Indiana football coach Cam Cameron has made some good decisions in his tenure with the Hoosiers. Playing his star player, Antwaan Randle El at wide receiver earlier this season was not one of them.

And it could cost them a bowl game bid.

Cameron's Indiana team has upset Northwestern and Michigan State in its past two games, but its early season losses to North Carolina State and Utah might hurt them when all is said and done.

Longtime reserve quarterback Tommy Jones replaced Randle El against the Wolfpack, a move designed by Cameron to get his athlete more involved with the offense. That plan backfired as the Hoosiers offense was stagnant and Randle El was limited.

The next week, Randle El was put back at quarterback, but the Hoosiers weren't used to his style, dropping their second game of the year to Utah.

"I really don't want to get into that," Cameron said about playing Jones at quarterback in place of Randle El. "I'm not going to go back and talk about stuff that happened in September."

Indiana is now in the same position as Penn State, either win out or its season is finished on Dec. 1. The Hoosiers also mirror the Nittany Lions in the respect that it is possible they could win out, with games against a struggling Purdue team and Kentucky remaining on their schedule.

But Indiana might not have been put in this position if Randle El was the play caller from the beginning and Cameron didn't try to implement something that was way too risky.

Although Cameron can be questioned -- really questioned -- for the quarterback switch at the beginning of the season, the Hoosiers cannot live in the past.

In Indiana's three wins this season, Randle El's offense has destroyed teams. The Hoosiers put up 63 points on Wisconsin, 56 on Northwestern and 37 on Michigan State. He runs for 89 yards on the ground per game and averages another 143 passing every Saturday.

Cameron's idea of moving Randle El away from his quarterback position wasn't understood by many, but everyone understands for Indiana to be successful, the senior needs to be making big plays.

"When they settled down and had Antwaan Randle El just play quarterback and they got into the groove, they have been very, very effective," coach Joe Paterno said. "Their kids are starting to feel better about themselves and they are playing good football."

Although Hoosiers running back Levron Williams said the offense hasn't changed much since Randle El took over against Utah, the statistics tell a different story. And so does Indiana's win-loss record. The Hoosiers are a better team when Randle El is playing quarterback. They score more, have more confidence and win more games.

Paterno said he had no reason to be surprised that Cameron moved Randle El to receiver. He said that maybe Cameron was trying to get both Jones and Randle El in the game at the same time, something that obviously backfired for him against North Carolina State.

"I had no reason to be surprised or not surprised," Paterno said. "Cam didn't call me up and say, 'What do you think I should do with Randle El?'"

Maybe Cameron should have.