Game Day Primer: Indiana Hoosiers at Illinois Fighting Illini

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Game Day Primer: Indiana Hoosiers at Illinois Fighting Illini

Written by: Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

What: Indiana Hoosiers (3-6) at Illinois Fighting Illini (2-7)

When: Saturday, November 11th  at Noon ET

Where: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois

How to Watch: The game will be broadcast on BTN. Fans can also listen to the game on the IU Radio Network with the legendary Don Fischer on the call.

What’s at Stake: Indiana hasn’t won since their early October game against Charleston Southern while Illinois is riding a seven-game losing streak. Illinois has already been eliminated from bowl contention while the Hoosiers need to string three wins together starting this week. IU has won the last two against Illinois (’12 and ’13) even though the teams haven’t met in four seasons.

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Matchup To Watch: Morgan Ellison vs. Bobby Roundtree and Isaiah Gay

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Matchup To Watch: Morgan Ellison vs. Bobby Roundtree and Isaiah Gay

Written By Alex Compton (@alexncompton)

Last Saturday saw IU’s last chance at a regular season “breakthrough” moment slip away, and now three in a row must be won against some of the Big Ten’s perennial bottom-dwellers in order to attain bowl eligibility. Morgan Ellison returned from injury last week to face the Badgers, and struggled mightily. He rushed for just 17 yards on 6 carries, and has now put together two consecutive subpar games in a decently successful freshman campaign so far. On paper, IU should dominate the Illini and get back in the win column. However….. the only sure thing with IU football is that there isn’t a sure thing, so this game really could go either way like every other game this year. The Illini are ravaged with injury on both sides of the ball, but this has allowed some young guys to get good experience and make fans excited about the future. Getting out to a good start on Saturday will be key, as putting young team in a nice deficit generally leads to comfortable wins. In order to start fast, IU actually needs to establish a running game, and Ellison will again be the guy that is counted on for most of that production. Watch for him, and watch for him against some of Illinois’ young edge guys this weekend. 

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Inside the Numbers: Indiana Hoosiers at Illinois Fighting Illini

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Inside the Numbers: Indiana Hoosiers at Illinois Fighting Illini

By David Sugarman (@David_Sugarman2)

Break out all the cliches because for a change they’re all necessary. Indiana’s backs are against the wall and each game going forward is do or die if Indiana wants to go to a bowl game for the third straight year. That journey starts on Saturday when they take on Illinois. Now it’s time to for this week’s dive into the stats for Inside the Numbers.

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Know Your Opponent: It's Been A While Since Indiana has Traveled to Champaign

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Know Your Opponent: It's Been A While Since Indiana has Traveled to Champaign

Written By Alex Compton

Head Coach: Lovie Smith

Overall: 5-16 Second Year

At Illinois 5-16 (2-13)

Bowl Appearances at Illinois: 0

2017 Record: 2-7 Last Game: Lost 29-10 at Purdue

Bowl Appearances Since 2000: 5 (2-3)

Mascot: Fighting Illini

Colors: Orange and Blue

Outfitter: Nike

National Titles: 4

Conference Titles: 15

Heisman Winners: 0

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Hoosiers Face Must-Win Game in Champaign

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Hoosiers Face Must-Win Game in Champaign

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The Indiana Hoosiers need to win their final three games in order to reach bowl eligibility and play in the postseason for the third straight season. First year head coach Tom Allen and his squad have had to battle a brutal schedule and an inordinate number of costly injuries but none of that will stem the disappointment if the dream of a bowl game disappears with another loss this Saturday. The stakes were laid bare in a team meeting on Sunday.

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Hoosier Huddle's 2017 Bowl Projections: As of November 6, 2017

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Hoosier Huddle's 2017 Bowl Projections: As of November 6, 2017

Written By: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

As of November 6, 2017

After a very successful first year of doing bowl projections, we are back at it in 2017 to project each bowl matchup involving a Big Ten team. Most importantly, we’ll be projecting where we believe the Indiana Hoosiers will end up. Keep in mind, these are projections and it’s my best guess as to where teams end up at the end of the season, not where they might go if bowls were selected today.

There was major carnage in the Big Ten on Saturday as Penn State lost to Michigan State and Ohio State was hammered at Iowa. Those two teams are now eliminated from College Football Playoff contention and they’ll each need to win out if they are to have a shot at a New Year’s Six bowl. Last week, I had Ohio State and Clemson in the Rose Bowl, Penn State and Miami in the Orange Bowl and Wisconsin versus Washington in the Fiesta Bowl. As you would expect, there are major changes to the projections this week.

For what it is worth, I am currently projecting Oklahoma versus Georgia in the 2-3 game and Alabama versus Notre Dame in the 1-4 matchup. The only way the Big Ten gets in the playoffs is if Wisconsin goes 13-0.

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