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What I'll Be Watching for in 2021

daddyhoosier

Junior
Aug 31, 2019
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iufb.net
Just off the top of my head thinking back to the end of last year, here are the things I'm going to be looking for Saturday.
  • I really thought the offense last year lacked an identity. I have my own preferences in terms of percent pass vs percent run, how agressive an offense should be in terms of taking shots and all that. And I'm all for being multiple on offense (just like on D) and borrowing from across a variety of schemes but at some point there needs to be an identity that everybody is on board with. I'm somewhat open to what that identity is.
  • Offensive line play has to be better accross the board. IU is never going to take the next step if the O-line is a question mark going into every big game.
  • Run game - we were halfway through the season last year before IU did anything but stubbornly run inside zone ineffectively. Happily during the last part of the season the run game got a little more diverse (wildcat, delays, etc.). With zone blocking schemes I think a more shifty back makes more sense as you sort of read and react rather than just picking a spot and powering through it. But also go back to point number 2, the o-line needs to be better especially at the second level.
  • WR depth - I'm pretty confident there is some good talent in the WR room but that has to translate to productivity on Saturdays. Someone needs to emerge as a solid #2 option in order to keep defenses from taking away Fry and daring us to beat them another way.
  • TE utilization - contradicting myself a littlebit (see point #1) but it's difficult to be a bad offense if you effectively use the TE as a weapon
  • Pass rush - a consistent effective pass rush would make this a good to very good defense a great defense.
  • And then obviously there is Penix's health, no need to elaborate
 
IU will give us answers to your points of emphasis and we will have an idea if questions have been answered about last season's shortcomings.
 
Penix staying healthy would be huge for iu. Hopefully he does! Great talent. Does iu return their entire OL?
 
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