Why is Indiana so threatening?

I moved to Nashville, in 2000, and have been to every Iowa game in Bloomington.
Other than 2008, it's, either been a struggling win or a loss.

Not to be Captain Obvious, but last year, if Sudfeld doesn't get hurt, that game is a lot closer.
 
BQuastU said:
What is it about Indiana that makes us all worried (self included)? A few weeks back, Narinsky and Tate called out this one as a tough game on their podcast. Vegas obviously sees something. All of the Hawkeye site moderators are in this group.

Their QB has some NFL quality traits, for sure. Their RB is apparently good. But is the rest just recent history with Iowa struggling? Is it that a big arm like their QB gives Iowa trouble, even with Iowa's great D. I thought running QBs give Iowa trouble?

Their D is really bad, right? Look at their wins (margin and opponent) and their losses (margin and opponent) and the fear seems irrational. But alas, we all seem to feel the same way. No doubt that each week will give some pause (e.g., but Purdue did beat Nebraska; Minny almost beat UM; etc.), but this seems to have been called a while ago with universal agreement.

Is the thought that Iowa has to keep up with this offense and it might stumble doing so?
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Indiana has a capable QB (not great, but markedly better than Sam Richardson, Thorson from Northwestern and Hills from Maryland). A very good RB (the transfer from UAB), above average receivers and a coach who can coach offense. It doesn't mean they are a juggernaut, but they are pretty clearly the best offense Iowa has faced so far. Stadium will be sleepy, will not be the same atmosphere as Iowa State, Wisconsin, or even Northwestern.

Vegas has Iowa -6 now, which is a pretty small margin for a Top 10 team on the road against a winless conference foe halfway through the conference season.
 
This game is setting up like that #3 Utah on the road to Southern California from a couple weeks ago.
 
Because of CJB's health I do not think Iowa can afford to get into a shootout or get down by double digits.
 
What worried me was how stiff Iowa looked on offense and the sloppyness (mistakes/face-masks) the defense was doing in the Maryland game. CJB looked worse than he did in the previous game.

That said, I do wonder if Indiana (and maybe every team from this point on Iowa plays) is being put on notice for Iowa as the national sports media wants Iowa to fail to complete their narrative of Iowa not finishing undefeated. Really, Iowa should get more respect than they have been getting for a top 10 team. It is almost like they are wondering, expecting, (hoping) when Iowa is going to finally fail.

The thing is though, Iowa has played real well on the road this year. Hopefully that trend continues. Is there some reason for concern? Perhaps yes. However, Iowa should be the heavy favorite in this game and should win this game.
 
rhoffs8 said:
For me, the fear of Indiana started when they played Ohio State tough and only lost by a touchdown. I hope this game is a blowout and we can rest some guys since we weren't really able to do that vs Maryland. I was pretty surprised to see the line opened at -7, thought it'd be at least 10-14.
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* Elliott, Barrett and Samuels had 3 combined carries for 100 yards. Otherwise, IU gave up just 125 yards rushing on 36-ish carries. That scares me. And Barrett had 20 total carries.
* IU's offense will be the best we've faced, so far, and they can be explosive. We haven't faced an explosive offense, yet.
* CJ's injury: a) his lack of mobility, as I assume IU will load the box and blitz like hell, and b) if his injury affects his throwing motion and/or limits play calls. I think we saw a smidge of "b" against MD.
* And, of course, it's a B1G roadie, as others have stated.
* IU still needs 2 wins to be bowl eligible.

My concerns have nothing to do with any negativity towards the program past or present. This is all about matchups and conditions. We are going to have to play our qb with 1 leg tied behind his back. If CJ was 100%, I'd be much less worried. And if CJ can throw accurately, despite a groin injury, then I think we'll be okay.
 
I agree ... they don't seem like as big of a threat as some are making them out to be.

For the year they are averaging 33 points of offense ... Iowa 32.6 ... push.
In B1G play they are averaging 28 points of offense ... Iowa 27.5 ... push.

For the year they are giving up 37.2 points per game ... Iowa's D is only giving up 15.2 ... huge advantage Iowa
In B1G play they are giving up 42.5 points per game ... Iowa only giving up 12.8 ... huge advantage Iowa

They have no momentum ... lost 4 in a row ... Iowa has won 8 in a row ... advantage Iowa.

The only advantage I see them having is home field, which is typically 3 points but not with Indiana given their fans enthusiasm levels for football and the Hawk fans that will be attending. Yes, we have some guys dinged up but we've been battling that for 4 weeks now and the next man is working just fine.
 
C J is going to have the biggest target on him for the rest of the year. If our line doesn't protect him a lot better than they have..........I hope our backup QB is ready to go. 2009 rings a bell. We will prevail on this one and win going away.
 
Honestly, OSU hasn't impressed me at all this year.. They've looked a bit better the last two weeks, but that was against two teams that are pretty meh.

Indiana played a very lethargic #1 Buckeye team that turned the ball over 3 times, and still couldn't win.

They're not good. Iowa will dominate them on both sides of the ball, and my guess is we see another game like the NW one. When you can't stop the run, and have to play a good defense you're in for a bad time.
 
I know that Sudfeld and Howard went out against OSU, both with ankle injures which is now 5 weeks ago. I just checked the latest injury status for Indiana and Iowa and it shows that Howard is listed with an undisclosed injury and is probable against us for Saturday. I am wondering if there was a set back with his ankle injury? He only had 34yds against OSU before going out in the 4th quarter and 78yds against MSU two weeks ago. Sudfeld has 27 carries for 17yds so far, I hope we can get good d-line penetration on him.
http://www.donbest.com/ncaaf/injuries/
 
The calculus has changed with CJ injured and gimpy.
Opponents know what's up. MD blitzed, IN will blitz. CJ not mobile. O line needs to play better than last week. Tight ends need to up their game. Glad LD is back. AW - DMX - provides depth and more options.
Defense - bend don't break. Could be a very close game.
 
Here is their scoring history. Do you believe the OSU game or the Penn State Game?

Regular Season
vs SIU W 48-47
vs FIU W 36-22
vs WKU W 38-35
@ WAKE W 31-24
vs 1 OSU L 34-27
@ PSU L 29-7
vs RUTG L 55-52
@ 7 MSU L 52-2
 
g11 said:
Honestly, OSU hasn't impressed me at all this year.. They've looked a bit better the last two weeks, but that was against two teams that are pretty meh.

Indiana played a very lethargic #1 Buckeye team that turned the ball over 3 times, and still couldn't win.

They're not good. Iowa will dominate them on both sides of the ball, and my guess is we see another game like the NW one. When you can't stop the run, and have to play a good defense you're in for a bad time.
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Indiana has a puncher's chance because of their offense. I think our offense will play much better than 2nd half against maryland. we had 200+ yards in the first half and i think ferentz put the brakes on to try and protect CJ.
 
judzeehawk said:
C J is going to have the biggest target on him for the rest of the year. If our line doesn't protect him a lot better than they have..........I hope our backup QB is ready to go. 2009 rings a bell. We will prevail on this one and win going away.
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I've had the same feeling. Would love to have seen Wiegers last week...and this week. If Kirk is going to play it conservative, might as well put TW in and see how he does.

I have this vibe that this weekend is the equivalent of the 2009 NW game.
 
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tanaros said:
Indiana has a puncher's chance because of their offense. I think our offense will play much better than 2nd half against maryland. we had 200+ yards in the first half and i think ferentz put the brakes on to try and protect CJ.
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A puncher's chance is when a bad or clearly outmatched fighter has a small but measurable chance of landing a lucky shot if he's tenacious enough. The Hoosiers have a good QB, home field advantage and that running back that no one seems to know the name of. That's their puncher's chance. Iowa is clearly the all-around better opponent in this matchup and as long as they don't forget that then we have nothing to worry about.
 
I think the concern is that Indiana's offense is good enough that we are likely going to have score 28 points to win. With a healthy CJB, we could probably put up 50. As it stands now, Indiana can load the box against us and force us to beat them through the air. We likely can do that, but CJB will need to be more accurate than he was against Maryland. If CJB is accurate, we will win comfortably even if he is immobile.
 
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