IU welcomes Spartans for homecoming

Two games and two very different results.\nLast week, the IU football team traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State. The Hoosiers scored first against the No. 1 Buckeyes, but they were unable to score again, losing 44-3. \nThat same weekend at Northwestern, Michigan State orchestrated a 35-point comeback -- the largest in NCAA Division I-A history -- as the Spartans defeated the Wildcats 41-38.\n"They have had some unusual finishes this season," IU coach Terry Hoeppner said of Michigan State during his weekly press conference. "If you watch how it happened, a lot of it was them making plays on offense, defense and special teams. Momentum is a matter of your attitude."\nIU will have its first chance to turn the momentum in its favor this weekend against Michigan State noon at Memorial Stadium.\nHeading into Saturday's homecoming game, the Hoosiers know how poorly they played last week but know they cannot let it affect them this late in the season.\n"Last week was a debacle," junior fullback Josiah Sears said. "We got our asses handed to us. We can't dwell on it. We've got to move on and get ready for Michigan State."\nIn hopes of claiming their third home win of the season, the Hoosiers will try to bounce back from lackluster efforts on both sides of the ball last weekend.\nFreshman safety Austin Thomas and the IU defense will be going up against another Big Ten veteran quarterback in Michigan State senior Drew Stanton.\n"Anytime you're dealing with a running quarterback who can scramble and do things with his legs as well as his arm, it adds that other facet to the game," Thomas said. "We've got to keep him in the pocket and keep him contained."\nThrough eight games, Stanton has averaged almost 200 yards passing with 10 touchdowns. The senior has also gained 456 yards on the ground while getting into the end zone five times.\n"They are very diversified on offense," Hoeppner said. "Drew Stanton is at the heart of it. He is an excellent quarterback."\nFrom the offensive side, the Hoosiers will be going up against a Spartan defense that has given up an average of 32.5 points in four Big Ten games.\nWhile Stanton led the Spartans from a 35-point comeback, the Michigan State defense allowed Northwestern to score 38 points in the game's first 35 minutes before making big plays down the stretch. \nThe Hoosiers know they will have ample opportunities to get into the end zone against a Spartan defense that has struggled with consistency, Sears said.\n"We change our offense each week depending on what we see as holes in their defense," Sears said. "We've found some things that we think will help us execute well, and hopefully they will work on Saturday and we will be able to put some points on the board."\nThe Hoosiers also realize how much of an advantage a full stadium can be. The players have fully embraced Hoeppner's challenge of bringing in 50,000 for the homecoming game.\n"Put it in the paper: All the students need to come out and support us because we're going to get a win against Michigan State," Sears said.