Game Preview: Indiana to play against Idaho in home opener
Indiana aims to earn its first win of the season against the University of Idaho after a disappointing 34-6 season-opening loss to now-No. 10 Iowa last Saturday. Head coach Tom Allen expects his players' preparation to translate better on the field while playing Idaho than it did against Iowa.
"It wasn't [that] we practiced poorly last week either, but at the same time, that preparation didn't show up on game day, which is all that really matters," Allen said. "So, the key for us now is to transfer what we're doing in practice [and] that [it] shows up on Saturday. That's what I expect and we've had a good week of doing that."
IU and Idaho will face off for the first time in program history. This will also be the first time IU plays an opponent from the Big Sky Conference.
The Vandals opened their season with a 68-0 shutout win against Simon Fraser University, an NCAA Division II school in British Columbia, Canada. Although there is debate about how impressive this season-opening victory was, Idaho deserves credit for its first shutout win since 2010 and scoring the most points in program history since 1994.
The Hoosiers are a 32.5 point favorite, but it's worth mentioning that the University of Montana, another team from the Big Sky Conference, upset then-No. 20 Washington on the road in week one. The odds didn't favor Washington as high as IU, but could the same fate befall IU if Idaho comes out of the gate strong?
Preventing a 0-2 start for IU will rely on improvements from the offense. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. looked anything but comfortable in his first game back since suffering an ACL injury last season against Maryland, throwing a career-high three interceptions.
"It was just small mistakes that we had made in the game that we wish we could have back," Penix said. "But we're going to make sure that we fix those, so we don't make those mistakes again."
Offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan took the blame for the inability of Penix to find a rhythm in a press conference on Monday.
"We didn't get off to the start that we were looking for," Sheridan said. "We were in a little bit of a catch-up mode from that point on. We got to get Mike (Penix) into a good rhythm early in the game and that's my responsibility."
Another goal for the Hoosiers is to establish the run game, which was absent in Iowa. Offensive lineman Luke Haggard was unable to play, but he is now healthy, bolstering the offensive line. While running back Stephen Carr ran tough last Saturday, he wasn't able to have much of an impact. It's something the offense will look to improve in the week two matchup, Sheridan said.
"Stephen Carr ran hard and physical and showed some elusiveness and some bursts," Sheridan said. "I appreciated his toughness; I thought he continued to compete throughout the course of the game. But, it goes without saying we need to do better; I need to coach better."
Unlike IU, Idaho established its run game against Simon Fraser. The Vandals rushed for 316 yards, over half of their total yards. Running back Roshaun Johnson led with 87 yards, scoring three touchdowns. It seems continuing to run the ball effectively will be the key to success.
On the passing side, Idaho head coach Paul Petrino used a unique strategy in the first game, rotating between three different quarterbacks. Allen gave his thoughts about this specific strategy and Idaho as a whole heading into the matchup.
"They got a great understanding of offensive play and how to score points and how to put you in conflict defensively," Allen said. "They play multiple quarterbacks and create different things there and they all have different skill sets. They're just tough ... The toughness of their team shows up on film [on] both sides of the football."
The game is scheduled to start on Saturday, September 11th, at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be available to watch on the Big Ten Network.
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