As I sit here on a Tuesday morning having had two full days to digest IU's 38-10 loss to Ohio State, I continue to wonder how this team will fare for the remainder of the season.
Yes, I still feel this is a bowl team. I'm standing by my guarantee from earlier in the season. From the way I see it, only one game left on the Hoosiers' schedule is not winnable -- home vs. Iowa. Other than that, Arkansas State, Illinois, Northwestern, Penn State and Purdue have all displayed serious flaws at this point in the season.
I think IU wins three of those five games and finishes 6-6.
But several pressing issues remain and I will use this space to discuss them.
The secondary is bad...And really bad, at that. The entire defense has struggled, but the corners and safeties seem to make the same mistakes time and time again. I thought Mitchell Evans was going to have a big year for the Hoosiers after he played well in the opener against Towson, but he's almost always out of place and gives receivers easy catches and touchdowns. Arkansas State, which has a good offense, will probably throw up 28 points on IU this weekend.
How bad are these injuries?...Mainly I'm talking about injuries that held running back Darius Willis and offensive lineman James Brewer out of Saturday's game against Ohio State. Brewer will not play this week, but Willis' status remains uncertain.
What if Willis doesn't come back for four or five games? After all, this is a guy a lot of time last year due to injury. The Hoosiers need Willis not only for what he provides in the rushing game, but also because he is a great pass blocker. I'm only speculating here, but I wouldn't be surprised if he misses more time than is anticipated.
