The Hoosiers will hit the road for the second time this season as they head to Western Kentucky to take on the Hilltoppers.
Western Kentucky sits at 1-1 coming off of its bye week. The Hilltoppers opened the season with a 59-21 win over UT Martin and a 38-35 loss at Army. WKU outscored Army 21-3 in the last 10 minutes to come within three points.
Indiana leads the all-time series against the Hilltoppers 3-0. The last meeting was in Bloomington where Indiana took a 38-35 win.
WKU has lit up the field through two games. Senior quarterback Bailey Zeppe has thrown for a combined 859 yards and 10 touchdowns through the air. That is good enough to be the best passing offense in the FBS this season ahead of Arkansas State and Marshall.
The rushing game for the Hilltoppers, however, is not as formidable. Only 42 yards and 19 attempts per game. Western Kentucky is going to try to beat Indiana in a shootout, and that is no secret.
Army abused WKU on the ground two weeks ago, something that Coach Sheridan and the Hoosiers may be able to emulate. No, Indiana doesn’t run the wishbone, but the Hilltoppers struggled in neutralizing Army’s speed back Tyrell Robinson, who rushed for 81 yards on seven attempts, an 11.6 yards/rush average. Speedy quarterback Christain Anderson had 119 yards on 22 carries as well.
I’d be interested to see how Indiana incorporates Stephen Carr and maybe even D.J. Matthews in the running game to find a big advantage on Saturday night. If Michael Penix could utilize his legs more, Indiana could run away with this one, but nothing signals that happening in the past three weeks.
Here are some key players, stats and notes to look for.
