The Indiana Offense Still Has a lot of Room for Improvement

Written by Matt Smith

The Indiana offense looked much improved in many different aspects during their week one victory against Illinois. Connor Bazelak received the starting job following a week with a lot of speculation about the position battle.

“We were good in spots, we weren’t very good in spots,” offensive coordinator Walt Bell said. “I think a lot of the typical first game was not necessarily not prepared, but we had a lot of kids that this game was unbelievably important to.”

One of the things that Bell wants to see improved is missing the chunk plays. Big plays for an offense can set the tone for the game, and the Hoosiers missed 3-4 big chunk plays that could have blown the game open according to Bell. 

However, a plus was that there was only one pre-snap penalty for the Hoosiers, on a motion that was messed up. 

Indiana’s offense went stagnant in the second half, but with two minutes left, the unit went down the field to take the lead.

“We won the football game,” Bell said. “We survived a big lull there, but we found a way to win. To me that’s what a good football team does, you’re at your best when your best is required and our best was required with two minutes, not timeouts and 75 yards to go.”

One position group that received a lot of focus throughout the off season was the offensive line. Bell said that Illinois would constantly stack the box and have one more rusher than they did blocker. 

So, when the Hoosiers did run the ball it was to prove to Illinois that they would try, but they had to pass the ball.

“That’s probably the most times I’ve thrown the football in my life,” Bell said. “We knew we had to throw the football to win the game.”

There was a lot of pressure by the Illini defense, and the offensive line only gave up one sack with Bazelak dropping back over 50 times. However, Bell did recognize that the Hoosiers have to improve their run game going forward in the season.

Bazelak earned the win in the position battle with Jack Tuttle, and came out and impressed a lot of people, by throwing for 330 yards.

“With Connor, He and I have had a lot of time to watch the tape,” Bell said. “But he will tell you that there is a lot better football left to be played. I think that’s what makes him such a good player is that he’s not ever satisfied with how he plays.”

Bazelak was able to connect with both Cam Camper and DJ Matthews a lot during their first game together as well.

“In terms of Dj, just to see him healthy, to see him explosive, we all know that he’s magic when he has the ball in his hand,” Bell said. “He’s improving as a person as much as he is as a player, and those go hand and hand.”

Bell also said that Camper also impressed during his first game, but there are many plays he wishes he had back such as the fumble in the second half. 

“I was really pleased for a first game, but there’s still meat on the bone, we can get better,” Bell said.