Hoosiers hope to eclipse 2011 wins total

It has been nearly two years since IU’s football team has won a road game.

Saturday afternoon, the Hoosiers will attempt to change this state of affairs.

In its farthest road trip of the 2012 season, IU will travel to Foxboro, Mass., to face first-year Football Bowl Subdivision team Massachusetts in the second game of the year.

“To me, it will be good to go on the road and win,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said. “It would also be good to get win number two. Whether they’re FCS or FBS, we’re trying to get W’s.”

Following last week’s victory against Indiana State, IU matched its win total from its entire 2011 season.

The team now has an opportunity to eclipse that total this weekend, as well as win its first game against an FBS opponent in the Wilson era.

Sophomore linebacker David Cooper said this could be a prime opportunity for that win to come, as there will be a lot of familiarity in this game.

“Watching film that I’ve seen so far, they run the same type of offense as ours, so it shouldn’t be anything difficult,” Cooper said. “We’ve been going against the spread since spring time, so it shouldn’t be anything complicated. We’re already picking up on it.”

Heading into this week of practice, Wilson said he was worried about how his team would respond following its first win of the 2012 season.

Wilson said that last year, his team reacted poorly to success. After the team’s first and only win of the season against South Carolina State, the Hoosiers went on to lose nine straight games.

This season, he said an over-confident response has not been the case.

“What I like is we addressed our players aggressively on what we saw and on making strides,” Wilson said. “I really like the way we worked on Monday and Tuesday.”

With such a positive week of practice, Wilson said, he looks forward to the challenge Massachusetts will bring despite a 37-0 loss in its opening game of the season to Connecticut.

Massachusetts is undergoing a similar transformation to IU’s last season.

Former Notre Dame Offensive Coordinator Charley Molnar is in his first year at the helm and the Minutemen offense has a new quarterback, IU Co-Defensive Coordinator Mike Ekeler said. The team is currently transitioning from a two-back power offense to a spread up-tempo type.

“Any time you do that, there’s a little bit of an adjustment period,” Ekeler said. “I’m sure they learned a lot about themselves after one week.”

Whether the Hoosiers eclipse last year’s win total remains to be seen. It appears that all systems are ready to go, Wilson said.

The Hoosiers have no injuries that will keep players out Saturday, Wilson said. Three suspended players, junior wide receiver Kofi Hughes, junior cornerback Lawrence Barnett and sophomore safety Drew Hardin, will all be eligible to play when the game starts at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will also be broadcast on ESPN3.com.

“We’re better than we were a week ago, and we’ll keep moving forward with that,” Wilson said.