Cignetti Addresses Pass Protection Issues That Plagued IU

Written By: Nick Gonzales (@nrgonzales_)

During the Ohio State game last Saturday, a lot of mistakes were made by the Hoosiers. A majority of those were from the special teams, but also the offensive line. Indiana’s offensive line let up five sacks and eight tackles for loss against the Buckeyes which is the most sacks and tied for the most TFLs (tied with Michigan) allowed in a game for the Hoosiers this season.

“We've got to shore our pass protection up. We had some missed assignments, a couple physical errors. One time got beat one-on-one. But we've got to take the hits off the quarterback because I don't know a quarterback in the country if he gets hit over and over again, they all lose their effectiveness.” Curt Cignetti said in his opening statement during his Monday press conference.

The offensive line looked the worst it has been all season. It was extremely difficult for Rourke to even complete a pass with all the constant pressure he was under. It seemed like a completely different team.

“Missed assignments and poor technique would be the themes… They had a little weak side linebacker in twist that we just didn't do a good job with. We've got to get back in sync offensively and get our rhythm back where we're playing with a lot of confidence, scoring points, scoring points in bunches, and running the ball and throwing the ball with equal success.” Curt Cignetti stated on the struggles in the pass protection.

The whole offense seemed out of sync. Usually, Rourke has plenty of time to make a play, but this weekend was a completely different story. Besides their struggles with passing, they did surprisingly well when it came to rushing the ball. “I just thought we did a nice job of coming off the ball and targeting the right people,” Curt Cignetti responded about the run blocking success, “I thought the backs ran really well. Really well. We had pretty good downfield blocking.”

Ty Son Lawton and Justice Ellison combined for 141 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on 32 attempts. However, the offense couldn’t do much because after a play that would get them into second and manageable, Ohio State would manage to sack Rourke putting them behind the chains for third down. With a big rivalry game approaching, the Hoosiers have a lot to sort out. While Purdue is the worst team in the Big Ten, it’s still a major rivalry where anything can happen, and the Boilermakers will do anything to exploit any weaknesses Indiana presents. Hopefully, the team will get back on track and look as good as new this Saturday.