Indiana Beats Eastern Kentucky, But Doesn't Look Good Doing It

Sometimes a win is a win and you're just glad to have one. If you're Indiana, you can't afford to be too picky. The Hoosiers beat Eastern Kentucky, a Division 1-AA Football Championship Subdivision school, Thursday night, 19-13.

As the score might suggest, the EKU Colonels were in this one right to the very end. Twice in the fourth quarter the Colonels had the ball in IU territory with a chance to take the lead. Twice the defense came up with big plays. That's the only thing that saved Bill Lynch's bacon. His revamped pistol offense played pretty well in the first half but looked positively Oregonian in the second.

That's still a good sign, though, right? I mean, the defense did come up with the two big stops when they needed to, and wasn't EKU a playoff team last season?

Yeah, they were, but is this what IU fans were hoping to see in the season opener? That their team can hang with a pretty good FCS squad? Hey, I know the Big Ten is down, but it isn't that far down.

Still, for the IU faithful, the night wasn't a total disaster. The Hoosiers won, the win counts towards bowl eligibility, and it was only the season opener. Not only that but, despite Bill Lynch's avowed emphasis on downhill running, junior quarterback Ben Chappell showed moments of brilliance. He hit Demarlo Belcher on an absolutely beautiful deep touchdown pass of the sort Paleozoic football fans used to call a "bomb." In addition to the touchdown, Chappell threw for 362 yards. He would have gone over 400 but for a pick he threw on another deep pass just before halftime.

Too, the Hoosiers' run defense did hold the Colonels under 100 yards total rushing. Last year's team would have had trouble matching that performance.

Still, this was a six-point win over an FCS school. It beats losing to one, I guess, but this is not the start IU wanted. We'll know more after we see Western Michigan this weekend, but right now it sure looks like the Hoosiers will have their hands full with the Broncos next Saturday.