Carter Smith on Indiana: “There Is No Place I’d Rather Be”

Written By: Ben Gillard (@benjgillard)

Indiana has gotten off to a historic start this season, going 9-0 for the first time ever. A large part of this success has been due to the spectacular play of the offensive line, specifically that of Redshirt Sophomore Carter Smith. When asked about what has allowed the O-Line to play at such a high level, Smith said, “Staying vigilant. The only two guys we have returning are me and Mike [Katic]. So just keeping the same culture rolling because we kept Coach Bostad, and the younger guys who are on the interior they’ve really bought into that, and Trey [Wedig] mixed right in when he got here, so all the younger guys are fitting in really well.”

In addition to keeping the culture rolling, the Hoosiers have adopted an “iron sharpens iron” approach, as the O-Line goes up against the Hoosiers’ extremely talented D-Line every day in practice. When asked if this helps the O-Line improve, Smith said, “Absolutely. Mikail [Kamara] is a guy that I love going up against every week. He’s so active; he puts in the effort, and he’s really quick. You know, CJ [West] has made some great plays. A big dude. He’s tough to move. Every single week, with every D-Line that we go up against, it’s very similar. So it helps us out a lot.”

The Indiana Offensive Line faces one of its toughest tests of the season on Saturday, facing a very talented Michigan Defensive Line, anchored by future first-round draft picks Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant. When asked about the matchup, Smith said, “From what we can tell from our scouting report this year, all the defensive linemen are pretty much returning guys from there, so we've seen them all before. Every team comes with its own challenges, but as long as we stick to the playbook and hammer it out on the field, we'll be fine.”

With a win over Michigan, Indiana has a chance to get 10 wins for the first time in program history. When asked about how to stay level with all the hype, Smith said, “Whatever Coach Cig says. Keep the standard. It never changes. Every single week, we have to get better with each and every practice, stack those days. Little by little, it gets a bit easier.” Ultimately though, Smith says of Indiana, “There is no place I would rather be.”