A season ago, the Indiana Hoosiers led the Big Ten Conference in passing yards with 3,931 thanks to a combination of Michael Penix and Peyton Ramsey.
With Ramsey gone to Northwestern and Penix back, one has to ask if the Hoosiers will be able to put up those kind of passing numbers again this year.
One person hopes that is not the case.
Indiana assistant coach and running backs coach Mike Hart made it clear – he wants to see the Hoosiers run the ball more this season.
Offensive coordinator and former quarterback Nick Sheridan isn’t ready to completely budge to his former college teammate, telling the media that the Hoosiers will do whatever it takes to win football games.
“I am confident about that (running back) room, but we are going to do whatever it takes to win. If we have to throw it 70 or run it 70, we only care about winning around here. 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,” Sheridan said, joking that it isn’t surprising the running backs coach wants Indiana to run the football more.
As prolific as the passing game was last year – matching a school record with nine 30-point games and having the third best overall offense in the Big Ten – the running game struggled to get out of the gate quite a bit.
Indiana finished 11th in rushing with only 1,695 yards on the ground. Only Rutgers, Purdue and Michigan State were worse.
How different will the offense look this year is anyone’s guess, but Indiana does bring back Stevie Scott III and Sampson James in the backfield, and Penix showed his ability to also garner yards on the ground last season.
Scott picked up 845 yards and 10 touchdowns a season ago, down from the 1,137 yards he had as a freshman. However, he did miss the Purdue and Gator Bowl last year. James, who started against Purdue and Tennessee in the bowl game, finished with 275 yards and three trips to the end zone on 81 touches.
Hart said Sampson and Scott headline a group that is as solid as he has had.
“It is a really strong, fun group to be around,” Hart said.
As for balancing the carries, Hart said that rests with Sheridan, but did say he has a philosophy of going with the hot hand.
“The more we run the ball, the more guys will get touches. You roll with the hot hand,” Hart said. “I think we have a couple guys who can start in there, and they will all play. If we only run 15 times, it’s hard to say someone will get seven and seven. Guys can’t get in a flow this year.”
Hart said he believes a more mature offensive line will help.
“To run the ball, you have to run the ball,” Hart added. “We have to commit ourselves, as a coaching staff, to running the ball. As long as we do that, we have the tools and talent to do it.”
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