Hoosiers look to fix recent road struggles

After getting the bowl eligibility monkey off its back, IU now looks to fix its recent road struggles at 12 p.m. Saturday in Evanston, Ill., when the team battles Northwestern.\nIn the last two road games, the Hoosiers, (6-4, 2-4) have been outscored by 55 points. The worst loss of the season for the Hoosiers came on their last trip when they were walloped 33-3 at Wisconsin. Sophomore wide receiver Andrew Means said playing away from home is not the reason for the team’s recent struggles.\n“I really don’t think its just being on the road; we’ve been killing ourselves with turnovers,” Means said. “It’s just a thing where we got to execute the game plan and do what we know we can do.”\nWhile the Hoosiers have struggled as of late on the road, Northwestern, (5-5, 2-4) has been flustered trying to notch its sixth win of the year – something the Hoosiers can relate to. \nAfter winning three in a row, two of which came in overtime, the Wildcats have dropped two straight. Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said his team has been pressing too hard for the sixth victory.\n“Sometimes winning can be a distraction,” Fitzgerald said. “Winning is a byproduct of what you do when you do things well, not just having it be your sole focus.”\nThe Wildcats will turn to its potent offense to get back on track. Led by junior quarterback C.J. Bacher, who leads the Big Ten in passing yards per game, Northwestern has the ability to light up the scoreboard. \n“They do a lot of bubble screens to the tailbacks and they hit some short passes then try to go deep,” sophomore safety Nick Polk said. “They spread it out differently a lot.”\nThe Hoosiers bring their own high-octane offense into Evanston led by sophomore quarterback Kellen Lewis, who set new career highs in passing and total yards last Saturday against Ball State. Means said the Wildcats run a defensive scheme similar to the Cardinals, which he said plays to the advantage of the Hoosier wide receivers. \nEven with the two fast-paced offensives, Means said he expects IU’s defense to do be a factor as well. \n“We don’t anticipate a shootout; our defense has been playing great the last couple weeks,” Means said. “They’ve been doing their job; (the offense) has been keeping them on the field way too much because of turnovers.”\nAlthough this will be the first road game since Sept. 8 that isn’t a homecoming bout for the Hoosiers, the match is not without emotion. For Northwestern, it is Senior Day and the last time many members of the team will step onto their home field. It also will be a day of remembrance. \nSimilar to what the Hoosiers went through this summer with the passing of IU coach Terry Hoeppner, former Northwestern coach Randy Walker unexpectedly passed away in June 2006 of a heart attack. It would have been the first time Walker and Hoeppner, who were friends back to their time coaching together at Miami (Ohio), would have coached against one another.\n“I don’t want to speak for (IU coach) Bill (Lynch), but I know the honor that both of us have to continue on those coach’s legacies is just a tremendous honor.” Fitzgerald said.