Express Opponent View: Indiana
The battle for the Old Oaken Bucket drips with intrigue for Purdue.
The Boilermakers (7-4 overall; 5-3 Big Ten) not only want to retain the Bucket when they visit Bloomington for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on Saturday vs. Indiana (4-7; 2-6), but they also want to win a share of the Big Ten West title. And that would happen with a victory. A win also could send Purdue to the Big Ten title game if Iowa loses at home to Nebraska on Friday.
GoldandBlack.com spoke to Dylan Sinn of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette to learn more about the Hoosiers.
GoldandBlack.com: What can we expect from the Indiana offense?
Sinn: The big story right now is kind of the emergence of Dexter Williams as their new quarterback, although quarterback is a little bit of a loose term right now because he’s more of running back who plays that position since he only threw seven passes against Michigan State on Saturday and only completed two of them. But he did run 16 times for 86 yards and gives IU an extra dimension in the run game which they did not have most of the season with Connor Bazelak back there.
That has opened up some holes for the run game for running back. Shaun Shivers ran for over 100 yards (vs. Michigan State). Josh Henderson also had had a big game. But the thing with Williams is he can throw the ball. We saw it against Ohio State. One of the first plays of his collegiate career was a 46-yard pass down the field to Andison Coby against that Ohio State defense. He has a good arm. He has speed. He’s clearly confident in his own abilities and he has the confidence of the locker room.
So, Indiana’s offense looks different than it has most of the season. I guess the biggest thing to know, just kind of on a structural level about Indiana’s offense, is they want to play quickly. They are one of the leaders in the country in plays-per-time-of-possession. There have been at least one or two drives every game for the Hoosiers this year where that pace just kind of took the defense out of whatever it wanted to do. It happened against Michigan, happened against Ohio State, happened against Illinois. It’s happened against basically everyone this year. How will Purdue handle that pace? It’s not quite to the level of what Tennessee was trying to do in the Music City Bowl last year, but it’s similar.
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GoldandBlack.com: What can we expect from the Hoosier defense?
Sinn: It’s a veteran unit. They had a group of guys that came back this year that really wasn’t satisfied with the way they played last year when they went 2-10. They wanted better this year. Most of those guys are on defense. Devon Matthews the safety, Tiawan Mullen the cornerback, Jaylin Williams the other corner. These are guys that have been around for a while for IU. They’re all-Big Ten-type players. Those guys have kind of formed the foundation of this defense.
It is a Tom Allen defense through and through. He’s back to calling plays this year after giving up that responsibility the last couple of years. He likes to bring pressure, especially from the secondary. He’s still one of the best in the game at dialing up a blitz. When the opposing team doesn’t expect it, he’ll bring a corner, he’ll bring a safety, and those guys have gotten home on a fairly regular basis when IU dials it up this year.
The biggest weakness for the Indiana defense this year has been its ability to get pressure with four players. The defensive line is nothing to write home about. Beau Robbins of Carmel High is very good. JH Tevis, transfer from Cal who was honorable mention all-Pac-12 last year, is a good player. But there just really isn’t a whole lot of beef up front for that Indiana defensive line that it’s going to scare Purdue.
Indiana has not been a great defense this year. But it has been the better of the two units and it played well down the stretch against Michigan State on Saturday when they got that big win (39-31 2OTs). That’s something to watch out for going forward.
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GoldandBlack.com: How do you see this game unfolding?
Sinn: The biggest question for me is, again, how does Dexter Williams follow up that performance that he had against Michigan State when he led his team to a win? How does he follow that up against Purdue? Is Purdue ready to defend that Indiana run game, which now has an extra hat in the backfield with Dexter Williams? Will Shaun Shrivers and Josh Henderson have the kind of room they had against Michigan State?
I think Purdue has been very good this year at fitting its gaps in the run game. Having the quarterback be a running threat is something that’s caused them some issues this year. I think that’s going to be one of the big keys to the game.
I do think Purdue will get enough stops, its offense will be able to move the ball just enough to win this one. I am picking Purdue, but I don’t think it’s going to be the type of 44-7 beat down that IU experienced last year. I do expect Purdue to win, but I think it will be significantly closer this year. I do expect there will be a couple of drives where IU just kind of marches down the field and it feels kind of bad for Purdue. But I don’t think those will be the norm.
I think something like 24-17 sounds about right to me in favor Purdue, and they will get to 8-4 overall and 6-3 in Big Ten play.
