The Indiana football team is the Jekyll and Hyde of the Big Ten.
“It seems like Indiana, one week they’re up one week they’re down,” sophomore linebacker Mike Labinjo said. “They’ve always got that potential to put up crazy points on the board. They’re a dangerous team offensively.”
Indiana (2-5 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) showed just how crazy its offense can be Saturday when it trounced Northwestern 56-21. But the win was only the Hoosiers’ second of the season after getting off to a rough start - losing three straight - including losses to North Carolina State and Utah.
But a week after losing to Ohio State on Oct. 6, Indiana shocked Wisconsin with a 63-32 win.
And it’s the potential to post big numbers that makes Indiana so scary, sophomore quarterback Jeff Smoker said.
“They can be an explosive team sometimes,” Smoker said. “I don’t know what kind of chemistry they have, but it seems like when they want to play, they can be pretty explosive.
“You just can’t let your guard down, like (with) any other team in the Big Ten, this is the Big Ten. Anybody on any week can beat anyone. That’s the same for Indiana no matter what their record is.”
Indiana’s diversity of offense is part of what makes them so hard to defend, especially when quarterback Antwaan Randle El decides to run the option, defensive secondary coach Troy Douglas said.
“It’s tough because they run option, and than they try to throw a home run on you.” Douglas said. “Option football is a tough thing to play against because it’s all assignments.
“You have to just play your assignment. You have to preach that over and over, whoever the guy is running around (with the ball) you have to find someone to cover.”
Randle El, who also plays wide receiver for the Hoosiers, has rushed for five touchdowns this season.
“This guy can hurt you with his arm and his legs, both ways” Douglas said.
“It’s tough to defend when you have an athletic quarterback - it adds another dimension.”
But Randle El has been much better with his legs this season, and the team’s unpredictable play can partially be credited to his performance - he has thrown four touchdowns this season along with three interceptions.
Randle El began the season exclusively as a wideout, but moved back to quarterback during the team’s three-game slide. As a receiver he is averaging 7.5 yards per reception.
And because he forces teams to be more disciplined with its assignments, it’s important for the players to stay focused, especially because MSU is coming off of an emotional win over Michigan, junior tailback T.J. Duckett said.
“We can’t let up,” Duckett said. “We can’t start thinking we made it or we’ve done something because we haven’t done anything yet. We just have to keep playing.”
Historically, MSU hasn’t performed well the week after it beats the Wolverines, MSU head coach Bobby Williams said after the U-M game.
“We have to really be cautious because history, when you look at when we have beaten (U-M) , we haven’t done well the following week,” Williams said.
“That’s one thing that I cautioned the team in the locker room.
“I don’t want them to feel a sense of relief because that’s always the case and has been the case here since I’ve been here. We’re really going to make sure that we zero in on that particular aspect.”
Instead many players said they hope the win over U-M has the opposite effect of what it has had historically, Labinjo said.
“Hopefully we can feed off of (the U-M) game,” Labinjo said. “Keep the momentum going (in practice) and get ready to face Indiana.”
And how do they do that?
Forget about the U-M game altogether, Smoker said.
“We have to do that because (the win) won’t mean anything unless we win the next game,” he said.
