Tough talk out of Indiana

If you're looking for signs of life from Indiana football, look no further than Coach Kevin Wilson.

“For us to be a good football team,” Wilson said last week, “we've got to be a tough, physical, hitting, hard-tackling, good-blocking football team.”

The Hoosiers (1-6, 0-3 Big Ten) are none of those. Not yet and maybe not for a while.

Wilson has chosen the “toughness” route at Indiana, which is a bit of a departure from the gimmicky offenses and “hanging on for dear life” defenses the Hoosiers have fielded in recent seasons.

“I think we're gaining in a practice setting,” Wilson said of Indiana players' collective toughness and ability to compete with Big Ten elites. “But in a game environment being a relentless, tough, hard-nosed competitor.”

This is going to take some time. Toughness just doesn't happen, ask Iowa and Wisconsin.

First, history is something Indiana fights every day it wakes up as Indiana football. The Hoosiers haven't finished above .500 in Big Ten play since 1993 and has just two league titles (1945 and '67).

Since the Hawkeyes punched through the Michigan-Ohio State curtain with a 1981 Rose Bowl appearance, every Big Ten team has been to the Rose except Indiana and Minnesota.

And then there are the struggles of the now: The Hoosiers lost non-conference games to Ball State (4-3 in the Mid-American Conference) and North Texas (2-5 in the Sun Belt). In their three Big Ten losses, the Hoosiers have been outscored 116-37, including last week's 59-7 loss at No. 4 Wisconsin.

If IU loses to Iowa (4-2, 1-1 Big Ten) Saturday at Kinnick Stadium, it will be half way to its 10th consecutive losing season in conference play.

When a new coach takes over, there always is some turnover on the roster. The Hoosiers are undergoing an extreme turnover. Since Wilson was hired in December, 31 players (18 scholarship) have departed. If a coach wants to build a tough team, he's obviously going to want his players.

“There are always different dynamics with change,” Wilson told the Indianapolis Star. “How we're going to work, how we're going to go to class, how we're going to do things socially in the community. We've got guidelines and when you don't follow those, you don't stay a part of the program. ... It's a matter of embracing our values and work ethic, and it hasn't clicked with some guys.”

And as you would expect, the Hoosiers are outgunned.

Last week against the Badgers, Ed Wright-Baker, who missed two games with an ankle injury, returned to quarterback and completed 6-of-15 passes for 54 yards, threw two interceptions and was sacked twice. Dusty Kiel, who started the previous two games, didn't make the trip because of an ankle injury.

True freshman Tre Roberson saw some time at quarterback. Wide receiver Kofi Hughes also was used in the wildcat formation.

When it's set up, Indiana's offense will look something like Northwestern's, where Wilson was assistant head coach and offensive coordinator from 1999 to 2001 before moving on to Oklahoma.

But the Hoosiers have bigger problems. In games against Illinois and Wisconsin the last two weeks, they've allowed 640 rushing yards.

“It's a tough game,” Wilson said. “It's a man's game, a physical game. It's a game of effort. We're still searching to find that identity because our team doesn't play with that right now.”