Indiana Hoosiers-Akron Zips: Week Three Preview

The 2-0 Indiana Hoosiers travel to Akron, Ohio for their first road game of the season, where they face the Akron Zips.

Indiana is coming off another close win, a 23-19 victory against Western Michigan.

This is a make or break game for the Hoosiers, because most people would agree that they don't have much of a chance next week in the big house vs. Michigan, and a loss to Akron would leave them 2-2 going into their next home game, vs. Ohio State.

The Hoosiers have focused this week in practice on limiting the amount of penalties they are committing during games. In the two weeks so far, they have committed 21 penalties, which is tops in the Big 10.

Indiana will also have to improve their offense in the second half, as they have no touchdowns so far this season in the third and fourth quarters.

Akron is coming off a 41-0 win against Morgan St. at home in their new stadium, InfoCision Stadium. Surely this week there will be a capacity crowd of 30,000 to cheer on the Zips.

Akron is 1-1 on the season, with a 31-7 loss to Penn State in week one. They are led by senior quarterback Chris Jacquemain, who has thrown for 320 yards and four touchdowns already, as well as his favorite target, senior wide receiver Deryn Bowser, who has 149 yards receiving and caught the four touchdowns from Jacquemain.

Akron on defense employs a 3-4 formation, with three defensive lineman and four linebackers. This is the first time this season that Indiana will face a 3-4 defense, so it will be interesting to see how the offense can adapt to it.

My Prediction: Indiana wins 24-21.

Game Notes: It looks like guard Alex Pagan and running back Darius Willis will return to the field this weekend, as they are listed as probably on the injury report.