Hoosiers Hoping Offense Clicks as Pressure Mounts

Written by Matt Smith

Indiana’s offense has been a big storyline throughout the entire season. The offense has been disappointing to say the least and the defense has been doomed by injuries. As the Hoosiers travel to Maryland the big focus will be on the offense, specifically the quarterback.

Throughout the season so far, Michael Penix and Jack Tuttle have both gone down with injuries. 

“Definitely progressing in that direction, but the predominant snaps were Donaven [McCulley] and Grant [Gremel],” head coach Tom Allen said during his Thursday press conference.  “Since those guys have had so little preparation [with the first-team offense], that has been the focus, to get those guys the reps that they need. It has been very positive.”

One thing that the Hoosiers have been trying to work on throughout the season is establishing the run game early in the game to make the quarterback more comfortable. Stephen Carr will try to lead the way for the Hoosiers against the Terps.

“I think it's very important. You have to do everything you can do, no matter who is in that [quarterback] position. You have to be able to run the football effectively and that allows you to do other things as well. It sets the tempo and a tone and allows you to control the football in the way that you need to,” Allen said.

If the Hoosiers want to win this weekend, they’ll need to be creative in the run game if they want to make two inexperienced quarterbacks comfortable in Gremel and McCulley.

In order to make that happen, the offensive line will need to improve and win the battle against a Maryland defense that has not played their best up to this point. The offensive line needs to protect and give the quarterback a pocket and the running backs room to run.

“We have to be able to continue to work on it and it has been the focus of this entire week. We will continue to make some adjustments, if we need to, personnel wise,” Allen said. “Bottom line is that each guy needs to own his area of responsibility.”

There will also be some new faces in the wide receiving core that will hope to create separation and help make plays for the Hoosiers offense. Two of the names that stuck out to Allen were Jaquez Smith and Malachi Holt-Bennett. Both guys have been given many practice reps this week.

As far as defense, Tiawan Mullen and Reese Taylor have both been hurt the past couple of weeks. Allen is hoping to get those guys back this week against Maryland. As of right now they are a gametime decision.