Indiana University Athletics
Spring News & Notes
3/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 24, 2010
Spring Cleanup
Senior safety Mitchell Evans (hip), senior wide receiver Terrance Turner (neck), senior defensive lineman Terrance Thomas (shoulder) and junior offensive lineman Justin Pagán (ankle) will miss entirely or be limited in spring practice due to injuries. Evans will also move from wide receiver to safety.
Four additional players will switch positions this spring. Junior Matt Ernest, who is also pitching for the Hoosier baseball team, will move from wide receiver to cornerback. Sophomore Shane Covington will go over to running back from defensive back, while fifth-year senior Aaron Burks goes from wide receiver to safety. Sophomore Andrew Pimentel will switch from quarterback to safety.
Four members of IU's signing class enrolled in the spring and will participate in spring practice. Junior college transfers Lenyatta Kiles (cornerback) and Jeff Thomas (linebacker) will be joined by true freshmen Antonio Banks (running back) and Jack Denton (linebacker).
Coach Mo Returns
Indiana head football coach Bill Lynch announced on March 1 that Myron "Mo" Moriarity joined the Hoosier staff as the team's offensive line coach. Moriarity replaced Bobby Johnson, who took an assistant offensive line coach position with the Buffalo Bills on Feb. 17.
This marks Moriarity's second tenure with the Hoosiers. Moriarity, who has 33 years of coaching experience, coached tight ends from 2002-04 and mentored future NFL talent Aaron Halterman.
One of the most successful high school coaches in Indiana state history, Moriarity owns a career mark of 241-56 (.811) in 25 years as a head coach. He has won three state championships, collected four state runner-up finishes and 12 conference championships. Moriarity has coached three Mr. Football winners (Bo Barzilauskas, Rex Grossman and Morgan Newton) and is in the top 10 all-time in Indiana high school football coaching winning percentage.
He spent the last five seasons as head coach at Carmel High School. Moriarity collected his third state championship in 2007 and took the program to the state finals each of his final four seasons. Carmel went 58-14 (.806) in his five campaigns.
Prior to his first stint at IU, he served as the head coach at Bloomington South High School for 15 years (1987-2001). During that time he posted a 143-31 (.822) record, won two state championships, in 1993 and 1998, and was the state's runner-up in 1997.
Super Bowl Hoosiers
Tracy Porter picked off a Peyton Manning pass and returned it 74 yards for a score with 3:12 remaining to clinch the New Orleans Saints 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. Porter celebrated the franchise's first championship with another former Hoosier, Courtney Roby, on Feb. 7.
The interception, which was the third-longest in Super Bowl history, marked Porter's second INT in as many playoff games. He forced overtime in the NFC title game when he intercepted Vikings quarterback Brett Favre with seven seconds remaining. The Port Allen, La., native finished the game with four tackles and limited Reggie Wayne to just five receptions and 46 yards.
Roby returned four kicks for 102 yards with a long of 34. He also downed a punt at the Indianapolis 4-yard line and made one tackle on special teams.
Additionally, Mike Mallory is a member of the Super Bowl champions. Mike, the son of IU's all-time winningest coach Bill Mallory, spent the 1986-87 seasons as a graduate assistant in Bloomington. He just completed his second season as the Saints assistant special teams coach.
Quartet At The NFL Combine
Left tackle Rodger Saffold, safety Nick Polk and defensive ends Jammie Kirlew and Greg Middleton participated in the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. IU had the third-most players at the Combine in the Big Ten.
Last year, Andrew Means participated in the Combine. In 2008, New Orleans Saints cornerback and Super Bowl hero Tracy Porter, Buffalo Bills wide receiver James Hardy and long snapper Tim Bugg worked out in Indianapolis.
Hoosiers Head To Washington
The Indiana Department of Athletics reached an agreement with the Washington Redskins and FedExField to move its 2010 Big Ten Conference home football game with Penn State to the Redskins' home facility in Landover, Md. The game will be played on Nov. 20, 2010. IU will play in metropolitan Washington, D.C., for the first time since a 1935 meeting with the University of Maryland in Baltimore. FedExField, with a seating capacity of 91,704, is the largest venue used by a professional sports team in the United States. Opened in 1997, the venue has hosted several college football games, including the 2004 BCA Classic between Virginia Tech and USC.
Future Opponents Announced
Indiana will start a pair of two-game series against in-state schools Ball State and Indiana State. The Hoosiers will play Ball State in both 2011 and 2012, and IU will play the first of two home games against Indiana State in 2012. The other ISU home date will be in 2013.
The Hoosiers also added some high caliber out-of-state opponents on future schedules. Indiana will play Virginia at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 10, 2011, completing a home-and-home series that commenced last year. The Hoosiers will host Delaware State at home on Sept. 24, 2011. IU begins a home-and-home series with Navy in 2012 and 2013. The sequence of that series is yet to be determined.
In future years, Indiana has signed on to play a series against Missouri (2013 and 2014) and perennial MAC title contender Bowling Green (2013, 2014 and 2017). IU also reached a home-and-home agreement to play Wake Forest in 2015 and 2016.
Hoosiers Host Six
The 2010 Indiana football schedule features six home games, including Michigan and Iowa, as well as a second straight Thursday night season opener. IU will also face Penn State at FedExField, home of the Washington Redskins and the NFL's largest stadium. Four of the Hoosiers' opponents won games this postseason, including the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Capital One Bowl and Champs Sports Bowl.
Indiana kicks off the 2010 campaign on a Thursday night for the second consecutive year. The Hoosiers will host Towson on Sept. 2, in the first meeting between the two schools. IU played its first Thursday game in Memorial Stadium in 2009, as it earned a 19-13 victory over Eastern Kentucky.
After an off week, Indiana hits the road when it travels to Bowling Green, Ky., to face Western Kentucky on Sept. 18. The Hoosiers defeated the Hilltoppers, 31-13, in the lone meeting between the two programs on Aug. 30, 2008.
Akron returns to the Bloomington for the second time and meets IU for the third time in four seasons on Sept. 25. Indiana collected a 41-24 win in 2007 and a 38-21 triumph in Ohio last year.
For the second consecutive season the Hoosiers open conference play against Michigan and Ohio State. Following a late 36-33 loss in Ann Arbor in 2009, the Wolverines travel to Memorial Stadium for the first time since 2006 on Oct. 2. IU pays its first visit to Ohio Stadium since 2006 to face the Buckeyes the following Saturday.
Taking a break from Big Ten play and celebrating Homecoming, Indiana wraps up non-conference play with its first-ever meeting against Arkansas State on Oct. 16. The Hoosiers have won five of their last six Homecoming contests, including a 27-14 victory over Illinois in 2009.
Indiana hits the road once again at Illinois on Oct. 23 before returning to The Rock for its final two home games of the season. IU hosts two of the Big Ten's top teams from a year ago in Northwestern (Oct. 30) and Iowa (Nov. 6).
The Hoosiers wrap up their campaign facing Wisconsin (Nov. 13), Penn State (Nov. 20) and Purdue (Nov. 27) for the third straight season. Indiana goes to Madison, Wis., before taking on the Nittany Lions. IU closes out the season in West Lafayette, Ind., with the 86th battle for the Old Oaken Bucket and the 113th overall meeting between the Hoosiers and Boilermakers.
Fans In The Stands
Indiana had the third-largest one-year percentage increase in average attendance in 2009, increasing by 10,051 to 41,833. It marked the Hoosiers largest home attendance since 1992 (44,074) and the first time they exceeded 40,000 since the same year.
IU also sold out an expanded student section twice, against Ohio State (11,000 seats) and again against Purdue (15,200 seats). The Purdue total was the fourth-largest student section in Memorial Stadium history and the largest since 1989.
All-Big Ten Hoosiers
Sophomore wide receiver Tandon Doss, fifth-year defensive end Jammie Kirlew and senior left tackle Rodger Saffold earned All-Big Ten honors on Nov. 23. Doss collected first team accolades from the conference media and second team laurels from the conference coaches, while Kirlew garnered second team honors from both groups. Saffold was named a second team member by the coaches.
Senior cornerback Ray Fisher, linebacker Matt Mayberry, defensive end Greg Middleton and Saffold received honorable mention recognition from the media, and junior quarterback Ben Chappell, Fisher and Mayberry carded honorable mention from the coaches. Kirlew was also Indiana's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.
Doss led the team in receptions in nine games and receiving yards eight times, and he paced the team with 962 yards, 77 receptions, five touchdowns and 80.2 yards per game. The Indianapolis native finished second in the Big Ten and 30th nationally in yards per game and third in the league and tied for 22nd nationally in catches per game (6.64).
His 962 yards were 35th in the country and the ninth most for an underclassman. Doss closed out the year second on IU's single-season receptions list, just two shy of James Hardy's record of 79 in 2007, and fifth in the school's single-season yardage rankings.
Along with his three 100-yard receiving games, Doss owned 533 kick return yards, 127 rushing yards, 44 punt return yards and led the conference with 138.8 all-purpose yards per contest. He finished ninth on IU's single-season list with 1,666 all-purpose yards, surpassed 100 all-purpose yards in seven of the last nine games and eight times in 2009, including a season-best 242 against Purdue.
Additional Honors
Ten Hoosier football players received postseason honors from several publications. ESPN.com, SI.com, Rivals.com, Phil Steele's preview magazine and CollegeFootballNews.com released their postseason honors. Below is a listing of the 10 Hoosiers and the awards they received:
Larry Black Jr. - CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-America honorable mention
Tandon Doss - Phil Steele All-Big Ten first team, CollegeFootballNews.com All-Big Ten
Ray Fisher - ESPN.com All-Big Ten, SI.com honorable mention All-America, Rivals.com All-Big Ten first team, Phil Steele All-Big Ten first team, CollegeFootballNews.com honorable mention All-America, CollegeFootballNews.com All-Big Ten
Nick Freeland - Rivals.com Big Ten All-Freshman team
Jammie Kirlew - Phil Steele All-Big Ten second team
Matt Mayberry - Phil Steele All-Big Ten third team
Will Matte - CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-America honorable mention
Rodger Saffold - Phil Steele All-Big Ten second team
Adam Replogle - CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-America third team
Darius Willis - ESPN.com All-Big Ten Freshman team, Rivals.com Big Ten All-Freshman team, Phil Steele All-Big Ten third team
Indiana 3.0
Forty-two Hoosier football student-athletes carried a 3.0 grade-point average (GPA) in the fall semester or own a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. Thirty-three Hoosiers posted 3.0's in the fall and 31 currently hold 3.0 cumulative GPA's.
On Dec. 1, 18 Hoosiers earned Academic All-Big Ten honors. Student-athletes must be letterwinners in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a grade-point average of 3.0 or better to be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection.
Leon Beckum, Brandon Bugg, Trea Burgess, Ben Chappell, Zach Davis-Walker, Max Dedmond, Mitchell Evans, Nick Ford, Jammie Kirlew, Jamie Lukaszewski, Alex Perry, Mike Reiter, Tyler Replogle, Jeff Sanders, Pete Saxon, Teddy Schell, Collin Taylor and Brian Zematis represented the football team.
