Many times heading into the spring portion of the Indiana football season, head coach Tom Allen has discussed the running attack of the Hoosiers.
He mentioned it again while meeting with the media Monday, March 22, noting that it continues to be a point of emphasis for him, offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan and the entire team.
A season ago, the Hoosiers finished 12th in the Big Ten out of 14 teams in rushing offense, averaging 108.7 yards.
In eight games, the Hoosiers rushed for 869 yards on 278 carries and found the endzone 12 times. Stevie Scott III was the featured back, accounting for 561 yards and 10 touchdowns, including two in the Outback Bowl out of the wildcat position.
Sure, Indiana went up against some good defensive fronts this season, especially when they took on Ohio State, but this is a unit that for whatever reason thought it could continue to lineup and run the ball up the middle too many times this season.
Only one time this season did Indiana put together something that resembled a strong running attack and that was against Maryland, as the Hoosiers went for 234 yards on the ground.
With Sampson James and the likes of Tim Baldwin in the mix, a crowded running back room featured some very talented pieces.
However, those pieces didn't produce much as the season progressed. Baldwin had 141 yards on the season, of which 106 came against the Terrapins, and James finished the year with 96. Neither scored a touchdown, as Indiana's other two rushing touchdowns came from Penix.
To help fix the running game, Indiana brought back former running backs coach Deland McCullough in hopes of finding the right magic to unleash Indiana's rushing attack.
Sheridan told the media Monday the run game is something that has been evaluated and something he believes Indiana can do better with and improve on.
"You evaluate each and every year things you think you did well and things you feel you can improve. We feel like we can run the football more effectively and more efficiently. It is something we need to improve on, and in the same breath, we need to coach better and execute better and if we can increase the execution and put players in best position week in and week out, that is beneficial," Sheridan said. "There is only so many plays and schemes you can do and you can't do them all... we are looking at exploring them all and we will see.
"We will see what our kids can do and execute well, and it starts with me. A lot of people want to point fingers at a position group when a certain phase of your offense doesn't execute at a level you would like, but it's all 11. Everyone is involved in the run game, and everyone is involved in the passing game. All positions need to improve, I need to improve and we are looking forward to the possibility."
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