News & Views: It's time to match toughness with toughness

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana two big sports worlds beginning colliding on Tuesday as the football team prepares for a huge Big Ten game at Michigan State and the men's basketball team has its first media availability of the season later today at Assembly Hall.

For the football guys, this is a big challenge that awaits them on Saturday afternoon in East Lansing (3:30 p.m. ET kickoff.) The Spartans are tough, and always give the Hoosiers fits. But if it's time for Indiana to make it to the next level, this is a game that they have to go out on the road and win.

And as for the basketball guys, it's going to be interesting to get things rolling. We've just five weeks away from the first game of the season, on Nov. 5 against Western Illinois

There's a lot going on. Here’s my three quick-hitters for the day:

1. A challenge — and opportunity — awaits Indiana's defense at Michigan State

Indiana had high hopes a few weeks ago when Ohio State rolled into town, and the Hoosiers promptly got whipped in a 51-10 loss that frustrated everyone involved. Rebounding from Ohio State is critical, and it starts Saturday against Michigan State in East Lansing.

The Hoosiers have something to prove. And it starts with practice every day this week, not just on Saturday.

"We've done a lot of one-on-one reps with winning at the line of scrimmage. We've got fast guys, but it starts there. You have to win there, and you have to be tough too, not just fast,'' Indiana cornerbacks coach Brandon Shelby said. "It's all about technique with those (tall) receivers, our eyes have to be right and our feet and hands to be in the right place, and we'll have to do it for 70 plays.

"It's going to be a four-quarter game. Hopefully, the way you practice is the way you play, and we'll have a good week. It's time to go to work for those two hours everyday and carry that over to Saturday .''

2. Creativity will be tested with Indiana's offensive game plan

Michigan State was No. 1 in the country against the run a year ago and its tied for No. 3 so far in 2019. That's a monstrous challenge on Saturday for an Indiana team that's been struggling to run the ball a good bit so far this season through four games.

A year ago, Indiana rushed for only 31 yards on 31 carries, but still had a chance late in 35-21 loss, mounting a nice comeback with three scoring drives in the fourth quarter.

After the tough loss to Ohio State when the offense struggled from the get-go, this will be a time for redemption for new offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer and his crew. Running right at them won't work, so it's going to be interesting to see how creative the Hoosiers can be.

It's all about mixing it up with the Spartans. Last year, for instance, slot receiver Whop Philyor had 13 catches against the Spartans, many of them short throws where there were many yards after the catch.

More of that would be a good thing.

3. Welcome back, basketball! We've missed you

There's no question that the best thing about being in Bloomington is having a full winter of basketball ahead of us. This is going to be a very interesting season for the Hoosiers, who enter the third year of the Archie Miller era with aspirations of reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time under Miller.

A lot of the preseason prognostications say that might be a tall order for the Hoosiers, but when it's this early, optimism is sure to be high. There's a lot of returning talent on this team, and we're all curious to see how much better they all get individually.

We're still five weeks from tipoff in the season opener, but it's great to have it back all the same.

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