Indiana first-year offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan is familiar with the numbers.
The same goes for head coach Tom Allen and running backs coach Mike Hart.
The emphasis has been there since last season by the coaching staff and that is for the Hoosiers to get better at running the football and establish a running presence.
And why not?
A season ago, Indiana finished 11th in the Big Ten in rushing with only 1,695 yards on the ground. Only Rutgers, Purdue and Michigan State were worse.
A season ago, Stevie Scott picked up 845 yards and 10 touchdowns, down from the 1,137 yards he had as a freshman. However, he did miss the Purdue game and the Gator Bowl last year. Sampson James, who started against the Boilermakers and Tennessee in the Gator Bowl, finished the season with 275 yards and three touchdowns on 81 touches.
After two games, Indiana is ranked last in the Big Ten in rushing with 150 total yards.
Whether that is because the offensive line isn’t getting a push and opening holes or play calling hasn’t allowed for runs or running backs not finding the hole doesn’t matter as much as it being a collective effort when it comes to running the football, according to Sheridan.
“It is always an emphasis, always something that’s important, and it’s something I think is easy when you evaluate the run game to say the line is the main issue, but that’s not always the case," Sheridan said. "It’s a collective effort. Coaches making sure the plays that are being ran are putting our players in the best chance to be successful relative to the box count, pressure. Obviously, the line has a large part to do with it on how they are blocking and executing. The running backs making the right cuts and right reads. The tight ends making sure they’re blocking their guys. The quarterback making sure he’s making the right checks or right reads so it’s a full unit task and job."
Sheridan had previously said that it didn’t matter what the offense looked like, as long as the Hoosiers picked up victories.
“If we have to throw it 70 or run it 70, we only care about winning around here," Sheridan said. "You have to have some versatility in your offense that when you have to pass it, you can pass it and when you have to run it, you can run it. We definitely don’t want to be one dimensional, but we want to do whatever it takes to get first downs, score points and do whatever it takes to get wins."
And wins have come for Indiana thus far.
So has some improvements in the rushing attack, according to Sheridan.
The first year offensive coordinator told the media this week he saw improvements running the football in the Rutgers game compared to Penn State.
Against Rutgers, Scott, who has surpassed 2,000 career yards at Indiana, rushed the ball 21 times for a season-high 81 yards. The output marked the 10th time he has rushed for at least 50 yards and was his highest yardage amount since Nov. 2, 2019 when he picked up 116 yards against Northwestern.
Scott rushed the ball 20 times for 57 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener against Penn State.
“We still feel like we have more to do and more work to be had and that will always be an important part of what we do here," Sheridan added. "Give credit to the team’s we’ve gone up against."
Sheridan is not the only one who wants to see an improvement in the run game. Tom Allen has made it clear he wants to see the team improve in running the football as well.
Against Michigan, Indiana will have another opportunity to get the running game going and look to build an offense that will withstand the colder weather November and December in the Big Ten will bring.
“Continue to chop at it and continue to try and get better at it because it will be important. Have to run the football when the weather starts to turn more than it already has. We have seen improvement and that’s what we’re focused on."
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