Match-up to Watch: Indiana Hoosiers vs. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

The Hoosiers and Hilltoppers meet for the fifth time in their histories on Saturday. Both teams come into the game at 2-0 and run quick tempo offenses, but it’s the defenses that will have my eyes. This will be an unorthodox match-up to watch as the units will not be on the field at the same time. On Saturday my eyes will be on the secondaries for both teams. 

IU Secondary vs. WKU Secondary

Both offenses will try and throw the ball on Saturday afternoon as the Hilltoppers run the air raid and IU runs an up-tempo spread. Who defends the pass the best and creates havoc plays will have the better shot at walking out of Memorial Stadium with a win.

The Hilltoppers lead the nation with seven interceptions and have returned two of those for touchdowns. Defensive backs Upton Stout and Kaleb Oliver have two interceptions a piece.

Indiana head coach Tom Allen said that his offense is going to have to be on top of its game on Saturday.

“We have to understand the way they are going to bring pressure.” Allen explained. “They do a really good job on third downs and give you a lot of different looks. I feel like for me, it is more about us doing a great job of reacting to what we are going to see. You still don't know for sure how they are going to defend us until you get into the game, so being able to adjust to that is going to be our coach's responsibility. So, from Connor's perspective it is about being mentally focused and ready to go from the very beginning.”

The Hoosiers secondary is one of the most veteran units in the Big Ten. The tackling and effort of the IU secondary was the difference in this game a year ago when IU won 33-31 in Bowling Green.

“This is a very high-powered offense that we are playing against, No. 1 in the country a year ago and they have the same scheme, a lot of the same receivers and we need that leadership to show up.” Allen said. “Obviously, we need a lot of guys to contribute and that starts up front. We need to do a good job of getting pressure and not let their quarterback feel comfortable, then do a good job of making sure he feels us mentally and physically. That is going to be the objective.”

While these two unit will not go head-to-head on the field, their competition in the box score will have a heavy influence to who wins this game and moves to 3-0.