Taming of the Shoe

Freshman quarterback Kellen Lewis hasn't seen anything like what he will face this weekend when the Hoosiers travel to Ohio State.\nNot only is Lewis facing the No. 1 team in the country, but Ohio Stadium offers a challenge in itself. \nThe horseshoe-shaped stadium holds 101,568 at capacity -- making it the fourth-largest on-campus facility in the country -- and will be full of highly partisan Buckeye fans.\n"It's hard to block out 110,000, but you've got to remember they can only play 11 at a time," Lewis said. "So they can't put any fans on the field to play for them."\nThe Buckeyes have an all-time winning percentage of .769 at home and have won nine-straight home games. Their last loss at home was to then-No. 2 ranked University of Texas last season.\nLewis traveled to Michigan last season as a redshirt, where he experienced a crowd of more than 100,000 from the sidelines but said traveling to Iowa was better preparation for playing a Big Ten road game in a raucous environment.\n"They had fans that threw a couple things at us on the sidelines and constantly talked to you on the sidelines," Lewis said of the Iowa experience last season. "Traveling as a freshman helped a lot, so I won't be shocked when I get in there."\nMeanwhile, Lewis and his teammates will have to contend with the best team in the country.\nOhio State (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) is ranked atop both The Associated Press and USA Today/Coach's Poll. It also came out on top of the first Bowl Championship Series rankings, which were released Sunday.\nQuarterback Troy Smith -- an early season Heisman Trophy front-runner -- leads the Big Ten in passing touchdowns, quarterback rating and completion percentage.\nSophomore linebacker Jim Laurinaitis leads the third-best defense in the conference. Laurinaitis is atop the Big Ten in interceptions with four and is third in the conference with 59 tackles. Laurinaitis has stepped in immediately and filled the void left by first round NFL draft picks A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter.\n"Great programs have people waiting in the wings and ready to step in. A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter are gone, but the coaches are the same, the scheme is the same," IU coach Terry Hoeppner said. "It's a great challenge for our offense, but we have a lot of confidence right now in our offense."\nLewis is coming off the best game in his young career. He threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for one in Saturday's 31-28 upset of Iowa. He took home several national and conference awards as a result.\nSophomore receiver James Hardy also found his stride last game, catching all three of Lewis' passing touchdowns and breaking the 100-yard plateau for the first time all season.\nBoth players are focused on doing exactly what they did last week against Iowa this week against Ohio State. \n"They're going to be more aggressive. We have to come in with our scheme and do what we have to do to prepare," Hardy said. "They're still the No. 1 team in the country, but if we go out there and play our hardest, I think we'll give them a game"