Daddy Hoosier | October 28, 2020
I intentionally waited a while before writing this because I wanted to take some time to enjoy the victory before diving right into critiquing Saturday’s performance. Now that some time has passed and Indiana is ranked 17th in the country let’s take quick look at how the Hoosiers did overall.
Playcalling / Penix
The Indiana Offense was certainly not hitting on all cylinders. Penix seemed a little off and the playcalling appeared ineffective at times. But obviously there was the strange and disjointed offseason, Penix hadn’t taken a live snap in almost a full calendar year, and the Hoosiers are on their third Offensive Coordinator in as many years.
Last year Indiana opened with Ball State and the Offense was far from a well-oiled machine. There were people saying the sky was falling and even some of the podcasters whom I respect were question how Kalen DeBoer was going to pan out. I told everyone to relax and even went so far as to say I was actually very encouraged by what I saw and was convinced that DeBoer ‘had the touch’. I think we can agree that this was right on the money.
I’m not quite that optimistic now but I expect the Indiana Offense to take a nice step forward this Saturday at Rutgers. There’s a big difference between a Ball State Defense and a Penn State Defense. Good Defenses take away much of what you do well and I attribute some of Indiana’s struggles to what Penn State was doing.
There were several drops including one by Hendershot that may have been a 60+ yard score. Also Penix missed on a handful of throws were the window was there but the timing / accuracy was just a little off. Once that timing is there it will be a different story in the passing game.
If and when David Ellis gets added back into the picture it will definitely help to make the Offensive attack more dynamic.
I think Scott on CrimsonCast said it best – something to keep an eye on for sure (Offensive struggles) but not time to panic just yet.
Offensive Line
My feelings on the Offensive Line are mostly neutral. I didn’t walk away feeling good or bad, except for a couple bad possessions out of Left Tackle late in the fourth. There were two drives in a row where Penn State was getting to Penix basically at will and much of the pressure came from the left side. If Indiana has to consistently put a back or a tight end over there to help out it will take away from what the Hoosiers are trying to do schematically.
Secondary
I was pleased overall with the Secondary’s play. It’s one of those situations where the stats don’t tell the whole story – IU seemed sound and confident on the back end and. I was also surprised by the fact that Tiawan Mullen lined up on the Slot or the Y much of the night and not on the outside. Mullen made a couple of insane anticipation tackles and obviously the two picks and a forced fumble were a welcome sight.
Game Management
There have been some game management issues especially at the end of halves for the last couple of seasons. At the end of the 1st half Indiana up 17-7 Indiana ran the ball twice rather than just taking a knee and ended up fumbling and giving Penn State a cheap scoring opportunity. PSU missed the field goal but I really don’t see the purpose of running it twice in that situation. Just take the knee and get in the locker room.
On the other hand letting Penn State score at the end of the second half was a very smart play. You don’t see this happen that much in football but whenever it does I’m always surprised to see the Offense taking the bait and running into the end zone. If I’m the Coach I’m telling my team if the other team tries to let you score just go down – don’t fall for it! Happily PSU did and, well, the rest is history.
Pass Rush
The Pass Rush didn’t get home much vs Penn State but there were several pressures that affected PSU QB Clifford’s timing and accuracy. Swann got his big paw up and deflected a pass, which is something I think we’ll see more of as the year goes on. Zach Osterman of The Indy Star noted that James Head didn’t have a big night statistically but he did a pretty solid job of controlling the edge.
Misc
Correct me if I’m wrong but Sio looked 30 pounds lighter and Thomas Allen looked a good 15 pounds bigger. I’m guessing they wanted Sio to be lighter and quicker while still being able to play with leverage and power. And I had Allen slated as a Weakside Linebacker / Stinger but he looks like a legit Middle Backer now. Finally Micah McFadden looked like a legit Big Ten Linebacker and then some, I feel pretty good about the LB Room going forward.
Originally published here:
Thoughts on Penn State
Daddy Hoosier | October 28, 2020 I intentionally waited a while before writing this because I wanted to take some time to enjoy the victory before diving right into critiquing Saturday’s perf…
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