IU Travels to Washington

HEADING WEST
The Indiana football team (0-1 overall) travels to Seattle, where it will square off against Washington (0-1) at 3 p.m. (Central) on Saturday at Husky Stadium.

UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY
Indiana heads into totally unfamiliar territory when it heads to Seattle. Only three players on the Hoosier roster hail from states west of Texas, with only one Indiana player (offensive lineman Chris Voltattorni) coming from the West coast.

SERIES HISTORY
Indiana and Washington have faced off only twice through the years, with the Hoosiers winning both contests. The first meeting between the two came in 1976, when Indiana picked up a 20-13 win in Seattle. The second meeting resulted in a 14-7 Indiana victory in Bloomington in 1978.
1976 at Washington W, 20-13
1978 at Indiana W, 14-7

INDIANA VS. THE PAC-10
Through the years, Indiana has played 20 games against Pac-10 opponents, with a 6-14 record.
Washington is the only Pac-10 team that Indiana has a winning record against.

INDIANA VS. THE PAC-10
vs. Arizona 2-2
vs. Arizona State 0-0
vs. California 0-2
vs. Oregon 0-2
vs. Oregon State 1-2
vs. Stanford 0-0
vs. UCLA 0-0
vs. USC 0-4
vs. Washington 2-0
vs. Washington State 1-2
Total 6-14

IT'S BEEN A WHILE
When Indiana faces Washington, it will mark the first time the Hoosiers have faced a Pac-10 foe since battling USC in 1982, when the Trojans claimed a 28-7 victory at the L.A. Coliseum.

EARLY-SEASON MILEAGE
Saturday's game between Indiana and Washington is the back end of a coast-to-coast opening to the season. The Hoosiers faced Connecticut in Hartford last week and now head to Seattle to square off against Washington.
All tolled, Indiana will have traveled 6,432 round trip miles in just the first two weeks of the season.

INDIANA VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
Indiana is no stranger to ranked opponents. The Hoosiers faced four ranked opponents last year, claiming a 32-29 win over then-No. 23 Wisconsin at Memorial Stadium.
Indiana's last road win over a ranked opponent came in 2001, when the Hoosiers knocked off then-No. 23 Michigan State in East Lansing, 37-28.

INDIANA TEAM CAPTAINS
Senior running back Brian Lewis and senior safety Joe Gonzalez were selected by their teammates as team captains for 2003.

TOUGH ROAD AHEAD
Indiana will face five of the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Preseason top 25. The Hoosiers face No. 2 Ohio State, No. 7 Michigan, No. 19 Washington, No. 22 Purdue and No. 25 Penn State. There are just four schools in the country (Florida State, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina) that face more preseason top 25 teams than the Hoosiers and all four face a total of six ranked teams.

THROWN INTO THE FIRE
New faces factor heavily into Indiana's plans this season, evidenced by the fact that a total of 16 true or redshirt freshmen saw action for the Hoosiers in their opener against Connecticut.
Within that total, eight true freshmen saw action.

TRUE FRESHMEN WHO PLAYED FOR
INDIANA LAST WEEK
Will Meyers SS
Lance Bennett PR/KR
Cedric Henry DB
BenJarvus Green-Ellis RB
Casey Nowinski LB
Joel Stubblefield DL
Ben Ishola DE

WELCOME TO COLLEGE
Junior linebacker Josh Moore, a transfer from Valley Forge Military Academy, also played in his first collegiate game on Saturday, notching a team-best 13 tackles, an interception, a pass break-up and a tackle for loss.

KILLER
Sophomore linebacker Kyle Killion is poised for a breakthrough season, as evidenced by his 10 tackles (one for loss) and two pass break-ups against Connecticut.
Killion is one of only two scholarship linebackers who was in town for Spring camp, and took that opportunity to solidify himself as a key component of the Hoosier defense. He has continued his development through the fall and could be one of Indiana's best defensive players.

GONZALEZ OUT OF ACTION
Despite the solid play of both Killion and Moore, it bears mentioning that Indiana's defense was playing without its unquestioned leader when it faced Connecticut last Saturday.
Fifth-year senior and team co-captain Joe Gonzalez did not travel to Hartford after sustaining an injury in practice. Gonzalez has played in 36 games during his career, which is more than any other Hoosier. He was voted a captain by his teammates.
He could return to action for this week's contest at Washington.

PENALTY AVOIDANCE
Gerry DiNardo constantly stresses the importance of those parts of the game that take no talent. One such area is limiting penalties. IU committed only two penalties against UConn.

AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL
Freshman punter Tyson Beattie, a native of Attadale, Australia, averaged 38.9 yards per punt against Connecticut.
The Hoosiers averaged 38.2 yards per punt last year, which was their best mark since 1999.
Playing in his first-ever collegiate game, Beattie boomed a 50-yard punt on his first career kick. Indiana had only three punts of 50 yards or more all of last year.

PROTECTING THE BALL A KEY
Last year, Indiana fumbled the ball just eight times, including only one by a running back.
The Hoosiers will look to return to that form after fumbling the ball three times against Connecticut, with two of those fumbles coming from running backs.

HANEY TAKING THE NEXT STEP
Junior wide receiver Travis Haney had a career day against UConn, bringing in three catches for 99 yards. Haney, who shined throughout fall camp, did not make any catches as a sophomore.
Arguably Indiana's most improved player this year, Haney has the build of an NFL wide receiver (6-4, 207).

SLOW OUT OF THE GATES
Indiana struggled coming out of the locker room in its last game at Connecticut. The Hoosiers' first two offensive drives of the first half resulted in a lost fumble and a punt. Meanwhile, the Hoosiers' first two defensive possessions resulted in UConn scoring a touchdown and a field goal.
It was more of the same in the second half, as Indiana's first two offensive possessions resulted in two punts, while the Hoosier defense allowed UConn to score a touchdown and a field goal in its first two possessions.

HALFTIME LEADS
The Hoosiers were down 17-3 at the half last week. IU trailed at the half in all but one game last year as well.
In DiNardo's 13 games at IU, the Hoosiers have been outscored, 133-54 in the first quarter and 280-101 in the first half.
The Hoosiers have come on in the in the second half during DiNardo's tenure, only trailing the opposition by a slight 199-167 advantage.

INDIANA'S FIRST NINE POSSESSIONS AGAINST UCONN
Plays-Yards Result
2-5 Fumble
3-3 Punt
9-34 Field Goal
6-(-4) Punt
8-23 Punt
3-5 Punt
3-8 Punt
3-(-9) Punt
3-(-5) Punt

A RECURRING THEME
Early struggles were a problem for Indiana last year as well. It wasn't until week nine against Northwestern that IU scored on its opening drive of the game.
It wasn't until week five of last year against Ohio State that the Hoosiers stopped an opponent on its first drive.

PUNT RETURN SHOWS IMPROVEMENT
Although reliable as far as protecting the ball was concerned, the Indiana punt return unit was not overly productive last year, averaging 6.5 yards per return in 2002.
Led by return man Glenn Johnson, that unit was productive against UConn last week, averaging 12.5 yards per return when Johnson was on the field.

OFFENSE FALLS SHORT
The Hoosier offense struggled to get in rhythm against UConn last week. Indiana had three drives that resulted in total negative yardage. The Hoosiers had eight drives that gained less than 10 yards.

PLAY BREAKDOWN VS. UCONN DOESN'T FOLLOW INDIANA'S PATTERN
Under offensive coordinator Al Borges' West Coast offense, balance between the run and the pass is a key.
However, in Indiana's game against Connecticut, the Hoosiers slanted their offense more toward the run, attempting 42 rushing plays in comparison to 29 passes.
Last year, Indiana called 434 running plays and 446 passing plays.

FOUR YARDS A GOOD RUSH
The Hoosiers strive to gain at least four yards on every running play. Against Connecticut, Indiana rattled off 14 carries of four yards or more.

LOVECCHIO LOOMS LARGE
Junior quarterback Matt LoVecchio completed 13-of-29 passes for 211 yards and one touchdown in his Indiana debut against UConn last week.
LoVecchio sat out last season after transferring from Notre Dame and spent the 2002 season running the scout team.
His 211 passing yards was a new single-game career high.

MATT LOVECCHIO'S CAREER STATS
Passing
Year G/GS Att. Comp. Int. Yds. TD
2003 1-1 29 13 0 211 1
2002 Redshirted
2001 7-2 69 34 4 287 1
2000 8-7 125 73 1 980 11
Career 16-10 223 120 5 1478 13

LOVECCHIO IN EXCLUSIVE FRATERNITY
Having taken the Irish to the 2001 Fiesta Bowl, Matt LoVecchio is one of only four active collegiate quarterbacks to have started in a BCS bowl game.

ACTIVE QBs WHO HAVE STARTED BCS BOWL GAMES
Brock Berlin Miami
(2000 Orange Bowl while at Florida)

Craig Krenzel Ohio State
(2003 Fiesta Bowl)

Matt LoVecchio Indiana
(2001 Fiesta Bowl while at ND)

Fabian Walker Florida State
(2003 Sugar Bowl)

IN A POSITION TO SHINE
Playing in Al Borges' West Coast Offense, LoVecchio figures to be one of the Big Ten's premier passing quarterbacks this year.
Last year's Indiana squad established a new school record with 3,020 passing yards while playing with two quarterbacks that had no significant prior experience as collegiate quarterbacks.
Now with LoVecchio at the helm and the top five receivers returning, the IU passing game could be an explosive one.

RECEIVING CORPS ONE OF BIG TEN'S BEST
Indiana's group of wide receivers broke through last year and established a new school record for receiving yardage.
The top five receivers return from last season, with junior Courtney Roby and senior Glenn Johnson headlining the group.
The 2002 season saw Roby and Johnson became the first Hoosier duo to each catch more than 50 passes in the same season.
Roby had 59 catches for 1,039 yards and four touchdowns, with Johnson adding 53 catches for 837 yards and five touchdowns.
Roby's 85.6 receiving yards per Big Ten game ranked second in the conference, behind only Michigan State's Charles Rogers.

INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PLAYERS
Indiana's roster features four international players.

Tyson Beattie, P Attadale, Australia
Paul Hearn, OL Calgary, Canada
Martin Lapostolle, DT Montreal, Canada
Ben Ishola, DE Berlin, Germany

In addition, defensive end Victor Adeyanju spent much of his childhood in Nigeria before his family moved to Chicago.

A SMALL SENIOR CLASS
Indiana has just eight seniors on its roster: Adam Braucher (K), Matt Calvert (S), Matt Foss (S) Joe Gonzalez (S), Glenn Johnson (WR), Brian Lewis (RB), Duane Stone (CB) and Courtney Young (DL). Only five of the seniors are on scholarship.

HOOSIER GROUND ATTACK WITHOUT ITS LEADER
Indiana takes the field in 2003 without its leading rusher from a year ago in Yamar Washington, who tore his ACL in practice the day before the Spring Game.
Washington, one of only two running backs on the 2002 Big Ten All-Freshman Team (Ohio State's Maurice Clarett being the other), is out for the season after carrying the ball 174 times for 688 yards and nine touchdowns last year.

INDIANA'S SCHOLARSHIP NUMBERS
Indiana will take the field on Saturday with 64 players on scholarship.
With only five scholarship seniors on the 2003 roster and an incoming recruiting class of 25 scholarship players, it won't be until the 2004 season when Indiana is at the NCAA-maximum of 85 scholarship players on the roster.

The roster breakdown includes the following:
Year Total Schol. Walk-Ons
Seniors 8 5 3
Juniors 22 17 5
Sophomores 19 14 5
R. Freshmen 16 8 8
Freshmen 37 20 17
Totals 102 64 38

Total Schol. Walk-Ons
Offense 45 29 16
Defense 49 32 17
Specialists 8 3 5
Totals 102 64 38

ASTROPLAY IS THE WAY
Indiana installed AstroPlay as the new playing surface at Memorial Stadium. The $446,000 project comes with a 10-year guarantee. IU is one of four Big Ten schools playing on modernized artificial turf.

ARTIFICIAL TURF AROUND THE BIG TEN
Illinois - AstroPlay/Game and Indoor Practice field
Iowa - Prestige on one practice field
Michigan - FieldTurf on game and indoor practice field
Michigan State - AstroPlay on indoor practice field
Minnesota - AstroPlay on 2.5 practice fields
Northwestern - AstroTURF on indoor practice field
Ohio State - AstroPlay on indoor practice field
Penn State - AstroTURF on indoor practice field
Purdue - AstroTURF on indoor practice field
Wisconsin - FieldTurf on game and indoor Practice field

TRENT GREEN GIVES BACK
The Indiana Football locker room receives a facelift for the 2003 season, thanks to the generosity of former Hoosier and current Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green and his wife, and IU alum, Julie (Lentz) Green. The Greens donated the funds to remodel the football lockerroom at Memorial Stadium this summer.
"My wife (Julie) and I have always wanted to give back to the University. This was a great way for us to do it. It's something we both feel strongly about," Trent Green said. "We just wanted to help be a part of that and get Indiana Football back to a place where we're going to bowl games, winning football games and generating excitement, not only around Bloomington, but also around the entire state in an effort to fill the stadium back up."
The facelift to the original 1986 facility will include renovating and modernizing the existing space with new carpeting, lighting and a new bulkhead ceiling along with the installation of custom-built oak wood lockers for 105 football players.
Trent Green, a 1992 graduate from the Kelley School of Business, ranks fourth on the school's all-time passing yardage list with 5,400 career yards. He is also fourth on the school's all-time all-purpose yardage list with 5,916 and ninth with 20 career rushing touchdowns.

Indiana University Athletics

Related News

Related Videos