Why Indiana Will Win The Outback Bowl
– You know that whole defense thing the kids are all into? Ole Miss doesn’t.
Defense is option with a Rebel team that twas dead last in college football in total defense, pass defense, and was last in the SEC against the run. The D has a little bit of a pass rush, but not enough of one to worry about, and there aren’t enough third down stops to slow down what IU will do.
No, the Hoosiers don’t have much of a running game, but they were able to pound away on Maryland for 234 yards late in the year – they have to at least give it a shot.
– The Ole Miss offense might fantastic, but here comes the Indiana pass rush. The Hoosiers led the Big Ten in sacks and tackles for loss with 23 sacks in the seven games averaging 3.3 per game. The Rebel passing gets rid of the ball fast enough to negate the pass rush a little bit, but the O line gives up way too many negative plays. The Hoosiers will bring the heat and take their chances in the secondary. That leads to this …
– This should be a bit of a back-and-forth fight that might come down to one key thing – turnovers. Indiana was second in the nation in turnover margin with 20 takeaways to overcome the ten giveaways.
Best of all for this game, the secondary took the ball away a ton with 17 interceptions in the seven games while only allowing 11 touchdown passes. Just hold serve, and let the IU O do the rest.