Matchup to Watch Week Five: Indiana's Offensive Line vs. Michigan State's Front Seven
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Image: Amanda Pavelka Hoosier Huddle
Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
Week Five Matchup to Watch: Indiana’s Offensive Line vs. Michigan State’s Front Seven
The matchup to watch in the Battle for the Old Brass Spittoon is how Indiana’s offensive line, that is now without its best player Coy Cronk, holds up against an elite defensive front seven that the Spartans have.
The big news out of Bloomington in the last seven days has been that senior offensive lineman Coy Cronk will have surgery after suffering a lower leg injury and miss the remainder of the 2019 season. The Spartans head into Saturday’s matchup ranked fourth in the Big Ten in tackles for loss with 34 and second in the conference in sacks with 15. The unit is led by linebacker Joe Bachie (3.5 TFLs, 1.5 sacks) and defensive lineman Kenny Willekes (6.5 TFLs, 4 sacks). It is far from a two-man show on defense for the Spartans however as eight Spartan defenders have two or more tackles for loss.
Even with a healthy Cronk, the Spartan defense would be a major challenge for the Hoosiers. Indiana comes in ninth in the conference with seven sacks allowed and 21 tackles for loss allowed. Indiana’s line has a lot to prove after a very solid 2018 season and now it will rely on a freshman in Matthew Bedford or a sparingly used senior in DaVondre Love to fill in at tackle for Cronk.
Indiana head coach Tom Allen eluded on Monday that he has many options to help the offensive line. “we can move Caleb to left tackle, which we did in the game right away, and then DaVondre Love is in the mix there to play. Matthew Bedford, played him there in the fourth quarter and he'll be in the mix to play. Aidan Rafferty is a guy that's got to step up. So those three guys are really the three tackles that will be in position to prepare to do that.”
Big Ten games, especially ones against Michigan State are won up front. In order for Indiana to win back the Old Brass Spittoon they will need to give whomever is playing quarterback time to throw and create some running lanes for the backs to help control the tempo and move the chains.