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Mike Lucas: Indiana's Starr sees Hoosier football renaissance

Mike Lucas  —  8/15/2008 8:55 am

Editor's note: Part 3 of a series previewing each Big Ten Conference football team (scroll to bottom for complete schedule). Coming Monday: Michigan State.

Austin Starr doesn't profess to be a mind reader. But he knows what people are thinking about Indiana University football. "They think last year was a fluke," said Starr, a senior.

To punctuate his point, Starr pulled out a line from the movie "The Legend of Bagger Vance."

The Robert Redford-directed flick, released in 2000, starred:

Will Smith as Bagger Vance, the mystical and magical caddy.

Matt Damon as Rannulph Junuh, the has-been golfer.

Charlize Theron as Adele Invergordon, the hottie.

"You know what people are saying about us?" Starr posed, before delivering the line. "They're saying, 'Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then.'"

Or every 14 years.

In 2007, the Hoosiers broke a long postseason dry spell by playing in the Insight Bowl, their first bowl game since 1993.

Despite losing a 49-33 shootout to Oklahoma State, it was the first step in recovery for the long-suffering program. So it seemed.

"There are still so many doubters out there," Starr insisted. "People who want us to fail."

Now for the kicker from the placekicker Starr, who converted 21 of 23 field goals and led the Hoosiers in scoring last season.

"If we go to another bowl and win, they'll have to start looking at us as a winning football program," he contended.

"People might even start saying, 'Maybe IU football has finally turned the corner.'"

That's pretty dramatic. But Starr is convinced that there's a renaissance in the making.

"The doubters," he said, returning to the theme, "provide motivation for each and every one of us to prove them wrong."

One last kicker from the kicker: "We're going to make a statement this season. We're going to surprise a lot of people."

What fuels the skeptics?

That the Hoosiers were an emotional-driven team last season -- driven to succeed and honor the memory of their former head coach, the late Terry Hoeppner.

"It was devastating when coach Hepp died last June," Starr said. "I have a brochure from his Memorial service in my locker, and I look at it before every game."

The Hoosiers wound up rallying around coach Bill Lynch, who guided them to their first winning record since 1993.

"This is affecting all of us," Lynch told the players. "It's a terrible circumstance. But get behind me and we will fulfill coach Hepp's dream to play 13."

So they did by playing a 13th game, a rare bowl game; a commitment that Hoeppner had made before he died.

The capper?

A win over rival Purdue in the final game of the regular season before a packed house in Bloomington, Ind., a rare sight.

Starr's career-long 49-yard field goal with 30 seconds left spelled the difference in a 27-24 victory.

"I don't see how there could have been any other outcome," Starr said, "for what it meant to our school and our program."

While he was lining up the field goal, Starr admitted that he called on some spiritual help.

"I said, 'Coach Hepp, if it's meant to be, please help me out,'" related Starr, a fifth-year senior from Logansport, Ind.

After the ball split the uprights, Starr looked up to the heavens and then looked into the stands for Hoeppner's widow. "What a great night," he echoed.

He expects more of them, especially since the mind-set appears to be changing on campus.

"A few years ago, no one cared about IU football," he said. "People were always waiting for basketball. But the atmosphere is totally different than it was."

The irony is that the Hoosiers are now looking at a recovery period in basketball because of school sanctions and player defections and departures.

"Tom Crean," Starr said of the former Marquette hoops coach who has taken over the IU program, "has the same energy and enthusiasm as coach Hepp had."

In a sense, Starr and Crean speak the same language.

"I'm excited to be a Hoosier," Starr emphasized. "That's what it really comes down to."

Doubters beware.

Some things can't be learned.

They must be remembered.

Bagger Vance.

---

INDIANA SKINNY

Last season: 7-6; 3-5 Big Ten.

Braintrust: head coach Bill Lynch, 2nd year; offensive coordinator Matt Canada, 2nd year; defensive coordinators Brian George, George Ricumstrict and Joe Palcic, 4th year each.

Returning starters: 6 offense, 7 defense

All-Big Ten returnees: defensive end Greg Middleton, first team. Placekicker Austin Starr, first team. Quarterback Kellen Lewis, second team.

Triggerman: No. 15 Kellen Lewis, a junior from Jacksonville, Fla., who has thrown for at least three touchdowns nine times, a school record. Lewis was reinstated this fall after a spring suspension for a violation of team rules.

Cheesehead connection: Starting free safety Nick Polk is from Milwaukee Vincent High School. A converted wide receiver, he was the fifth-leading tackler on the defense last season.

By the numbers: The Hoosiers had more than one player selected on the first day of the NFL draft for the first time since 1988. Both went in the second round: defensive back Tracy Porter to New Orleans and wide receiver James Hardy to Buffalo.

Famous alums: Dick Enberg, Jane Pauley, Mark Spitz.

Mascot grade: A. John Mellencamp, a big-time IU booster and financial contributor (though he went to Vincennes University), lives in Bloomington.

Lynch sez: "The bowl experience gave the kids the confidence to believe that they can win and the confidence that they can be a bowl team again.''

2008 schedule

(8 home, 4 road)

Aug. 30  Western Kentucky

Sept. 6  Murray State

Sept. 13  bye

Sept. 20  Ball State

Sept. 27  Michigan State

Oct. 4  at Minnesota

Oct. 11  Iowa

Oct. 18  at Illinois

Oct. 25  Northwestern

Nov. 1  Central Michigan

Nov. 8  WISCONSIN

Nov. 15  at Penn State

Nov. 22  at Purdue

Not on schedule: Michigan, Ohio State.

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BIG TEN PREVIEWS

Wednesday, Aug. 6 -- Minnesota: Decker revels in double duty 

A year removed from a move into an on-campus stadium, can the Gophers make a significant jump from a 1-11 start to the Tim Brewster coaching era?

Friday, Aug. 8 -- Michigan: Jamison adjusts to life with a new coach

The Wolverines went outside the "Michigan Man" lineage, and coach Rich Rodriguez has overhauled both the offensive and defensive schemes.

Monday, Aug. 11 -- Penn State: Penn State's high hopes rest on yet-to-be-named quarterback

The Nittany Lions, coming off a 9-4 campaign, return 18 players with starting experience for their 43rd -- and perhaps final -- season under coach Joe Paterno.

Wednesday, Aug. 13 -- Iowa: The turmoil continues off the field

The Hawkeyes missed a bowl game last season for the first time since 2000, raising questions about the direction of the program under Kirk Ferentz, one of the most highly paid coaches in the nation.

Friday, Aug. 15 -- Indiana

The Hoosiers won't have Michigan or Ohio State on the schedule for the second year in a row, and play eight of their first 10 games at home.

Monday, Aug. 18 -- Michigan State

The Spartans return two key cogs of the highest-scoring offense in the Big Ten last year in Brian Hoyer and Javon Ringer, and aim to build on the momentum of a Champs Sports Bowl berth.

Wednesday, Aug. 20 -- Ohio State

Back-to-back drubbings in the national title game haven't dampened the optimism surrounding the Buckeyes, who are a consensus top-3 preseason pick and get an early showdown at Southern Cal.

Friday, Aug. 22 -- Illinois

The Illini made a surprising run to the Rose Bowl last season and harbor aspirations of a second straight BCS appearance behind the likes of quarterback Juice Williams and receiver Arrelious Benn, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

Monday, Aug. 25 -- Purdue and Northwestern

The Badgers won't face either team this season meaning they miss out on the final year of the Joe Tiller era at Purdue and a chance to square off against former defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz, now at Northwestern.

Mike Lucas  —  8/15/2008 8:55 am