Q&A with an opponents blogger: Indiana Hoosiers

Buckeye Nation I have to say I think this is a first. Tomorrow the Buckeye host the Indiana Hoosiers at the ‘Shoe at 3:30pm and I have had the opportunity to work with Adam Johnson of Crimson Quarry. The “first” I am referring to is that I have worked with someone who isn’t a total homer. Yes Adam loves his team but as you can see in most of his answers he kept it real, now I on the other hand am a total homer. Get your coffee and sit back and enjoy todays post.

MotSaG: History isn’t to kind for Indiana against the Buckeyes as your Blog has a nice post about it, how much does last years game give the Hoosiers confidence against the Buckeyes?

CQ: Indiana’s current confidence isn’t based on last year’s game going into this one but last week’s. We had an abysmal showing against Wisconsin and I think with Indiana looking at, at most 5 wins, the fan base has moved on to basketball season. Still we do look at last year and think… maybe?! But not many of us think it’ll be closer than 20.

MotSaG: Do you see the Hoosier players feel defeated after last weeks loss against Wisconsin?

CQ: It is actually quite impressive with how well the players seem to carry themselves. Indiana fans, despite years of awfulness are incredibly fickle. The players don’t seem to have that trait in them. They understand its a building process. Only a few are in the twilight of their college careers, so many have done a good job of taking Wisconsin as a learning experience and using it towards beating Ohio State.

MotSaG: What do you think of the negativity that the wannabe national media hordes are saying about the B1G football?

CQ: They’re right. Outside of the top tier of the conference, we’re pretty darn terrible. I mean, yeah, that’s how pretty much all conferences are and no one seems to mention that. But that doesn’t mean they’re wrong when they say it about us. Still, we’re probably only the third of fourth best conference in the nation, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that our top teams can’t compete against anyone else.

MotSaG: I understand Indiana is a basketball school but is there like 20 basketball blogs to every one football one?

CQ: Yes. In fact, I’ve done my best to try and set The Crimson Quarry apart by you know, actually covering football. Unfortunately, I’ve found out why none of those other blogs really cover football. Not a lot of people seem to care. I blame that really on the historical ineptitude of the program. If we were even halfway good every few years I think you would see a ton of interest in Indiana football. But alas we’re not even the Cubs of college football, because up until Kevin Wilson showed up we didn’t even have the ability to say wait until next year. I imagine Northwestern basketball fans feel the same way.

MotSaG: Indiana’s offense has been much improved the last two seasons what do they need to find in recruiting to help make the defense better?

CQ: They actually already have a very solid set of pieces on campus. Unfortunately, they’re all true freshmen. We’ve started see some of that injected early like 3rd leading tackler TJ Simmons and a rotation spot for Darius Latham, but we’ve also had set backs from Antonio Allen’s torn ACL and other guys just not physically ready to compete yet. This isn’t to say that Indiana should feel good with their defensive personnel, but Wilson and crew already have a jump on it. They just need time to not be boys trying to play against men.

MotSaG: What is the thought on how to beat the Buckeyes?

CQ: Shootout. That may sound like the exact opposite of what many others are thinking, but for Indiana to win this one it has to be a shootout. Assuming the Hoosiers offense doesn’t completely disappear like it did last week and you can feel pretty darn confident in them putting up points. It comes down to them doing so after the defense gets a rare stop. Can’t waste wins from defensive possessions.

MotSaG: What do the Hoosiers feel is the Buckeyes weak link?

CQ: passing defense. You guys have struggled this year keeping the top on offenses. Indiana’s biggest strength is blowing the top off of defenses. With what I’d like to think is the Big Ten’s best receiving corps and one of the better passers in the league with Nate Sudfeld (passer, not quarterback), Cody Latimer and crew have got to be licking their chops at the thought of getting the chance to expose the leak in the dam that is Ohio State.

MotSaG: After the Buckeyes beat the Hoosiers will Tom Crean cut down the nets or maybe even take down the goal post?

CQ: Probably. Then we’ll stick it right next to our outright Big Ten trophy without shaking your hands.

MotSaG: What should Buckeye fans keep their eye out for while watching Indiana?

CQ: Not necessarily keep an eye out for in the context of winning/losing this game, but just watch middle linebacker TJ Simmons. He flies around the field and is very good for his very young age. He still misses his gaps and makes mental errors at times, but if you pay close attention now, you can say you see something special in him before he’s competing as one of the conference’s top linebackers as a upperclassman. Basically, watch the young Indiana defense and appreciate some of the pieces. I’m not sure they’ll even be good as a unit, but you can be a football hipster when some of them are potential NFL draftees.

MotSaG: What is your prediction for the game?

CQ: Indiana A Few Points. Ohio State A Lot More.
Just not very confident after last week’s beating.

Reality is the Buckeyes should and need to completely shut down the Hoosiers defense to gain any kind of respect back (hater nation will always hate). It’s funny they say the computers don’t take into account blow outs that’s why Baylor is so close. I digress the Buckeyes are mostly in control of their destiny the just have to keep doing what they do best and that is win. A win tomorrow guarantees their first trip to Indy for the B1G championship game and as I have seen on twitter there is going to be a large and I mean large Scarlet and Gray populous there.

I feel and this are just my thoughts I didn’t do the proper research but feel free to comment if I am wrong, that Roby needs to step up and have a huge game. He has had some lapses this year and since he has already declared for the NFL draft those lapse have cost him some cash. Now is it the defensive scheme or is it him? On one hand I feel it is the scheme I mean come on one of the best corners and your having him play off the WR on the line? On the other hand I feel it is some of him with his BS wanna be sportscenter tackles that he misses on a majority of the time. Yes the kid can hit and lay the wood down but fundamentals son wrap up.

Which defense will show up tomorrow is the key question I am hoping the one that killed Penn State not the one from last week and the beginning of the season.

For the love of God Buckeye fans please stop watching that blabber mouth non informed host on the four letter network that is just hateful. I’m not going to mention his name but you know who I am talking about. hint: still butt hurt from the 72-0 whooping he experienced.

Thanks again to Adam Johnson of the Crimson Quarry, go check out his work.

If you want to get involved and have questions about THE Game feel free to send them in to me and I can send them on. Email your questions to AskMotSaG@gmail.com or MotSaG@gmail.com. Would love to know your thoughts on this post and hope you enjoyed it.