Indiana Football Names Team Captains For 2023 Season
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Tom Allen announced Wednesday that Noah Pierre, Aaron Casey, Mike Katic, Cam Camper and Andre Carter will be Indiana's team captains for the 2023 season.
"Really excited to have those five guys represent our program in that role," Allen said. "Very well deserving ... A really, really awesome group of young men that I'm excited to lead our team."
Indiana's team captains for 2023 represent a mix of program veterans and newcomers.
Defensive lineman Andre Carter transferred from Western Michigan to Indiana this offseason, but he was quick to establish a leadership role upon arrival. Carter was the team's defensive MVP of spring practice, and Allen has consistently mentioned him as a standout player throughout fall camp. He was recently named to the Bednarik Award preseason watch list, which is given to the best defensive player in college football.
Carter boasts five years of experience at Western Michigan, where he made 68 tackles with a team-high 13.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks last season on his way to second-team All-MAC honors.
"Having Andre coming in here in January and just earning the respect of his teammates by his work ethic and his performances during our practices and spring ball and the way he's worked," Allen said.
Camper joined the Hoosiers before the 2022 season as a transfer from Trinity Valley Community College in Texas. The 6-foot-2 wide receiver had a breakout season for the Hoosiers, leading the team with 46 receptions and 569 receiving yards despite playing just seven games. His 156 receiving yards in Indiana's Week 1 win over Illinois set a program record for receiving yards in an Indiana debut.
Despite tearing his ACL during Indiana's loss at Rutgers on Oct. 22, Allen expects Camper to be a Week 1 starter against Ohio State. Camper wore a blue non-contact jersey during some fall camp practices, but Allen said Camper has recently had the chance to be tackled during practice.
"Cam Camper to me is just a picture of resilience and grit and toughness," Allen said. "Camper is doing a great job. I feel like he's ready to go ... Any time you have a guy like that, you have a pitch-count mentality. But in regards to when he's out there, he should be full bore."
The remaining three captains have been mainstays at Indiana for years. Katic has started 21 games at left guard and four games at center for Indiana, and Allen said he's continued to improve every year as he steps into a leadership role.
Casey and Pierre were true freshmen during the 2018 season, and they've steadily grown into key roles on Indiana's defense.
Starting 11 games in 2022, Casey led Indiana with 86 tackles and 10.5 tackles for loss on his way to earning third-team All-Big Ten honors by Pro Football Focus. Casey has played both middle linebacker spots, and his veteran presence should be a stabilizing force on defense due to the significant roster turnover.
"[Casey] didn't have a very good 2021 season, but had a chance to come back and really had everything elevated in 2022, especially when Cam Jones went down and we lost him," Allen said. "[Casey] was really forced into a leadership role and more pressure on him to make plays. "
Indiana's Aaron Casey (44) celebrates a goal-line stop during the Indiana versus Illinois football game at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022.
Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK
Pierre didn't make his first start until his fourth year in the program in 2021 against Michigan State, when he made nine tackles and an interception. Allen said Pierre is a very emotional and passionate player, which is infectious for everyone around him. Pierre is expected to play Husky for Indiana in 2023, a hybrid safety and linebacker position.
Allen is proud of the perseverance Casey and Pierre have shown throughout their long Hoosier careers.
"Just to see that growth and to see two young men that came here and had been in this program for a long time and are now being rewarded with being captains, that's one of the greatest honors you can be given is being voted by your teammates, by your peers to be in that role," Allen said. "So I'm just so excited for them. They represent us in a high-level way, on the field, off the field. Both graduates already, just first-class people, hard, hard workers, just tough. And they make plays, and they've had to be patient, had to wait, had to have a lot of grit and perseverance and passion toward a long-term goal. That's the definition for grit that we use, and they're two pictures of that to me."
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