Realistic case scenario:
Ohio State - 17-41 Loss
Hope to keep it within two scores especially with OSU using multiple QBs but I don't see the defense being able to garner enough pressure to keep McCord/Brown on their back, especially with OSU WRs able to reel in balls at their choosing. The Hoosier's offense will be stop and go at best so I bet it's a blow out until we make a couple of scores in the fourth to cover the spread.
Indiana State - 49-7 Win
Terrible FCS team whose two opponents they beat combined for 1-21. Hopefully Sorsby or Jackson look the part of a P5 starter against OSU and CTA pencils one in for a full 3 quarters blowout of ISU before turning to the other to showcase their skills in mop up duty.
Louisville - 20-27 Loss
Indianapolis should be as home a game can be for neutral site but I'm not the drive from Louisville will keep the attendance much in our favor. A close game that I hope Indiana squeaks out but Louisville had a great transfer class and Brohm will extend the winning streak to 3. New head coach and lots of moving parts can allow for the upset though Louisville also gets an extended rest, playing on the previous Thursday.
Akron - 41-13 Win
A bad MAC team that IU should blow out similar to ISU and get momentum (or keep it) going into the Maryland game. This is where final tune ups before conference play need to be worked out and back ups need to get extended playtime both to get experience and confidence as well as rest the starters for a healthy season.
@Maryland - 31-35 Loss
First road game brings a team that IU should have beat last year, though in classic IU fashion, they beat themselves. This game rests on Tagovailoa and if he can orchestrate an offense with lots of turnover besides himself and young stud RB Hemby. The Hoosiers need to take advantage of a reworked Terp defense but I think they fall short with Maryland winning close at t he end a la 2022.
@Michigan: 20-31 Loss
It's Michigan in the Big House. Yes, IU gets a week off... but Michigan. In the Big House. Hopefully by this point a regular starter has been crowned (or maybe a freshly polished Dexter Williams) and both sides of the ball don't look too embarrassing and play a tighter game than the juggernaut game in the opener.
Rutgers: 35-17 Win
Revenge for an embarrassing game last season for a very exciting homecoming. Indiana opens strong and doesn't relent as Schiano men worldwide question if Rutgers football should move back to quarterback turned running back turned tight end Johnny Langan to helm the team for the rest of the season.
@Penn State: 10-42 Loss
The third and final juggernaut in the schedule will go much of the same as the other two, possibly even worse. The Nittany Lions will be coming off either a beatdown in The Shoe (and likely their first loss of the season) and will come out at home at max speed trying to show how they really can play. The other outcome is they beat OSU in their stadium and then get to come home and trounce a perennial lowly team. I'd love to think we could bring the spooky mojo the Spoilermakers occasionally do (Spookiers... we'll workshop that), and it could happen with kicking Buttgers momentum, though I'm not convinced.
Wisconsin: 13-24 Loss
If this game was one of the first three of the season I could see the Hoosiers coming away with a win as the Fickell team might still be feckless as they mesh with a new system. I just can't see the Badgers being a well oiled machine with a focus on the B1G West crown. Fingers crossed that IU starts their own streak after breaking Wisconsin's in 2020.
@Illinois: 13-27 Loss
Illinois has this once penciled in, just as IU had the Rutgers game penciled in earlier this season. The Illini defense will likely be nasty once again as the DL and LB will make up for losses in the secondary. Here's to hoping the Hoosiers have matured by this point to make it a competitive game but I wouldn't be surprised if Bielema is ready to run us out of the stadium and the game is out of hand before the 4th.
MSU: 31-13 Win
Another embarrassing loss for Mel Tucker as the Spartans lose their fifth straight to the Hoosiers. Since beating Rutgers on October 14th, the Spartans have lost four straight coming into this game and all the mojo is gone. Indiana wins this much more handily than last years game, even being able to hand the QB reins off one or twice to let everyone get reps before a hard fought Bucket game.
@Purdue: 28-17 Win
Traveling to West Lafayette for the third time in 4 games, Indiana replicates 2019 although finishing off the Boilermakers in regular time. New coach, new QB, same ol' stinky Purdue. Tom Allen isn't playing for a bowl but bringing the Old Oaken Bucket back to Bloomington is the next best feather he can stick in his cap and so there is no holding back against pee-ew. It would be sweet if we could shut the Boilermakers out from a bowl and have a tied record, though it would be more sweet to have this be their 12th loss and the reason the Purdue board of trustees decide to shutter the whole athletic department.
Realistically, 5-7 and purgatory for the team with regards to Tom Allen. Enough to keep him around but not enough for any fans to feel good about the season. Now if I put on my candy striped pants a little too tight, I can see IU conceivably taking wins against Louisville, Maryland, and Illinois, with Wisconsin being more likely if we're going into that game sitting at 5-3.
I want to see a bowl game (and win, the drought has been almost as old as me) to let CTA get another year at the helm. However, I don't have 24 million lying around, and I don't imagine many football boosters do, so I would guess that a 5-7 season would allow Tom to keep the reins and that a canning won't be likely unless IU fails to lose one of the expected games (ISU, Akron, Rutgers) and halves the win total from last year.
Walt Bell needs to show an improved offense, with hopefully a tempered tempo, and the defense needs to gel significantly better than last years 35PPG embarrassment. Bostad's hiring and the reports coming out have me feeling good about him, as does the hiring of former wunderkind Guerrieri on the defensive side. A great showing this year should translate into the recruiting successes we've seen of seasons past and encourage sought after transfers to look our way.
