Better In-Game Adjustments a Must for IUFB Says Walt Bell

Written by: @zachegreene 

The Hoosier offense struggled during the second half of Saturday night’s game and offensive coordinator Walt Bell said he needs to make better post-half adjustments.

“Ultimately not good enough. We did not win the football game. We did not score more points than they had. Therefore, it’s not good enough. There were times that we looked really good. There were times that we had some drops, not putting the ball in the hands. There were some issues there. Ultimately it wasn’t good enough, but there was some good and there is plenty of room for improvement.” Said Bell during Monday’s press conference 

There were some bright spots for the Hoosier offense. During the second touchdown drive, Bell was able to exploit the man coverage Cornhuskers and called a great route to Emory Simmons to cut the score to a one-possession game. The following offense possession was also good as the Hoosiers drove down the field capped off by a one yard run by Shaun Shivers.

 In the second half, the Hoosiers were flat and failed to put any points on the board. 

It appears as if the Cornhuskers may have thrown Bell and his offense off guard with a lot of their play calling and understandably so on the first drive. The Cornhuskers fired their coach and defense coordinator which meant that they were probably going to see a new scheme.

Walt was also questioned about his offense during today’s presser after the loss to Nebraska and more specifically the offensive line. The offense line failed to create a good-sized hole for the running backs.

“We got to get through today and find out the final injury reports and who is available. There is always going to be competition. I thought that Zack Carpenter had to play guard and he did a nice job. I thought Katic playing center for the first time did a nice job. The rotation between Khalil and Tim was good at times. As we continue to add competition and development between Haggar, Sales, and Parker, I would think all these guys would be required to play at some point.” Said Bell

Consistency was a key before the loss to Nebraska and will continue to be vital throughout the season. Bell knows he needs to do a better job of adjusting when things aren’t working out and figure out who the starting five up front are.

It’s Bell’s first year and he has an edge to him that will make him a great coach. It will be interesting to see how his play calling changes this week and what we’ll see from the Hoosiers offense.

The Hoosiers welcome Michigan to town. The Wolverines have one of the best defensive units in the country and the offense will need to flip it around. Keep up to date with HoosierHuddle to prepare you for the game and all things Indiana football.