Offensive Line Struggles & Quarterback Controversy

[daddyhoosier]

November 6, 2022 | DaddyHoosier | iufb.net

Indiana was not competitive Saturday as Penn State boat raced the Hoosiers 45-14 at Memorial Stadium. It’s one thing to be competitive but to fall short due to a handful of plays that didn’t go your way, but it’s another thing entirely to be fundamentally dominated virtually everywhere on the field.

The offensive line was embarrassingly over-matched, allowing 16 tackles for a loss, 6 sacks, and an injured quarterback. (An editorial note here, if you are trying to build a football program and your offensive line stinks you aren’t going to get far.)

There are plenty of issues to address but it all starts with the crummy offensive line. When you’re that bad at that position group you don’t give yourself a chance. It’s hard to see Indiana even being competitive in the last three games, let alone pulling out a win.

Senior Quarterback Jack Tuttle started the game as Connor Bazelak did not dress due to an injury that had not been disclosed prior to Saturday. Tuttle is by all accounts a great guy and a good leader, but the move left many Indiana fans scratching their heads. Tuttle announced a couple weeks ago that he plans to enter the transfer portal on December 5th. This was a unique situation where the guy leading the team into battle already publicly had his foot out the door – the guy everyone is looking at in the (mostly figurative) huddle.

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[Jssanto]

The Tuttle thing was interesting. Just another option to learn about with the transfer portal.
Anyone know Tuttle’s injury?
We should be destroyed by OSU, hope none of our guys get hurt.

 

[vesuvius13]

I want Williams to start and give OSU some other issue to deal with. If Bazelak starts he will panic again and Williams will be in if he doesn't start. I am sick of seeing Bazelak on the field because we have seen what he can do against the B1G with good pass rushers and panic.

Williams looked like the future IU QB now or next year so lets see how he does as a starter not Bell's pet QB. Tuttle looked better than Bazelak has since the B1G started. Bazelak struggled against IL until they started laying off receivers and before Bazelak got shell shocked. Since that we have seen the fluctuation Blazelak has and it hurts the team. I also see Bell not working around the OL like Sheridan did which makes me question if he is the OC IU needs.

 

[TomEric4756]

Did we remember to hoist the mainsail and weigh the anchor before our yacht hit the starting line?

 

[Champs1976]

I want Williams to start and give OSU some other issue to deal with. If Bazelak starts he will panic again and Williams will be in if he doesn't start. I am sick of seeing Bazelak on the field because we have seen what he can do against the B1G with good pass rushers and panic.

Williams looked like the future IU QB now or next year so lets see how he does as a starter not Bell's pet QB. Tuttle looked better than Bazelak has since the B1G started. Bazelak struggled against IL until they started laying off receivers and before Bazelak got shell shocked. Since that we have seen the fluctuation Blazelak has and it hurts the team. I also see Bell not working around the OL like Sheridan did which makes me question if he is the OC IU needs.

No, Bell is not the OC IU needs. A really good OC would not have taken that job without a new OL coach as part of the deal. I think you want a guy that not only wants to call the plays, but wants his assistants that know the offense he's coaching and can help him implement it quickly and get the system operating well early. Anyone taking on a rebuild or turnaround job needs to be surrounded by people he trusts, are on the same page and can help achieve the vision he has, without outside hindrances. Bell took the position clearly without the understanding of how to do a rebuild (probably a skill he just does not have and proven by how poorly he did at it at UMass).

Does Allen really place winning first? Does he know what that means and requires? And no, I don't mean cheating or doing underhanded stuff. That's the question. Because if he did, he would have looked for the guy to do the turnaround on the O as rapidly as possible, with recent experience demonstrated at having done that. Bell's most recent coaching experience proved he wasn't a turn around specialist, he hadn't done that successfully recently and Allen probably hamstrung him by limiting what he could do with assistants, if Bell even asked him to let him bring in his own assistants. Harbaugh canned don Brown after the 2020 season and the very next year UM's D was dramatically improved.

So the question I've been asking is what is really most important to Allen - winning or the LEO culture? I just don't think Allen cares more about winning or the same way he feels about LEO. I think LEO either consciously or subconciously is first for Allen. I think it is safe to say that highly successful coaches (those that win a lot of games over a lot of years consistently year in and year out) tend to be a bit ruthless about winning. They're willing to do a lot to win. I am pretty sure at this point Allen and perhaps IU just isn't interested enough in winning to be a winner or even just consistently competitive.

 

[TomEric4756]

Figuring out the best plays for the personnel on the field should always be more important than the system.

It’s clear, I think, IU needed an OL blocking strategy that was better than ‘20 or ’21.
There’s a story that the KC Chiefs installed a wing-T to protect their defense, years ago.
They lead the NFL in TOP That year.

I think #1 could have run a wing T last year, and one of our TEs could have lined up at FB.
We couldn’t have done much worse. #1 up the middle had few runs for 1st downs.