Time on Task and Physical Practice Fuel Offensive Line Improvement

Image: Indiana University Athletics

Written by Sammy Jacobs

The Indiana offensive line has come under heavy criticism after the first two games of the 2020 season. In wins against Penn State and Rutgers to open the year, quarterback Michael Penix was under constant pressure and running lanes were few and far between. The Nittany Lions sacked Penix three times and recorded six tackles for loss. Rutgers sacked Penix once, but had seven tackles for loss.

“I said it after the Penn State game, that was a very poor performance by the offensive line” offensive line coach Darren Hiller acknowledged.  “I thought that there was some things where there was maybe a little rust. Our aiming points and some of our technique things were not very good. It allowed some breakdowns in what we were doing, especially in the run game. Then I thought the Rutgers game, in the second week, I thought we got a little bit better. The Michigan game I thought we got better. We are not even close to where we need to be and every single day is the challenge to be better as a unit.”

It was a concern. Tom Allen and the rest of the coaches noticed and turned up the heat in practice last week.

“We had a good week in preparation with them and challenged them and I have been hard on them and calling them out” Allen said on Monday.

The Hoosier offensive line turned it around against Michigan as they did not allow a sack and Michigan’s aggressive defense only record three tackles for loss.

“I just felt like that they strained harder, longer than we have in the past and stayed on their blocks and executed better, communicated better” Allen added.

Darren Hiller is the offensive line coach for the Hoosiers and his groups usually get better as the season goes on. This season, the Hoosiers are replacing some key pieces for 2019 in Hunter Littlejohn and Simon Stepaniak. What goes unseen to IU fans is the hurdles that the pandemic has thrown into practice. Football practice in 2020 did not look like a normal practice. “We were trying to find ways to teach run-blocking schemes while keeping our guards and our tackles six feet apart. It is taking some time” IU offensive coordinator Nick Sheradin explained. “The time on tasks, working together, the communication, the body presence of one another, and you cannot play an offensive line individually. You have to play an offensive line collectively.”

Junior offensive tackle Caleb Jones, who has struggled at times this year, credits last Wednesday’s practice for the team’s performance against Michigan.

“We definitely made it an emphasis at the beginning of the week that we knew it would have to be a tougher week, we knew it was going to be a week that we exerted a lot of energy, and we strained to finish. I think that our scout team did a good job of giving us a really good look and making sure that we were prepared to play” Jones said. “I think that the reason practice was so physical was because the scout team was trying to give us the best look possible. I think that they did a really good job. Most of the offensive lineman were not really happy about it, but it gave us a really good result.”

Indiana will have to continue the improved play along the offensive line as the Hoosiers head into the Old Brass Spittoon game. Michigan State is second in the Big Ten in tackles for loss with 22.