Hoosier Huddle's Postseason Review: Offensive Line Change in Leadership Was Too Little Too Late

Written by: Nate Comp (@NathanComp1)

After getting a chance to digest the season and go back and review some games, Hoosier Huddle is doing a full post-season evaluation of the Indiana Football program. Today, we look at the offensive line unit.

The offensive line was the hot point of discussion all last offseason; Indiana had one of the worst offensive line units in 2021, and after offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan was let go, many expected offensive line coach Darren Hiller to follow. Hiller remained on the staff for the first six games of the season, before ultimately being fired at the beginning of October after the Hoosiers’ 31-10 loss at home against Michigan. Rod Carey took over, and while there was marginal improvement, it proved ultimately to be too little too late.

Let’s take a look at the overall performance of the unit this season:

2022 Season

An offensive line unit that already had issues quickly ran into more when experienced tackle Matthew Bedford tore his ACL just before halftime in the season opener against Illinois. Parker Hanna took over duties at right tackle. Luke Haggard, Mike Katic, Zach Carpenter, and Tim Weaver made up the rest of the line, from left to right. This line showed to struggle mightily, especially in two main aspects: run blocking as a whole, and any kind of blocking from the right side of the line (Weaver and Hanna). Despite the season opening come-from-behind win against the Illini, Indiana rushed for just 32 total yards.

The next shake-up on the line came when Zach Carpenter had a freak accident injury to his snapping hand/wrist in pre-game warmups for the Western Kentucky game. The Hoosiers turned to redshirt sophomore Caleb Murphy, who wasn’t even listed on Indiana’s two-deep prior to the game. Murphy was able to hold off the storm for that game, as the Hoosiers churned out 120 rushing yards and only allowed 3 total sacks against the Hilltoppers.

The middle of the season brought along the biggest changes along the line. After losing three straight games and seeing consistently poor offensive line play, Darren Hiller was officially relieved of his duties as offensive line coach. Hiller coached with Indiana for six seasons, his best coming in 2020 when the Hoosiers led the Big Ten in fewest sacks per game allowed at 1.25, ranking 17th nationally. Former Hoosier player Rod Carey stepped in to take over coaching duties, and he had his work cut out for him.

Carey’s biggest change came on what I previously mentioned as the weakest point of the line, the right side. Carey decided to embrace the youth on the roster, as Tim Weaver and Parker Hanna saw their playing time significantly decrease and they were replaced by Kahlil Benson and Joshua Sales. There was definite improvement, but the offense itself had too many issues to see these changes result in significantly more wins. The highlight of the second half of the season came in the battle for the Old Brass Spittoon, where the Hoosiers were able to go on the road and defeat Michigan State after previously trailing by 17 points. The offensive line shined in rush blocking, springing first-time starter Dexter Williams III and the rest of the rushing attack for 257 yards on the ground. After starting the season 3-0, this was the Hoosiers’ final win of the season in the penultimate game.

Final Analysis

Fans are not always right, but they were this time; Indiana should have fired Darren Hiller far before the midway point of the season if they wanted to see any tangible improvement along the offensive line. Once Rod Carey took over the unit, the line did see some improvement. He was also able to prove that there is hope for the future along the line, as the play improved when the youth were given their shots at performing.

Next season, Indiana will return Sales, Benson, Carpenter, and Bedford, all strong pieces to start an offensive line. They’ll once again be led by new leadership, as Carey will return to his quality control position and Indiana has hired Bob Bostad from Wisconsin to replace him. Bostad has experience with the Badgers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Tennessee Titans, among others; the 2022 season was far from perfect for the O-line, but there is reason for optimism with a full offseason of better coaching and experienced returnees.