Indiana Hoosiers Football: Explosive Plays Emphasized Early
When Indiana head coach Tom Allen elected to make a change at offensive coordinator, he did because he wanted to see more explosive plays from that unit. The Hoosiers' lack of consistency in that area made it a recurring issue when it came to sustaining drives last fall.
That desire led him to hiring new associate head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kalen DeBoer, who has developed a reputation of engineering dramatic turnarounds of stagnant offenses throughout his entire coaching career.
Already, IU players are noticing a difference.
"Yeah, definitely just from the first practice, (I'm) noticing that we're getting a lot more balls thrown down the field," IU redshirt senior wide receiver Nick Westbrook said. "I think it's emphasized with the reads for the quarterbacks to look for us early on and always have that in the back of their head that we're going to be down there. Definitely noticed more of an emphasis on that."
The aggressive approach is a welcomed one by Westbrook and IU's quarterbacks and wide receivers after how the unit fared statistically in 2018.
Allen in October said IU measures explosive plays as gains of 15 or more yards passing or rushing. According to CFBstats.com, which tracks long passing plays in 10-yard increments, Indiana tied with six other schools with 37 plays of 20 or more passing yards. For context, Ohio State led the Big Ten and ranked third nationally with 68.
Indiana also managed just 6.4 yards per pass attempt last year, tied with Maryland for third-lowest in the conference.
Meanwhile, Fresno State under DeBoer's stewardship tied with four other schools for 16th nationally with 56 in 2018. It had 54 plays of 20 or more passing yards in 2017 - DeBoer's first season with the program - tied with two other schools for 21st.
The Bulldogs also ranked second in the Mountain West Conference with 8.4 yards per pass attempt in 2018 and fourth with 7.8 in 2017.
It should come as no surprise, then, that generating big plays downfield being emphasized early on during the installation process.
"I think that's part of it," DeBoer said. "We've hit some play-action shots in each of the last three practices, so that's part of when you get a run game going. To me, the explosive plays aren't just about always throwing it all the way down the field. It's about timing and accuracy and good protection. Everyone just trusts each other. If you can hit guys on the run, then great yards-after-catch can happen. We've had a little bit of both. We've completed some deep balls on the field, which is good to see."
Indiana has that ability thanks to long, athletic wide receivers like Westbrook, listed at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds and redshirt senior Donavan Hale, who checks in at 6-4, 225.
"We've caught some balls down the sideline where we throw it up," DeBoer said. "If you can get a quarterback to be on the same page with some guys there. When you get that look, give him the little nod or hand signal and throw it down the field, just like we did here at the end of practice. You tend to like that with that height. We have to use that to our advantage. I really like what we got. They're competitors. They go for the ball. I like the nature and aggressiveness that they all have."
Westbrook himself was on the receiving end of one of those plays in practice on Sunday, streaking down the right sideline and catching the ball in the endzone for a 35-yard touchdown.
It appears that certainly won't be the last time.
"I've caught a few of those, and I've just noticed as a receiver group we're getting a lot more of those opportunities," Westbrook said.
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