Fresh off of a bye week, #7 Indiana faces their toughest test this season, playing on the road against #3 Oregon. For the Hoosiers’ this will be their second top-ten matchup of the season and another chance to silence the doubters. In order to get the win in a tough Big Ten environment, the Hoosiers will have to lean on the leadership of their captains; for the offense, that means rallying behind veteran center Pat Coogan.
For Coogan, the bye week came at the perfect time. “Whenever you get a bye week, you’ve got to take advantage of it, and that’s what I’ve tried my best to do.” He said on Tuesday. Part of taking advantage of the bye week was using the extra time to study as much film on Oregon as possible. “We’ve got to be prepared, we’ve got to watch the film, we’ve got to put in the time and put in the work.” Coogan continued, adding that following a close win against Iowa, the Hoosiers “have to flip the page as quick as possible” so that all of their attention is on the matchup with Oregon.
One of the biggest talking points of the season has been the long road trips out west that Big Ten teams have had to take for conference matchups. Coming from Notre Dame, Coogan is no stranger to big road games, especially on the West Coast. Speaking about the magnitude of this game and the rainy Oregon weather, Coogan said, “It’s another big opportunity, so we’ve got to go prepare and be ready for it…I love that weather, a little rain, but we’re going out west, and you kind of expect that a little bit.”
In addition to the elements, the Hoosiers will have to battle the noise in a hostile Autzen Stadium. When asked if he felt that their experience on the road at Iowa would help them prepare for the noise at Oregon, Coogan said, “For sure beneficial. Anything you do twice, the more reps you get at it…you’re going to be better at it. And that’s just the key. So we’ve got to spend the time, we’ve got to put in the work. It’s loud in practice, but we know it’s going to be loud there; it’s gonna be super loud, so we’ve got to be ready for it.”
Along these lines, Coogan highlighted the need to play more disciplined and focused when it comes to a silent snap count. “I know we had a pre-snap penalty (at Iowa), so that can’t happen; we all have to take accountability for that. We’ve got to eliminate those because those are drive killers.” He said.
Ultimately, while Coogan is excited to show what this Indiana team is capable of on Saturday, he is not paying any attention to the outside noise surrounding this top-ten matchup. When asked if the national attention on the game changed his mental preparation at all, he said, “No. That’s all for show and the fan experience. We’ve got a job to do; we’ve got to have great practices today, tomorrow, and Thursday and get into our routine of preparing for gameday.”