Indiana major-college football all-star team touts nation's best local players

Indiana is deservedly known as a basketball state but the level of football talent is on the rise, especially where games are won and lost — in the trenches. Here is an all-star team of Indiana natives playing in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A), with one well-deserved exception:

OFFENSE

QB: MarQueis Gray, Indianapolis/Ben Davis, Minnesota, Sr. 

There was some competition here. Tre Roberson is an emerging talent at Indiana, Morgan Newton has had an up-and-down career at Kentucky and Gunner Kiel is much ballyhooed in South Bend. But right now, Gray is the best of the bunch. Still getting re-acclimated to quarterback after a season at wide receiver, Gray’s accuracy (50.7 percent) needs to get better but it’s not his arm that separates him. Gray rushed for 966 yards, a school record for a quarterback. 

RB: Shakir Bell, Indianapolis/Warren Central, Indiana State, Jr. 

So Indiana State isn’t a BCS school, who cares? 1,670 yards is still 1,670 yards. In fact, it’s a school record. Named the Missouri Valley Offensive Player of the Year and finished second in the voting for the Walter Payton Award (best FCS player). It could be interesting if there’s a chip on his shoulder against a vulnerable Big Ten defense in Indiana on Sept. 1.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20120830/SPORTS/120830042/Indiana-major-college-football-all-star-team-touts-nation-s-best-local-players?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CIndianapolis%20Sports&nclick_check=1