WKU Football: Indiana Q&A With Hoosier Huddle
Let’s see what the IU football experts at Hoosier Huddle know before kickoff.
This week, the Hilltoppers are heading to Bloomington to take on the Indiana Hoosiers and while we don’t know the outcome of the game yet, we do know that someone is going to be walking away with their first loss of the season.
Thankfully we got Hoosier Huddle, a site and podcast dedicated solely to IU football, to answer some questions for us.
The Towel Rack: Last season IU only finished with two wins. This season, they are 2-0. What are some of the biggest reasons things have started off so well this year?
Hoosier Huddle: After a 2-10 and 0-9 conference season last year, Indiana needed a reset. Tom Allen is not one for excuses, but it’s hard to ignore IU’s 20+ major injuries to core players (1’s or 2’s) on the depth chart. After a game-winning drive goal line fumble cost us the Cincinnati game, it really felt like Indiana’s last stand was against a ranked Michigan State team on homecoming. After another crushing loss (20-15), IU was 2-4 and never got their footing.
Injuries to IU’s top three scholarship quarterbacks during the year forced IU to start a walk-on and a current sophomore WR at QB down the stretch. The absolute ineptitude on offense left the defense in terrible situations and constantly exhausted, despite being pretty solid again last year, so a total reset was needed. Enter new coordinators on O and D as well as a starting QB transfer from Mizzou, and IU seems to be playing looser and with more joy than a year ago.
The defense appears to be deep and talented again, which is always Tom Allen’s top priority. A new offensive attack puts tempo back in play as well as passing plays down the field. Couple those with strong special teams play, and IU is off to a good start with a Big Ten win under their belt already.
TTR: Looking at IU’s offense from last season to this season, what has changed? Who has stepped up the most?
HH: Tempo, the middle of the field, and deep shots. These are three things IU was missing last year after Mike Penix Jr. (now at Washington) went down with injury. Walt Bell takes over the offense, and has immediately placed an emphasis on quick throws to IU’s athletes. Cam Camper came in from a Texas JuCo and was initially thought of as a depth add, but has already made his claim as WR1 with 15 grabs for 200 yards combined in a Big Ten game and a monsoon last week against Idaho. DJ Matthews (10 rec, 160 yds, 2 TD) is healthy again after tearing his ACL early in 2021, and may be IU’s most important player on offense. He’s an absolute game breaker over the middle and beyond the safeties, and should draw most of the focus from the Hilltoppers’ defense on Saturday.
Auburn transfer RB Shaun Shivers broke out last week against Idaho, and will look to keep it rolling this week. That’s one of IU’s points of emphasis this week.
Couple the emphasis on explosive plays with tempo, and you see a whole new IU offense when compared to the back half of the season last year.
TTR: How do you see IU’s defense matching up against Austin Reed and the Hilltopper offense?
HH: Tom Allen is calling the plays for IU’s defense again after giving up the reigns last season. The secondary is deep and experienced, featuring four senior/ RS senior starters at corner and safety. Tiawan Mullen and Jaylin Williams came back to IU after being All-B1G players in their career but after battling injuries all year last year. Devon Matthews and Bryant Fitzgerald will get plenty of snaps at safety, but don’t be surprised if you see more of Josh Sanguinetti, Bryson Bonds, and Jon Haynes at safety to counter the air raid attack.
As with every Tom Allen-called defense, they’re going to be aggressive, and they’re going to blitz a bunch of different guys. Linebackers, safeties, IU’s “husky” position (think big nickel - Noah Pierre has been excellent), and even corners have all blitzed so far, with the most pressure coming right up the A Gap. True freshman Dasan McCullough, All-B1G senior Cam Jones, and Miami FL transfer Bradley Jennings Jr. are the likely names to cause some pressure on Saturday.
For IU, it really comes down to how much pressure they can generate with four or five guys, as they’ll be confident in the secondary to match up and keep guys in front of them.
For us at Hoosier Huddle, it feels like a game where IU will look to be opportunistic, and play “bend, don’t break” defense. After 17 picks in a shortened 2020 and just 5 last year, IU’s defense is already starting to show signs of getting back to normal. It’s undoubtedly a tough matchup, but one where the Indiana defense feels good as their weakness is definitely run defense, and not passing defense or causing pressure.
TTR: Do you think WKU’s defense will cause some problems for IU quarterback Connor Bazelak?
HH: Despite WKU leading the country in picks, it feels like this game comes down to WKU’s front seven. Connor Bazelak has seen just about everything during two years in the SEC and through two solid games at IU. Illinois has one of the better defenses and secondaries in the Big Ten, and he was surgical when given a few seconds to throw.
The secondary alone likely won’t cause too many uncomfortable looks for Bazelak, but pressure off the RT might. Bazelak has shown so far in his college career that he will either roll right or stand in the pocket and take a hit up the middle before looking to roll left. If WKU can get past a likely NFL OL in IU LT in Luke Haggard, that will definitely cause trouble for Bazelak and the IU offense.
So, to answer the question, it really comes down to how aggressive the Tops want to be. IU’s offense so far (and Bazelak) has done a good job taking what defenses have given them and then adjusting to and scheming for bigger plays. If Western Kentucky can get pressure and completely stifle the IU run game, that’s where it may get a bit tight in Memorial Stadium and lower the margin for error significantly.
TTR: Last year IU won a close game in Bowling Green, 33-31. How do you see this weekend’s game going in Bloomington?
HH: Each season, head coach Tom Allen chooses one word that he wants the program to embody, and has each player do the same for their personal goals. Allen’s word is “Build”, and this week’s word for the game against WKU is “consistency”. Through two games, IU has shown tons of good things in all three phases of the game and have come out healthy besides the loss of starting RT Matthew Bedford for the year. However, some drives starting behind schedule has been “bad”, as has the tackling of IU’s defense so far through two weeks.
Despite that, IU does feel that playing a game with the word of the week - consistency - should allow them to gather more wins this year and get back to the postseason. Like most games that are projected to be close, it will likely come down to the team that can run the ball better, take care of the ball better, and play special teams better. IU did most of that against Illinois and Idaho so far, and a renewed sense of focus in the building after heading to the half down 10-0 against Idaho should benefit Indiana.
All in all, Indiana is excited to play a game that kicks off at Noon (first one of the year) in front of what should be a strong crowd. If IU can allow QB Connor Bazelak to settle in early like he did against Illinois, it should open up the whole playbook and allow IU to control the pace of the game. If not, it will come down to IU’s secondary in a “prove it” game early in 2022.
Taking it all in, IU is a massive step up in talent and athleticism from what WKU has played in their first two games, and it may take a bit for the Tops to settle in on the road after a bye week.
IU 34 - WKU 24
We’d like to thank Hoosier Huddle again for taking the time to answer our questions! Be sure to go check out their website as well as their Twitter account for an IU perspective on this matchup.
We also joined them on their podcast to help preview this weekend’s game. You can hear that by clicking here.