DIPRIMIO NOTEBOOK: Indiana Aims to Finish Against No. 6 Ohio State

By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana has a chance to rock the Big Ten world on Saturday against No. 6 Ohio State, but one thing has to happen first:

It can't rock itself.

The Hoosiers (2-0) have to find perspective with the intensity, patience with the urgency. It is, head coach Tom Allen said during Monday's weekly media session, the only way to turn opportunity into victory at Memorial Stadium.

"This is obviously a huge game," Allen said, "there's no question there's a heightened sense of intensity and focus, but you can't make it bigger than it is."

That's easy to say, hard to do, especially given the fact IU remains a young team, starting with redshirt freshman quarterback Michael Penix Jr.

So as Allen and his staff emphasize mental development as much as physical, including the use of sports psychologists.

"We've brought various ones in and just did another one at the end of fall camp," Allen said. "To be able to address the mental side of your preparation, which I think is very, very important, and also just the way that we train in the weight room, just doing different things and additional things and strategic things -- either exercises or activities that we do with our guys at critical times of a workout, late in the workout, often at the end of the workout.

"We call them finishers. Just to get our mental toughness to where we're able to, no matter what gets thrown at us, it's just the mindset is that it just doesn't faze us. That nothing can break us unless we let it. We are the ones that allow it to happen. (Get to the point that) no person, no situation, no environment and no set of circumstances can break this football team. That's what you want."

Allen is early in the third year of his head-coaching quest to turn a traditionally struggling program into a winner. The Hoosiers have been tantalizingly close in recent years to a break-through victory.

Saturday is a chance to make it happen on a national scale.

"You're changing a mindset, you're changing a culture, you're changing expectation, and I guess at the end of the day, you're changing belief," Allen said. "That to me is what gets tested in these games."

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IU receiver Whop Philyor and defensive lineman James Head Jr. were named the team's offensive and defensive players of the game for their Eastern Illinois performances.

Philyor had four catches for 75 yards, including a tackle-busting 36-yard effort early in the game to jump start the Hoosiers to their 52-0 victory.

"I thought he set the tone for us in both that first third-down catch that he made as well as just the tough hard-nosed run that he had," Allen said. "That was a good tone setter."

Head had four tackles and a sack, and helped IU dominate the line of scrimmage.

"I thought he really played to the level I expected him to and I said that to him," Allen said. "I'm proud of him, just getting him to be a more explosive game-changing guy in the backfield and using his burst."

Aaron Casey earned special teams honors after his blocked punt in the first quarter.

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Ohio State (2-0) brings multiples challenges.

Quarterback Justin Fields, a transfer from Georgia, completes 76 percent of his passes for 458 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. He's also rushed for 103 yards.

"Any time you get a young man that can run and throw the ball with equal effectiveness," Allen said, "it always creates a lot of challenges. Justin Fields has a very strong arm, but also he can really run. He's a tremendous quarterback, a great player, and I have a lot of respect for his skill set.

"That creates a lot of problems for the defense, and so we've got to do a great job of being able to contain that, and not giving up those explosive plays."

Two receivers average more than 18 yards a catch -- Binjimen Victor averages 19.1 yards in his seven catches. Chris Olave averages 18.3 yards.

Tailback J.K. Dobbins has rushed for 236 yards and three touchdowns.

"He's a very good football player," Allen said of Dobbins, "and we've got to get a lot of hats to him. That's why the tackling has been such a big deal for me. I knew what was coming. We've got to have our best game of tackling."

Even the punter is a force. Drue Chrisman won Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors after punting three times for a 43.0 average with no punt return yards allowed against Cincinnati. Two of his punts were downed inside the Cincinnati 5-yard line.

The Buckeyes also have a powerhouse defense that allows 10.5 points a game and 64.5 rushing yards. Florida Atlantic and Cincinnati averaged just 1.9 yards a carry.

"It's a tremendous challenge and tremendous opportunity all wrapped up into one," Allen said.

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A big IU key will be the offensive line play.

While veterans Coy Cronk, Hunter Littlejohn and Simon Stepaniak will play big roles, much will be needed from first-time starters Harry Crider and Caleb Jones.

"We got to keep getting better," Allen said. "There's a level of intensity and toughness (you need). It's every little step you take and working with the guys around you.

"Caleb is obviously a big individual (6-8 and 358 pounds), but he's starting for the first time. And Harry has played even more than he has.

"Just being able to go against these defensive ends they're going to play against on the perimeter is different than the first couple weeks, a lot different. And then the two guys on the inside they're going to be facing, that Harry will be matched up with is more physical, more explosive, bigger guys. It's a heightened sense of technical precision you have to have in everything that you do, whether it's the communication piece or whether it's the footwork, your hand placement, the line calls, and checks and adjustments, all the stuff that they do.

"Caleb was able to play last year against Iowa, so that was a good chance for him to be in the fray of this type of competition that he's going to be seeing.

"Obviously, those three seniors (Cronk, Littlejohn, Stepaniak) are huge. They've been there, they've done that, multi-year starters and been in these games, played in these games, love these games."

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History is not on IU's side against Ohio State. The Hoosiers haven't beaten the Buckeyes since 1988.

However, that statistic is misleading given how close Indiana has been in recent years.

Last season it was within 11 points entering the fourth quarter. In 2017, it had the lead in the third quarter before fading. In 2015 it lost 34-27, throwing in the end zone on the final possession.

"I know the history," Allen said. "I know where we're at. I know (how long it's) been since we've beaten this team.

"To me, it's about being our very, very best on Saturday. We have to play extremely hard; we have to play extremely well; we have to play extremely physical; and we have to do it for 60 minutes, not 50, not 40. It's got to be 60. That's the next step for this program."

Lack of depth and talent were big reasons for the late-game struggles. But improved recruiting and player development suggest a change is coming.

"That's the expectation," Allen said. "You go back to the 2017 and '18 games, late in the third quarter, the games were close, and then they pulled away.

"Bottom line is that we have to finish. It's not about just competing with them and feeling good about that. Certain stages of your program you feel that's what you want to do. To me, we've been there and done that, so now we've got to finish.

"A lot of variables go into that. It's obviously executing in those (late-game) situations, which they have done that and we have not. And also it's that the depth that you have in your program to be able to keep playing guys and keeping them fresh and being able to play at that high of a level in the fourth quarter. That's what it's going to come down to.

"That's why you recruit; that's why you develop; and we've made progress in that area. This is a test case to see where we are."

DIPRIMIO NOTEBOOK: Indiana Aims to Finish Against No. 6 Ohio State

Players Mentioned

Aaron Casey

Harry Crider

Coy Cronk

James Head Jr.

Caleb Jones

Hunter Littlejohn

Michael Penix Jr.

Whop Philyor

Simon Stepaniak

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