Keys to Victory: Minnesota

Well here we go. Three "winnable" home games left. Three wins needed for a bowl birth, Without delay, here's what the Hoosiers will have to do to win their fifth straight homecoming game:

#1 Shake off the Negativity

No doubt it's hard work being a loyal IU football fan, but at the end of the day, we're just fans. The players are the ones who have actually dedicated their college lives trying to make this season a special one for Indiana. As hard as this roller coaster year has been for fans, seniors like Kofi Hughes and Ted Bolser are the ones who have the most to lose. Now that the number of "winnable" games matches the number of wins still needed to make a bowl, it's desperate times for the seniors. To add to the stress, the media has been calling for at least one of their coach's job (guilty). It's no wonder the players were relieved to have some time to step away from everything: "It's almost like your girlfriend. You do something every single day, it doesn't really give you the opportunity to miss it. And so I think getting to go home for the weekend...it gives you a chance to kind of miss football, get your hunger back."

The Hoosiers need to show up to Memorial Stadium on Saturday with the same confidence and swagger they left it with several weeks ago after beating Penn State. When the offense isn't relaxed, they're far less effective (see Missouri). They can't start thinking about blowing their bowl chances, or they surely will.

#2 Stop the Run at all Cost

Minnesota's offense is completely one-dimensional. While their rushing offense is ranked an impressive 23rd in the NCAA, the passing offense is 121st out of 125 teams. Their two quarterbacks, have been equally ineffective passing the ball as the team has averaged single digit completions in their first eight games. Philip Nelson has gotten the majority of the snaps lately, but Mitch Leidner poses more of threat to the Hoosiers as the mobile quarterback is the team's second leading rusher. If the Indiana defense can limit the Gopher's rushing attack, there is no way their offense will be able to keep pace with that of Indiana's. At least Minnesota shouldn't be able to move the ball through the air, but Michigan State's offense wasn't supposed to be capable of moving the ball at all before they hung 42 on the Hoosier defense. Anything is possible which is why the coaches have to...

#3 Adjust to the Inevitable

The Hoosiers have a real knack for allowing previously unknown players to have put up Heisman worthy numbers. Navy's Keenan Reynolds, Michigan State's entire offense, and Michigan's Jeremy Gallon have all had career days against the Hoosier defense so far this year. This week, watch for Minnesota freshman Donovahn Jones to have a breakout game. The converted QB lines up at WR, but will likely do most his damage running the ball on receiver sweeps. Last week against Nebraska, he had carried ball 4 times and averaged over 10 yards per carry.

Whether it is indeed Jones who appears on his way to a career day, or another Gopher, the Indiana defense simply needs to adjust. Kevin Wilson said earlier this year that bad coaches make adjustments in the film room on Sunday, but good coaches make the adjustments during the game. By Wilson's definition, the defense's coaches were "bad" last week if nothing else because they failed to adjust the defense to make sure Gallon would be covered. The coaching staff has to make adjustments this week. Period.

#4 Make the QB Situation Work

Seth Littrell said the offense would need both quarterbacks to be at its best. That's probably true, but the two have struggled to effectively compliment each other lately. When one is up the other seems to be down, and apparently the roommates are having a bit of trouble sharing. Wilson said Sudfeld has been "moody and moping" (ouch!) since Tre's play and and playing time have improved. If both quarterbacks are going to be used, they both need to be on board and focus on doing their job rather than trying to do to much and outshine the other. Tre will most likely start, but Sudfeld won't spend the entire game on the bench. When he gets his chance, there can't be any drop off in the offense as there was last week.

#5 Score When It Counts

Kevin Wilson blamed the offense for the Michigan game, and to some extent, he's right: "To me, that game is on the offense...If we can't stop them, we'd better score 100, 50, whatever it takes. In the fourth quarter, when we needed to make the plays to win the game, we didn't make them."

He's obviously not saying the defense played well; he's saying the defense is hopeless so the offense has to make up for it. We've known that to be the situation since before the season started. Bottom line, it doesn't matter how many times the defense lets Minnesota score as long as our offense scores one more. Last week, wasn't the first time the offense failed to capitalize down the stretch which probably is due to their previously mentioned decreased effectiveness when they tighten up.

Prediction:

Indiana will grossly sell out against the run, but Minnesota's passing attack is so bad that it won't matter. Tre Roberson will officially reestablish himself as the leader of the offense, and the seniors won't let the Golden Gophers ruin their bowl hopes. Oh yea, and it's homecoming. Call me crazy...

INDIANA 42 MINNESOTA 17