New coaches at Indiana, Ball St. ready for opener

came to Indiana with a reputation for running efficient offenses and producing Heisman Trophy winners.

This weekend, fans will get a chance to see if the new coach can do the same thing with the Hoosiers.

Wilson is now in charge of a program that has one bowl appearance since 1994, still hadn't announced a starting quarterback a day before the opener and has fans wondering what has really changed in the past 10 months.

"It really comes down to winning and playing," Wilson said when describing how to fill seats. "We just want to start changing what we are, and that's what we're going to do."

The process begins Saturday night when Wilson makes his head coaching debut against in-state foe Ball State and new coachPete Lembo.

It will be the first Football Bowl Subdivision game ever played at Lucas Oil Stadium, which will host this season's Super Bowl and the inaugural Big Ten title game.

So what has Wilson done? Plenty.

The spread offense that the lateTerry Hoeppneradded to Indiana's repertoire looks new and improved. Wilson wants his quarterback calling plays at the line, keeping with the tradition he installed at Oklahoma -- running things at a fast-break tempo.

QuarterbackBen Chappellhas graduated, and the three-man battle to replace him was between redshirt sophomoresDusty Kieland Edward Wright-Baker and true freshmanTre Roberson. All three could get playing time Saturday.

Neither of last year's top two returning rushers,Darius WillisorNick Turner, is listed on Indiana's two-deep depth chart because of injuries. Willis continues to recover last October's surgery for a torn patellar tendon in his right knee, and Turner has been limited in practice with a concussion. Redshirt freshmanMatt Perezis expected to get the start against Ball State.

But the most obvious change will be how Indiana plays the game.

"You've just got to have your brain on 24/7 because as soon as you run one play, you've got to backpedal because of that signal coming in there rapid fire," Indiana receiverKofi Hughessaid. "After you run a route, you might be tired, but you've got to sprint and look for that signal because you may have to be on the other side of the field."

Ball State understands what's going on in Bloomington.

Lembo takes over a program that spent most of 2008 ranked in the Top 25 after beating Indiana in Bloomington, then won only six games underStan Parrishthe last two seasons. The former coach at Elon and Lehigh now has his first head-coaching gig with anFBS school.

Like Wilson, Lembo's already had to make some big decisions.

On Monday, he announcedKeith Wenninghad fended off Kelly Page to keep the starting quarterback job. Page started the first two games last season before being replaced by Wenning.

"I don't think either of them is a finished product at this point, and like a lot of our guys there will be a lot of unknowns in terms of how they perform under pressure," Lembo said.

And like Indiana, Ball State also is trying to figure out what to do at running back after last year's top runnerEric Williamsleft the program and No. 2 rusher MiQuale Lewis graduated.

The battle was supposed to come down toDavid BrownandCory Sykes. But Brown is doubtful for the game with a nagging back injury, and Sykes is questionable with a hand injury that has impaired his ability to hold onto the ball. So sophomoreBarrington Scott, who hasn't played in a game since September 2008, will get the start.

Scott missed the last half of his senior year in high school with a torn ACL, then tore the ACL again before his freshman season at Northern Illinois and wound up sitting out last season after transferring to Ball State.

Lembo, the third Ball State coach in four seasons, is trying to provide some stability in Muncie.

"The first thing you have to develop is trust and let these guys know that we are for them," he said. "When we got here, we wanted to embrace everybody that was here and make them part of the process and the seniors here have been great because they have been so candid and honest."

Wilson and Lembo know it takes more than new coaches, new systems and a prime-time game in an NFL stadium to turn things around. They have to win.

"We've got to put a product out there that they want to see and that's on me and our team," Wilson said. "But until we earn it and get people excited, we can talk and do all the commercials and all the barnstorming we want to. It comes down to playing ball and making tackles, throwing the football and catching and when you're a good team, you do that, they'll want to see you."

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kevin Wilson came to Indiana with a reputation for running efficient offenses and producing Heisman Trophy winners. Wilson is now in charge of a program that has one bowl appearance since 1994, still hadn't announced a starting quarterback a day before the opener and has...

Source: http://www.chron.com