Mark Langston and Hoosier Special Teams Have a Chip on their Shoulder

After the way the 2024 season ended for the Indiana Hoosiers left a sour in taste and a giant chip on the shoulder of Indiana long snapper Mark Langston. The Hoosiers finished a historic season 11-2 and qualified for the College Football Playoff.

Indiana’s lone loss in the regular season came in Columbus against the Ohio State Buckeyes. A game that Indiana led 7-0 and should have gone into halftime tied 7-7 with the eventual national champions.

However, a dropped snap by punter James Evans gave the ball to the Buckeyes at Indiana’s seven-yard line. Three plays later IU would head to the locker room down 14-7 and reeling.

Any chance at building momentum in the second half came to a screeching halt when Caleb Downs took a misplaced punt 79 yards for a touchdown and a 21-7 lead. IU would lose 38-15 in a game they gave up 14 points on special teams miscues.

Against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff, Evans averaged 33 yards per punt, tilting the field in the Irish’s favor. That chip has to be pretty big.

“Coming off last year, we have a chip on our shoulder. We have a lot to prove.” Langston said.

There are new faces in the special teams room and that could be the spark IU needs to perform when the lights are brightest.

“I spent a season with (Brendan) Franke, Nico’s (Radicic) always there, and ever since Mitch (McCarthy) has got here we’ve been attached at the hip so it’s just another season with the boys.” Langston said.

Langston has a little of the specialist “crazy” in him and he is working to perfect a craft he loves to work on. He’s practiced by snapping footballs into a mailbox. Some went in, some did not. It was all part of the process for him.

“A lot of people train until they get one right. I train until I can’t get one wrong. Just having a purpose every time, you go out there and snapping a ball. Especially when you go through summer that’s when you chip away at your sculpture you’re building every year. And then, when you come to the game and to practice, that’s when you don’t think and rely on your muscle memory.” Langston explained.

The Hoosiers showed what a difference special teams can make in conference play as a couple of punt returns, one by Myles Price and one from Ke’Shawn Williams, helped seal wins.

Mark Langston and the rest of the kicking unit wants to have that kind of positive impact on the Hoosiers’ season in 2025. The malfunctions late last year still haunt him. As Langston said in his press conference, he is someone who will practice until he gets that skill right.