Column: 5 reasons to wake up and go to Saturday’s football game

Are you having a hard time motivating yourself to get out of bed on a freezing cold Saturday morning and hike your butt to Memorial Stadium for an IU football game?

Here are five reasons to get out there to see the Hoosiers play No. 15 Iowa.

1. The Hawkeyes are really good — especially on defense. The first time quarterback Ben Chappell and the IU offense faced a great Big Ten defense against Ohio State, it looked awful.

Chappell and the Hoosiers will get another chance on Saturday.

Iowa enters the game allowing only 14.5 points per game, the eighth fewest in the nation.

2. Chappell’s last home game — Yes, eventually every player walks onto the Memorial Stadium turf for the final time.

Chappell’s final walk is special, however, because he’s the Bloomington kid who finally got his shot as the Hoosiers’ quarterback.

I don’t know if it being his final home game will make Chappell play better than he has the last couple weeks, but I have a feeling it will.

“It’s been a long five years, but it has been fun,” Chappell said.

Plus, it’s your last opportunity to see the IU football team at home this season.

3. Bill Lynch coaching for his job — kind of ... Stop it now.

Stop calling for Lynch’s head. Stop begging IU Athletics Director Fred Glass to do something. Just stop.

It’s not going to help. Lynch is not going to be fired in the middle of the season, and that’s fair. Rarely does anything good ever come from such a move.

In my mind, these last four games are a job interview for Lynch. Or a job audit.

If he and his Hoosiers look to be an improving football team against Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State and Purdue, then he’ll keep his job and live out his contract.

If IU loses all four, however, and looks bad doing so, Lynch should be gone. It’s that simple.

4. Chappell is close to a record — Wow, I’m starting to feel like Chappell’s agent, not that he has one.

But the IU quarterback is only three completions away from breaking Kellen Lewis’ record of 565. If he keeps throwing touchdown passes at his current pace, he’ll pass Lewis’ record of 48 before the season is over.

5. Find out if last year was a fluke — If you remember correctly, the Hoosiers led Iowa 21-7 in Iowa City, Iowa a year ago and were poised to go in for another touchdown to make it a three-possession game.

“We played really well for the first three quarters,” Lynch said. “We needed to be ahead by more than 10 (heading into the fourth quarter).”

But a fluke Chappell interception was returned for a score, and the Hawkeyes were on their way to an easy 42-24 victory.

That Iowa team, in my mind, was better than this one — especially on the defensive side of the ball.

But was it a fluke? Were the Hawkeyes simply overlooking IU?

Saturday’s game could give us an answer.

The Hoosiers are more experienced this season, and yet they have been about as bad in conference play as they could possibly be.   
 
Don’t expect Iowa, which is coming off a 37-6 thrashing of then-No. 5 Michigan State, to take the Hoosiers lightly in this one.

The Hawkeyes are still hungry for that Big Ten title.

PREDICTION
The Hoosiers, similar to many teams at this time of year, are banged up.

Wide receiver Tandon Doss hardly looked like himself last week against Northwestern, and tight end Ted Bolser suffered a concussion in that game.

But for some reason, I expect IU to play well against Iowa. Chappell will have his most productive game since Homecoming, and the Hoosiers will keep it close for a while.

Iowa 27, IU 17


E-mail: jmalbers@indiana.edu