IU football looks to break 3-game losing streak Saturday

It has been a rough few weeks for IU football.\nAfter starting 5-1, the Hoosiers are in the midst of a three-game losing streak, and it couldn’t come at a worse time. Only one win short of bowl eligibility, IU is one of 10 Big Ten teams that could still end up with six wins. Only seven bowls are allotted to Big Ten teams.\n“I definitely don’t think there’s any concern,” said sophomore defensive lineman Jammie Kirlew. “We know what we have to do, especially this weekend. We’re just going to go out there, we’re going to prepare and we’re going to keep fighting.”\nThe fight does not get any easier this weekend. Playing Ball State in Bloomington, the Hoosiers will face anything but a pushover. On Sept. 22, the Cardinals lost by a point at Nebraska and played Illinois tough through the first three quarters last weekend in Champaign, Ill.\nFor now, though, all eyes are on this weekend’s performance to see whether the Hoosier offense finds its legs after struggling mightily last weekend in a 33-3 drubbing at the hands of Wisconsin.\nSophomore quarterback Kellen Lewis is one of the players who knows he needs to play at the top of his game every week in order to put the Hoosiers back on course – especially after throwing two interceptions and fumbling once last week.\n“Mentally, it’s been pretty tough on me,” Lewis said. “Of course, I’ve got my teammates coming over to support me. They try to tell me to get over it, don’t worry about it and look forward to playing good every week.”\nIn the last few weeks, Lewis has not consistently used his ability to evade the pass rush and scramble out of the pocket. Playing a Ball State defense that ranks 116th in the nation in run defense might change that recent trend in Lewis’ play, though he said he is not sure how they will defend him.\nGiving up 227 yards per game on the ground does not necessarily make Ball State inferior to the Hoosiers, though.\nPart of their success is due to their turnover margin – the Cardinals rank seventh in the nation. The rest is the play of quarterback Nate Davis, who has already thrown for 21 touchdowns and just four interceptions this season. In order to limit Davis, the IU defense, which ranks second in the nation in sacks with 36, knows it must provide pressure in the pocket.\n“He’s a hard guy to sack,” Lynch said. “The thing he does so well is he does a great job of stepping up in the pocket and buying time. Then, if nobody’s there, he’ll take off and run with it.”\nWith three tough games left on the schedule, including matchups at Northwestern and home against Purdue, Lewis said he is aware that seven wins might in fact be the magic number to get the Hoosiers to their first bowl game since 1993.\n“Is that in the back of our minds? Yeah,” Lewis said. “In the Big Ten, everybody is losing to everybody. So as many wins you can get as possible, the better chances you have of being bowl eligible.”\nIf that’s the case, the team that once talked about which bowl they would go to could have to face the realization they might not even go to one.\n“No one’s laying their head down,” Kirlew said. “We know we’re a good team, we just have to fix mental mistakes and mistakes out on the field.”