Two Spring Football Scrimmages in the Books For the Hoosiers
/Written by: Nate Comp (@NathanComp1)
With about a month remaining in the academic school year in Bloomington and Spring Football Saturday around the corner, don’t look now but spring football camp is in its final days and the Hoosiers recently completed their second scrimmage. Tom Allen met with the media on Tuesday to discuss what has stood out to him in these game scenarios.
“I tell you what, the one we just had is probably the best one I’ve been a part of in regards to the competition back and forth,” said Allen. “Everything we did from an O vs D competition piece came down to the final snap for each one of those, which is awesome. I thought we created a lot of game-like situations. I thought both sides were making plays. That’s kinda what sticks out to me.”
After a disappointing season last year, Indiana entered the spring with numerous roster and coaching staff changes – making the spring’s practices even more important than usual. Arguably the biggest change came when Indiana hired Bob Bostad, the former Wisconsin offensive line coach, to the Hoosiers under the same title. The offensive line has been a weak link and a hinderance to any major offensive production the last two seasons. Coach Allen has noticed improvements already this spring.
“We’ve had a chance to really focus on running the football – that’s a big emphasis and we know we have to do a better job of that, and stopping the run,” Allen added. “So that’s been a big area of focus, we’re making progress there on both sides.”
Of course, spring scrimmages can be a delicate balance when competing in an intrasquad nature; if the defense looks good, is the offense not explosive enough? If the offense is moving down the field, does the defense have deficiencies? Allen believes what is most important is that both sides are showing flashes, and so far, he has seen that.
“Guys are stepping up and making some critical plays on both sides and we’re able to teach off of that. We’ve got a lot of guys that have played a lot of ball these past couple years. I’m excited to see these guys step up and make plays.”
The Hoosiers wrap up spring practice on April 15th with their Spring Football Saturday from 11am-1pm in Bloomington.