Hoosiers try for .500 against Chippewas

The Hoosiers will try to head into Big Ten play with a .500 record as they take on the Central Michigan Chippewas n their final non-conference game of the year. Kickoff is 4 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.\nHailing from the Mid-American Conference, the Chippewas (3-0) are off to their best start since 1986. \nAnd while IU (1-2) has not dropped a game to an opponent from the MAC since 1977, the competition in that conference is on the rise. Last week No. 22 Wisconsin eked out a 24-21 win over Northern Illinois, and earlier this year Iowa edged Miami (OH) 29-24.\n"They have played Big Ten teams (in the past)… and are playing with a lot of confidence," coach Gerry DiNardo said of Central Michigan.\nThe player that the IU defense will be keying in on is senior quarterback Derrick Vickers. Vickers has completed 66 percent of his passes this season, and is averaging 265.3 yards per game through the air. Vickers trails only highly touted Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich for the MAC lead in passing yards.\nVicker's quarterback rating stands at 145.36, which ranks 25th in the nation.\n"He's a good quarterback," DiNardo said. "He's been in the system now for a while. We'll have our hands full."\nThe Chippewas don't promise to give the Hoosiers much time for rest and relaxation on the defensive side of the ball. This week, the IU coaching staff worked on getting the defense to the line of scrimmage with 17 seconds left on the play clock to combat Central Michigan's hurry-up style of offense.\nBecause the Central Michigan offense is similar to the one run by Northwestern, sophomore linebacker Martin Lapostolle said he thinks IU will be up to the physical challenge of keeping pace with the Chippewas.\n"It's nothing new for us, since Northwestern was doing it last year," Lapostolle said. "We just have to practice well going into the game."\nIU will look to the same formula that almost brought home a victory from Kentucky. Senior Gibran Hamdan will start his second game at quarterback. Freshman Yamar Washington became well-oriented with the Kentucky defense last week, busting loose for 163 yards on 36 carries. He will get the start at running back.\nWashington's experience with the Wildcat defense may have also served as an effective scouting drill for this week's matchup.\n"Their defense is a lot similiar to Kentucky's in the way they line up and the schemes they run," Washington said.\nLast week the IU offense was unable to score on three trips inside the red zone. Hamdan feels that he is prepared to turn that trend around this week.\n"It's a matter of helping the offense score when we're in the red zone and making fewer mistakes -- costly mistakes," Hamdan said. "I'm not going to go play a perfect game on Saturday, but as long as the mistakes aren't costly and aren't disastrous then I'll be fine."\nThe game can be heard on WIUS 1570 AM.