Regional rival Kentucky visits Memorial Stadium Saturday

In his second year at IU, coach Gerry DiNardo has yet to lead the football team to consecutive victories. \nBut that could change when the Hoosiers play host to Kentucky 4 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium after beating Indiana State 33-3 last weekend. A win would secure bragging rights in one of IU's fiercest regional rivalries.\n"When coach DiNardo came in last year, he wasn't really sure about the rivalry," senior wide receiver Glenn Johnson said. "He didn't really know the meaning of it, but then when he saw how those guys played, he bought into it, and he saw where it was coming from, as far as it being a pretty intense game and you gotta go out and lay it all on the field against Kentucky."\nAlthough both IU and UK come into the game at 1-2, Kentucky traditionally plays well against IU, taking seven of the last eight meetings. The team is led by quarterback Jared Lorenzen, who at 260 pounds has a big stature as well as a big arm. The senior's 8,939 yards of total offense ranks him sixth in SEC history. In three previous meetings with IU, he's thrown for seven touchdowns and 846 yards with only two interceptions.\nFurther bolstering the Wildcats' offense and special teams is wideout and kick returner Derek Abney. The senior has returned seven kicks for scores (one short of an NCAA record) and is second in school history in receiving yards with 1,870.\n"Abney is as good a receiver and obviously a returner as there is in the country," DiNardo said. "Lorenzen is just terrific, tougher to bring down than he was a year ago, really a good player."\nFreshman safety Will Meyers said Abney gives the Wildcats a dangerous weapon. \n"He looks very explosive," Meyers said. "He looks like a very good player. It's gonna be a big challenge for our defense and our special teams. He can take it to the house anytime."\nIU counters with a ground game that produced 202 yards and three touchdowns by running backs against the Sycamores. Freshman BenJarvus Green-Ellis and sophomore Chris Taylor split time at tailback in the win. IU will also have the services of senior captain Brian Lewis at running back, who missed the ISU game with an injury.\nTaylor said a solid run game will be the key Saturday.\n"We just need to get this run game started off right," Taylor said. "Brian Lewis, me and BenJarvus, we need to go out, be ready and try and beat Kentucky. Brian looks like he's at 100 percent, and we're definitely going to need that."\nThe Hoosiers fell to the Wildcats last season in Kentucky, in come-from-behind fashion. After Kentucky took a 14-0 lead, IU scored 17 unanswered points. But the Wildcats scored 13 fourth quarter points, capped off by an 82-yard interception return for a touchdown with under three minutes left to seal the win.\nDiNardo said he hopes a turnover doesn't again doom IU.\n"We have five objectives we go into each game every year, and one of them is the turnover issue," DiNardo said. "The Kentucky game is a good example of how turnovers in our case can destroy us. We threw 21 interceptions last year...You can't have a successful program throwing 21 interceptions and turning over the ball at the rate we turned it over last year. So far this season we have demonstrated that we have been better at that."\nStaff reporter John Rodgers contributed to this report.\n-- Contact staff reporter Gavin Lesnick at glesnick@indiana.edu.