On paper Indiana should win this game. It's at the Rock, Illinois has had one winning season in the last 10 (3 in 19) playing the Big Ten West, and looking at the last five recruiting classes it's a clean sweep. I looked at Rivals and 247 and Indiana won all five classes according to both. IU also had double the four star recruits. Illinois is no juggernaut on offense and defense should be the strength of this Hoosier team. With the return to the vision zone and in all likelihood more aggressive play calling on D, this defensive group should keep Indiana in a lot of games all year.
Illinois is inexperienced in the interior of their offensive line so it would not surprise me to see Coach Allen test them with some A Gap blitzes and some stunts early. (Remember the Double A Gap blitzes under Womack?)
If Indiana can keep Illinois from getting north of 175 yards on the ground that would bode well for them. RB Brown is going to get some yards but make him earn everything - nothing cheap. Clean tackling in Game One is always a concern.
Isaiah Williams is their most explosive WR from what I've seen but I trust our secondary to keep him from going off too much.
It's nothing earth shattering but this game will probably come down to Line play and turnovers. Can we keep their run game in check and get pressure in passing situations? Can our Offensive Tackles (Bedford and Haggard) keep Illinois from getting pressure off the edge? Can our interior OL get some push and establish a running game? Will there be some diversity in the run game or are we just going to run inside zone for two yards all night? Illinois runs a 3-4 so some good interior runs early will establish some play action opportunities later on. And from what I've seen Indiana RB Shivers may relish the opportunity for some physical inside runs.
Illinois has a pretty good secondary so I will be curious to see if our WRs can make some plays against them. They will have to or it could be a long night. And of course the elephant in the room is who will be throwing the ball? Whoever it is just take care of the ball and don't try to do too much. If Illinois starts to get aggressive with blitzes hit them with a screen or slip TE Barner in where the LB blitz came from. Sometimes I think we make offense too much rocket science, take what is there. Who cares about being the smartest guy in the room, go with what works.
If I remember right Illinois missed a couple field goals last week so if he misses again early it could get into his head and be a factor in what will likely be a close game.
This is a big game and a great opportunity to create some positive momentum going forward. Go Hoosiers!
Illinois is inexperienced in the interior of their offensive line so it would not surprise me to see Coach Allen test them with some A Gap blitzes and some stunts early. (Remember the Double A Gap blitzes under Womack?)
If Indiana can keep Illinois from getting north of 175 yards on the ground that would bode well for them. RB Brown is going to get some yards but make him earn everything - nothing cheap. Clean tackling in Game One is always a concern.
Isaiah Williams is their most explosive WR from what I've seen but I trust our secondary to keep him from going off too much.
It's nothing earth shattering but this game will probably come down to Line play and turnovers. Can we keep their run game in check and get pressure in passing situations? Can our Offensive Tackles (Bedford and Haggard) keep Illinois from getting pressure off the edge? Can our interior OL get some push and establish a running game? Will there be some diversity in the run game or are we just going to run inside zone for two yards all night? Illinois runs a 3-4 so some good interior runs early will establish some play action opportunities later on. And from what I've seen Indiana RB Shivers may relish the opportunity for some physical inside runs.
Illinois has a pretty good secondary so I will be curious to see if our WRs can make some plays against them. They will have to or it could be a long night. And of course the elephant in the room is who will be throwing the ball? Whoever it is just take care of the ball and don't try to do too much. If Illinois starts to get aggressive with blitzes hit them with a screen or slip TE Barner in where the LB blitz came from. Sometimes I think we make offense too much rocket science, take what is there. Who cares about being the smartest guy in the room, go with what works.
If I remember right Illinois missed a couple field goals last week so if he misses again early it could get into his head and be a factor in what will likely be a close game.
This is a big game and a great opportunity to create some positive momentum going forward. Go Hoosiers!
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