Vlahogeorge gets early start

While most students his age are thinking about senior pranks and which tux to wear to the prom, IU freshman quarterback Mike Vlahogeorge has his mind set on another topic -- football. Vlahogeorge is in a unique position because he opted to graduate high school early and enroll at IU in order to play with the spring football squad.\nVlahogeorge comes into the IU program with serious credentials as the six-foot-three, 220-pound playcaller ranks No. 4 all-time in the Indiana state high school list with 10,757 career passing yards. Vlahogeorge acquired such numbers after a stellar senior season, passing for 3,347 yards and 44 touchdowns while averaging well over 300 yards per game.\nVlahogeorge said he made the decision because of IU's relative proximity to his hometown and his lack of obligations at Lafayette Jefferson High School. \n"I haven't played any other sports since my sophomore year, and it's really close to home, and I decided it would help me get a jump early," Vlahogeorge said. "It's something that I knew I could do, so I chose to."\nWhile a Lafayette-native football star enrolling at IU may seem like blasphemy for Purdue fans, Vlahogeorge said he prefers IU's campus over the Boilermakers' nest.\n"(IU is) great. I live five minutes from Purdue, and the campus is the complete opposite of Purdue," Vlahogeorge said. "IU's got a great campus, especially when it gets warm out here, and I've had a good experience with the teachers and players here."\nIU quarterbacks coach Matt Canada said Vlahogeorge's decision will aid him, as he will have more time to adjust to the college game and get used to IU's offensive sets. \n"It definitely gives him a leg up (on the incoming freshman class)," Canada said. "It gives him a chance to learn the system in the offense, and it allows him to get reps, and he's certainly ahead of anybody who's going to come in the fall." \nVlahogeorge said the most difficult aspect of the jump from high school to college is the speed of the game. \n"The difference (between high school and college football) is that everything's faster," Vlahogeorge said. "You've got to know things faster, and you've got to do it right faster, and that's the biggest difference."\nGreater participation among young players like Vlahogeorge has increased numbers for IU's spring season. Hoosier coach Gerry DiNardo said this increase has allowed the team to scrimmage in more game-like situations. \n"The one thing that separates this spring from the previous two is that our depth is better," DiNardo said. "We're getting some of our younger players more reps than we have in the last two."\nAs for prom, Vlahogeorge said he intends to don his tux and attend the event just after the spring game.\n"It'll be fun, but it's something that I kind of lost track of because we're doing so much in spring ball," he said. "I kind of forgot about prom, while it's a big event, I lost track of it because your mind moves at a million miles a second at practice, but I'm definitely looking forward to it."\n-- Contact senior writer Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.