AFTER LOSING 9 OF LAST 10 TO KENTUCKY, CAN IU CRUSH THE CATS?

It's not "the Rock," and it's not "the Walk."\nIt's a rivalry game. \nWith all of the new traditions IU head coach Terry Hoeppner has brought to the IU football program, the old ones still remain, especially the match-ups against age-old rivals. \nTomorrow, coach Hep gets his first taste of the border war as the Kentucky Wildcats face IU for the 36th time.\nHoeppner, a Woodburn, Ind., native, is familiar with IU's neighbor to the southeast. \n"Historically, it's a great school and a great basketball program," he said. "I don't see any reason these two football programs can't be great."\nKentucky comes to Bloomington for the match-up of storied basketball programs with a 1-1 season record, suffering a season-opening loss to in-state rival University of Louisville before bouncing back with a win over Idaho State University last Saturday. \nComing off a close victory over Nicholls State University Sept. 10, Hoeppner is looking for continued improvement and steadiness from his growing team. \n"I would like for us to be more consistent," he said. "I don't mind being a big-play team, but we don't want to have a peaks-and-valleys type thing."\nIU's peaks have been occurring more regularly on offense. As a unit, the offense has gained more than 800 yards in the first two games, most of which have started on the arm of sophomore quarterback Blake Powers and ended in the hands of one of three wide receivers: senior Jakheen Gilmore and freshmen James Hardy and Marcus Thigpen. \nHardy, who leads the Hoosiers in receiving after the first two games, said the diversity of the receiving corps has led to the team's passing success.\n"They can't (double-team me)," he said. "If they double-team me, then they aren't going to cover Jahkeen Gilmore and Marcus Thigpen, and they are left open. That's the advantage we have. All of us can do it any night. You can't just focus on one of us."\nThis offensive approach has yielded seven Powers touchdown passes and only three interceptions in the first two games. Against Nicholls State, the quarterback drove IU's offense down the field in the final minutes, seizing the win with a late touchdown pass. \nThis already productive offense should only continue to improve, Gilmore said. \n"We're not putting many new plays in or anything," he said. "We're just getting better at what we've already been doing." \nFor Hoeppner, the week's rivalry match-up is just another test on the road to IU football prominence. \n"I told the guys, 'It's the biggest game this week,'" he said. "Every game is a big game. You get so few opportunities to play this game, so every one is special"