BLOOMINGTON – Meyers Leonard stood near Indiana's basket, dazed.BLOOMINGTON – Bill Lynch doesn’t like comparing players. But the Indiana coach mentioned former Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne, a Heisman winner, when the topic of current Badgers’ running back John Clay came up.
“He’s just a big, physical guy who has great feet to go with it. He can make you miss,” Lynch said. “We have to tackle him. We’re going to have to gang-tackle him, because he can bounce off you if you just count on one guy trying to tackle him all day.”
Clay leads the Big Ten in rushing and is 20th nationally, averaging 104.9 yards per game. The sophomore is averaging 4.7 yards per carry and has 10 touchdowns.
He rushed for 123 yards and three touchdowns last week against Purdue.
“He’s a big, solid guy with speed. He’ll try to run you over,” senior defensive end Jammie Kirlew said. “We will have to wrap him up.”
The final quarter
Lynch likes to break the season down as if it were one long game. Three contests represents one quarter.
The Hoosiers went 1-2 in the third quarter, but Lynch told the players he was “proud of them.”
“I said ‘People are starting to see the Indiana football team.’ In all honesty, I think people are starting to see it nationally,” Lynch said. “I think people are seeing a team that played with great energy and passion against Illinois, Northwestern and Iowa.
“We did not get the wins against Northwestern and Iowa. Also when you are building a program, you are seeing effort, intensity, preparation and caring. We certainly carried that through the third quarter and now we are starting the fourth quarter of the season. It is a new challenge on Saturday.”
Injuries in the secondary
Injuries continue to be an issue for the Hoosiers’ secondary. Ray Fisher (knee) and Chris Adkins (elbow) are out for the Badgers’ game. Safeties Jarrell Drane (thigh), Jerimy Finch (hamstring) and Nick Polk (ankle) are listed as questionable.
“The guys who are healthy have to practice well,” Lynch said.
Channel surfing
Indiana and Purdue are both on the Big Ten Network at noon Saturday. In the Fort Wayne area, IU’s game will appear on Comcast digital 692, Verizon FiOS 330, DirecTV 611 and Dish 5440.
