Hoosiers Need 'A' Game as They Look to Go 1-0 This Week

Written by Andrew Walker

Fresh off of the win against Michigan State, the Indiana Hoosiers football team has some very good reasons to be excited for what the future holds. No. 9 in the nation after the MSU game, 4-0 in the Big Ten, and extremely confident heading into a game against perennial powerhouse Ohio State. The Hoosiers and Buckeyes have had a long and interesting past. A past that mostly shows Indiana on the losing end of that game. But Tom Allen and company have some very good reasons to think their chances this year are going to be different. 

During Monday’s zoom press conference, Allen and his staff talked about how important it is for Indiana’s offense to click together and fire on all cylinders. The offensive line was one of the first emphasis points Allen had on the matter, saying, “You have to be able to control the line of scrimmage, have a little physicality there and it has to continue. We have to continue to elevate, build off of what we have done in the past and rise to the challenge. To me that is what this is about, is opportunity for our offensive line to elevate their game, elevate their level of execution and physicality against one of the best in the country. That is definitely a huge portion of this and it is going to be true on both sides of the football. Our defensive line versus their offensive line and their D-line versus ours. That is the matchup that will probably be at the focal point of both sides of the ball's success.”

Some attention was given to OSU’s star quarterback Justin Fields as well. Fields is lighting up the NCAA this season after making a name for himself last year. The Heisman hopeful looks to continue his extremely impressive start to this year against the 9th ranked Hoosiers on Saturday. Allen knows the importance of stopping the junior sensation.

“He is a special talent and there is a reason why he is arguably the best quarterback in the country. You have to, like every other quarterback, that you have to affect them in some way. They have to feel uncomfortable whether that is not necessarily sacking them multiple times, that would be a bonus, but not giving him clean windows to throw in and making him have to move and then not get his feet set and be able to disrupt their timing and their flow and make those windows harder to read and react when the ball is snapped. It will be a tremendous challenge for our defense. Definitely the biggest test we have had this year.”

Finally, starting QB Mike Penix took some questions for the media. The young sensation doesn’t always have a lot to say, but he absolutely does not need to. His play on the field does all the talking. When asked about how he’s managing the hype, his answer echo’s the entire team’s sentiment. Calm, cool, and collected.

“To us, it is a 1-0 mindset. Coach Allen says every week that it is the biggest game. It is the biggest game on the schedule simply because it is the next game on the schedule. We do not look too far ahead. As long as we prepare and come out and execute at a high level, we have the talent, we have the team that can go out and show the skills that we have through all of the things that we have done it practice. We have a chance to do special things each week. It is something that we focus on, we just need to continue to play our game.”