The Hoosiers must slow down the Penn State offense to have a shot at pulling the upset
Written By Sammy Jacobs (@sammyj108)
After two long weeks Hoosier football is finally back! The Indiana Hoosier defense has their
work cut out for them Saturday afternoon when they face-off against Christian
Hackenberg and the Penn State Offense.
The Hoosiers can win this game with out having to play a perfect game
defensively. However, there are
certain keys to this game defensively that Indiana will need to attain to get
that elusive W against the Nittany Lions.
1. Force Early
Turnovers- The Hoosier defense did a very good job creating takeaways early
on in their game against Missouri, forcing two interceptions and a fumble in
the first half. Any time that this
defense spends time on the sidelines should be considered a win for the team. Christian Hackenberg is a very good
freshman quarterback, but he is still a freshman playing on the road in a Big
Ten Game for the first time. He
has made some mistakes and the Hoosiers have had an extra week to prepare for
this offense, so it is up to the defense to make some noise early in this game.
2. Pressure
Hackenberg- As stated above Christian Hackenberg is making only his fourth
career start. The Hoosiers have
not shown a great pass rush this season, but they have not been totally shut
down either. Hackenberg is less
mobile than James Franklin and therefore should be an easier target for this
defensive line. Putting pressure
on the young QB may cause him to rush his throws and make a critical mistake
that turns the tide in favor of Indiana.
3. Get off the field
as soon as possible- The more time the Indiana defense spends on the
sideline the better. The defense
played well enough to win two weeks ago but ran out of gas. The Hoosiers do not have the depth to
run subs in and out all game, so it is imperative that when the defense faces a
third and long situation that they come through. Penn State’s offense has a solid running game to go along
with the duo of Allen Robinson and Hackenberg through the air, so the defense
can’t just key on one aspect of their offense. The more the Hoosiers get off the field early the better
they should look down the stretch.
Indiana has a tall task ahead of them. Having never beaten Penn State (0-16
all-time) cannot get in their heads.
This game is between two teams playing in 2013. This is not a match-up of the 2005
Nittany Lions and the 2003 Hoosiers.
It would be a big feather in the cap for Coach Kevin Wilson to score his
first victory against one of the big boys.