Dusty Kiel leaves Indiana football program; Ed Wright-Baker to follow?

One of the few happy story lines of Indiana 1-11 2011 football season was the emergence of true freshman quarterback Tre Roberson. Roberson ended up on the field because of injuries to Dusty Kiel and Edward Wright-Baker, but Roberson held the job even when the other two QBs were healthy. Now, Zach Osterman of Inside Indiana reports that Kiel will leave the program. This isn't a huge surprise. Kiel's brother Gunner Kiel decommitted from IU in October and eventually committed to LSU. In addition to Roberson's emergence, a junior college quarterback, Cameron Coffman, recently enrolled at IU and will have three years of eligibility remaining (and could redshirt as well).

Kiel did not stand out during his limited playing time. In 99 attempts in his career, he completed 34 passes for 498 yards 3 TD, and 3 interceptions. Wright-Baker, who also is rumored to be out the door, was a bit better in 2011, completely nearly 60 percent of his passes, but neither could match Roberson's running ability. It remains to be seen whether the future will be with Roberson, Coffman, or someone else at the helm, but it's pretty obvious that Kiel and Wright-Baker probably faced long odds to start again. Best of luck to both of them. Football coverage has been lacking here recently, but with signing day approaching, expect a post in the near future about IU's recruiting class and other matters.