Indina=poor man's Nebraska

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so both teams have high octane offenses with very weak defense, i would say that Nebraska is better/more talented on both sides of the ball, if we can run the ball like we did on Nebraska's D then there is no reason why we can't do it against IU, comparing the two offensively Taylor Martinez is a more explosive and mobile QB then Nate Sudfield and Tre Roberson but an 90% Martinez like he was today probably isn't as mobile as Roberson, Ameer Abullah is much more explosive/better then anybody IU has offensively at the running back, the IU WRs are very good and probably their best component, Nebraska has some good explosive WRs as well like Kenny Bell, Quincy Enunwia, and Jamal Turner so those units are probably equal, the NU O-line is probably better then IU O-line was well but IU leads the big ten in yards, not Nebraska but Nebraska is 5-2 while IU is 3-4, what do you guys think?
 

As many have mentioned, I think a lot of our success yesterday was due to a new look offense that NE seemed bewildered by. Indiana will now be able to try to come up with a counter strategy. The good news is this gives their Def Coordinator more to plan for. Hopefully Limegrover can come up with a few new twists this upcoming Saturday.
 

Nebraska is not better than Indiana on offense. Indiana's offense is unreal. Thankfully, their defense is also just as bad.

As for nobody on Indiana being as explosive as Abdullah, I'd give Tevin Coleman a closer look.

We should give Indiana a lot of respect. 3 of their four losses were against Missouri, Michigan State, and Michigan. Even Navy just beat Pitt. We'll probably have to score at least 35 (Indiana put up 28 on Michigan State, who might have the best defense in the country)

I'm actually more confident about beating Penn State at home than I am Indiana on the road.
 

I think you meant the title of the thread to be:

Indina = poor man's Nebrska :D
 

I've never been a fan of Taylor Martinez throwing the ball, I suspect that Nate Sudfeld will be able to pass better than he did. Indiana is last in the B1G in rushing defense too though which feeds into the Gophers strength. It'll be an interesting matchup.

That being said, the teams that give the Gophers the most trouble seem to be the power running teams (Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin) that are able to overpower the undersized Gophers defense, that's not Indiana. If the Gophers play like they have the last 2 weeks, I like their chances.
 


mkAz said:
I've never been a fan of Taylor Martinez throwing the ball, I suspect that Nate Sudfeld will be able to pass better than he did. Indiana is last in the B1G in rushing defense too though which feeds into the Gophers strength. It'll be an interesting matchup.

That being said, the teams that give the Gophers the most trouble seem to be the power running teams (Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin) that are able to overpower the undersized Gophers defense, that's not Indiana. If the Gophers play like they have the last 2 weeks, I like their chances.
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Indiana's Defense is horrific against the Run. *IF* we can sustain looooooong & more importantly scoring drives & throw them off balance into drives that don't end in TD's we have a great shot. I remember back in 2005 Michigan State was averaging over 500 yards a game & nearly 40 points coming into the dome & we were without Maroney. MSU's Offense was a high scoring quick-strike Passing Offense that we all know was Mason's achilles heel. How did we beat them? LOOOOOOONG scoring drives throwing MSU off balance & they would come out on Offense flat due to not being on the field... we had the ball nearly 40 minutes. The Gophers were holding onto the ball until the last 5-10 seconds of the play clock. I still have that game on tape & remember the camera showing the Spartans bench in the 3rd when they were down 35-3 & they just looked completely disinterested & beat. I also remember the commenter saying how it's more difficult to establish a rhythm when you're a pass heavy team as opposed to running...

Also said our Defense was really our Offense because they kept MSU's off the field...

I'd expect thats the only way to really keep Indiana from putting on a clinic. Get them in a couple early 3rd & Longs while maintaining 5+ minute drives. Navy showed that... we have to as well or else we could be in a shootout which is the worse thing that could happen with our style of ball...
 

Donovan said:
As many have mentioned, I think a lot of our success yesterday was due to a new look offense that NE seemed bewildered by. Indiana will now be able to try to come up with a counter strategy. The good news is this gives their Def Coordinator more to plan for. Hopefully Limegrover can come up with a few new twists this upcoming Saturday.
Click to expand...

If the Gophers keep mixing it up, they should easily be able to put up 30+ points. The problem is, Indiana gameplan is as diverse as any in the nation, and that team can score points at will. Holding them to less than 30 will be tough. Claeys has his hands full.
 

cncmin said:
If the Gophers keep mixing it up, they should easily be able to put up 30+ points. The problem is, Indiana gameplan is as diverse as any in the nation, and that team can score points at will. Holding them to less than 30 will be tough. Claeys has his hands full.
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I already like our chances. We may have the best d-coordinator in all of football. Oh, and the best interim head coach too :)

Go Gophers!
 




According to ESPN's Bennett/Rittenburg, Indiana has the conference's worst run defense. If that's the case, then I'm hoping to see a 400+ yards rushing performance next week in Bloomington. I'm not saying we'll win because that offense scares me (like a healthy Northwestern's did). But if we can keep their offense off the field for as long as possible with our ground game, that will be another game we have a chance to win.

thailleagle said:
Indiana's Defense is horrific against the Run. *IF* we can sustain looooooong & more importantly scoring drives & throw them off balance into drives that don't end in TD's we have a great shot. I remember back in 2005 Michigan State was averaging over 500 yards a game & nearly 40 points coming into the dome & we were without Maroney. MSU's Offense was a high scoring quick-strike Passing Offense that we all know was Mason's achilles heel. How did we beat them? LOOOOOOONG scoring drives throwing MSU off balance & they would come out on Offense flat due to not being on the field... we had the ball nearly 40 minutes. The Gophers were holding onto the ball until the last 5-10 seconds of the play clock. I still have that game on tape & remember the camera showing the Spartans bench in the 3rd when they were down 35-3 & they just looked completely disinterested & beat. I also remember the commenter saying how it's more difficult to establish a rhythm when you're a pass heavy team as opposed to running...

Also said our Defense was really our Offense because they kept MSU's off the field...

I'd expect thats the only way to really keep Indiana from putting on a clinic. Get them in a couple early 3rd & Longs while maintaining 5+ minute drives. Navy showed that... we have to as well or else we could be in a shootout which is the worse thing that could happen with our style of ball...
Click to expand...

I think the saying goes, "Best defense is a good, ground pounding Offense" Anyway, I get where you are going.. As it's the few things I said we'd have to do vs. the Huskers in order to have a chance.
 

MNGoldenGophers1 said:
I already like our chances. We may have the best d-coordinator in all of football. Oh, and the best interim head coach too :)

Go Gophers!
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I'd say a fair comparison to the prowess of Indiana's offense is, actually, Michigan. Both are quick-strike offenses with athletic QBs and athletic receivers that spread the defense in many directions, with a tailback that can beat you that way as well; and the Gophers will have played both on the road.

The Gophers actually fared decently against Michigan, defensively, in the first half, and had the offense been able to move the ball, would not have given them more than 1 score the first half. Michigan scored a bunch of points late in the game, and not all by their offense to end up with 52.

Now that the weather is starting to change and plays a larger role in games, it'll be interesting to see how it affects Indiana's quick-strike game.
 





Indiana is a dangerous team but I like our chances. I am surprised by the -9.5 spread. Don't turn it over and limit big plays from Indiana will be key. I am thinking that the game will be tight in the first half and by midway through the 3rd the run game will have worn the hoosiers d down.
 

vagopher said:
If we can run, we can win.
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I would add to that, if we can run it into the end zone, we can win. We can't log up a ton of yards and then finish with FGs, FGs will get us beat in this game, just like they would have against Nebraska.

I do think our defense is equipped to handle Indiana's offense, meaning, we have pretty good speed, our secondary is not terrible, and we CAN tackle well in space. As long as they don't go through too many lapses when in those one on one tackling situations, we should be okay. It could be a bit frustrating to watch, kinda like earlier in the year when teams were just chipping away with the quick 5 yard passes. They just need to be sure they don't get impatient and try to make a big play (gamble) that maybe isn't there, which leads to a big play the other way.
 

There is a reason we are 10 point dogs. Ugh, I think this is gonna be a tough game.
 

thailleagle said:
Indiana's Defense is horrific against the Run. *IF* we can sustain looooooong & more importantly scoring drives & throw them off balance into drives that don't end in TD's we have a great shot. I remember back in 2005 Michigan State was averaging over 500 yards a game & nearly 40 points coming into the dome & we were without Maroney. MSU's Offense was a high scoring quick-strike Passing Offense that we all know was Mason's achilles heel. How did we beat them? LOOOOOOONG scoring drives throwing MSU off balance & they would come out on Offense flat due to not being on the field... we had the ball nearly 40 minutes. The Gophers were holding onto the ball until the last 5-10 seconds of the play clock. I still have that game on tape & remember the camera showing the Spartans bench in the 3rd when they were down 35-3 & they just looked completely disinterested & beat. I also remember the commenter saying how it's more difficult to establish a rhythm when you're a pass heavy team as opposed to running...

Also said our Defense was really our Offense because they kept MSU's off the field...

I'd expect thats the only way to really keep Indiana from putting on a clinic. Get them in a couple early 3rd & Longs while maintaining 5+ minute drives. Navy showed that... we have to as well or else we could be in a shootout which is the worse thing that could happen with our style of ball...
Click to expand...
Exact same game plan as Saturday. Run the ball, win time-of-possession, and limit IU's opportunities. Or offense may be our best defense. Time-of-possession was a huge factor in our last two wins.
 

nokomismod said:
Would SJSU be a fair comparison to IU?
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Total Offense in Yards per Game, SJSU & Indiana are a dead heat. SJSU relys even more on the pass game than Indiana. Fales (for SJSU) is a better rated quarterback. As far as what happened when SJSU played us: Fales threw for 439 yards. Gophers had 71. Rushing: SJSU had 60 and we had 361. We held the ball for 70% of the game. I don't think you could find a better comparison in all of football between 2 teams than Indiana & SJSU.
 

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