When Indiana football plays its first home game on September 8 vs. Virginia, IU Athletic Director Fred Glass says it will be like opening a new Memorial Stadium.
Since getting to Bloomington, Glass has said he’s been talking about the importance of football. Being at a school that is dominated by basketball can be a bit different than the normal Power Five university. It’s basketball that takes most of the headlines.
But with the new facilities in place now, and more coming in the near future, Indiana football is ready to take that next step, at least off the field.
"Football is a critical component of IU Athletics,” Glass said, “not only as a program, but for the department and university as well."
In 2018, there are a number of new pieces to the puzzle for IU football. The first is the closure of the south endzone. Memorial Stadium is now a full bowl and Glass says he thinks that puts it on par with other big college football programs.
The Excellence Center, however, is a state of the art facility. The whole project is meant to give student athletes another top-notch facility, and IU did a great job with the project. It provides a beautiful new entrance to Memorial Stadium and athletes have come to enjoy it.
“It’s incredible,” IU running back Cole Gest said. “It makes the stadium look that much more beautiful. I envision myself running for a touchdown and going that way and seeing it up on the screen.”
Gest went on to say the team eats all of their meals in the facility and thinks it makes the University a better place to be.
Aside from the new facility, Glass went through a bevy of other new amenities including new video boards, the Terry Tallen Indiana Football Complex to be competed by next season and the Bill Mallory helmet sticker that will be worn all season.
Fans should be excited that all four lanes of state route 37/69 will be open from Indianapolis to Bloomington for all of the home football games.
The Hoosiers also will be featuring new uniforms in 2018. The biggest change will be a bold ‘Indiana’ on the front and no name on the back. Glass mentioned a “team over self” mentality about the change. This move coincides with the rest of the IU athletics teams who also don’t have names on their jerseys.
The season gets going this Saturday at Florida International before next Saturday’s home opener vs. the Virginia Cavaliers.
