Not only are the Hoosiers suiting up for their first game of 2015 on Saturday versus Southern Illinois, but senior quarterback Nate Sudfeld will also see his first game action since suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in week six of 2014.
“I’m stoked,” Sudfeld said. “I can’t wait to actually get out there and put the pads on. It’s been a long time coming. You can simulate it as much as you want in spring ball or fall camp, but until you’re actually live you kind of have that itch to be out there in the full flow of the game.”
Sudfeld’s return has been the whirlwind around the Hoosiers since the offseason began after IU finished 4-8 in 2014.
Now in his final season, 6-foot-6 No. 7 isn’t taking anything for granted, IU offensive coordinator Kevin Johns said.
“It’s his sense of urgency,” Johns said about Sudfeld’s change in manner this season. “It’s the fact that, ‘I’m running out of time. I lost half my junior season, and now I have 12 guaranteed games left.’ He’s way better than he’s ever been.”
The Hoosiers averaged just 141.4 passing yards per game last season with Sudfeld sidelined for half the season.
Now, with receivers Shane Wynn, Nick Stoner and Isaiah Roundtree gone and sophomore J-Shun Harris sidelined for the season, sophomore Dominique Booth is the leading returning receiver from 2014, a season in which he had just eight catches for 70 yards.
With oft-injured junior Ricky Jones and sophomore Simmie Cobbs slated as starting outside receivers, the Hoosiers have 10 receptions of 2014 experience at starting receiver.
Walk-on junior Mitchell Paige, who did not catch a pass last season, is starting at slot receiver.
“I never had to labor or beg them to come out and catch,” Sudfeld said about the receivers in camp. “They were always hungry to do it.”
Cobbs, who averaged 16.3 yards per reception in 2014, is a tall possession threat outside at 6-foot-4, and he began to stand out later in spring camp, Johns said.
“He’s really come on in the last week,” Johns said in a press conference Monday. “He looked at his film and really scoffed at it and wasn’t happy with what he saw. Now I see a different guy.”
With Paige, a 5-foot-7, 175-pound slot receiver, playing on the inside as a shifty, quick player who creates space, IU Coach Kevin Wilson said Jones was forced to the outside of the offense, near the sidelines.
Jones, at 5-foot-10, could run into size issues on the outside, IU Coach Kevin Wilson said. However, Wilson said he wasn’t worried about that with Jones.
“He’s around 5-11. He’s not 6-3,” Wilson said. “But he’s got an amazing vertical. He doesn’t play like a tiny kid. He’s strong, very strong, and he’s a fourth year kid, very mature. What he gives you is speed that big guys don’t have. You just have to find routes that he likes.”
Behind Sudfeld is another option in junior running back Jordan Howard, who does not have Big Ten experience because he transferred into the program from UAB.
The experience Howard does have, though, is five 150-yard games in 2014 and 1,587 rushing yards, 13th in the nation last season.
Replacing former running back Tevin Coleman is not an easy task, but IU found a good player in Howard to replace Coleman, Wilson said.
“The guy knows what he’s talking about,” Sudfeld said about Howard. “He’s one of the best kids on our team. Devine Redding is also great, too. That one-two punch is really going to do a lot for us this year.”
The experienced offensive line, with two starting seniors in Jason Spriggs and Jake Reed and two starting juniors in Dan Feeney and Dimitric Camiel, is the strength of the team, Sudfeld said.
All positions will be tested for the first time in 2015 by FCS opponent Southern Illinois, which went 6-8 overall in 2014 while playing in the Missouri Valley Conference, the same conference as four-time defending FCS Champion North Dakota State.
“Right now, we’re good,” Johns said about the offense. “We’re ready to roll.”
