Friday Open Thread: Indiana

Indiana Week usually isn’t one anyone circles on the calendar or looks forward to for any other reason than Indiana has been real bad at football for a real long time. But recently Indiana’s football program seems to be heading in a direction that can reasonably be described as “the right one” in that they have moved out of the basement, letting Illinois sleep in the futon they’ve used for years (Purdue’s chained to a beam support down there).

That’s not to say that Indiana is “good” for many definitions of the word “good”. Their offense has always been high-powered. Unfortunately, the opposite can be said about their defense. Looking at the numbers don’t look real promising for Indiana. Too much talent on Ohio State’s side of the ball to feel threatened.

Of course, we said that same thing last year and that turned into a barn-burner that didn’t look real good on the resume.

As usual, we’ve got you covered with as much content as possible about the 3:30 kickoff. Ronnie looks at both the players to watch for this game as well as give us a preview of the game. The takeaway:

Indiana’s only hope to keep this game close is to force a shootout like they did last year. The Buckeye defense as a whole needs to play at a high level this week. While this Hoosier team seems to play poorly when they go on the road, their previous success against Ohio State last year will provide them with some confidence going in to The Shoe. Tackling, rushing the passer, preventing deep plays, and preventing yards after the catch will be extremely vital for the Buckeye defense if they want to have success in stopping the Hoosier offense.

and

Hyde and Miller should absolutely destroy this Hoosier defense. Wilson has said he wants to focus on Hyde, but that probably means giving Miller open running lanes which isn’t the wisest idea either. Running the football early and often for this offense would probably do it some good as it could keep the explosive IU offense at bay for a while, and give the Buckeye defense some rest. I would expect this offense to try and link drives together on Saturday if the defense seems like they can’t handle the IU offense.

Chip is (rightfully) worried about the Buckeyes suffering from Senioritis, something that has afflicted them in the past.

And finally, Shannon chatted with Indiana blogger Adam Johnson of Crimson Quarry. He’s a realist. He know Indiana is in trouble.

So here’s a open thread to discuss just how in trouble they are in. I say REAL trouble. Like maybe losing by 50 trouble. I say this ends with Carlos and Braxton watching the second half from the sidelines after amassing over 200 yards on the ground in the first half.

OSU 63
Indiana 13