensive package looking back at that event in today's paper and on-line editions. I have the main story along with a sidebar on Dane Fife and what he remembers of the night coach was fired and addressed his team for the final time. Jeff Rabjohns wrote a nice piece on Kent Harvey, the young man who Knight grabbed by the arm and gave a quick lecture on being respectful to his elders, an incident that seemed to be the last straw for Myles Brand in his decision to fire Knight. Bob Kravtiz wrote a column. We also have a video of Fife watching Brand's press conference and Knight's speech to the students a few days after he was let go. And Fife is pretty candid with some thoughts there.

I always hear a lot of sentiment from people saying that it's time to let this go. And while I agree to a point, the fact that IU continues to try and make inroads with coach Knight to "bring the IU family back together" as Fred Glass would say, then I think it is still a story. You may agree or disagree. There's a lot of people on both sides of the fence on this one.

But what I'm most interested in today is knowing what the IU blogging public thinks about this moving forward. Will IU and Bob Knight ever reconcile? Do you think the average IU fan still cares? If yes, why do you think so? If no, why do you think so? I'm just trying to create some talk on this topic and I'm interested in your opinion.

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It's only Towson ... It's only Towson ... It's only Towson.

But ...

Indiana football did have reasons to be pleased with Thursday night's easy 51-17 victory over the Tigers in the season opener at Memorial Stadium.

Let's talk about the good things first:

1. DARIUS WILLIS (14 carries, 102 yards, 2 touchdowns)
If Willis is healthy and running the ball hard, it only makes IU's defense that much more difficult to stop. Thursday night, Willis ran hard. There were a couple of plays that really highlighted that fact. Late in the first half, IU had the ball at the Towson 22 and Willis went up the middle and appeared to be stopped for no gain or possibly even a loss of a yard or two. But he changed directions and found a seam in the middle breaking to the right and wound up gaining 8 yards on the play. He also had the big 49 yard touchdown run in the first quarter to put IU up 14-0. He turned a play that didn't look like it was going to amount to a lot and all of sudden he was running away. It just one season and one game, Willis now has three touchdowns of 45 yards or more.

2. TED BOLSER (4 catches, 68 yards, 1 touchdown)
Last year the most yards a tight end gained in any game was 37. Bolser had more than that in the first quarter. He's a big target over the middle and just looks like the kind of kid that with four years of college could play on Sundays. His first catch was a touchdown. The last time an IU player's first catch was a touchdown was Damarlo Belcher in 2008. Bolser's second catch he went up high for a ball and took a hard hit but held on. He later caught a 21 yard pass from Dusty Kiel. It's early to anoint Bolser as a phenom but this is a kid who really has a chance to be good.

3. THREE PICKS, THREE TOUCHDOWNS
Tyler Replogle had the second interception of his career (the other was Akron last year) and that led to IU's first touchdown. Mitchell Evans picked up the third interception of his career (the first two came in the his first collegiate game) and that led to Willis's touchdown to make it 14-0. The third interception was by Matt Ernest and he returned it 56 yards for a touchdown. In addition, IU got a blocked punt by Kevin Bush that came on an odd play. It was a bad snap, and the right-legged punter tried to punt it with his left leg on the run and hit a line drive right into Bush. Two plays later Willis scored his second touchdown of the game. And one other big play came after Towson scored a touchdown to make it 17-7. The Tigers tried an onside kick and IU recovered. It was recovered by Griffen Dahlstrom, a redshirt freshman.

4. BOTH KICKERS GET A CHANCE --- AND BOTH ARE SOLID
Nick Freeland kicked off during the game and was the first kicker to get a shot field goal and extra point wise. he hit a 24 yard field goal in the first quarter to make it 17-0 and a 36-yarder in the 3rd quarter to make it 41-14. He also made five extra points. Mitch Ewald made IU's final extra point and also hit a 32-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to make it 51-17.

5. THREE QB'S SEE ACTION
Ben Chappell played two and a half quarters. Dusty Kiel played about a quarter and Ed Wright-Baker saw action in the final period. Chappell was 16-of-23 for 182 yards and two scores. Kiel was 1-of-5 for 21 yards. Wright-Baker was 1-of-2 for 2 yards. None of IU's three quarterbacks was sacked.

Now for the things that are a bit of a concern:

1. IU DIDN'T HAVE AN ANSWER FOR CHRIS HART
Hart looked a lot like Kellen Lewis at times, especially in the first half. He had a 52 yard run that set up a touchdown. He also threw a really nice 64 yard touchdown pass where there was clearly a breakdown in the IU defensive secondary. Hart finished with 123 yards rushing and 165 yards passing. His passing numbers weren't that good though considering he was 16-of-35 and had three costly picks.

2. NO SACKS FOR THE DEFENSE
The pressure was OK at times but with Hart being so elusive in the backfield the defense never got a sack. Sorry but playing against a Division I-AA (FCS) you've got to get a couple of sacks.

3. IU WAS 6-FOR-6 IN THE RED ZONE BUT ...
Only three of those scores were touchdowns. That was IU's problem a year ago, it simply couldn't score enough touchdowns in the red zone. I'm guessing that will be a point of emphasis in the 16 days before the Western Kentucky game.

4. 2-OF-10 ON THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS
Towson was just 4-of-16 but 20 percent against a Division I-AA??? You would just think it would have to be better than that. It's hard to find too much fault in a 51-17 result but 20 percent third down conversions seems like a troublesome statistic.

So that's a quick look by at the opener with Towson. For those of you who saw it on the Big Ten Network what were your first impressions of the Hoosiers?

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At first glance, Indiana football fans would have to be pretty happy with the way the divisions played out as announced by the Big Ten Wednesday night.

Consider:

*** IU will play Purdue every year and in the final regular season game which was something that was clearly up in the air. IU AD Fred Glass said he didn't know for sure that the game would be the final regular season game until early Wednesday morning.

*** IU is also in the same division with Illinois, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin. There wasn't going to be any way around the fact that IU was going to get in the same division with three pretty good programs. The other three could have been Nebraska, Michigan and Iowa. Michigan is down but will be back up so I think that's all pretty much a wash.

*** IU's protected out-of-division opponent is Michigan State. This could have been much worse. Among the other possibilities were Nebraska, Michigan or Iowa. Only having to play those programs every couple of years won't be bad in terms of competitive balance for the Hoosiers. In 2011 and 2012, IU won't play Michigan or Nebraska. As for Michigan State, the Spartans aren't a slouch but they don't have the same aura as those other programs.

*** The best news for Indiana may be that divisions are only in play for football. There are no basketball divisions planned at this time. Can you imagine a basketball division that would have included Ohio State, Illinois, Purdue and Wisconsin, and an upstart Penn State program? I'm guessing Tom Crean is happy that Nebraska, Northwestern, Iowa, Minnesota and Michigan in particular will all be part of the annual schedule.

The only thing that doesn't happen is that IU and Purdue, since they are in the same division, would not be eligible to play each other in the Big Ten title game. But given that it has been more than 40 years since they could possibly have had such a meeting, I'm guessing it's safe to say it won't be something that will occur any time soon. IU is still in the stage where it's trying to play in a low-level bowl game and with Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin in its division, I'm guessing it won't be worrying about playing in the Big Ten title game in the near future.

So what do you think? Do you give the new divisions a thumbs up or thumbs down where it concerns the Hoosiers?

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Indiana released its injury report for the first game against Towson just within the last 20 minutes and there are no real surprises.

Wide Receiver Tandon Doss, who continues to nurse a groin injury, is listed as out.

The same is true for Chris Adkins, the former Warren Central standout, who injured his ankle in the scrimmage last week and is out indefinitely. Adkins has been on crutches at practice with his ankle in a cast.

Dre Muhammad, the wide receiver who transferred two years ago from Purdue, is also listed as out with a ankle injury.

The fourth and final player on the injury report is left tackle Andrew McDonald, who has been slowed this week by a knee injury. McDonald, however, is listed as probable.

In the case of Doss and Muhammad in particular one of the reasons they have been listed as out is that IU has 16 days in between game one and game two which will give them extra time to heal. Indiana's next game following Thursday night's opener is on Sept. 18 at Western Kentucky. As an aside, the Hilltoppers, 0-12 a year ago, open the 2010 season this week at Nebraska. Ouch!

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It's time for football predictions. I know there are a great number of people out there in the Hoosier Nation who believe this could be a break through year for Indiana football. I've seen people picking 8-4 and 7-5 consistently. On the other hand, I've read all the preseason magazines and Internet prognosticators who all expect IU to finish either at the bottom of the Big Ten or very close to the bottom. That's the easy pick for sure. IU has struggled for so long that no one wants to be the one to buck that trend.

Perhaps I'm a skeptic or maybe I've just seen too many IU football seasons that have started with great expectations and ended with disappointment, but I'm going to go with 6-6. That would be enough to get IU into a low level bowl game but not enough to have the Hoosiers in one of the better Big Ten bowl alignments. But I think most IU fans would take a bowl of any flavor right about now. The 2007 Insight Bowl was a start but now people want consistent bowl efforts.

I know there's a faction of IU fans, sadly enough, who want to see the Hoosiers not make a bowl just because they feel it could force a coaching change. Personally, I'm not sure how you do that because that kind of thinking sacrifices all that guys like Ben Chappell have put into their IU football careers for one final chance at a bowl game.

But that's a topic for another day.

In my 6-6 prediction, I could see the Hoosiers starting 6-1 and dropping their final five. Or I could see IU starting 5-2 and then getting one more win in that final five games.

I have IU beating Towson, Western Kentucky, Akron, Arkansas State, Michigan and Illinois.

That would be the 6-1 scenario. If Michigan is too much of a long shot, then I think the sixth win comes against Northwestern or Purdue.

So what do you think? Any and all predictions placed by kickoff on Thursday will be included in my Friday blog with prediction results. In the past we've had good response to this one. I look forward to hearing what the Hoosier Nation thinks about the 2010 Indiana football team.

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This is the final installment of our position-by-position look at Indiana football leading up to the Sept. 2 season opener this Thursday night at Memorial Stadium against Towson. Today we look at special teams.

One note that should be made is that Tandon Doss is listed as the No. 1 kick and punt returner but because of his sore groin injury he is expected to see limited action Thursday against Towson. He may be held out all together. He did not practice Sunday afternoon and the best guess is that since there's 16 days between game 1 and game 2 on the schedule, they won't play him much in the opener, if at all, and then have plenty of time to get him healthy before the second game which is Sept. 18 at Western Kentucky.

Here's a look at IU's special teams...

Special Teams

Placekicker
Nick Freeland 5-11 198 So., 1L
Mitch Ewald 5-11, 168, Fr., RS

Punt
Chris Hagerup 6-5, 206, Jr., 2L
Adam Pines 6-0, 183, So., 1L

Long Snap
Jeff Sanders 6-4, 245, Sr., 2L
Josh Keyt 6-1, 235, Fr., RS

Holder
Teddy Schell 6-5, 227, Jr., 1L
Dusty Kiel 6-2, 227, Fr., RS

Kick Return
Tandon Doss 6-3, 195, Jr., 2L
Darius Willis 6-0, 225, So., 1L

Punt Return
Tandon Doss 6-3, 195, Jr., 2L
Matt Ernest 6-2, 190, Jr., 2L

Position Coach: Dennis Springer and George Ricumstrict have the specials teams along with other responsibilities on the staff. Springer is the assistant head coach and also coaches running backs. Ricumstrict coaches IU's defensive ends. Springer is in his third season with IU, while Ricumstrict is in his sixth season with the Hoosiers.

Strengths: Having Doss as the kick and punt returner always has the Hoosiers that much closer to good field position. A year ago, Doss was close a few times but didn't break a kickoff return in 25 attempts. He averaged 21.3 yards. He only had four punt return chances and averaged 11 yards per return. Hagerup averaged better than 40 yards in 58 kicks. Freeland was 14 of 25 on field goals.

Weaknesses: Freeland was solid inside of 39 yards a year ago, hitting a respectable 14-of-20. But he didn't make a kick outside of 40 yards in five tries. In camp, both he and Ewald have gone back and forth and Bill Lynch said Friday the competition is still too close to call. He said Freeland will have the kickoff responsibilities for sure in the opener.

Watch For: Hagerup to have his best season yet. In summer camp, he was kicking the ball extremely high and still getting good distance. This could become a big weapon for the Hoosiers in 2010.

Bottom Line: IU needs to settle on a place-kicker and not have that person looking over his shoulder as the season begins. Indiana has had some electrifying return guys in recent years including Antwaan Randle El and Marcus Thigpen, and Tandon Doss has that same element of potential to his game.

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It's a good thing the Indiana basketball team has Cook Hall to handle all of its practice time from now until Midnight Madness/Hoosier Hysteria on Oct. 15.

The Hall has been undergoing work on the roof for several months and tall cranes have been seen to the side of the arena.

But yesterday and today, there was the sound of workers hitting the floor with a pick axe and tearing up the hardwood from baseline to baseline.

J.D. Campbell, IU's director athletic media relations, said this afternoon that the floor was under repair because of condensation issues.

"Due to high humidity during the past few weeks, some parts of the Assembly Hall floor were damaged by condensation,'' Campbell said. "The plan is to remove those boards, replace and refinish the floor in time for basketball season, October 15.''

**************

With Assembly Hall not being used, Cook Hall will play host on Saturday to the Indiana Basketball Preseason Skill Development Camp.

The camp will run from 1-4 p.m. with registration from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The cost is $45 and is open to any and all seventh graders or above. According to a flyer in the IU basketball office, the camp will include instruction and coaching provided by both IU coaching staff and players. The brochure also read that "This camp is designed to teach and critique high level basketball skills in a variety of advanced competitive situations.''

For more information log onto www.Hoosiersportscamps.com or call 812-855-2238

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Three spots appears to be locked up on the offensive heading into the final week of preparation before Thursday's opener against Towson. That would be the two tackles and the center. But the guard spots will go right down to the wire with four players competing for two spots. And in both cases the players who came out of December in the lead are running a close second. Here's a look at the IU offensive line for 2010.

Today: Offensive Line. Tomorrow: Special Teams

Offensive line

LT
Andrew McDonald 6-6, 304, Jr., 2L
Josh Hager 6-9, 301, Jr., 1L

LG
Aaron Price 6-4, 298, Fr., RS
Justin Pagan 6-5, 332, Jr., 2L

C
Will Matte 6-2, 295, So., 1L
Jordan Marquette 6-3, 290, Sr., 1L

RG
Marc Damisch 6-6, 315, So., 1L
Cody Faulkner 6-5, 315, Sr., 3L

RT
James Brewer 6-8, 335, Sr., 2L
Colin Rodkey 6-4, 285, Fr., RS

Position Coach: Mo Moriarity is back for his second stint as an IU assistant coach. He was the tight ends coach under Gerry DiNardo from 2002-04, and returns to coach the offensive line. The past five years, Moriarity was the head coach at Carmel High School where his teams were 58-14.

Strengths: The tackles, McDonald and Brewer, are both good pass blockers which is good news for Ben Chappell. Matte is also a solid player at the center position. Those three players in particular anchor this group.

Weaknesses: I'm not sure I would call it a weakness, but the guard spots are still up for grabs heading into the weekend. Price, a redshirt freshman, may have edged out veteran Pagan for the starting job but we won't know for sure until game time against Towson Sept. 2. At the other, Damisch has had a really strong camp and appears to have taken the lead at right guard over Faulkner. Faulkner was one of Terry Hoeppner's seven blocks of limestone in that particular recruiting class.

Watch For: Brewer to have a break out season in his fifth season with the Hoosiers. He has always had the size for the position but has been hampered by nagging injuries. He has been healthy throughout camp.

Bottom Line: It's a better pass blocking group than blocking for the backs, but that could play right into IU's gameplan with Chappell having lots of receivers to throw it to. For the offense to be completely multi-dimensional though, the run blocking has to improve.

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The Indiana basketball schedule has been done with the exception of finalizing the exhibition games for more than two weeks. But IU being done wasn't enough. The Big Ten had to finalize all of the details with the various networks and the result was a waiting process that just went on and on.

That said, the conference released the schedule on Thursday and the non-conference portion in particular appears to be user friendly for an IU team that is going to be hoping to gain some confidence early.

I was asked to predict IU's record which seems a little crazy given that it's August but ... I'll at least give my two cents worth on the non-conference portion of the schedule.

The first six games are all at home. IU doesn't leave the friendly confines of Assembly Hall one time in the month of November. And the six games come in machine-gun order. IU will play those six opponents in 14 days.

Here's the way that plays out:

Nov. 12 Florida Gulf Coast
Nov. 14 Wright State
Nov. 16 Mississippi Valley State
Nov. 21 Evansville
Nov. 23 North Carolina Central
Nov. 26 Northwestern State

In the old days, that would be a 6-0 start. For this team, it had better be a 6-0 but there have been too many Northeastern/Lipscomb/Boston University/Loyola (Maryland) type opponents out there the last two seasons to take any team for granted. Still, my guess is that IU will be 6-0 heading to Boston College for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Let's say IU falls there, loses at Kentucky, wins the other non-conference games and finds a way to go 3-1 in the Las Vegas Invitational. That would mean wins against SIU Edwardsville at home, South Carolina State at home, and then either Northern Iowa (probably not), and then the winner/loser of New Mexico/Colorado. If IU were to lose to Northern Iowa, it would probably play Colorado and that's game the Hoosiers could be competitive in.

That would be 10-3 in the non-conference. I'm guessing Tom Crean and his staff would take that. Now I'm not going to try to predict beyond that. Predicting that far at this point in August is crazy enough. But I'm curious about what you think.

Do you like the looks of the schedule? Is this the kind of schedule an Indiana program in this stage of its development should be playing, or are you one of the people that believes they need to be battle tested more for the Big Ten? I can go either way on that issue. But I think a softer schedule at this point makes a lot more sense especially for a program that hasn't had much success the last couple of years. The only way you can expect the Hoosiers to perform at a high level in Big Ten play is to let them have some early success. And if you want a few reality checks, Kentucky will be that and probably Northern Iowa or New Mexico.

So, we have a long time before an official predictions column but go ahead and weigh in today and we'll see what everyone thinks.

We have three of these installments remaining, and then a little later in the day I have will blog about the Big Ten basketball schedule that was released today.

Today we look at wide receivers and tight ends. Tomorrow is the offensive line and Saturday will be special teams.

Wide Receivers/Tight End

WR
Terrence Turner 6-3, 210, Sr., 3L
Dre Muhammad 5-10, 185, Jr., 1L

WR
Damarlo Belcher 6-5, 215, Jr., 2L
Duwyce Wilson 6-3, 200, Fr., RS

WR
Tandon Doss 6-3, 195, Jr., 2L
Jamonne Chester 6-1, 205, Fr., RS

TE
Max Dedmond 6-5, 255, Jr., 2L
Brad Martin 6-4, 245, Sr., 3L
Ted Bolser 6-6, 252, Fr., RS

Position Coaches: Billy Lynch is in his sixth year with the Hoosiers, all six as the wide receivers coach. The son of head coach Bill Lynch, Billy has had some good receivers at IU including James Hardy, Andrew Means and Ray Fisher, along with the three returning receivers this year in Doss, Turner and Belcher. Lynch is also the lead recruiter on players in the state of Indiana. Kyle Conner is in his fourth year at IU's tight ends coach after spending four years at Butler as an assistant coach.

Strengths: Where do you begin? Doss, Belcher and Turner combined to catch 184 passes for 2,175 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. Duwyce Wilson comes in as a redshirt freshman and people believe he will become one of Ben Chappell's favorite targets as well. Mix in three solid tight ends, including Max Dedmond who caught 18 passes a year ago and IU is loaded at the receiver position.

Weaknesses: There isn't a real visible weakness in this group. Belcher has been inconsistent at times seeing the ball into his hands but he's also one of IU's true highlight film performers who consistently makes acrobatic grabs.

Watch For: Doss to have an even bigger season than he did a year ago. Last year he caught 77 passes for 962 yards and people feel he has only scratched the surface of his ability. Look for Doss to break all of IU's career receiving records before he's done.

Bottom Line: If Chappell can distribute the ball and keep everybody happy, the wide receivers/tight ends have unlimited potential.

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Today we look at the Indiana quarterback position. Obviously this is Ben Chappell's team but there has been a good competition going between Dusty Kiel and Ed Wright-Baker for the No. 2 spot. Our position-by-position look will continue tomorrow with a look at the wide receivers and tight ends.

Today: Quarterbacks. Tomorrow: Wide receivers and tight ends.

Quarterbacks
Ben Chappell 6-3, 242, Sr., 3L
Dusty Kiel 6-2, 230, Fr., RS
Ed Wright-Baker 6-1, 221, Fr., RS

Position Coach: Matt Canada has served three different head coaches in his current stint as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for the Hoosiers. Canada came to IU to be on Gerry DiNardo's Indiana staff, then served under the late Terry Hoeppner and currently under Bill Lynch.

Strengths: Chappell is coming off a season where threw for nearly 3,000 yards while completing 63 percent of his passes. He has one of the best wide receiver groups in the conference to throw to, and three solid tight ends. He also has two capable backups in Kiel and Wright-Baker.

Weaknesses: Chappell needs to cut down on his interceptions (15 a year ago) and do a better job with the Hoosiers converting on third down.

Watch For: There will be a good battle throughout the season for who will be Chappell's successor next season. Both Kiel and Wright-Baker have had good camps and the race for the No. 2 spot is still too close to call.

Bottom Line: Indiana's strengths as a football team are at quarterback and wide receiver and getting the most out of the passing game. Most feel that IU won't have trouble scoring but it will be up to the defense to keep the Hoosiers in games.

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Here's the latest look at the IU football team, switching now to the offensive side of the ball.

Today: Running backs. Tomorrow: Quarterback

Running Back
Darius Willis 6-0, 225, So., 1L
Trea Burgess 6-1, 230, Sr., 3L
Zach Davis-Walker 5-8, 196, Jr., 2L

Position Coach: Dennis Springer is in his third year coaching the IU running backs. He has also coached at Ball State, Bowling Green and Western Kentucky in a coaching career that spans 18 years at the collegiate level.

Strengths: IU has some good, hard-running backs, and have three or four players who could get a decent amount of carries this season. The question mark is whether Bill Lynch opts to go with any true freshmen like Antonio Banks or Matt Perez, or if he chooses to stick with the veteran players and redshirt his first year guys. Chances are the freshmen will be redshirt unless Willis doesn't get healthy.

Weaknesses: The most glaring weakness for IU in the running game is simply knowing which players will be healthy enough to go. Darius Willis, who should be IU's top running back, has missed the majority of camp with a hamstring injury. If health issues continue to be a problem, then IU's weakness will be having a consistent back.
Watch For: If healthy, Willis could be primed for a breakout season. As a freshman last year, Willis made six starts and ran for 607 yards, six touchdowns and a 4.9 yard per carry average. He had three 100-yard games, and averaged 76.9 yards in Big Ten games. That ranked fourth in the conference.

Bottom Line: Much will depend on the offensive line's ability to open holes and also if this group can stay healthy. If both of those happen, IU could have a much improved running attack. Guys like Nick Turner and David Blackwell could assist in a backup role, and Burgess will be called on for short yardage situations in particular. Turner, the former Southport standout, appears to be ahead of Blackwell in the pecking order.

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The final two stops on the IU Tailgate Tour for 2010 come up in the next three days. The first is tonight in Bloomington, and the final one Wednesday night in Carmel.

On hand at the Bloomington stop will be football coach Bill Lynch, basketball coach Tom Crean, volleyball coach Sherry Dunbar, women's basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack and first year men's soccer coach Todd Yeagley.

Don Fischer will emcee the event which will be held at the DeVault Alumni Center, 1000 E. 17th Street in Bloomington.

The event will run from 5:30-7:30 p.m. and the cost is $20, including dinner and beverage. A cash bar will also be available.

The Carmel event, which will serve as the Indianapolis Tailgate stop as well, will be held at The Mansion at Oak Hill, 5801 E. 116th St., Carmel, IN 46033. Lynch, Crean, Dunbar, Legette-Jack and Fischer will appear along with IU A.D. Fred Glass.

This event will go from 6-8 p.m. with the program beginning at 6:45 p.m.

IUAA, I Association and Varsity Club members will be charged $10 per person and the cost is $15 for non-members. There is no charge for children under the age of 12.

Meals will be provided and consist of a choice of grilled hot dogs, hamburgers and/or bratwursts. Sides include baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw and fried biscuits with apple butter. Drinks include iced tea, lemonade, soft drinks and beer.

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My third installment of a position-by-position look at IU football today takes a look at a very competitive defensive secondary.

Today: Defensive backs. Tomorrow: Running backs

Defensive Backs

RC
Richard Council 6-1, 201, Sr. 2L
Lawrence Barnett 5-10, 194, Fr., RS

FS
Chris Adkins 6-1, 195, Jr., 2L
Donnell Jones 5-10, 210, Jr. 2L

SS
Mitchell Evans 6-3, 200, Sr., 3L
Jarrell Drane 6-2, 210, Jr., 1L

LC
Matt Ernest 6-2, 190, Jr., 2L
Adrian Burks, 6-0, 185, Sr., 3L

Position Coaches: Joe Palcic is in his sixth season as IU's co-defensive coordinator and second year coaching the secondary. He has headed one of the most competitive areas for playing time in summer camp as at least six cornerbacks have all been in the mix for the starting two spots, and at least four safeties as well for those two slots.

Strengths: Every one of the four players penciled into start the opener against Towson have at least two varsity letters. So one way to look at is that IU is filled with experience. The problem is Evans is coming over from the offensive side of the ball after playing safety as a freshman. Ernest was a wide receiver up until this season, but like Ray Fisher before him has made the move and should start at one corner position.

Weaknesses: The unknown. While the competition has been fierce throughout camp in the secondary, now we have to see if these guys can play. If they can't, there appear to be a number of players ready to take their shots. But soft coverage and giving up big plays have been a big area of concern in the secondary in recent years and could be the different between IU having a winning or losing season this year.

Watch For: Council has had a good offseason and many around the team believe he could have a breakout year. He has started 14 games over the last two years but this yer appears to be playing with a new found confidence.

Bottom Line: If the IU defensive line is good at stopping the run, which it is expected to be, opponents could have the ball in the air more than ever against the Hoosiers. That will mean IU's secondary will have to consistently make big plays. Last year opponents converted on third down to the tune of 48 percent, a number that must shrink in a major way this season.

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This is the second of an eight-part series looking at the 2010 IU football team as it gets ready to break camp on Wednesday in preparation for the season opener Sept. 2 at home against Towson.

Today's look is at the linebackers. Tomorrow will the defensive backs.

Linebackers

WLB
Chad Sherer 6-0, 225, So., 1L
Damon Sims 6-3 230, Fr., RS

MLB
Jeff Thomas 6-1, 249, Jr., RS
Leon Beckum 5-11, 226, Jr., 2L

SLB
Tyler Replogle 6-2, 238, Sr., 3L
Jamie Lukaszewski 5-9, 195, Sr., 1L

Position Coaches: Mike Yeager is in his fifth season at IU, his second as linebackers coach. Yeager is a former college linebacker, earning three letters at Miami University. Last year, IU's top three linebackers were also the top three on the team in tackles. Two of three signed offseason free agent contracts in the NFL this spring, and the third is Replogle.

Strengths: Tyler Replogle is coming off a solid season where he had 80 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. He is expected to benefit from a new defensive scheme that will mix a 4-3 and 3-4 look.

Weaknesses: Having lost two starters, IU has some holes to fill. Just how quickly guys like Thomas and Sherer can get acclimated will go a long way toward telling how good this unit can be.

Watch For: Replogle is primed for a big year. He had a good summer and is one of IU's best leaders on the defensive side of the ball as well.

Bottom Line: For Indiana to be better on defense this year, the linebacker position has to be a consistent one. There's no question marks with Replogle. The other two, however, will need to step up early or look for some changes to be made with that group early on.

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Saturday's IU football scrimmage was a chance for some of the younger players in particular to show the coaching staff what they could do. They certainly weren't showing anyone else as there were less than 300 people in the stands. The scrimmage wasn't publicized as open to the public so only parents and friends for the most part were there.

There hasn't been a lot of live hitting in this summer camp and so this was a chance for IU players to hit people and then get some down time. The IU players were given Saturday night and all of Sunday off. Beginning Monday, for three days, IU will wrap up its training camp and then begin getting ready for the Sept. 2 season opener at Memorial Stadium against Towson.

Here are some of Bill Lynch's comments following Saturday's scrimmage.

(General comments)
"I think we've had a great camp,'' Lynch said. "They need a break. They've been going long and hard. We've made a real emphasis at giving the young kids a lot of reps. I think in the past maybe we haven't found out enough about them in camp. So we made a real effort and you saw some of them really show themselves today. It was really good on both sides of the ball. But they're tired so we'll give them tonight off and we'll give them tomorrow off, and then Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will be really the last three days of camp before they move on campus and all of that. Then we'll start focusing on Towson.''

(What did you see today that you we're looking for?)
"I saw a bunch of young kids flying around and playing hard. I think that's the biggest thing. Once we get through Wednesday, a lot of those young kids now they become scout team players. We had to make some decisions off of today's scrimmage and a little bit over the next couple of days about who the travel squad is going to be and all of that. That's why we made a real effort at playing the young kids. There were a lot of bubble players as to whether they're going to be in the mix or be scout team players on both sides of the ball. So it was really good to give them all a lot of reps. As a result there were a lot of the guys who have a lot of experience that we held out today just so we could get those other kids reps.''

(So are you still making decisions on those guys?)
"A lot. You know everybody thinks about the quarterback spot but it's up and down the line. We played several centers today. We played a lot of different combinations on defense, and in the secondary. We gave all the running backs a little bit of a chance. Tight ends is a very competitive spot. I thought (Ted) Bolser really showed himself today and he's a talented young guy who has been good in camp. It was good to see him in the stadium have that kind of day. There's a lot of positions like that. There's a lot of backup wide receiver spots. Obviously we have a good feel for the three who have played so much in Turner, Doss and Belcher. But we felt like Duwyce (Wilson) still needed some reps because he hadn't played along with those other guys. If something happens then the next guy has to be ready. So that's what the emphasis was today which was playing a lot of the twos and threes and figuring out who the twos are going to be for sure heading into game week.''

(Talk about the offensive line and what you're seeing there?)
"I think they do a great job pass blocking. I think it's a very, very good pass blocking offensive line. The running game has been solid but I think our defensive line may be a tough defensive line to run the ball against. I think we're making some good improvement. Now we need to get some consistency out of the running back position. Darius (Willis) being hurt so much has had something to do with it and Trea (Burgess) is probably the only guy who has stayed healthy through the whole thing. Zach (Davis-Walker) has been in and out, as has Nick Turner. I think that's going to be important once we get to game week what the rotation is going to be there.''

(How do you assess the cornerback position?)
"I'll tell you, we've got some guys now. It was good to see (Matt) Ernest making some good tackles. That was important since he was playing baseball in the spring and didn't really get a chance to tackle that much. I thought he showed himself there. (Andre) Kates and (Lenyatta) Kiles are both good players, and Council has had his best camp by far. Adrian Burks has been solid so that's good. What it is creating is who is going to go in and play nickel and in our dime package. We have enough corners now that we can move and play some of that. That's a pretty competitive area. And I think at safety it's the same thing. I think Mitchell Evans is getting more and more comfortable back there, and the same with Donnell Jones. You figure Donnell Jones has been at corner the last two years so we've got more players and now it's a matter of finding the right spots. I really like the looks of the corners. I think they've had a really good camp.''

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Over the next week, I will post a different positional look at the IU football team each day. Today is the defensive line. Tomorrow will be the linebackers.

Defensive Linemen

LE
Darius Johnson 6-0, 255, Jr., 2L
Kevin Bush 6-3, 252, So., RS

LT
Larry Black Jr. 6-2, 309, So., 1L
Nicholas Sliger 6-3, 295, So., 1L

RT
Adam Replogle 6-3, 290, So., 1L
Nick Mentzer 6-4, 317, So., 1L

RE
Fred Jones 6-4, 270, Jr., 2L
Terrance Thomas 6-1, 268, Sr., 3L

Position Coaches: Brian George is in his sixth as IU's co-defensive coordinator and his second year coaching the defensive tackles. He returns two players, Replogle and Black who started last season as freshmen. George Ricomstrict is also in his sixth year at IU and second as the defensive end coach. He lost two starters to graduation at the end spots.

Strengths: IU has some size and experience up front, and the unit will be operating out of a new defensive scheme. Indiana will utilize a 3-4 front along with its normal 4-3 this season. From a personnel standpoint, not a lot changes. The four linemen will usually be out there but in the 3-4 one of the defensive ends will stand up.

Weaknesses: Indiana lost Jammie Kirlew and Greg Middleton on the ends. Johnson and Jones are both veterans but in their first go round of being the go-to guys up front. That lack of starting experience could be considered a weakness.

Watch For: Keep an eye on redshirt sophomore Kevin Bush, who originally played a season at Toledo before going to the military and then returning to play for IU. Bush spent 14 months in Iraq and is a physical specimen. He will see plenty of repetitions this season.

Bottom Line: One thing IU has lacked up front in the past has been two-deep depth. This season the Hoosiers have it. They should be able to stop the run, but the pressure from the ends will be a question mark until answered.

Follow Terry Hutchens at twitter.com/indystar_hutch

For the second year in a row, the Indiana football staff opened up the program for a one day full access day for the media on Wednesday where media members could experience a day in the life of an IU football player.

It amounted to a 13-hour day for me in Bloomington but what you get out of it is well worth the time. I think six or seven IU reporters took advantage of the opportunity.

It started with breakfast at 6:30 a.m. at Memorial Stadium. Then there were position meetings at 8, practice from 9-11:30, lunch, offense/defense staff meetings at 12:30, full coaching staff meeting at 1:30, special teams meeting at 3, another position meeting at 3:30, practice from 4-6:30, dinner, one more position meeting at 8. I was on the road back to Indy around 9.

The only catch is you're not allowed to have a notebook or tape recorder in the meetings but you definitely get a good feel for what they're trying to do, what they're trying to teach, etc... After each practice the staff breaks down the film together, and then takes it to their position meetings where the film is broken down and suggestions are made for how the second practice can be better. The same is done after the second practice.

I sat in on both offensive and defensive position meetings going with the linebackers and the wide receivers. Both were extremely hands on with players focused in on coverages and routes and being peppered with questions regarding what they did well or what they didn't do well on a particular play. I also attended the defensive staff breakdown meeting after the morning practice and got a much better feel for the new 3-4 defense as well as a better understanding for what responsibilities the defensive backs for an example had in the different zone coverages.

In the second practice, they had a full scrimmage in pads where they worked on situational third downs, both in the red zone, the open field and in goal line situations. Later, they had an overtime scrimmage. In each situation they had the first team, second team and third teams in action.

Here's a few thoughts from that scrimmage, focusing just on the offensive players. There's a scrimmage Saturday and I'll just focus on the defensive players with an update from that one:

RUNNING GAME: It's hard to get a feel because both Darius Willis and Antonio Banks continue to slowed by hamstring injuries. One player who has really looked and someone I know they are high on is true freshman Matt Perez from Park Ridge, Ill. Trea Burgess continues to run hard as does Nick Turner, the redshirt freshman from Southport. Also saw David Blackwell run the ball hard as well as Zach Davis-Walker.

QUARTERBACK: The battle for the No. 2 spot continues between Dusty Kiel and Ed Wright-Baker. Kiel seems to still have the edge though when they went with the No. 2's in the overtime scrimmage Wednesday, it was EWB at the controls. That tells me that at the very least it's still a competitive situation for that No. 2 spot behind Ben Chappell.

OFFENSIVE LINE: James Brewer looks good at right tackle. Saw some film of him in one of the film sessions that shows just how good of a pass blocker he is. Andrew McDonald, the former Warren Central player, is the starter at left tackle and has been keeping defenders off of Chappell. The starting guards are Justin Pagan and Cody Faulkner and the center is Will Matte. The pass blocking seems fine but it's hard to tell if the run blocking is adequate or if you just can't get a complete feel because the top guys are not scrimmaging at the running back spot.

KICKING GAME: Nick Freeland continues to have an edge in the kicking game from my perspective any way. Mitch Ewald missed a pair of 39 yarders, one in the first practice and another in overtime in the scrimmage. Now, there are several practices that are closed to the media so he may have great days when I'm not there but in terms of what I've seen with my own eyes I think Freeland, the redshirt sophomore from Lawrence North, would have the edge.

TIGHT ENDS: They're getting used in a lot of situations which is notable in and of itself. Max Dedmond, Brad Martin and Ted Bolser are the ones getting the most repetitions. Charles Love III, the redshirt sophomore from Memphis, Tenn., continues to have his arm in a sling because of his torn ligament in his thumb.

WIDE RECEIVERS: There's a couple of new developments on that front. First, Tyler Adetona, the redshirt sophomore from Gainesville, Ga., is not longer with the team. That happened sometime Tuesday but before the team picture at media day as he is not in the picture.There was no reason given but he's no longer there. Billy Lynch picked up a new wide out the same day when former quarterback Connor Creevey moved over. He seems to have picked things up pretty quickly. Tandon Doss has been seeing limited action with his sore groin. He practiced in the morning Wednesday but sat out of the afternoon scrimmage. Terrence Turner had a couple of touchdown catches in the scrimmage and looked solid. Damarlo Belcher and Duwyce Wilson, the redshirt freshman from Columbus East, are also having good camps. Another one to keep an eye on is No. 82 Dre Muhammad, the redshirt junior who is a transfer from Purdue. He has been making some plays. Three freshmen in particular have been solid though all are expected to redshirt. That group includes Logan Young, Tim O'Conner and Kofi Hughes. Hughes, also with a torn ligament in his thumb, has been practicing with a full cast on. He looked good in the scrimmage Wednesday.

The only other news coming out of Wednesday's practice is that head coach Bill Lynch will not be with the team on Friday as he will be in Maryland for the funeral of the dad of freshman tight end Paul Phillips who was killed in the Alaska plane crash last week. Paul and his two brothers who also play college football appeared on ESPN's First Take on Wednesday, an episode that was viewed by the IU football team during lunch.

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You can't argue with the results that Fred Glass, Pat Kraft and company came up with last year in terms of Indiana football attendance. In one season, the average attendance grew from 31,000 fans in 2008 to 42,000 fans last year. That was the third highest percentage increase of any program in the country.

But if you expected Glass and his staff to rest on their laurels, you were mistaken. This season, Glass has several more new things planned to get people in the seats for the six IU football home games and he outlined those in a meet-and-greet with the IU media Tuesday morning prior to IU football media day.

Here's the highlights:

1. KID PRICES ARE NOW $5: It used to be $17 for kids aged 7-12 but that is now a $5 seat for all of them. With that price, kids will receive admission to the Knot Hole Club which will give them a membership card and a T-shirt. On the back of the membership card will be a list of the six home games. There will be a place where kids can get stickers showing they were at the games. If they get all six stickers they will get what Glass called "a fabulous grand prize" at the end of the season.

2. "NEW ALUMNI" TICKETS ARE $5: IU graduates from the last three years can purchase tickets for $5 as well as a way to keep that group of people coming to IU football games. Last year, total tickets in that grouping were 50 per game. Glass said that number is up 1,400 percent. Since I'm not a math major, I'll let you figure that one out. But people are just learning about it, too. That number could go up.

3. NEW SCOREBOARD WITH ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES: The new IU scoreboard is the second largest in the Big Ten and one of the top 10 largest in the country. It includes a new sound system, and what Glass called "a lot of whizz and bang stuff." One of the things fans will like is that instead of just scores from around the country, they will now be able to see updates, scores and highlights from other games.

4. STUDENT SECTION WILL NOW BE CALLED "THE QUARRY": Another tie-in to Coach Hep's 'The Rock', the Quarry will have some interesting features. For one there will be a run out of freshman students with one carrying a flag with "The Quarry" on it and running it up to a perch somewhere above the student section. Glass's favorite feature though is what he's calling a "quarry derrick or rig" which he said looks like a crane that would pull rocks out of a quarry. A replica of that will be in front of the student section and go about 20 feet high. At the top of it will be a horn that will be blown when IU makes a big play, scores a touchdown, has a big defensive stop, etc... The players will be encouraged to make the gesture to blow the horn as well and then a student in charge of that will have the decision to blow it or not. Glass said he plans to put a Fred Flintstone video on the scoreboard with Fred blowing a horn in the quarry as well.

5. THE WILLIAM TELL OVERTURE AT MEMORIAL STADIUM: Glass has said he wants to incorporate some of the Assembly Hall traditions to football. And so, at the end of the third quarter, they will play the William Tell Overture and the cheerleaders and a few fans will do the flag thing like they do at IU basketball games but Glass said the football version will be "bigger, louder, and wilder" because of the size of the venue.

6. GREENING THE CREAM & CRIMSON: With an eye toward being Green, IU will have volunteers patrolling the tailgate areas trying to get people to recycle. In addition, IU will serve only Indiana grown popcorn in the stadium. But here's Glass's favorite here: Anyone riding their bicycle to Memorial Stadium can ride to the front gate where they will get free valet service. Someone will give them a token and then park their bike close by so they have easy access to the game. Glass said the utensils handed out in the stadium will be corn-based instead of plastic so they will be bio-degradable.

There will also be drum lines in the parking lot before the games, the Bloomington Fireman Bagpipe and Drum Corps will perform and cheerleaders will be leading different activities.

And all of the things that went well last year will be brought back:

*** The $5 student tickets for IU kids and any college student with the exception of those from the team IU is playing that week.
*** Kicks for keeps where fans are asked to throw back the opposing teams' kicks.
*** Red Light specials

So Glass is definitely trying. At this point, he said overall ticket sales are up 18 percent over this time last year, and they have already surpassed last year's season ticket sales for the general public for the entire year. That number is only up 70 to a total of 17,348 but it's a start said Glass.

And here's how Glass responds to those who say you can only do so much with gimmicks:

"I'll acknowledge the fact that I get the being good is the best way to get people in the stands,'' Glass said. "I'm not a goof about that. I understand that winning is the best marketing strategy you can have. But I reject and have always rejected the approach that some people sometime take where they shrug their shoulders and say 'there's not much that we can do. We'll just wait until the team wins.' I think that's wrong-headed thinking. That's why last year and continuing this year we're trying to do everything we can to prime the pump if you will to get people excited. So as the team comes along, and I'm very confident that it will, we're going to be in great shape in terms of attendance.''

What do you think?

Follow Terry Hutchens at twitter.com/indystar_hutch