Lions and Hoosiers and JoePa, Oh My!

As part of this week's "Moving On" theme, let's get to it with our guest blogger. John from the Hoosier Report was good enough to come on down and talk about the game and season so far. I answered some of his questions, so please stop by Hoosier Report to see his interview with me! Enjoy.

1. How would you label this season for IU? Why, and what were your expectations going in?

HR: Not surprisingly, I consider this season a major disappointment. Certainly, success in football is never a sure thing at IU, but considering the schedule, eight home games, and the number of returning contributors, I expected to contend for another bowl bid, with a slim hope of perhaps doing a bit better. I knew there were no guarantees, but I expected to be a couple of games better than 3-7 at this point.

2. Is there one player that could really help IU keep it close at PSU? Who, and what can he do?

HR: I'm not sure that any single player can make the difference. Marcus Thigpen, if his ankle isn't injured too badly, may be the fastest guy in the Big Ten and can cause some trouble if he gets into the open field or on a kick return. Already this season, he has touchdown runs of 78, 77, 67, and 31 yards and 79 and 77 yard TD receptions. Still, like so many key contributors, he may not be healthy on Saturday.

3. If Kellen Lewis was healthy/not-in-trouble this year, how different could IU's season have gone?

HR: IU's problems seem to run deeper than Lewis's problems. James Hardy was a bigger part of Lewis's success as a passer in 2006 and 2007 than we might like to admit. Still, Lewis missed plays in IU's close loss at Minnesota, didn't play in the 3 point loss to CMU, and missed part of IU's mostly competitive 13 point loss to MSU. Turning one or more of those games would have given IU some hope. But every lousy team can point to a few games in could have won. The Hoosiers are what they are.

4. The last two IU/PSU games have actually been close ones (22-18 in 2004 and 36-31 in 2007). Although IU has never beaten PSU, they've kept things remarkably interesting during the run. What do you expect from the 2008 edition?

HR: I expect an angry Penn State team to take an injury-riddled and disheartened IU team to the woodshed. I wish I could say otherwise, and I'll talk myself into a bit more optimism before I sit down to watch the game on Saturday, but I expect a blowout by halftime. You are right about the overall series. The first meeting in 1993 was close, the 1994 game was marginally competitive, although not nearly as close as the 6 point final margin. IU had its chances in 2000 (a game that Cam Cameron stupidly moved off campus to the RCA Dome), and you mentioned 2004 and 2007. Quite a few could-haves, but I am now resigned to the fact that we will never beat JoePa.

*Ed.- and yes, I'm still procrastinating with that Iowa review. I'm forcing myself to finish it before I do the Indiana preview, which will be up tonight.