Keys to a Hoosier Win in the Old Oaken Bucket Game

Written by Andrew Walker

Here we go. Indiana moves onto the final game of the year, perhaps with a 5-win bowl bid at stake, and the possibility to not let Purdue to get to the Big Ten Championship game. If that doesn’t get your blood flowing, I don’t know what will. Indiana is set to play Purdue at 3:30 PM at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington. Let’s take a look at a few keys to victory for the Hoosiers.

 Shaun Shivers has to run it back

Last week being such a successful week for the ground attack was surely a big reason why Indiana had an opportunity to go to overtime against Michigan State. Shivers, Indiana’s starting RB, hadn’t made that big of an effort all season, but he turned on the jets last Saturday. Against Purdue he has to do the same. If the Hoosiers want to have a balanced offensive attack, Shivers has to come through.

Stop Aiden O’Connell

Having completed 63.8 percent of his passing attempts for 2,834 yards, 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, O’Connell has the juice to put Purdue in the winners column on Saturday. He has all season for the Boilermakers. Indiana’s secondary has been historically not great all season, but for the Hoosiers to get any semblance of victory on Saturday, McCullough, Matthews, Mullen and Co. has to step up big time.

Dexter Williams gets his chance to prove he’s the guy

After the somewhat successful, somewhat unsuccessful Connor Bazelak experiment, head coach Tom Allen resorted to a young man named Dexter Williams II. Having previously been a wide receiver, Williams transitioned to QB. So far, what we’ve seen of him has been mostly positive. He looked poised and comfortable in the pocket, as well as being decently athletic and mobile outside of the pocket. He hasn’t fully been let loose to pass the ball 30 times, but the plays he has made have shown promise. Williams has to be on his A game against the Boilermakers to maintain any semblance of balance in the offensive game. Whether that looks like throwing the ball six times with a few red zone packages, or throwing the ball 30 times, he has to be great.