Author: Mike Schumann

If Tom Allen has his way, no one outside of his program will know who IU football’s starting quarterback will be until just before the season-opening kickoff against Illinois on Sept. 2. Allen said on Friday he plans to tell his team internally who will be the starter sooner, but he has no plans to make a public announcement until the Friday night contest in Bloomington three weeks from today. “As a program we would like to know, probably after the second scrimmage,” Allen said on Friday following the team’s first scrimmage. “I’m not going to announce it until kickoff…

If you ask head coach Tom Allen, Shaun Shivers’ size might be his best asset.  Not just for what it does for him on the field, but who it forced him to become off it. Toughness and physicality are non-negotiables when it comes to playing for Allen, and his new running back from Auburn has those traits in abundance. Shivers’ listed height of 5-foot-7 seems generous.  He is the shortest player on the team, even a couple inches shy of kicker Charles Campbell. Whatever the right measurements may be, Shivers can bring a shoulder fast and low, and he isn’t…

Indiana cornerback Tiawan Mullen has been named first-team All-Big Ten by PFF, and honorable mention All-American according to that outlet. PFF wrote this about Mullen in their 2022 college football preview guide. “When healthy, he’s undoubtedly among the best at the position. The 5-foot-10, 175-pounder has inside-outside versatility and is a ferocious blitzer. Mullen is also the proud owner of the highest run-defense grade among cornerbacks since his true freshman campaign in 2019. In coverage, he consistently wins at the catch point, with a 20.6% forced incompletion rate since 2019 — the second-best among active Power Five cornerbacks.” Two other…

There was a time when you couldn’t get Colorado-based Coors beer in Indiana. It will be ubiquitous at IU sporting events this fall. IU Athletics announced a new partnership with Molson Coors Beverage Company today that will make Coors Light the exclusive domestic beer sponsor of IU Athletics beginning with the 2022-23 season. As part of the agreement, Molson Coors Beverage Company will be able to utilize IU’s script mark in its promotion, and it will be a visible part of the gameday experience at various IU athletics venues, including Memorial Stadium. The Rooftop at the Rock presented by Indiana…

“Things will be more competitive this season.” That’s how IU coach Mike Woodson answered a question about the allocation of playing time at an alumni event in late May. More competitive because Indiana has returned nearly 80 percent of its minutes played from a year ago while bringing in four freshmen who, to varying degrees, appear to be ready to play a role in November. Woodson hopes the talented roster he has assembled, which is picked by many to win the Big Ten, will function like a rising tide that lifts everyone involved. “Competition is good,” Woodson said.  “If you’re…

A stint in the resuscitated USFL helped revive Stevie Scott’s football career. The New York native and three-year IU football starter signed with the Denver Broncos on Wednesday according to multiple reports. This is Scott’s second stint with the Broncos.  He was signed by them during training camp last year but was waived after just a week with the team. He did make a preseason appearance with Denver a year ago, totaling seven rushes for 23 yards. In the USFL Scott rushed for 310 yards and three touchdowns on 99 attempts for the Michigan Panthers as part of a season…

It’s no secret — Tom Allen wants to keep things a secret until the IU football season kicks off on Sept. 2. That started with not opening spring practices to the media and not holding a public spring scrimmage, and it continues into fall camp. Yes, the media can attend portions of practice this month.  When it comes to the position battles and schemes on both sides of the ball, there are some clues.  But not much.  Most of what we are seeing are drills.  Full scrimmages such as the the first one this Friday will be closed to outside…

He’s come a long way since lying on the field holding his knee after the opening kickoff of the 2017 Indiana season. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine wasn’t sure what his football career looked like after he tore his ACL on the first of play of what was expected to be a big season for the Florida product five years ago. This week he was listed by the Tennessee Titans as one of the franchise’s No. 1 receivers on their preseason depth chart. Going back to his days in Bloomington, Westbrook-Ikhine is familiar with the ups-and-downs of a football life.  That’s why he…

After his offense produced just 11 points per game over the last eight weeks of the 2021 season, Tom Allen knew he needed a spark. Several months earlier he had seen Jaylin Lucas at a camp, and it was love at first sight for the IU coaching staff. “He’s a guy that we actually found when we were doing our camps off campus down in the South, and got to see him live, in person, and immediately I was like ‘Wow, this is the kind of guy we’ve been looking for,'” Allen said on Tuesday via Zoom. What Allen saw…

Indiana has an early path to earn some votes in the national rankings, but after a 2-10 2021 season, not even head coach Tom Allen was willing to go there in the preseason USA TODAY Sports AFCA football coaches poll. To the surprise of no one, IU did not receive any votes in the preseason coaches poll, but several of their 2022 opponents did. The Hoosiers could open the season 3-0 with wins over Illinois, Idaho and Western Kentucky, three teams also not receiving votes at this time.  If Indiana claims those three games in impressive fashion they could certainly…