Hoosiers Looking To Solve Road Woes At Akron

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—Coach Bill Lynch sees Indiana making progress. His team is running better, taking care of the ball and making those big defensive plays when it needs them most.

On Saturday, the Hoosiers will try to solve another problem: Winning on the road.

“The environment is going to be very difficult,“ Lynch said of Indiana’s trip to Akron. “It’s a beautiful new stadium, and it’s right on campus.“

No, they won’t be playing in front of more than 100,000 raucous Michigan fans. Indiana gets that chance next week.

But road trips of all kinds have usually been unpleasant for Indiana (2-0).

Since 2000, the Hoosiers are 7-39 outside of Bloomington with four of those wins coming by a combined total of 16 points. They’ve lost seven straight conference road games and have barely escaped with wins at other Mid-American Conference schools such as Ball State and Central Michigan that rarely get Big Ten schools on campus.

Akron (1-1) certainly fits the pattern.

The Zips welcome Indiana, which hung on for a 23-19 victory over MAC foe Western Michigan last weekend, to their brand new InfoCision Stadium after beating Morgan State in 41-0 in the debut game there last week.

For Akron, it’s a chance to give their program a signature win in its inaugural season at the stadium, located between Cleveland and the NFL’s Hall of Fame.

“I think they understand the opportunity of a Big Ten opponent coming in here,“ Akron coach J.D. Brookhart said. “We’ve never been able to beat a Big Ten team and now that opportunity is there, we’ve got to play a lot better. They’ll be ready, they have their vision in place and I think we’ll prepare for the week right.“

Actually, Brookhart misspoke. The Zips are 1-19 all-time against Big Ten schools - they beat Ohio State in 1894. Back then, though, Akron was known as Buchtel College and the Big Ten had not been founded.

Indiana hopes to add to Akron’s misery, but must show more improvement this week.

While the Hoosiers dramatically improved their numbers in the ground game from Week 1 and eliminated the turnovers that plagued them against Eastern Kentucky, some problems still exist.

Indiana has only four touchdowns in 12 trips inside the red zone this season. It also leads the Big Ten with 21 penalties, more than half of those coming for illegal procedure, offsides or illegal substitution - penalties more likely to show up in loud, unfamiliar venues than a friendly home environment.

Lynch brought in referees this week, hoping the assistants would have more time to teach players how to get it right at practice before heading to Akron and Michigan.

“It (road games) are something we’ve got to get used to, something we’ve not had to deal with yet,“ quarterback Ben Chappell said. “But it’s going to be loud there.“

Indiana has other concerns, too.

Akron runs a 3-4 defense instead of the more conventional 4-3 and has not allowed a point over the past six quarters - the last two against Penn State and all four in last week’s shutout.

Plus, the Zips have a senior quarterback in Chris Jacquemain and a solid receiver in 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior Deryn Bowser, who already has four TD receptions.

The Hoosiers remember Jacquemain from their meeting two years ago in Bloomington, a 41-24 Indiana victory.

But Bowser could be the tougher matchup. He’s taller than three of the four cornerbacks listed on the Hoosiers depth chart, prompting Joe Palcic, the co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach, to make contingency plans.

“If you can, you’d like to get aggressive with him (Bowser) at the line of scrimmage and then get someone over the top of him,“ he said. “That’s how you try to match up.“

Indiana desperately needs to gain confidence on the road - and a win would certainly help it heading into conference play.

“It might not be as big of a crowd, but it’s definitely a different atmosphere for some of the guys,“ running back Demetrius McCray said. “I think us having experience playing at places like Ball State will be good for us.“


For additional information, stay with NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com—Where Accuracy Matters.
To submit a story idea or news tip, e-mail .
MORE: NBC 4 Local News | Local Crime News
NBC 4 SPORTS: Sports News, Video
NBC 4 POLITICS: Headlines, Interactives & Video