More on Kellen Lewis.

by John M (The Crimson Quarry) on Apr 30, 2009 8:38 AM EDT

Unsurprisingly, there is plenty of coverage--ESPN IDS, Indy Star; and opinion: Hutchens, Dave Leno of the IDS--but nothing that sheds much light on what straw broke the camel's back. For those who want a rundown of the saga, look here. Lewis, for whatever reason (and yes, I've heard the rumors, but the pervasiveness of the rumors isn't evidence of their truth, and I'm not going to publish them here), couldn't follow the rules after leading IU to its best football season in 14 years. Lewis deserves much credit for the way he played and helped revive the IU program in 2006 and 2007, but he also deserves a decent share of the blame for the 2008 season and the program's current status.

Lewis did provide some of IU's best football moments of the post-Mallory era.

Ball State 2006: In the second game of the 2006 season, IU, which was starting second-string quarterback Graeme McFarland because Blake Powers was injured. IU trailed 23-7 at halftime, but Lewis, who entered the game as the third stringer, led a second half comeback in IU's first trip to Muncie.

Iowa 2006: Lewis was masterful in a 31-28 upset of the #15 Hawkeyes, completing 19-25 passes for 255 yards, including three touchdown passes to James Hardy.

Michigan State 2006: Lewis threw for 261 yards and 5 touchdowns in a 46-21 rout of the Spartans.

Iowa 2007: A year after beating Iowa in Bloomington, IU shocked the Hawkeyes in Iowa City. Lewis threw for 322 yards and three touchdown passes, one of which was a completed pass that was fumbled and taken 71 yards for a TD by Lewis himself.

Purdue 2007: While it wasn't one of his best games statistically, Lewis led IU to a big lead in a game where every point counted.

It's a shame that Lewis, by any measure one IU's best quarterbacks ever, will be finishing his career playing somewhere else (if that). I hope he figures it out.

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Comments

We'll always have Muncie

This truly is a shame and I hope that he can get himself figured out. Do you think that Lynch saw this coming, and thus decided it’s easier to replace a receiver mid-stream than your quarterback? In other words, the receiver “experiment” was not that at all, but simply trying to manage the expected damage in advance.

by hoosierdaddynow on Apr 30, 2009 12:18 PM EDT reply actions

Maybe.

As I think I said in the earlier post, this probably vindicates Lynch to some degree. It may well be that he didn’t have enough confidence in Lewis’s ability to stay on the straight and narrow, but wanted to give him a chance to graduate, contribute, maybe get drafted, etc. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, we hear in the future, or if anyone asks Lynch that question.

The Crimson Quarry

by John M (The Crimson Quarry) on Apr 30, 2009 12:22 PM EDT reply actions

Unfortunately, the question probably never gets asked

by the mainstream media lap dogs. Oh well. Thanks again for the blog.

by hoosierdaddynow on Apr 30, 2009 2:32 PM EDT up reply actions

This is hard

Lewis obviously had a ton of talent and now it is thrown away. Even as a Purdue fan I enjoyed watching him play (Though not so much when he ran through our defense for two touchdowns in 2007).

A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance

HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boliermaker Blog

by BoilerTMill on Apr 30, 2009 6:17 PM EDT reply actions