Western Kentucky vs Indiana Liveblog

Welcome to Defend The Rock's inaugural liveblog for the 2008-2009 season for Indiana sports!

Will the Hoosiers be able to stop the Hilltoppers formidable rushing attack? Will Austin Starr kick one out of Memorial Stadium? Will the Big Ten Network manage to blow the coverage of this game somehow?

All the answers shall be revealed shortly. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the live blog, because anyway, it's not like you could be outside playing some sports for yourself.

10:58: Go figure, all the channel listings are screwed up, courtesy of Comcast or the Big Ten Network, or both. Betting that the games keep switching channels throughout the day, because honestly, it would just make sense...

11:02: Apparently Kellen Lewis "bought into his own hype" and became full of himself. I guess things like that will happen when you're the best QB your team has had in years. Sounds like he got over his "pity parties" and now enjoys playing Xbox with teammates, awesome. I wonder what his name is on XboxLive?

11:05: God I love having a good kicker.

11:09: Commentator on Kellen Lewis "He's a Heisman candidate" -- Awesome

11:15: So far we're all happy with IU's tackling today. It's still early, but so far so good. Improvement from last year is required. And Phillips screws us on a sack by Murando.

11:21: Wow, I called out a 90 yard TD run for Lewis at the start of this series and others in attendance said "you know he'll break it out at some point". I guess he decided that'd be a little too far, and opted for just 75 yards. But in the end, it's good for us.

11:27: Beautiful sack. Who's Gred Middleton?

11:30: "You guys need to get out of here. You guys need to get away from Jersey Boys"

11:32: What the hell type of play was that? I guess 2 yards are 2 yards...

11:39: First opportunity for Starr to start his run on a perfect season on Field Goals....it's in! 1-1.

11:41: What the fuck is going on with this network coverage. The Big Ten Network/Comcast keeps going to commercial in the middle of plays. This is horrible.

11:50: Sidenote on commericals: These ads for Lincoln Car insurance are terrible, but we are quickly becoming obsessed with them. We're pretty sure the women in them are real life prostitutes.

11:51: Andrew Means...two sport star.

11:57: Ben Chappell is in the game. At least he didn't throw an INT.

11:59: Awesome, now the IU game is no longer on any of the Big Ten Network channels. Great...

12:04: Just for the record, the IU game is still gone from the TV listings, but we do have 3 channels of Ohio St and 2 channels of Penn State. What the hell.

12:10: On Megan West: D: 1338, I: 0363, P: 1352, A: 1347.

12:11: Man, that was a total video game play by Lewis. Poor cameraman.

12:18: Sorry, we got distracted by Kige Ramsey.

12:20: This punter is ridiculous. Seems like every time he hits w/i the 20.

12:22: Well, these aren't really the plays we'd like to see with the half winding down. Plus Fisher is injured, so not quite the best way to crawl towards the end of the half.

12:30: Can't complain too much about the results heading into the half. Would like to have seen some more down field passes and fewer screens. But so far so good for the first game of the season.

12:49: Nice play by the defense to get the ball right back.

12:42: So Kellen Lewis is the record holder for IU with 43 touchdowns through the air. Good for Kellen, but man, that record number is sad.

12:45: Second thoughts on Megan West: D: 1148, I: 0363, P: 1252, A: 1137.

12:55: Got distracted by trying to figure out pizza to order. God, why is it so complicated?

12:57: Good job stopping 'em with just a FG. 17-3.

1:16: Good to know we're not blowing out a newly instated Division I team (yet?)...

1:20: Consensus here is NOT Thigpen for RB.

1:24: Ah, that's a patented James Hardy play....except it's Belcher...hopefully he can keep it up.

1:32: "She looks like a muppet...like that blonde band leader muppet."

1:42: Another long (62YD) rushing TD for Kellen. Heisman Watch.

1:53: Ben Chappell does not look good/comfortable at all. Yet somehow he completed that pass.

1:57: Last play as Ben Chappell flails around, all of us in unison "Ooooh noo! Ooh no! Oooh no!"

1:59: Good to see kicker turned safety turned punter Joe Kleinsmith come in and actually give the Hoosiers good punt.

2:02: This commentator continues to amaze. Expressing facts (time/score) as "feelings." Man.

2:05: We have determined Ben Chappell's nickname: Beck Chappell (like Beck Chapel on IU's campus).

2:08: That's a winner! Good start to the season.

Football Season Kickoff or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying About Suspensions and Fall In Love WIth Kellen Lewis All Over Again

Football season is upon us and even before kickoff the Hoosier squad has seen fit to bring some excitement to their fan base by continuing their version of musical chairs re: suspensions.

First up, Greg Middleton (the Hoosier who just so happened to lead the NATION in sacks last year) has been suspended along with his (non-starting) teammates Troy Wagner, Brandon Mosley and Kyle Kozak.

Now, putting aside the issue of why they were suspended, the three non-starting players aren't that big of a deal. A for Middleton on the other hand, is he truly a stand out player, a key to our defense?

While he led the nation in sacks, he mainly did it by absolutely destroying bad teams' QB's. He started piling up the sacks early in the season against weak opponents, and as the season went on, there were fewer and fewer sacks showing up in the boxscores for him.

So will IU miss him against the opener against Western Kentucky? My expert opinion is yes -- WKU represents just the sort of team Middleton would have success against.

Now we come to our dearly re-instated QB Kellen Lewis.

If you're an avid reader of Defend The Rock you know that we've been Kellen Lewis fans since before there we even such things. Even during Blake Powers' Sports Illustrated featured year we were pushing for Lewis to start (the fact that he was redshirted that year, eh, not so much of an issue for us), with chants at games of "Start the freshmen!"

Hell, we even started the first Kellen Lewis group on Facebook!

So while we accepted his suspension, players should have to follow the rules, be good students, and excellent team players after all, we eagerly awaited his return. We had never been impressed with Ben Chappell, in fact after his single down implosion in Northwestern we pretty much swore an oath against him, so having Kellen back is like a breath of fresh air.

Now, Kellen Lewis is undeniably the face of this team. Gone is his main playmaker James Hardy, as is star defender Tracy Porter. It's up to him, and we firmly believe in his third year, he is once again ready to step up to the plate, accept the challenge, and exceed all expectations.

Let's play some football!

Defend The Rock will be liveblogging the season opener starting at 11am central time. Join us!

ITWCT: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Edition

The first team that will be covered in our new series If These Walls Could Talk, just so happens to be the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

So just who are these guys? We've chose three Hilltoppers that we think you should know more about beyond their stats.

#7 WR Quinterrance Cooper
Favorite Music: "Anthing Bangin"
Favorite Movie: Scarface
Favorite TV: BET (But he admittedly does not have enough TV time due to his excessive use of his computer.)
Relationship Status: Single. But watch out guys, he's just looking for love from the ladies. "no homos."

#78 RG Austin Chestnut aka A/C
Are you a single woman looking for a companion? Then A/C may just be cool enough for you. A Taurus, he's open to dating and serious relationships. Can you imagine a nice night at home, starting off with a romantic dinner to the tunes of Lil' Wayne, followed by a classic cuddle movie like 300? Then A/C would be the perfect date, and don't worry if you're thinking long term--he's got good genes, as A/C proudly declares himself: "There aint nothin but ballers in my family."

#31 SS ORLANDO MISAALEFUA
A self described military brat and Christian, Orlando has moved around a lot in his life, but has always been grounded by his spirituality and the presence of family and friends in his life. Unfortunately at the moment Orlando's mother is deployed in Iraq, and we here at Defend The Rock, send our best wishes to her and the entire Misaalefua family, and hope she returns home quickly and safely.

So there you have it, a little bit more about a few players lining up against our Hoosiers this Saturday. Enjoy the game, because this time, it's personal.

If These Walls Could Talk

With IU's football season opener only days away, it seems only appropriate that we take a closer look at the team our Hoosiers will be playing, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

Now, it's not difficult to just go online and cut and paste some stats about these guys, but those bases are already covered by pretty much any major sports site, and probably a few of our fellow IU blogs.

No, we are going to do things differently this year.

Instead of telling you how many yards on average our oppositions running back gains or how many sacks a defensive end has, we're going to give you something much more personal, juicy tidbits from his myspace page.

Oh yes, it's come to this...

Football Schedule

Here is the IU football schedule for the 2008 season, available nowhere else everywhere.

Home games in bold.

08/30/08 vs Western Kentucky
09/06/08 vs Murray State
09/20/08 vs Ball State
09/27/08 vs Michigan State
10/04/08 vs Minnesota
10/11/08 vs Iowa
10/18/08 vs Illinois
10/25/08 vs Northwestern
11/01/08 vs Central Michigan
11/08/08 vs Wisconsin
11/15/08 vs Penn State
11/22/08 vs Purdue

Ben Chappell

So as we here at Defend The Rock have discussed often, we were the first Kellen Lewis fans. At any given IU game it would be us yelling "Put in the freshmen," and we started the original Kellen Lewis facebook group, "You Tell 'em Kellen, #15 For Quarterback." Needless to say with his ascension, and subsequent success we were thrilled. And needless to say, with his indefinite suspension we were extremely disappointed and disenchanted.

So now as all of you know, Sophomore Ben Chappell will be starting for the Hoosiers in their new look no-huddle offense. As you may recall, Ben Chappell received the brunt of our ire last season when we attended the Northwestern game and he saw fit to throw an interception in his only play of the game, the play which in turn cost us the game.

I'll be honest, I don't like Ben Chappell, I don't trust Ben Chappell, but this Hoosier fan will be rooting for him to take command of this team and put up some victories. This is very similar to my innate dislike for Blake Powers, but for whom I found myself rooting for with the chant "Throw some shit to Hardy!" and hey, it worked out, kinda, for a season.

So Ben, here's to a good first season as the starting QB of the Hoosiers, no matter how much it may disturb my fellow Defend The Rockers (and even me for that matter), Ben Chappell, I've got your back, now go make Kellen Lewis wish he never got suspended by being twice the QB he ever was!

James Hardy NFL Draft Prediction or The One Where I Pretend To Have Knowledge About The NFL

This year's NFL draft kicks off on my Birthday (April 26th) and will lead well into the 27th where I will be passed out on a couple or floor, surely having been unable to make it to my bed from the night before. The Hoosier's very own WR James Hardy will be looking to be drafted over the course of those two days, and now I'm going to tell him where his going to end up.

I have no inside information, and I haven't been reading any draft previews. These predictions (I am choosing the 3 most likely teams) have manifested themselves through trusting my gut, poor logic/reasoning, and a and a random non-story about the Steelers I heard months ago. Without further ado, here is where you're likely to end up James:

1. Pittsburgh Steelers: This offseason Ben Roethlisberger expressed his desire for a tall receiver. Well, guess who just happens to be a 6'7 tall receiver? James Hardy. Throw in the fact that James Hardy played for the Coach who made Big Ben into who is today, and you've got a perfect match. BAM!

2. Tennessee Titans: Vince Young needs some solid receiving weapons in order for this team to go anywhere. Hardy has played his last few years with a running QB in Kellen Lewis and can bring a new element to a team desperately trying to figure out who to run its offense.

3. Miami Dolphins: Why not?

Now, once I really look at that, those three teams seem far fetched, as I can't imagine Hardy going either 23/24 to the Steelers or Titans, and their next picks are in the mid 50s where I imagine he'd be gone. Maybe the Dolphins at 32 do make sense...

Football Schedule

Here is the 2008 football schedule for our Hoosiers (home games in bold). I have to be honest and say that I have a hard time envisioning us doing any better than we did this past season, if even matching our win total. Granted we should be able to beat Northwestern this time around (as long as you know who doesn't come in for one play).

8/30 Western Kentucky
9/6 Murray State
9/20 Ball State
9/27 Michigan State
10/4 at Minnesota
10/11 Iowa
10/18 at Illinois
10/25 Northwestern (Homecoming)
11/1 Central Michigan
11/8 Wisconsin
11/15 at Penn State
11/22 at Purdue

We're Back? Yes. You're back? Face it, you never left.

So those of us here at Defend The Rock took a short (6 month long), unannounced break, but all of you kept clamoring for more. We got emails, we got comments on months old posts. Well, due to overwhelming pressure, we're back!

In our time off we missed the entire football season, but really, did we miss anything? It's not like IU made it to their first bowl game in ages, oh wait, damn! Or like an incredible incoming freshmen basketball class has been brought into IU, double damn!

A little later on we'll have a retrospective on the Football season and get into full swing covering Basketball, but first we have something important to do:

Disclose who won the Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award for the Insight Bowl Appearing Indiana Hoosiers!

With a team that had so much heart, so much talent, so much athleticism, and whatever the hell Ben Chapel supposedly brings (Seriously, we made the trip to the Northwestern game and what does he do to honor our appearance? Comes in and gives up what amounted to a game losing interception on his first play), it was tough to choose.

Without further ado, your Indiana Hoosier Football Playing Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award recipient:


Josiah Sears

The big man racked up 4 rushing and 2 receiving TDs, 270 Total Yards, and Veteran Leadership (we assume).

Also we must highlight Austin Starr. For the first time in ages Indiana had a kicker, and that foot of his certainly made the difference between us having a winning season and ending up in the gutter of the Big Ten. In honor of his achievements we are bestowing on him the Brett Finkelmeier "I'm going to grow up to be Adam Ahlfeld someday" Award.


Austin Starr

A Goodbye To A Great Man

I arrived at Indiana University as an out of state student 5+ years ago, who knew really only about the basketball program and the Little 500 race. Of all the sports at IU, I quickly learned that football was beaten, broken down, and in disarray. I still went to games early on, but it was more of an offbeat thing to do with friends than anything serious, because really, why even bother rooting for a team certain to lose every game?

Upon Coach Hep's arrival I was still in that mindset, and his early moves to bring in more student involvement and bolster the program made me skeptical. I vividly recall mocking so many of his ideas. The Walk? Stupid. "Coach Hep Wants You!" Played out. "Defend The Rock" + A Giant Rock - Absurd. But something happened, it was the first game of his career at IU. There were more people in the stands, more enthusiasm, I saw students everywhere wearing those shirts. The change was palpable right from the get go, and I quickly got swept up in it.

Watching him on the field interacting with players was fantastic, reading interviews and listening to post-game press conferences was illuminating. This was a man dedicated to not only providing a winning football team for Indiana fans, but creating an atmosphere to rival that of bigger football schools like Ohio St. and Michigan.

I hope that with Coach Hep's unfortunate passing the goals he set for Indiana Football - both the team and its fans - are seen through. Coach Hep provided us with so much in such a short time, the least we can do, as fans, players, administrators, and so on, is to make sure that his quest to reinvent Indiana Football is completed.

Goodbye Coach Hep - We'll Never Forget You!

Coach Hep Won't Coach In 2007

We here at Defend The Rock and all across Hoosier Nation are saddened to learn that Coach Terry Hoeppner will not be returning to the team this fall due to continuing medical issues. We wish him a full and speedy recovery. Assistant Coach Billy Lynch is taking over head coaching duties for the year, and apparently the top coaching position will be "re-evaluated" at the end of the season - which seems to suggest Coach Hep won't be returning anytime soon.

Links:

IDS News Story On Coach Hep
In Depth Article w/ Q&As w/ Rick Greenspan and Bill Lynch

Football Schedule

I'm sure I had already seen this, hell, maybe I even blogged about it, but the IU Football schedule blows my mind. I mean, just look at it:

Date Opponent
Sep. 1 Indiana St. 8:00pm
Sep. 8 at Western Michigan 7:00pm (beat 'em 39-20 last year)
Sep. 15 Akron 6:00pm (did not play)
Sep. 22 Illinois TBA (beat 'em 34-32 last year)
Sep. 29 at Iowa 12:00pm (beat 'em 31-28 last year)
Oct. 6 Minnesota TBA (lost 26-63 last year, god I had blocked that out)
Oct. 13 at Michigan State 7:00pm (beat 'em 46-21 last year)
Oct. 20 Penn State 12:00pm (did not play)
Oct. 27 at Wisconsin 12:00pm (lost 17-52)
Nov. 3 Ball State TBA (beat 'em 24-23 last year)
Nov. 10 at Northwestern TBA (did not play)
Nov. 17 Purdue TBA (lost 19-28)

Now why does it blow my mind? First, we're dodging two bullets in missing Michigan & Ohio St. That's pretty good for a team that is sure to be better than it was last year. I'm not saying any of these teams are pushovers, but honestly would you rather IU play Ohio St./Michigan or Northwestern?

Facebook, a reporter's best friend

According to my Facebook "news" page current IU Football player Blake Powers has written on former IU OL Isaac Sowells.

"BIG ISAAC!!! What up?? same old here man, trying out this tight end thing, been doin pretty good...definitely hit me up when you get into town for lil' 5 so we can catch up ma..."

Isaac is now a lineman for the Browns. I poked him, and I will keep everyone updated on his response.



This all reminds me.... I was planning on writing a lot about the Little 500 here. However, I've not found the time. As a former rider in the race I often start feeling adrenaline this time of year knowing the race is fast approaching.

In case you don't know... all of the gossip and inside info on the little 5 can be read at:

www.little500.com/ps3

This year's racing season has been full of more drama than I've ever seen in my 7 years around the event. The race is a week from this Saturday and I hope to be there! I'm sad to say that my former team failed to qualify for the race for the first time since 2003. DAMN!

Memorial Stadium Back In The Day

Many thanks to Defend The Rock reader Paul for sending us this great picture of Memorial Stadium. The photo was taken prior to October 1960, and is credited to Bloomingtonian Junior Freeman.

Thanks again Paul (and thanks to Junior too!) from all of us at Defend The Rock!

Right-click here to download the full sized picture (perfect for a desktop background!)

Blake Powers throws really well on the run according to the 3rd string ESPN+ color analyst

I'd like to spend some time with some final thoughts on the basketball team this year. But, not today.

I wanted to post a few notes on the football team.

First of all, Coach Hep will be sitting out the entire spring session of practice to focus on his health. This worries me. I hope that his health truly is getting better. I also hope that Bill Lynch, the assistant coach who is leading the team will do a better job than last year when he lead the team to an 02 record against Western Vermont Tech and Klondike Middle School Nuggets or whoever it was they lost to last year. If IU had won just one of those games, Kellen and I could have had a blast watching IU get thrashed by North Texas in the Music City Bowl.

Secondly, Blake Powers will be getting some play at tight end and on Special Teams. Watch out! I smell trick plays coming out of the wazoo. Perhaps Blake will be the next Randle El. Remember how well things went when Randle El started his senior season at wide receiver? That lasted all of two games. What a sweet sophomore year I had that year. I made it to all of the games, but it was hard because I was copulating with co-eds from Theta on my way to and from Collins.

And last but not least, IU's pass defense will be even worse than last year.

IU Football Signees in Moving Picture Form!

So this is a brilliant idea and kudos to the person who decided to implement it. On their official sports page, Indiana University has put up a compilation video of all 19 players who have signed onto IU Football for next season. It's not often you get to see HS players on TV during the year, so this is a great opportunity for all of us Hoosier fans to see who is going to be playing for us next year. Sure it's basically a highlight reel of each player's HS career so it may not be the best talent indicator but nevertheless a great resource for us fans.

Click here for the page containing the article and video.

19 Players Sign With The Hoosiers

So just because Jerimy Finch decided to run off and play in Florida (He should've looked to Kellen Lewis for an example of what to do -- come to Indiana FROM Florida) doesn't mean IU football is doomed. There are 19 other players who decided that Coach Hep has this team going in the right direction, and Defend The Rock commends them on their decision to attend Indiana University and play Hoosier football.

Below I have included a little chart of all the signees, iuhoosiers has a full list with bios of all the new Hoosiers here. But I would like to point out a few potential impact players.

1. Chris Adkins, CB. Teammate of the departed Jerimy Finch at Warren Central. He's got the height and athleticism (according to reports) to come in and make an impact right away. Plus IU has a seriously vacancy at CB, so he'll have his chance to come in and make a difference immediately.

2. Jeff Boyd, DL. Another teammate of Finch at Warren Central. Rated the #6 prospect in Indiana, 40th nationally. I like his talk of winning, "...going to bring a winning attitude...That's all we're accustomed to," and he's got the pure talent to help IU return to winning ways.

3. Matt Ernest, WR. #9 prospect in the state of Indiana. He's a big receiver, 6'2/180, and hopefully can blossom into another solid target for Kellen Lewis to throw to.

4. Dennis Zeigler, OL. #10 in Indiana, a big boy at 6'7, 315. Formerly a basketball player, he could be a project but apparently made great strides in football as evidenced by his ranking and presence on the All-State team and All-Conference team. Let's hope he can help protect Kellen.

5. The Florida Duo (Zach Davis-Walker & Jarrell Drane). Teammates at Plantation High school in Plantation, Florida, both of these players have the potential to shore up positions that IU is lacking in. Can Davis-Walker become a possible solution at RB? Can Drane step up as a Safety and possibly lessen the blow of losing Finch? These are questions that hopefully will be answered in the affirmative.

Finch Jumps Ship. Illinois and Eric Gordon to blame?

So naturally after we find out our Big-10 Conference foe Illinois has a top-ten recruiting class, should it come as any surprise that #1 recruit Jerimy Finch decided to ditch IU for Florida? What is the connection you ask? Eric Gordon. We snatched him away from Illinois and now we're the victim of some sort of awful curse where not only does Illini football dramatically improve, but IU's chance for a huge leap forward gets stopped in its tracks by its #1 recruit jumping ship.

[rathole on Illini football]And seriously, Illinois a top-ten recruiting class? I'm not going to be one of those bloggers who goes out there saying that something suspect is going on down in Champaign, but how did that happen? The man seems to be genuinely hated by fans, hell he was run out of Florida on the shoulders of fireronzook.com! But when it comes to recruiting it doesn't matter what the fans think of a coach, or what management things. It matters what players - and their parents - think of the coach, and Zook must be a fairly likable and convicing guy regardless of all the flak he gets in other quarters.[/rathole on Illini football]

Defend The Rock - The Superbowl Edition

Kickoff for Superbowl XLI is in under two hours - and you may be wondering "Why does Defend The Rock care? It's not like either team is called the Hoosiers."

Well let me tell you something I went to college in Bloomington, Indiana (where Rex Grossman is from), then moved to Chicago (where Rex Grossman plays QB for the Bears). But wait, Indiana is Colts country! Am I not torn, is my heart not split in two?

Worry not dear readers, because you know what? I'm a St. Louis Rams fan, so the only way this game will have any meaning is if Kurt Warner, wearing an old Rams jersey he stole after being given the boot from St. Louis, lands a hijacked helicopter in the middle of the field and starts yelling "THANK YOU JESUS!"

But in all honesty, it'll be fun to watch an IU alum (Adewale Ogunleye) play in the Superbowl, and I'll be cheering him on. If anything I'd like to see the Colts win just so all the talking heads won't have anything to say about Peyton and his "legacy." Just let him win a Superbowl so there can no longer be any debate regarding how he will be viewed by future generations. Really though, this city is going to explode regardless of the outcome, either with raucous joy (Bears win) or drunken rage (Bears lose), so at least the post-game will be fun to watch outside my window.

On this day 20 years ago...

Today Defend The Rock and all of Hoosier Nation celebrate the birth - 20 years ago- of our star Quarterback Kellen Lewis.

Defend The Rock and friends were among the first to sing the praises of #15 and urge Coach Hep to start him (even before he was technically eligible, redshirt and all).

Happy Birthday Kellen!

<----Birthday Boy