Football Season is Upon Us!

Congratulations sports fans...you made it. The college football season is officially underway! The Big Ten kicked off their season tonight as well with Junior Varsity scrimmage in Bloomington, Indiana.

What's that? Huh? That wasn't a scrimmage? Those weren't JV teams? Oh...well...this is akward.

Turns out that was an actual Big Ten team taking the field tonight, as Indiana was able to hold off Eastern Kentucky. The game actually came down to the last play as Eastern Kentucky had their last ditch Hail Mary pass batted down at the buzzer. Now, this game never should have come down to the last play, as Indiana should have run away with this one. But they didn't. They struggled. Bill Lynch admitted that they struggled in the postgame presser, but rightly so, he focused on the positives that the Hoosiers can build on this year. And there were a few positives, namely Ben Chappell and the dangerous wide receiver combo of Tandon Doss and Damarlo Belcher. The 5-yard hitch route was wide open all night, and IU took advantage by getting the ball into their playmakers hands. Doss and Belcher did the rest and in the process showed a bright future for IU on the outside.

Unfortunately, that was about it for the positives. The offensive line was unable to control the LOS for most of the game. The Hoosier's new downhill running game from the Pistol formation looked like it was running up-hill all night, and finished with a paltry 73 yards. And defensively, well, let's just say that the Colonels didn't struggle to move the football on IU, amassing 388 yards total. That and the fact that IU's middle linebacker looks like he is a safety doesn't quite forbode well for the Hoosiers when Big Televen season rolls around.

In reality, there were two great things about this game for Indiana. First, they won. And a win is a win in college football. Only five more until they're bowl eligible. Second, it was only the first game and many of the mistakes can be corrected. As excited as we can be as fans that the season has started, watching the IU/EKU and the Boise/Oregon games tonight reminded me that this is week one....not week 12. Both games featured multiple turnovers, tons of penalties, and overall sloppy football.

Temper your expectations football fans, because the game on the field might be ugly...but the fact that you are even watching football again is oh so beautiful!