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BLOOMINGTON – Indiana football's final tune-up of the non-conference schedule comes this Saturday when the Hoosiers welcome MAC foe Akron to Memorial Stadium.

The Hoosiers have a number of nagging issues that they can refine before jumping back into the rest of the Big Ten conference slate.

Indiana will look to ensure a victory and get back to a 2-2 record before traveling to Maryland next weekend. Here's three keys to an IU victory over the Zips.

Indiana put a lot of pressure on Jack Plummer of Louisville last weekend, but oftentimes, their pressure amounted to nothing because they were unable to contain him when he scrambled.

Indiana needs to set the edge and be able to capitalize when the defensive line crowds the pocket. Plummer made the Hoosiers pay for that with several long scrambles. Most importantly, Plummer was able to scramble on a crucial third and long late in the fourth quarter, in which the first down put the game on ice.

Akron quarterback, DJ Irons, is definitely more of a pocket passer than a scrambler, but he is a capable runner in a pinch. This will make setting the edge a bit easier as far as containment, but it could be more difficult to rattle the senior quarterback.

Though the Hoosier secondary came up with some big plays last week, they also showcased a lot of their weaknesses, namely the deep ball. If Irons has time to let his routes develop and step into a clean throw, Indiana could once again be burned on deep throws.

It all starts with the defensive front. If guys like Andre Carter and Aaron Casey can put pressure on Irons while forcing him to hang in the pocket and make a more difficult throw, it will make a world of difference for Indiana.

The Hoosier offense was woefully bad for the duration of the first half against the Cardinals. Tayven Jackson was not throwing accurate passes, the running backs had no room to run, and the receivers found little to no separation.

Worst of all, however, was the play calling.

Read option after read option was the story of the game for Indiana on Saturday. It was abundantly clear that the Cardinals had game planned for all of the read option looks, and yet Tom Allen continued to run the same plays.

To Allen's credit, the offense looked great in the second half. They incorporated several different plays that fans haven't really seen from Indiana this year. End arounds, deep throws, and play actions, oh my!

It was this offensive approach that nearly brought Indiana all the way back from a 21-point halftime deficit, but it was too little too late. Indiana needs to throw some different looks at the Zips this weekend.

Running a dynamic offense will open everything up and keep the defense honest. This will allow Hoosier playmakers to actually make plays and create scoring opportunities.

On each team's opening offensive drive at almost any level of football, the plays follow a script. The coaches lay it out during the week before so that the offense knows what plays they are going to be running.

These plays are not only important as far as scoring points on your first drive, but they help the offense settle into a rhythm and get a better idea of what kind of looks they're going to see from the defense throughout the day.

Most importantly for the Hoosiers, a well-executed script will get Jackson comfortable and settled into the game. The young quarterback looked rattled early against Louisville after being named the started the week prior.

His passes were off the mark several times in the first half, and I believe if the script would've been more successful on the opening series, he would not have had those blunders.

When Jackson was more comfortable and got into a rhythm in the second half, he was stellar. His pocket presence, decision making, and execution of high-difficulty throws are most of what led the Hoosier comeback effort.

Indiana needs to find a way to get that Jackson on the field early. The easiest way to do that from the outset will be executing the opening script at a high level. If the Hoosiers do that, Jackson could be in for a very big day.

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