BLOOMINGTON — The Indiana Hoosiers, receiver/quarterback Mitchell Evans said, are not broken, demoralized, depressed or in need of a visit from Dr. Phil - or even Oprah.
No, the blown-on-the road leads against Northwestern and Iowa (IU was outscored 38-0 in the fourth quarter in those games) have not left the players as fragile as Philadelphia reliever Brad Lidge's psyche.
“Yeah, it's upsetting to keep losing like that,” Evans said, “but we did stay with the No. 4 team (Iowa, based on BCS rankings) in the country. We did a lot of good things. Our confidence has to stay up. We have to put together a full game.”
A good start would be Saturday at Memorial Stadium against rough-and-tumble Wisconsin. The No. 24 Badgers (6-2) are coming off a 37-0 victory over Purdue.
The Hoosiers (4-5) have to regroup after those two defeats and losses in five of their last six games. They have led in the second half of all three Big Ten road losses.
“It's tough to take, but we have to bounce back if we want to go to a bowl and finish the season strong,” Evans said. “We don't have a choice. We have to do it.”
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Wisconsin might be the last opponent IU wants to face. The No. 24 Badgers have won four straight in the series by a combined score of 181-64. The closest the Hoosiers have come in that stretch is a 17-point loss in 2005.
Last year Wisconsin won 55-20.
“Wisconsin has had our number,” coach Bill Lynch said. “They are one of those teams that runs the ball so well that you become run-conscious. Last year they beat us up with the run and the jet sweep. In 2006 they got a lot of big play-action passes on us because we were so committed to the run.”
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Indiana's banged-up secondary took another hit with cornerback Ray Fisher set to have knee surgery. It's not supposed to be season ending, but he'll be out Saturday.
“These is no such thing as minor surgery,” Lynch said. “We are hoping the surgery is not reconstructive. I don't know any more yet.”
Safety Nick Polk has an ankle injury, but could play. Adrian Burkes and Donnell Jones (who has an elbow injury) are set to start at cornerbacks, but all that could change with the next injury.
“The biggest thing is you have to get guys who are healthy to practice well,” Lynch said. “You have to be prepared to move guys around and be ready to make changes during a game. You hate to be in that situation, but it is what it is and we deal with it. You have to get as many guys as ready as you possibly can.”
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Lynch said he won't let his players dwell on the Hawkeyes' 86-yard interception return for a touchdown just when the Hoosiers were poised to put the game away.
“There were things we could have done to prevent that play and that is where our focus has to be,” Lynch said.
“If we give players the out by saying it is just our luck and the ball didn't bounce our way, then that is the way we are going to practice. Our players would go into the Wisconsin game hoping the ball would bounce our way. We can't do that. We want to make our players accountable. We are going to get better, move forward and get ready to play a good Wisconsin team.”
