Kentucky game a must win for Hoosiers

There's no doubt about it, the Kentucky game Saturday is do or die for the Hoosiers.\nLose and go 0-2 in a good, but not great, nonconference schedule and kiss this season goodbye, as six wins and a bowl bid become very unlikely as the schedule only gets harder into the conference. Win and go 1-1 and at least there's still a chance for a successful season. Cincinnati will be tough although the game will be in Bloomington. But then it's Big Ten's basement dwellers, Iowa and Northwestern, up to bat.\nLike always, defense will be the Hoosiers' breaking point this weekend. Last Saturday against North Carolina State, the defense would have had problems covering a jar of pickles as it allowed 401 yards passing and five touchdown passes. \nCoach Cam Cameron said his defense would have a few new looks, but would not disclose them as he talked to the media Tuesday before his team began practicing for the week. \nJust like instant mac and cheese, Kentucky's offense needs only a couple of minutes to put six points on the board and their extra point unit on the field.\nFor the second time in two weeks, IU will face a freshman quarterback.\nLast week, true freshman Philip Rivers, who is 6-foot-5 and 221 pounds, dismantled the Hoosiers' defense easily. And now redshirt freshman Jared Lorenzen, 6-foot-4 and 275 pounds, will take a crack at it. Now, look back and check out this boy's dimensions again.\nAt 6-foot-4 and 275 pounds, Lorenzen is bigger than almost all of IU's first and second team defensive line. Don't let his size deceive you; he has wicked quarterbacking skills. In his first two collegiate games, he threw for 704 yards and six touchdowns. He also scampered for 44 yards and one touchdown.\nThe Hoosiers' defensive line will have to step up big and put heat on Lorenzen to keep the secondary from breaking down. Last week, the Hoosiers sacked Rivers three times, but overall they lacked the pressure to fluster the freshman quarterback. This week, the job doesn't get any easier as Kentucky's offensive line is talented and actually didn't allow a single sack last weekend.\nIf turning the season around is not a good enough reason to win, how about defeating those Kentucky hillbillies who have defeated IU in five consecutive games. In Kentucky, the Wildcats are probably confident they can take down the IU hicks. Last season, the Wildcats beat IU 44-35 last year and the year before, when 'Twaan was a redshirt freshman, fell 31-27. Two close games, but like always, we never sealed the deal.\nThings need to start clicking tomorrow in a way the Hoosiers have never done before. The key word I'll use for Saturday will be "consistency". As long as IU can play consistently well on offense and defense, neither side will have to dominate for the Hoosiers to win.