Indiana Football Game Preview: Akron – key storylines, injury report, how to watch

Indiana football returns to action for week four of the college football season when they return to Memorial Stadium to host the Akron Zips (MAC) in their last non-conference game of the regular season. The Hoosiers will be looking to bounce back from their 21-14 loss to Louisville at Lucas Oil Stadium last week.

The Hoosiers and Zips meet for the fourth time in program history and first since 2010. Akron head coach Joe Moorhead is 3-12 since taking over at Akron.

Against the Mid-American Conference (MAC), Indiana football owns a 39-9-1 overall record versus the conference and has played 11 of the 12 members of the current alignment (Buffalo). The first meeting with a MAC program came against Miami (Ohio) in 1897, though the conference didn’t form until 1946.

Below is the full game preview of everything you need to know about Saturday’s matchup.

Key Storylines

Last ‘guaranteed win’ of the season for the Hoosiers 

After this next game, the remaining part of the Indiana schedule becomes a bit more unknown. In Saturday’s matchup vs Akron, this is viewed as the last ‘guaranteed win’ for the Hoosiers this season.

Indiana football will move onto to Big Ten conference play for the rest of the season next week when they travel to Maryland. There is a strong possibility that the Hoosiers will be viewed as the underdogs for every game that they play from next week until the end of the season.

Coming into week four, the season for the Hoosiers has gone almost exactly how many would have scripted it as far as win/loss. However, Indiana has shown much more improvement from the past two season as far as overall play at nearly every position on the field.

Yes, execution as a whole needs to be better, but there is a lot of positive things coming out of the program these first four weeks of the season.

“…But I do want to see us, you know, I want to see us execute better. I mean, it’s not a complicated part in regards to that, said Tom Allen on Monday when speaking to the media. “Obviously you play who you play and your schedule is what it is and we have to continue to grow as a football team. To me, the jury is still out to see if that’s fully going to manifest itself.”

“But it’s an important week for that to be the case and obviously every week is a big week to get better, and that’s what we’re going to emphasize at such a high level this week in how our guys respond. To be able to come back and prepare at the level that they have to prepare at to be their best.”

Indiana’s offensive play-calling is too inconsistent and it’s a major concern

The play-calling on the offensive end for Indiana is a hard one to figure out. In the first three games, you’ve seen a little bit of everything from Indiana on the offensive side of the ball…some good, some bad.

Overall, it’s just been too inconsistent so far in the first three games of the season. For right now, it is a major concern.

Last week’s Louisville game is a perfect example as in the first half, the offense had no juice and then in the second half, things started opening up for the Hoosiers. From just the perspective of watching the games, there just seems to be a lot of trust questions between the coaches involved in the offense and players on the field.

The inconsistency is especially true with the run game and how Indiana chooses to use it and even though the offensive line has shown improvements, they too contribute to the inconsistency of the offense.

“I would say, got to run the football better……Starts up front and we are making progress, but it’s got to continue, no question about it. I think just for us as a staff, to be able to continue to stay with the fundamentals and the techniques that we are working through and getting better at it, and our guys are continuing to grow and develop as a unit,” said Tom Allen.

Indiana has got to get consistent on offense or they are going to be in for a long remainder of the season.

Jaylin Lucas is a weapon that Indiana needs to use more often than what they already do

Slowly but surely, Jaylin Lucas is starting to become a factor on the offense for Indiana football. Not only is he a threat as a returner, but he is making waves on the offense, as well.

It is safe to say, Lucas was the focal point of the Indiana offense in the Louisville loss. He went on to finish with eight carries for 29 yards and 10 catches for 89 yards and a touchdown and he was targeted 12 times by Indiana football QB Tayven Jackson.

Even though Lucas was the focal point, there were still some questionable times that Indiana chose not to get him involved. Not saying that Lucas needs to touch it every play, but they should be a little more creative with how they use him. At the very least, Lucas to be on the field for every snap.

This plays into the consistency of the Indiana offense. A big way to fix that is to get Lucas even more involved. He is without question the best weapon for Indiana football.

Quick Hitters: Early breakdown and initial thoughts on Akron

Last Matchup

This is the fourth time that Indiana and Akron have faced each other in football. The Hoosiers are 3-0 all-time against the Zips, with the last meeting coming in 2010, a 35-20 victory for Indiana. All four meetings between the two programs have come since the 2007 season and have been decided by double-digit point totals.

In the last meeting, the Hoosiers led 35-13 after the third quarter before the Zips tallied a fourth quarter score to account for the final margin. Ted Bolser grabbed a pair of touchdowns from Ben Chappell, who threw three total scoring strikes in the game.

More: Indiana football set to debut ‘ghost’ jerseys against Akron this weekend

Injury Updates

Indiana

QB Dexter Williams II: Williams remains out and will not be available this game. He is still in the recovery process of his significant knee injury from Indiana football’s season finale last year. While he has not be a part of Indiana’s quarterback battle, he has been able to contribute on the field a little as well as be a leader for both Jackson and Sorsby.

WR EJ Williams: Williams missed last week’s matchup against Louisville and had a cast on his wrist/hand. It’s unknown the extent of his injury.

OL Max Longman: Longman went out midway through the loss against Louisville with a lower leg injury and did not return. While Tom Allen hinted he would not be out for the season, there is no real timeline on his return.

DB Jamier Johnson: Johnson also left the Louisville game early with an undisclosed injury and did not return.

Akron

No notable reported injuries for Akron.

Related: Indiana Football vs Akron: Key players, notes and opening spread

Quick Hitters

Who?: Akron (1-2) at Indiana (1-2)

When?:Saturday, Sept. 23 | 7:30 p.m. ET

Where?:Memorial Stadium (Bloomington, Ind.)

TV: BTN

Radio: Indiana Hoosiers Sports Network

Spread: Indiana -16 via DraftKings Sportsbook

SEE ALSO: ‘I want to see us execute better’: Tom Allen looking for critical step in development as Indiana football wraps up non-conf play

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