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Big Ten Network Analysts in Bloomington For the Day

The Big Ten Network's football crew passed through Bloomington on Thursday to get a good look at the Hoosiers. They came away impressed with the No. 17-ranked group, and they're looking forward to big things from Indiana this season.
Tom Brew|
Big Ten Network Analysts in Bloomington For the Day
Big Ten Network Analysts in Bloomington For the Day

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Big Ten Network football analysts Dave Revsine, Howard Griffith, Gerry DiNardo and Joshua Perry have been touring the Big Ten during preseason football camps, and they stopped by Indiana on Thursday.

There was a lot to like with what they saw of the No. 17-ranked Hoosiers, who are in the Associated Press preseason rankings for the first time since 1969 and just the third time in school history. 

"It was a really good practice. There was a time when we would come here when there would be maybe two top-end athletes,'' said analyst Howard Griffith, a former running back star at Illinois. "That's no longer the case here at Indiana. Coach Allen has done a tremendous job of building this roster and that's one of the main reasons why they are in position to compete for a Big Ten title. This is a really talented team.'' 

DiNardo, who coached at Indiana from 2002 to 2004, thinks Indiana's improvement along the offensive line has the Hoosiers primed to contend for the first time in years.

"They practiced with great energy. We've always seen skill, but we'd also say that the offensive line really needed to improve. To me, that's the group that's made the most progress since we've started these tours,'' DiNardo said. "They're going to have to pressure on defense though, which is what I think Tom Allen wants to do anyway.''

Joshua Perry, the newest BTN football analyst and former Ohio State linebacker who won a national title in 2014, is impressed with all of the talent at Indiana on the defensive side of the ball.

"The (defensive line) might be undersized, but they play to their advantages, they play with great leverage and they play with speed as well. Linebackers is a very solid position. Micah McFadden is a really good player, and they've got a couple of guys in that secondary who could be All-American players. It's phenomenal watching that defense go out there and perform.''

Revsine made a point of watching Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. work quite a bit during Thursday's practice. He's coming back from an ACL injury, but is on target to be 100 percent for the season opener on Sept. 4 at Iowa. That game is the Week 1 spotlight game on the Big Ten Network, starting at 3:30 p.m. ET

Running back Stephen Carr, a transfer from USC who was a five-star back coming out of high school in California, has been impressive thus far in fall camp.

Tom Allen always brings the energy, even during early stretching exercises.

And looking ahead to the future, true freshman quarterback Donaven McCulley caught Revsine's eye, too. He's not alone. McCulley also turned some heads during last Saturday's first scrimmage of the fall, and has a bright future at Indiana.

Indiana opens the season on Saturday, Sept. 4 against the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City. The game starts at 3:30 p.m. ET, and will be televised on the Big Ten Network. As of Tuesday morning, Iowa is a 3.5-point favorite according to sports gambling website FanDuel.com. The over/under is 46.5 points.

Related stories on Indiana football

  • MIKE & MICAH PODCAST: Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and linebacker Micah McFadden, both All-American candidates, are joining the Sports Illustrated Indiana team this fall to take part in a 30-minute podcast every Tuesday during the season. The podcast will be broadcast live from Yogi's every week. CLICK HERE
  • RANKING ALLEN'S WINS: Indiana coach Tom Allen has won 24 games at Indiana so far, and some wins have been bigger than others. Which ones have been the most important? HoosiersNow publisher Tom Brew ranks them all, from No. 1 to No. 24, CLICK HERE
  • INDIANA SCHEDULE: Here is Indiana's complete 2021 football schedule, with dates, opponents and the game times and TV information that has been announced. CLICK HERE

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Tom Brew
TOM BREW

Tom Brew has been the publisher of “Indiana Hoosiers on SI’’ since 2019. He has worked at some of America's finest newspapers as an award-winning reporter and editor for more than four decades, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He operates seven sites on the “On SI’’ network. Follow Tom on Twitter @tombrewsports.

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