Indiana has many ties to SEC country and to the Tennessee program, and those connections will likely provide what head coach Tom Allen called "a little extra motivation" before and during the Gator Bowl.
As Indiana’s recruiting efforts begin to rise into the national ranks, particularly in the last couple of classes, the Hoosiers are delving into recruiting battles with programs that typically battle tug-o-war style with Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State or Michigan State.
But the Hoosiers have pried away two Tennessee prospects from the Volunteers in recent years – redshirt sophomore linebacker Cam Jones and freshman left tackle Matt Bedford.
Both Hoosiers enter the Gator Bowl with what head coach Tom Allen called “a little extra motivation” as they line up across from a program that dominated football discussions during their childhoods.
“Coming out of Tennessee, you definitely know who Tennessee is and what the SEC has to offer,” Bedford said Monday before Indiana’s second bowl practice at Fernandina Beach High School.
Tennessee’s conference hasn’t been left out of the way Indiana perceives the identity of its opponent leading up to the bowl Thursday. The Hoosiers haven’t played an SEC opponent since defeating Missouri in 2014, so no player on the 2019 roster has played an SEC opponent.
Senior linebacker Reakwon Jones and freshman cornerback Tiawan Mullen have spoken about the conference, but junior wideout Whop Philyor was the most vocal during early bowl practices about what it means to battle the SEC in a bowl game.
“We’re the best conference,” Philyor said about the Big Ten. “It's big for us to go play down there, to show them that we're the best conference. We ain't no pushovers up here in the Big Ten.”
That chip-on-the-shoulder mentality is synonymous throughout the Indiana roster, Bedford said, but it begins to take a different shape with some of the Tennessee natives, particularly Cam Jones.
Jones affinity for Tennessee ran so deep that he de-committed from Indiana to reconsider his decision, with Tennessee in mind, before re-committing shortly after. Now he backs up Reakwon Jones at linebacker and is set to play a major role in 2020.
The linebacker, who is having the best season of his career in Bloomington, highlighted by a pick-six against Connecticut, grew up a Tennessee fan, and his brother, LaRon Harris, signed and played for Tennessee as a defensive tackle for two seasons.
“Once he found out, he told me, ‘Indiana Hoosiers all the way,’” Jones said about his brother. “That meant a lot to me.”
For Bedford, his relationship with Tennessee is more distant, as he didn’t receive an offer from the Volunteers but did elect to play for Indiana over SEC programs Mississippi State and South Carolina.
The true freshman will be one of three true freshman offensive tackles playing in this game, as two former five-star recruits start along the offensive line at either tackle spots for Tennessee – hence the chip-on-the-shoulder comment from Bedford. His contributions began a season earlier than anticipated after senior left tackle Coy Cronk went down with a season-ending injury.
Now, the tackle who Tom Allen said was the only Hoosier earlier this year that couldn’t take a survey from the NCAA because he wasn’t 18 yet, has started games against Michigan State, Michigan and Penn State.
“The game is the best test. Playing in the game, it teaches you a lot,” Bedford said. “I definitely feel like I know a lot more than I knew at the beginning of the season, and then to have the presence around me, with Hunter and Simon and Coy, just having those guys around me to produce on gameday, it’s been a lot of help.”
With the game just three days away, being on site against an SEC team and the third nine-win season in Indiana history on the doorstep, the intensity is already high, but for Bedford and Jones – and even Ty Fryfogle, whose great-grandfather and uncle played at Tennessee and his father at Mississippi – it’s a little more personal.
“It intensifies it. It’s a chance to show why you made the decisions you made,” Allen said. “I’m just excited about them being a part of our program. . .You can see by the way they go about their business that they’re glad that they picked Indiana.”
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