Hoosiers Head West Looking to Break Bowl Drought

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

It has been more than 25 years since the Indiana Hoosiers have won a bowl game (they last won a bowl in 1991). While the past few weeks have been trying, the goal for IU’s upcoming trip to California, remains the same: get better through the bowl practices and knock off Utah in the Foster Farms Bowl. On the night of December 28, IU (6-6) will need to be at their best to beat the 8-4 Utes, a team that has been ranked in the College Football Playoff rankings every week and has achieved a top ten ranking earlier in the year. Head coach Kyle Whittingham is 9-1 in bowl games with the Utes and Utah is eighth in the country in sacks with 40. 

“The biggest thing that jumps out to me is their defensive line. They are really talented,” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said. “They have one guy (Hunter Dimmick) that has 14.5 sacks, which is right near the top mark in the country. Because of the pressure they apply they have a ton of interceptions as well.”

Offensive line play will be a key thing to watch as Utah’s defensive front is one of the top units in the country. The Hoosiers have surrendered 2.2 sacks per game and they’ve struggled to establish the running game against the better defenses they’ve played. Brandon Knight and Freshman All-American Coy Cronk should be back in the lineup after missing the Purdue game and the Hoosiers are focused on slowing down guys like Hunter Dimmick, Pita Taumpenu and Filipo Mokofisi. 

“Utah is very big and strong up front. They are very fundamentally sound, they play with tight hands and it is going to be a great opportunity for us. Their sack totals this year have been absolutely ridiculous,” IU left tackle Coy Cronk said.

Bowl preparations began with the shocking resignation of Kevin Wilson and the immediate promotion of former defensive coordinator Tom Allen to head coach. It would be understandable if IU’s players were focused on the coaching change or potential changes on the coaching staff with assistants but the Hoosiers insist they are locked in and ready for the challenge the Utes will present.

“We are focused on us getting back into a good rhythm and we have done a really good job with that in the past couple days of practice,” IU quarterback Richard Lagow said.

Top wide receiver Nick Westbrook has noticed the improvement and focus of Lagow and he’s excited to show off the progress of the offense against a top-notch defense. “He (Lagow) is locked in at practice. He understands the offense better, he knows where he wants the ball to go. He has matured a lot over the season.”

Without Kevin Wilson at the helm, it’s unclear exactly what approach the IU offense will have in the Foster Farms Bowl and it will be interesting to see if they’ve made any tweaks to a red zone offense that was unsuccessful for much of the 2016 season. On the other side of the ball, the Hoosiers bring the nation’s most improved defense to Santa Clara. They take on a Utah offense that was fourth in the PAC-12 with 210 rushing yards per game. The Utes will try to dominate possession and grind IU’s defense down while keeping the Hoosiers offense on the sideline. Utah quarterback Troy Williams has been a bit erratic and he’s definitely not efficient but he is very capable of getting hot and making some big plays. They will rely on senior tailback Joe Williams though. He’s averaging 6.4 yards per carry and Utah leans on him as the bell cow feature back.

“Their plan will be to come in and run the ball. They have a great offensive line,” freshman husky Marcelino Ball said. 

While it has surely been difficult for Tom Allen to prepare the team for the Foster Farms Bowl while also dealing with his first days as an FBS head coach, he’s been locked in on making sure his squad maintains practice habits. 

“The real challenge is we want to make sure we are being physical. If you let up and are not physical enough, we will not be sharp or crisp come kickoff,” Tom Allen said.

IU is no stranger to taking on ranked opposition. While they have really competed well and given heavy favorites scares, they’ve failed to breakthrough with upset victories. While Utah is 9-1 in bowl games under Kyle Whittingham, IU head coach Tom Allen will be in his first game in charge with the Hoosiers and they haven’t tasted bowl success as a program in 25 years. The contrast is quite stark but the Hoosiers are hoping the first game under the energetic Allen will be the first of many breakthrough successes.