THE FULL GERRY

Saturday will be a first for many things.\nIt will be the first step for an IU football team looking to make a bowl game and improve on last season's 2-10 record. It will be the first chance for the offense and defense to show off their hard work in practice. \nA first victory, however, will not be a walk in the park. \nThe Hoosiers will take their first step of the 2004 season at 6 p.m. Saturday when they face Central Michigan at Memorial Stadium. \nThe Central Michigan Chippewas are a member of the Metro Athletic Conference, considered to be a "mid-major" league. Logically, a Big Ten school such as IU should rout the smaller school, but the Hoosiers are not looking at tomorrow's home opener as a sure victory. \n"We know that it's going to be a big challenge this weekend," senior defensive lineman Jodie Clemons said. "They are a smaller school than us, but we know that they will be up for the game. We know that they are a physical team, but we are looking forward to a good game."\nCentral Michigan compiled a 3-9 record last season but has the potential for a marked improvement this year. Senior running back Jerry Seymour ran for 1,117 yards and eight touchdowns in only nine games last season. Junior linebacker James King led the MAC with 103 solo tackles. He also tallied six sacks on the year. \nBut the Hoosiers only know some of the players they will be competing against. \nAs of now, it is not clear which quarterback Central Michigan will start. Senior Grant Arnoldink and junior Kent Smith have been competing for the job, and first-year head coach Brian Kelly has not made an opening-day decision, saying only that both will play tomorrow. \nClemons said the uncertainty of the opponent only makes them focus more on the task at hand.\n"Obviously it's kind of hard because you don't know what they're going to do," Clemons said. "Now you have to study more and watch as much tape as we can. But we know that it's going to benefit us because we know exactly what our opponent is going to do."\nThe Hoosiers are also playing the uncertainty card going into the opener. An opening-day running back has not been announced and most likely will not be before game time. \n"We probably won't announce a decision, but we are pretty close to one," IU coach Gerry DiNardo said. "I don't know that announcing it would serve a purpose other than to give our opponents information they don't have."\nThe only certainty is that tomorrow's game will serve as an early guide to what can be expected from the Hoosiers this year, and senior quarterback Matt LoVecchio said he is ready to start the season with a victory. \n"It's always important to get off to a good start," LoVecchio said. "You set goals for each game, and you want to win every one, but the first one is always important and we all know that. We just need to get ready for Saturday." \nThere is a clock in the IU locker room that counts down to tomorrow's kickoff. With each passing minute, the Hoosiers know the first step to a good season is that much closer.\n"Since I've been here, we haven't had momentum going into the conference schedule, so it's going to be big for us," Clemons said. "In the locker room, there are clocks, and every day those clocks keep ticking. Saturday's right around the corner."\n-- Contact staff writer David Paulen at dpaulen@indiana.edu.