LIVE BLOG: Follow As Indiana football hosts Maryland as Big Ten action resumes

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Welcome to rainy Memorial Stadium. We’re about 60 minutes from kickoff as the Hoosiers host Maryland in their first Big Ten Conference home game of the season.

Pregame – Indiana injuries today submitted to the Big Ten for the availability report, all players listed as out: K Derek McCormick, K Alejandro Quintero and DB Te’Derius Collins are all out. That means TE James Bomba could return which is good news for Indiana’s depth.

Maryland lists LB Neero Avery, DB Mykel Morman, K Gavin Marshall and WR Jahmari Powell-Wonson as out.

• Indiana is trying to be 5-0 for the first time since 1967. Hard to believe that the Hoosiers haven’t done it since then, but then again, some of the better Indiana teams in the period since then played tougher schedules than these Hoosiers have.

The strength of schedule question that looms over the Hoosiers won’t really go away until they play Nebraska … at the earliest. It will likely loom into November before Indiana plays Michigan and Ohio State.

• The rain is steady, but nowhere near as bad as it could have been. A level about misty is how I’d describe it. Winds are mild, but not insignificant. Not a great day to throw the ball, but not a complete washout either. I’ve witnessed games in this stadium that were worse.

• My Memorial Stadium rain day memory is from 1999. Northwestern was the opposition and it was played in a downpour. At the time, Memorial Stadium’s then-grass field was relatively new and it took a beating. That’s also the game that Adewale Ogunleye got hurt in. After a difficult recovery process, Ogunleye was able to have a long career in the NFL. I remember talking to him about that when I covered him as a member of the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XXXXI.

• What will the crowd be like today? I think it will be late-arriving … why sit out in the rain if you don’t have to? The grass lots are open – there was some fear they might have to be closed – so that helps with the logistics. I think the way I look at it is that it will be a good turnout for a rainy day, but it won’t be a sellout and it probably won’t be to Curt Cignetti’s satisfaction.

It’s a probable column topic, but Cignetti is being confronted by the fact that the state of Indiana does not live and die with college football. It’s going to take some time, and some proven success, to get the level of support he’s seeking. It will not happen overnight and it definitely won’t happen with inclement weather.

• Don’t want to stray too far off-topic, but one thing that will influence turnout today just a bit is the fact that so many high school football games were postponed on Friday night across the state, especially the southern half of the state. Many of them are being played concurrent with the Indiana game. (And Purdue’s game too.)

Why? It rained, it was windy for a bit, but it was not hazardous conditions. When I covered high school football, I covered games in worse conditions. It just seems that these kind of decisions are made ahead of time and well-intended ideas of safety-first can lead to being too cautious.

• Fashion report: Indiana never deviates from its red jersey, white pants, red helmet combo. Maryland, which has a lot of potential uniform combinations, went with a traditional look. Red helmet, white jersey, red pants. Boomer Esiason and Frank Reich approve.

• If you missed it late last night, Rutgers held off Washington 21-18 to remain unbeaten. Are you ready for the Indiana-Rutgers Big Ten championship game?

Other games in the Big Ten today include: Minnesota is at Michigan in the Little Brown Jug game. Nebraska is at Purdue in the noon windown. Wisconsin plays at Southern California in the 3:30 p.m. timeslot. Ohio State at Michigan State and Illinois at Penn State are in the 7:30 p.m. window. And we got our first true taste of Big Ten After Dark as UCLA hosts Oregon at 11 p.m.