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The Indiana football heads into the summer looking to gain some momentum in the offseason and the initial All-Big Ten awards are beginning to be released.
The annual Athlon Sports breakdowns have started and All-Conference teams were released on Monday for the Big Ten. That included six Indiana football players on all sides of the ball.
Indiana's six honorees were, however, tied for lowest in the conference with Rutgers and Northwestern.
Indiana is looking to improve on a 2-10 record from a season ago. It was a season that saw a lot of injuries and disappointment after a 6-1 season in 2020 in which Indiana made its way all the way up to No. 9 in the country.
Leading the charge for Indiana on the All-Conference teams was senior cornerback Tiawan Mullen. Mullen was named to the Second-Team defense.
He was an All-American in 2020 but was derailed by injuries most of last season. In his three seasons, he has amassed 85 tackles, 19 passed deflected, 3.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and three interceptions.
Devon Matthews follows Mullen on the Third-Team defense. He was the most productive player on the field for Indiana in 2021, earning IU's Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year last season. He totaled 55 tackles, four tackles for loss, four pass breakups, one sack and one interception.
Matthews announced earlier this offseason that he would be using his free covid year of eligibility to return to Indiana.
The Hoosiers then had four members as part of the Fourth-Team. Those included linebacker Cam Jones, wider receiver/punt returner DJ Matthews (specialist), offensive lineman Matthew Bedford and kicker Charles Campbell.
Jones returns to Indiana and will take over a lot of the responsibility lost by the departure of Micah McFadden at the linebacker position. While Jones started 11 games a season ago and finished with 64 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and two pass breakups, he will be leaned on even more this season.
DJ Matthews played in just four games for Indiana before suffering a torn ACL in 2021. He was beginning to emerge as Indiana's best playmaker on the offensive side of the ball and on special teams. He caught 13 catches for 165 yards and had an 81-yard punt return touchdown a year ago.
Campbell, who was on the Lou Garza Watch List last season, connected on 13-of-18 field goals in 2021. For his career he is 25-of-31 (80.6 percent) on field goals and has made all 46 extra points. His four made 50+ yard field goals are second in program history to Pete Stoyanovich (6).
Bedford comes into this season at Indiana's most experienced offensive lineman. Since his freshman season, he has appeared in 28 games with 27 starts. He has made eight starts at left tackle, eight at right tackle, eight at right guard and three at left guard. He has played every position on the line besides center.
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