Kevin Wilson is no stranger to the team that enters Memorial Stadium on Saturday to face his Hoosiers.
The Indiana coach was Northwestern’s offensive coordinator from 1999-2001 and worked with Pat Fitzgerald when the Wildcats’ coach came on staff as the secondaey coach in 2001. NU’s spread offense has not changed much since Wilson left following the 2001 campaign, but Wilson said that offensive coordinator Mick McCall has put his own spin on the offense.
“You always play to your players and their strengths,” Wilson said on the Big Ten coaches teleconference. “They are doing so much more in empty (backfield) with Mick. They’ve established a nice way of spreading the field, distributing the ball and scoring points. And they’re doing that without stressing their defense.”
Indiana (1-7, 0-4 Big Ten) will have to worry about NU’s offense. The Cats (2-5, 0-4) are putting up almost 28 points per game, good for 67th in the country. Meanwhile, the Hoosiers’ defense is allowing 33.4 points per game, which puts them 102nd in the nation in scoring defense. The only saving grace for Indiana is that it is ranked 45th in passing defense, which will come in handy against NU’s 53rd ranked passing offense.
There is a lot of concern in Evanston surrounding who will play quarterback for NU. Senior Dan Persa missed practice Tuesday while nursing turf toe on his left foot. Sophomore Kain Colter and redshirt freshman Trevor Siemian took snaps with the first team on Tuesday, but Persa returned to practice on Wednesday and is expected to play for the Cats. The carousel of quarterbacks does not faze Wilson, who said that while the quarterbacks may change, schematically it’s all the same.
“The pass concepts, the formations, conceptually what they’re doing doesn’t change,” Wilson said. “Maybe just a little bit more emphasis on (Colter) running around. He’s a really good athlete.”
Meanwhile, the Hoosiers have the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week in quarterback Tre Roberson. The true freshman went 16-for-24 through the air for 197 yards and a touchdown, adding 84 yards on the ground to lead the team in rushing against Iowa.
Roberson is the third quarterback Indiana has used this season, and he has already impressed some of his teammates. Tight end Max Dedmond said Roberson has tremendous poise for a 19-year-old.
“He was just relaxed out there (against Iowa),” Dedmond told IUhoosiers.com. “It was nice to see a young guy like that come in and step up and do what he could to help our ball club.”
While the Hoosiers keep getting healthier, their biggest offensive threat is still sidelined with a knee injury. Receiver Damarlo Belcher is questionable for the game against NU after missing Indiana’s last three halves of football. Belcher leads the Hoosiers with 286 yards receiving and 25 catches.
The injury would be welcome news for NU’s struggling secondary. The Cats are ranked 93rd against the pass, giving up almost 248 yards per game through the air.
