Cream and Crimson Game Day Primer

Written By T.J. Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Spring Game Primer

What: Cream vs. Crimson Spring Game

When: Thursday, April 13 at 7:06 pm.

Where: Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, IN

How to Watch: The game will be broadcast live on BTN2Go and a tape-delayed broadcast will air on BTN at 9:30.

What’s at Stake: Truthfully, not much is actually “at stake”. No team has gone to a New Year’s Day bowl game because of a terrific performance in the Spring Game and no team’s season has been doomed because of a poor outing. That being said, there’s plenty of interesting things to watch for and the anticipation for and the coaching staff combined with IU’s back-to-back bowl game appearances has anticipation for this particular Spring Game as high as any in recent memory. The roster has been separated into two squads (Cream and Crimson) and the two sides will be competing for a steak dinner but the real interest will be in watching individual players and positions as they adapt to a new offensive coaching staff. 

Game Information: IU will host a youth football clinic beginning at 5:00. This is a non-contact clinic with stations being led by former Hoosier football players and coaches. The gates to Memorial Stadium open at 4:45. The Hoosiers will also be hosting a Spring Game Tailgate Party with free food, drinks and games available to fans. Tour guides will conduct free behind-the-scenes tours of Memorial Stadium from 5:45-6:45. The game will kick-off at 7:06 and admission into the contest is free. Monday Night Football analyst and former NFL head coach Jon Gruden will be a special guest for the event.

A Few Things to Look For

Cream vs. Crimson

New offensive coordinator Mike DeBord is leading Team Cream. Cream has a number of offensive weapons and they appear to be the more explosive of the two teams. Simmie Cobbs, Nick Westbrook, Jonah Morris and Isaac James form a strong group of wide receivers and Devonte Williams, Cole Gest and Tyler Natee make up a solid running backs corps. Richard Lagow will be slinging the ball to those weapons and fans will be very interested to see how IU’s presumptive number one quarterback has progressed this offseason. The Hoosiers need him to be better than he was in 2016 and indications from spring camp are that he has taken the leadership reigns of this offense and adjusted well to the new scheme. This is the first chance the public has to gauge that for themselves. The defense for Team Cream is led by veteran lineman Nate Hoff and safeties Jonathan Crawford and Chase Dutra. The young tandem of Juan Harris and Jerome Johnson will be interesting to watch at the tackle position and new linebacker Mike McGinnis has his first chance to show IU fans what he can bring to the squad after starring in junior college.

Team Crimson is led by defensive line coach and co-DC Mark Hagen. The standouts for this side are clearly on the defensive side of the ball as All-American linebacker Tegray Scales, All-Big Ten corner Rashard Fant and punishing Husky Marcelino Ball will look to shut down the Cream offense. In addition to that trio, Team Crimson has defensive backs Zeke Walker, Khalil Bryant, Tony Fields, A’Shon Riggins and Ben Bach so the secondary is well-stocked to go against Lagow, Cobbs and Westbrook. Dameon Willis figures to get a lot of run next to Scales at linebacker and the defensive line will be led by Jacob Robinson, Greg Gooch and pass rushers Allen Stallings and Omari Stringer. The offense has a lot of question marks but it will be a great chance to see Peyton Ramsey and Austin King in action. Those two figure to battle throughout the offseason for the right to backup Lagow. They’ll be throwing to Donavan Hale, Luke Timian and exciting youngsters Taysir Mack, Phil Benker and Justin Berry along with tight ends Ian Thomas and Austin Dorris.   

How is the Offense Progressing?

After several years of top-notch offensive production under the direction of Kevin Wilson and Kevin Johns, the Hoosiers have an entirely new offensive coaching staff. This was not entirely planned when Tom Allen took over for Kevin Wilson but it certainly wasn’t shocking to see the turnover as guys were either let go or poached by schools like Michigan and USC. New coaches like Mike DeBord, Darren Hiller, Nick Sheridan, Grant Heard and Mike Hart have been very impressive in the glimpses we’ve seen and heard from them but this is the first “game” action fans will see with them as the leaders of the offense. While adapting to the new scheme is definitely still going to be a work in progress and the Spring Game figures to be mostly vanilla in terms of scheme on both sides of the ball, it’s still exciting to see what’s in store for this fall. Is Richard Lagow going to be able to be the quarterback IU needs to “Breakthrough”? Can the offensive line adequately fill the shoes of the departed guys like Dan Feeney? Will the running game be able to return to the excellence we had all grown accustomed to before last season? Is this the best group of receivers IU has ever had? Will the Hoosiers actually throw the ball to a tight end more than once a game? 

Key position battles to watch include: the battle for slot/third receiver behind Westbrook and Simmie Cobbs (keep an eye on Taysir Mack, Luke Timian and Jonah Morris). The battle to backup Camion Patrick at running back (early edge goes to Devonte Williams but watch Mike Majette, Cole Gest and Tyler Natee). 

Top 25 Defense

The Hoosiers drastically improved as a defensive unit in 2016. Their success was beyond even the most optimistic of fans wildest hopes. They were able to solidly plant themselves into the “top 50” range in most meaningful statistics. The publicly stated goal for 2017 is to turn “pretty good” into “really good”. That means IU wants to have a top 25 defense. With the return of everyone besides Ralph Green and Marcus Oliver, it’s a very realistic goal. The return of so many starters and second-team guys means we won’t really learn much or see much we didn’t know on Thursday night but there are still some players and battles to watch. The battle to start next to Nate Hoff on the interior of the line is an interesting one and guys like Ja’Merez Bowen, Jerome Johnson, Mike Barwick and Juan Harris are ones to watch. IU continues to search for a truly explosive, game-changing pass rusher so keep an eye on how Allen Stallings has progressed after redshirting in 2016. The most notable position battle is the second starting linebacker spot after Marcus Oliver opted to go to the NFL Draft. Tegray Scales is one of the best defensive players to put on an IU uniform and guys like Mike McGinnis, Dameon Willis, Reakwon Jones and Chris Covington would all likely have plenty of opportunities to make plays next to him. I think McGinnis and Covington are the odds on favorites to win the job but each of the guys listed will be asked to contribute. 

While we won’t get any definitive answers from Thursday’s Spring Game, it’s a chance to see a little glimpse of how IU is adjusting to the new offensive coaching staff and to the leadership of Tom Allen. It’s also a great opportunity to see young talent like Peyton Ramsey, Taysir Mack, Jonah Morris, Phil Benker, Juan Harris, Jerome Johnson and many others have a real chance to shine under the lights. Best of all, it’s a chance to ramp up the enthusiasm and optimism for what we all hope will be a “Breakthrough” 2017 campaign under new leader Tom Allen.