Or is it Jeremiah St.?
Wait is over, we all get to dine on a premium choice cut of steak this Saturday as our Hoosiers look to begin the season 7-0 and take dominating command of the Big Ten Title picture.
So, what are the Intangibles and lesser talked about aspects of this game that could make a big difference in a positive outcome for our Hoosiers?
Question is, how do we take Smith out of the game or contain him enough to where he doesn’t make a huge impact? I’d say, always have a safety over the top of him and db/lb under him. He must be double covered at all times. Btw, keep Sharpe far away from him! He was picked on all day against Neb. While this, keep Sayin inside the pocket and force him to go elsewhere with the ball! Crowd will have to help alot also!
@hoosieralum07 Could be a huge difference maker if Harris is able to play; as in difference in a W vs L big. Also, big for our development this year. I'd think Baldwin/Zachman underneath and Harris over the top? Bummed that Carsen Williams has been hurt all year, as I thought he might be a surprise contributor in the DB room. Did anyone ever hear what happened with him?
Not really feasible. We're a zone team. We need to try to limit is YAC.Question is, how do we take Smith out of the game or contain him enough to where he doesn’t make a huge impact? I’d say, always have a safety over the top of him and db/lb under him. He must be double covered at all times. Btw, keep Sharpe far away from him! He was picked on all day against Neb. While this, keep Sayin inside the pocket and force him to go elsewhere with the ball! Crowd will have to help alot also!
We can't LET him get his and not let anyone else beat us, but it's kind of that idea. If he goes for 8/150 and 2TDs and we win, that's awesome. If he does that, plus Jackson goes for 115 and 2 TDs and someone else has a decent game, we're screwed (probably).
We have to get off the field. We have to have some sustained drives. And we are going to need some defensive explosives. Sacks/TOs.
But I'll tell you what, if we can't get our punt return game fixed, they're gonna kill us. We should have brought Brady back just to catch punts.
Not really feasible. We're a zone team. We need to try to limit is YAC.Question is, how do we take Smith out of the game or contain him enough to where he doesn’t make a huge impact? I’d say, always have a safety over the top of him and db/lb under him. He must be double covered at all times. Btw, keep Sharpe far away from him! He was picked on all day against Neb. While this, keep Sayin inside the pocket and force him to go elsewhere with the ball! Crowd will have to help alot also!
We can't LET him get his and not let anyone else beat us, but it's kind of that idea. If he goes for 8/150 and 2TDs and we win, that's awesome. If he does that, plus Jackson goes for 115 and 2 TDs and someone else has a decent game, we're screwed (probably).
We have to get off the field. We have to have some sustained drives. And we are going to need some defensive explosives. Sacks/TOs.
But I'll tell you what, if we can't get our punt return game fixed, they're gonna kill us. We should have brought Brady back just to catch punts.
I don't mind the fair catches, but the 20 yard bouncers are killers.
Didn't Morris also drop a possible catch? Cig might have Morris a bit mental right now. But if you don't produce when the bright lights are on, you can't play. Agree with Cig there. Too bad. Hoped returns and some slot rotation would be his role this year.
We were spoiled by Myles Price and Jonathan Brady. I think Myles made maybe two mistakes all season 2024, and Cig just joked about an early one and he did better after that. Brady maybe one mistake all year. He was money.
We need a great game for our DBs. Have got to be more physical. I am hoping Cig's attitude toward Harris is to light a fire under him. Because he helped us I thought once he got in. We suddenly didn't look so soft... Someone asked in Monday's presser about that, and Cig sort of shrugged 'hasn't practiced much'.
I think an NFL team not picking up Brady for a practice squad is a surprising thing. Brady doesn't need size or elite wheels to produce. Too bad it appears he won't get another shot. But he can play.
-No matter what happens with Jeremiah Smith, we have to keep him out of the endzone. 200 yards and no TD's is better than 85 yards and 2-3 TDs. I think OSU could struggle making plays with other people. So if we can keep Smith out of the endzone, itd likely lead to mostly FG attempts. That's how we beat them in the B10 title game last year. And it'd be a huge help on Saturday.
-Our front 7 needs to be very, very impactful. Sayin can not get comfortable. And they can't gash us in the run game, consistently.
-Our OLine needs to open some more holes than they did at Nebraska. I have to think OSU's front 7 is every bit as good, likely better, than Nebraska's was. But I also suspect NW's was as good as Nebraska's. Our line figured out how to open holes against NW. We never really did against Nebraska. I think our offense is pretty much impossible to stop, if we're able to run the ball effectively.
-Should be a close game. Turnovers, kicking, punting... all will be magnified.
For this one game, can Zachman play like John Lynch or Gary Fencik and absolutely bone crush the Ohio St. wideouts going up to make catches?
Of note, with the Bears in the news, I met and sat a few seats away from Fencik and his smoking hot wife in a skybox at Soldier field about 25 years ago.
Joked with him I was more of a Duerson fan because my third grade teacher in '85 was Duerson's cousin, and he visited our class in the spring after the SuperBowl.
The IU crowd has to be in it all game. Take a lesson from Nebraska. Quiet on offense and at a million every down on defense. Get there early, get back in the seats at half time.
This should be one of the best atmospheres in IUFB history.
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I think our crowd could be “The” Intangible…
If we show up early and actually have a Full House inside and on hand for the Opening Kickoff, make their QB use a silent count (just like their crowd forced us to do at the Shoe), while becoming “an evening at the opera” Silent when our guys are on Offense; we might actually be the 14 point difference that Cig believes we are…
Should be interesting to see if our fans can bring themselves to get there an hour early and get thru security on time to be a part of something potentially historic…
In my opinion, we’ll need them from opening Kickoff to the Final tick of the Scoreboard clock…
Only way to take Smith out of this is to get after the guy throwing to him. Keep them off the field as much as possible. You won’t stop smith. I’d argue neither team is as complete as last year. I expect a low possession, low scoring game. Explosives are actually in IU favor. Keep it close and give yourself a chance.
Ohio State's OL struggled against IU and Miami last season. They yielded 10 sacks across those final two games (losses) and the team rushed for just 58 yards against us and 45 against Miami.
They've got a new OC (Arthur Smith, OC for the Steelers last season), but there were lingering concerns about their OL heading into this season. There was some last-minute shuffling last week against Maryland when starting right tackle Austin Siereveld was ruled out on game day, reportedly due to illness. Despite OSU's lopsided win, and rushing for 207 yards (against a bad Maryland D), there were issues with the OL. Sayin was sacked twice, the starting OL surrendered 3 TFLs on run plays, and Sayin was pressured on 35% of his dropbacks. Not certain if Siereveld will be back this week but, if their OL plays like that again and if Sayin's frequently dealing with 3rd and long, they'll be in trouble against us, notwithstanding their star WR.
Northwestern and Nebraska's tight ends had success against us. Assuming Sayin goes through his progressions and doesn't try to force it to Smith, which he has a tendency to do, look for TE Nate Roberts to be a target. Sayin connected on a 68-yard TD pass to Roberts last week against Maryland.
@tmft I think Hurts so Good is really only going to work when we're way ahead and people feel festive. NW was a tight game. Maybe they need a rotation of songs to fit the vibe. Everyone who was at the Rose Bowl comments about how great HSG was, not just blue hairs.