Indiana Hoosiers Football: A Program (Once Again) in Decline

The casual Indiana University football fan doesn't know that Ball State was thought to be a contender for the MAC West division title, or that the Cardinals offense had three starters on the conference's preseason first team. All the casual Indiana football fan knew before Saturday night's interconference showdown between the Cardinals and Hoosiers was that Indiana is not supposed to lose to Ball State.

In anything. Ever.

But alas, that's where IU fans—casual and diehard alike—found themselves late Saturday night after Ball State handed the Hoosiers their first defeat of 2008 in an embarrassing 42-20 loss, their first against a MAC team in over 20 tries.

With a defense that looks as porous as ever and a surprisingly floundering offense, an offense in which Kellen Lewis appears brilliant running the ball but completely uncomfortable throwing it, Indiana fans are left to wonder where this once-promising program is now headed.

A schedule that once appeared favorable now appears damning, with the team going on the road to Illinois, Penn State, arch-rival Purdue, and the shockingly undefeated  Minnesota Golden Gophers, while welcoming Wisconsin, Northwestern, Michigan State and MAC favorite Central Michigan to Bloomington. It's possible that a schedule that almost certainly contained six or more wins for the Hoosiers now appears to contain fewer than four.

In the short term, the Hoosiers will have to figure out a way to shore up a defense that is equally atrocious against the pass and the run. Kellen Lewis will have to exhibit some confidence in a receiver not named Andrew Means, and the Hoosiers will have to find something resembling a running attack that doesn't include their star quarterback taking big licks at least once every offensive series.

In the long term, IU is in big trouble. After suffering a potentially program-killing loss Saturday night, the construction being done in the north end zone of Memorial Stadium seems more ludicrous than ever. For the moment, that appears to be $55 million misspent.

And what will the future hold for the interim-turned-permanent head coach Bill Lynch, who appears completely incapable of recruiting, motivating, or coaching his players? IU should put Lynch out of his misery and hire a coach that can mobilize a largely apathetic football fan base and student body to restore the program to where it was before the death of former head coach Terry Hoeppner.

If Bill Lynch is the coach of the Hoosiers at year's end, the program will be forever banished to the Big Ten basement and will almost certainly suffer another lengthy bowl drought.

Think the athletic department kept the receipt for all that work being done at Memorial Stadium?