After what felt like a glorified spring game took place the last three weeks in Bloomington, the Indiana Hoosiers finally have a conference foe coming to town. They will take on the Northwestern Wildcats at 8 p.m. on Friday night on FOX.

Northwestern

Offense

On offense this season, Northwestern is employing a familiar face at quarterback: Adian Chiles, the former Michigan State Spartan has moved to Evanston, and has thrown for 514 yards and 4 touchdowns in just two games. Northwestern dismantled Colorado last week 41-7, and they are feeling good about themselves. Senior running back Joseph Himon II is averaging 14.4 yards per carry, providing some explosion alongside Chiles. The Wildcats hired Chip Kelly to call the plays, a move I loved. Northwestern is always a team that relies on game control to offset some of the talent disparity, and Kelly is the perfect man to maximize the talent that Northwestern possesses. 

Defense

Northwestern has already forced five turnovers this year, which is impressive given the two games caveat. Senior defensive back Joseph Fitzgerald is averaging 12.5 tackles per game to lead the team from the secondary. Although this defensive unit is overmatched talent wise, they are disciplined, tough and relentless. The Colorado game last week is a prime example of how opportunistic they can be if the offense is undisciplined. 

Stat to Know

Both teams have scored on 100% of their redzone opportunities so far this season. Which team wins this battle will go a long way into determining the outcome of this game. A turnover or a missed field goal in the red zone this week will be a critical mistake. 

Besides the redzone numbers, the other key to this game will be Northwestern’s ability to deal with the Indiana crowd. This is the first game in Bloomington where it will not be unbearably hot, and the Friday night crowd will be rowdy. If Northwestern can control the clock or create an explosive play to start the game to silence the crowd and settle into a battle. If Indiana can create some early momentum, this game could be over by halftime. 

Chiles has not been running much this year so far for the Wildcats. In his past two performances against Indiana, his legs really stood out on film. Chiles’ legs could provide useful in a clutch third down situation, and Indiana must be prepared for him to utilize his speed, even if he has not done so thus far this season.

Prediction

Indiana will improve to 4-0 (1-0), and have an extra day of rest to prepare for Rutgers next week. This is going to be a low scoring game, as Northwestern is known to be a team that wants to control the clock as much as possible to offset their talent deficiencies. My final prediction is 27-13 Hoosiers