Indiana preview: Hoosiers hopes hinge on defense

Antwaan Randle El has been just about as elusive as ... well, about as elusive as victories around Bloomington have been lately.

Fifth-year coach Cam Cameron is plotting to put Randle El's elusiveness to work to an even greater degree this season in an effort to turn at least a few of those losses into wins in what appears to be a make-or-break year.

He's moved Randle El from quarterback to wideout, and they'll all live happily ever after.

Hoosiers at a glance

SportsLine.com rank: 67

2000: 3-8 overall; 2-6 Big Ten (tied, 9th)

Coach: Cam Cameron -- 13-31 in four seasons at Indiana and overall

Returning starters: 17; 8 offense, 8 defense, punter

Players to watch:
WR-QB Antwaan Randle El, 5-10, 190, Sr.
QB Tommy Jones, 6-3, 241, Sr.
TB Levron Williams, 6-3, 222, Sr.
FB Jeremi Johnson, 5-11, 277, Jr.
DT Kemp Rasmussen, 6-3, 250, Sr.
LB Justin Smith, 6-0, 213, Sr.
CB Sharrod Wallace, 5-8, 183, Sr.

Primary strengths: Indiana has one of the best offenses in the country, led by perhaps the nation's finest all-around athlete in Antwaan Randle El, who moves into a different kind of do-it-all role this season.

Potential problems: Same ol' story: The defense has been among the worst in Division I-A in recent years ... and could be again.

Overview: For IU to have a winning season, it needs the Great Experiment on offense (the move of Randle El to receiver) to work as well as expected and for the defense to be much improved. A bowl seems out of reach, but Randle El's magic might prove us wrong.

After all, Randle El has had better statistics the past two seasons than Michael Vick. But after passing for 5,805 yards and 33 touchdowns and rushing for 2,931 yards and 36 TDs during his 33-game career, Mr. Elusive will not have the ball in his hands on every play anymore.

The plan now is for Tommy Jones to throw it to him in space, and when Randle El makes one or two guys miss him -- which he seemingly did on every play at quarterback -- he'll have a chance to run a long way.

Randle El is ready to go for it. It's the role he figures to have in the NFL a year from now, anyway.

"We know Antwaan can be an excellent wide receiver," Cameron said. "This year it takes on a little bit more significance because we lost our top three wide receivers. Moving him there gets us better in a hurry."

Besides catching passes and running reverses, Randle El will play some quarterback, return punts, and even serve as the pooch punter.

The Hoosiers have quality and depth at running back, led by tailback Levron Williams (back-to-back 800-yard seasons) and 275-pound fullback Jeremi Johnson.

This is an offense that should go, go, go behind a veteran line, led by center Craig Osika.

But no matter how good the offense -- which averaged an impressive 439.5 yards and 30.6 points a game last year -- hopes to attain that elusive winning season depend on drastic improvement from a defense that allowed a whopping 457.5 yards and 38.5 points a game.

Eight returning starters and some promising newcomers give reason to believe the defense will be better. James Bell returning for his second season as defensive coordinator should help too.

The line returns three starters, plus future star Steve Williams, who played some at defensive tackle last year as a true freshman but will be at end this season.

The linebackers have shown promise but never lived up to their promise in past years. But with seniors Justin Smith and Devin Schaffer, a three-year starter, plus promising sophomore Brandonn Baker in the middle, Cameron hopes that will change this year.

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