In football, however, the Hoosiers' history is far less praiseworthy. The last Indiana coach to post a winning career record was Bo McMillin, who went 63-48-11 from 1937 to '41. Even John Pont, the only coach ever to take Indiana to the Rose Bowl, which he did to cap the magical 1967 season that ended in a 14-3 loss to Southern California and its superb tailback O.J. Simpson, finished 31-51-1 in his eight seasons in Bloomington.
But Wilson, who received the Frank Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant coach after Oklahoma set NCAA records in 2008 by scoring 60 or more points in five straight games and 716 for the season, will have to pull a few rabbits out of the hat to make the bunch he inherited from Bill Lynch competitive in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers were 5-7 in 2010 (1-7 in conference games) and are off to a thudding 1-3 start this season, including an embarrassing 24-21 loss at North Texas last week. Somehow, someway, they must dust themselves off and must find a way to deal with heavily favored Penn State when the 3-1 Nittany Lions come calling tomorrow afternoon.
While it is true that Indiana's crimson-and-cream uniforms might superficially resemble those worn by the Oklahoma players Wilson left behind, the reality is that the team the new coach will send out tomorrow has had a long-term lease on the Big Ten cellar.
"Yeah, we have some talent issues, but we can help [the players'] development," Wilson said. "We can play so much harder and so much more physical than we have. We're not close to playing to our capabilities."
