Saturday Will Be No Cake Walk Hoosier’s Fans

Written by: @zachegreene

The Hoosiers are set to take on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers tomorrow at noon where a crowd of around 47,000 is expected, the game will produce a lot of ups and downs, and momentum swings.

“Bottom line is that you don't have a lot of statistical data to support what you are going to see this year, just two games worth.” Allen said. “You have to be able to use some from the past, as well. That is the challenge, without question. He is a talented quarterback, even though he is new [to the program]. He has a really strong arm, very high IQ from a football perspective, you can tell. He is a tough kid, big kid and can run it as well. He has a lot of weapons on offense, as well.”  

Allen is referring to Austin Reed a D2 National Championship at Western Florida. His fellow coaches know that tomorrow is going to be a fight, and Hoosiers fans shouldn’t be expecting a blowout. The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers have slowly built one of the best offensive programs in the country and it has carried over to this year. They are and have been one of the nation’s best offenses so far.  

“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. 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.”

Last year, the Hoosiers traveled to Western Kentucky where they pulled out a 33-31 victory. It was a close game and many were not expecting it to be that close. That said, the Hoosiers have a lot of film on the Hilltoppers and know what to expect as far as play calling.

“You have a lot of film to study, but that also creates a lot of things for you consider as you prepare for them.” Allen explained. “We are trying to do a blend of both and get a feel as to how we feel they are going to call the game. A lot of it is going to be reacting to what they choose to do. That is typical for the first two, three or four games of the year until you get a 3-4 game base. They have already been off ... since they played in week zero.” 

The Hilltoppers are coming off a bye so they have an extra week of rust but this could lead to rust. The Hilltoppers also have two weeks of film on the Hoosiers. All that said, expect Offensive Coordinator Walt Bell and Hilltoppers Head Coach Tyson Helton to really open up the playbook tomorrow.

The weather tomorrow calls for a perfect day with 86 degrees and partially sunny. A perfect day for a high-scoring game. Tom Allen will be relying on his veteran on defense to step up and make game-winning plays.

Overall, Saturday is no cakewalk like some will expect. Many expected last week to be a cakewalk. The first half of last week’s game humbled this team. Expect them to come out strong. We will see what this defense is built of tomorrow and the depth they have in the backfield. Expect a lot of players to get action tomorrow on the defensive side, play-callers opening up the playbook, and high scoring momentum swinging game.