Hi. I’ve been reading this board since 1997 or so. First time posting since probably the Hep years. I guess it took me 15 years to reset my password. I drank tea in the afternoon on accident and can’t sleep, so you all get to read what’s rattling around my brain re: IU Football.
Here are some things I noticed:
1. I missed Stevie Scott. His pass protection from the running back position was huge last year in giving the WRs time to get open and Penix/Tuttle time to find them. That was completely absent from the UM game and was probably not even a reasonable expectation after Carr went out. Sampson James could have played that role and made a huge difference. Those seconds that Stevie bought a healthy Penix and a healthy Tuttle led to Ws. Of course, that RB pass protection is critical because…
2. Caleb Jones is as good as it gets at tackle in our locker room, and that’s not good. I have a lot of respect for Jones. He’s giving his all out there doing what he can. He seems strong, but he just doesn’t have the feet or the bend to contend with the future pro D-linemen he’s up against. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s playing hurt. We used a few different line combos at UM. Bedford at LT and Jones at RT got eaten alive by the UM DEs. Bedford at LT was stood up every play. The combo of Jones at LT and Bedford at LG seemed to work, except that left Weaver/Carpenter at RG and Rafferty at RT and that didn’t work so well. (I’m assuming that the players we haven’t seen aren’t ready. I’m also assuming that Aaron Wellman knows how to train and condition O-linemen. This is Wellman’s first year really working with the players in person in facility.)
3. Haggard’s absence had an effect. He’s not an awesome tackle, but he’s a decent one. Imagine if we hadn’t plucked him out of JUCO. (Actually you don’t have to because we saw that at Iowa and at UM.) With him out, we’re 80% of the way to an O-line that needs full time backfield pass protection, which we don’t have. Now imagine how different the season would be with just one or two 2nd or 3rd Team All-Big Ten level OTs. Hopefully at least two of the younger players have the physical tools to be decent Big Ten OTs and are developing the right bodies and skills.
4. I feel some compassion for Coach Hiller, and all O-line coaches at schools that aren’t set up to be NFL O-line prep academies. To do that, you need to be running an offense that uses NFL blocking schemes. You need the strength and conditioning staff. You need to be able to convince the few young men that are quick on their feet at ~310 lbs, flexible enough to get low, durable enough to collisions 60 times a game, and have the instincts and attitude to find rushers and finish blocks that you can help them get to the NFL. IU has invested in strength and conditioning facilities and staff. Dunno about the rest.
5. I feel some compassion for Coach Sheridan. The dude is 33 years old doing this for the first time. He’s got a 49 year old RB coach/associate head coach who won a Super Bowl last year, a 49 year old embattled OL coach, and a 43 year old WR coach/co-offensive coordinator. That whole staff needs to be all about mutual success and designing something together that works with what they’ve got and get the players to buy in. Oh by the way, the O-line is what it is. You lose your top 4 running backs from 2020 by Week 4 (Scott, James, Ellis, Baldwin) and your only true slot receiver with any experience (Matthews) who replaced a real difference maker in Whop. Then you lose QB3 in camp, then QB1 (who arguably should have taken more time to recover from a third devastating injury), then QB2 Tuttle (who was QB1 in spring; who knows how the season would have turned out had he gone through Fall Camp as QB1 and started at Iowa), and you’re left with a true freshman QB4 and a walk on QB5.
6. D played pretty well, considering they’re playing with 2nd and 3rd team CBs.
7. I don’t love how this staff seems ok with rushing players back from injury. Penix is the biggest example, but also Mullen and Taylor. There seems to be a theme of wishful thinking/not having player health and well being top of mind. Maybe that’s my imagination.
This has been a miserable football season for sure. In retrospect, the stage was set in large part before the Iowa game. It’s true that defense wins championships, but even elite defenses rarely score enough on their own to win. If you can’t move the ball on offense and keep your defense fresh, you’re doomed. This IU team lost too many important offensive pieces from 2020 and was finished off by key injuries throughout the roster.
Go IU, beat Rutger, POTFB, etc.
Here are some things I noticed:
1. I missed Stevie Scott. His pass protection from the running back position was huge last year in giving the WRs time to get open and Penix/Tuttle time to find them. That was completely absent from the UM game and was probably not even a reasonable expectation after Carr went out. Sampson James could have played that role and made a huge difference. Those seconds that Stevie bought a healthy Penix and a healthy Tuttle led to Ws. Of course, that RB pass protection is critical because…
2. Caleb Jones is as good as it gets at tackle in our locker room, and that’s not good. I have a lot of respect for Jones. He’s giving his all out there doing what he can. He seems strong, but he just doesn’t have the feet or the bend to contend with the future pro D-linemen he’s up against. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s playing hurt. We used a few different line combos at UM. Bedford at LT and Jones at RT got eaten alive by the UM DEs. Bedford at LT was stood up every play. The combo of Jones at LT and Bedford at LG seemed to work, except that left Weaver/Carpenter at RG and Rafferty at RT and that didn’t work so well. (I’m assuming that the players we haven’t seen aren’t ready. I’m also assuming that Aaron Wellman knows how to train and condition O-linemen. This is Wellman’s first year really working with the players in person in facility.)
3. Haggard’s absence had an effect. He’s not an awesome tackle, but he’s a decent one. Imagine if we hadn’t plucked him out of JUCO. (Actually you don’t have to because we saw that at Iowa and at UM.) With him out, we’re 80% of the way to an O-line that needs full time backfield pass protection, which we don’t have. Now imagine how different the season would be with just one or two 2nd or 3rd Team All-Big Ten level OTs. Hopefully at least two of the younger players have the physical tools to be decent Big Ten OTs and are developing the right bodies and skills.
4. I feel some compassion for Coach Hiller, and all O-line coaches at schools that aren’t set up to be NFL O-line prep academies. To do that, you need to be running an offense that uses NFL blocking schemes. You need the strength and conditioning staff. You need to be able to convince the few young men that are quick on their feet at ~310 lbs, flexible enough to get low, durable enough to collisions 60 times a game, and have the instincts and attitude to find rushers and finish blocks that you can help them get to the NFL. IU has invested in strength and conditioning facilities and staff. Dunno about the rest.
5. I feel some compassion for Coach Sheridan. The dude is 33 years old doing this for the first time. He’s got a 49 year old RB coach/associate head coach who won a Super Bowl last year, a 49 year old embattled OL coach, and a 43 year old WR coach/co-offensive coordinator. That whole staff needs to be all about mutual success and designing something together that works with what they’ve got and get the players to buy in. Oh by the way, the O-line is what it is. You lose your top 4 running backs from 2020 by Week 4 (Scott, James, Ellis, Baldwin) and your only true slot receiver with any experience (Matthews) who replaced a real difference maker in Whop. Then you lose QB3 in camp, then QB1 (who arguably should have taken more time to recover from a third devastating injury), then QB2 Tuttle (who was QB1 in spring; who knows how the season would have turned out had he gone through Fall Camp as QB1 and started at Iowa), and you’re left with a true freshman QB4 and a walk on QB5.
6. D played pretty well, considering they’re playing with 2nd and 3rd team CBs.
7. I don’t love how this staff seems ok with rushing players back from injury. Penix is the biggest example, but also Mullen and Taylor. There seems to be a theme of wishful thinking/not having player health and well being top of mind. Maybe that’s my imagination.
This has been a miserable football season for sure. In retrospect, the stage was set in large part before the Iowa game. It’s true that defense wins championships, but even elite defenses rarely score enough on their own to win. If you can’t move the ball on offense and keep your defense fresh, you’re doomed. This IU team lost too many important offensive pieces from 2020 and was finished off by key injuries throughout the roster.
Go IU, beat Rutger, POTFB, etc.
