Graham Notebook: Not a Passing Fancy
10/17/2017 8:54:00 PM | Football
By: Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Gandolph the Grey, when confronted by a rather inflamed Balrog in "The Lord of the Rings," intones:
"You shall not pass!"
The fictional wizard, while clearly not deferential to demons of the underworld, might take a liking to this current Indiana football defense.
IU allowed Michigan just 58 yards passing during Saturday's 27-20 overtime loss to the Wolverines, having allowed Charleston Southern zero in a 27-0 victory the week before.
That was the first time the Hoosiers had permitted foes fewer than 100 yards passing in back-to-back games since 1989. And it marked the second straight season IU held Michigan to fewer than 60 (59 in 2016).
And Coach Tom Allen's Hoosiers continue to progress toward a stated goal of ranking among the nation's top 25 in total defense, now residing at No. 39 (allowing 353 total yards per game).
But IU just played the nation's leader in total defense (Michigan at 223.8 yards) and is about to play the nation's No. 5 defense, with Michigan State's Spartans hosting the Hoosiers for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday with the Old Brass Spittoon up for grabs.
MSU and IU are virtually tied at second in the Big Ten behind Michigan for defending third downs, with both teams allowing opponents to convert just 29.1 percent of third-down situations. The Spartans and Hoosiers respectively rank 15th and 16th in that category nationally.
There is at least one key statistical category, however, that Indiana's defense would love to shore up. Despite prioritizing takeaways both philosophically and in practice, IU has just four on the season (3 fumble recoveries and 1 interception). The next-lowest Big Ten team, Northwestern, has twice as many. IU ranks 124th nationally among 129 teams in that crucial, often game-changing category.
The Hoosiers appeared to have an interception against Michigan, with fifth-year senior cornerback Rashard Fant providing the honors, only to see it wiped out via a pass interference call on Fant that left the IU sideline a trifle animated.
Not that Fant recalls Allen saying much directly to him at the time.
"He didn't really say anything more, other than to keep playing," Fant said Tuesday. "I know he knows that I'm a vet and that it wouldn't affect me. Probably, during my younger days, I'd have definitely gotten upset.
"It happens. Personally, I know that was probably one of the best coverage plays I've had in a long time. And I know it wasn't a P.I., looking back. But the ref's view is different and he saw what he saw. There's nothing you can do. You've got to play, and we've got to find a way to go get some more takeaways out there."
During IU's 34-17 win at Virginia (the lone Cavalier loss this season), the Hoosiers had an interception by Chase Dutra nullified by a penalty, and an apparent defensive scoop-and-score (via a Greg Gooch fumble-inducing sack and a Robert McCray recovery and TD run) wiped out by a targeting call on Gooch.
Fant led the Big Ten with 17 pass breakups (third nationally) last season – but noted Tuesday that more of those need to become picks.
"I think the key is to not get frustrated," Fant said. "I think I can look at it personally and see I have all those pass breakups, but about six are dropped picks … but when the opportunity comes, you don't want to over-think it.
"You continue to practice catching balls, making those plays, so that when you have them in a game, it translates. You just keep pushing through and, eventually, the tide will turn and some of those will fall your way. You can't hang your head and get down about it."
And you can't count on a passing wizard waving a wand.
NEW FIELDS OF STUDY
Tony Fields filed seven solo tackles against Michigan, seemingly settling in nicely to the hybrid safety/linebacker Husky spot in place of injured sophomore Marcelino Ball.
Fields started all 13 games last season at free safety, his position when the 2017 campaign commenced, but he's a Husky now.
"I'm getting more comfortable, day by day," Fields said Tuesday. "I'm learning new things, different techniques and how to play different coverages. I'm definitely getting more comfortable, and I'm enjoying it, and am just glad to be with my teammates."
Fields credited Ball's pointers, in part, for that and also thanked his other teammates for "helping me out," adding, "I trust them and they trust me."
Classmate and cornerback Rashard Fant, wandering past the Fields interview, interjected, "You're welcome."
Fields laughed, then elaborated on the differences between the two positions he's filled as a starter this season.
"(Husky is) being more involved with the run, up close," Fields said. "Trying to fit the run, reading blocks and just being more involved. Free safety is deeper, so you don't get a lot of action. It's like you're saving touchdowns.
"Husky is more involved. I'm dealing with more linemen and fitting the run. I'm covering and I'm blitzing and I'm doing different things. So it takes a lot of getting used to. But the good thing is you're around the ball, so I'm enjoying it."
Fields, as is the case with most defenders, likes to blitz.
"Oh, yeah!" said the former Tallahassee (Fla) Godby High standout. "Definitely enjoy blitzing. Reminds me of high school."
So does Fields like playing Husky more than free safety?
"I wouldn't say I like it more, but it kind of allows me to show a different side of my abilities. So it asks different responsibilities from me and counts on how versatile I can be.
I'm glad I got to play it. But, I don't know, I kind of like free safety, still."
But he will play any place the coaches ask.
"They asked me and I was ready to go," Fields said about his position shift in the wake of Ball's injury. "I'm willing to do anything for this team. I love my guys. I love my teammates. And I'm trying to do anything to win, so I was ready."
A DANDY DOZEN (BUT NEEDED A BAKER'S DOZEN)
IU fifth-year senior safety Chris Dutra supplied a career-high 12 solo tackles and tied his career-high with game-high 13 overall stops against Michigan, but would have loved joining his teammates in making at least one more.
Dutra minced no words Tuesday about the first snap in overtime, on which the Hoosiers initially appeared to have Karan Higdon trapped in the backfield only to see Higdon escape around left end for what proved the game-winning touchdown.
"For us, as a defense, to give up the very first play as a touchdown, it hurts," Dutra said. "You preach about finishing.
"But we have to shake it off and learn from our mistakes. We have a great opportunity again, this weekend, with Michigan State, another ranked opponent (at No. 18), another big-time opponent. So we're just excited to get back on the field."
LUKE'S ROUTE RUNS TO IU
Redshirt junior slot receiver Luke Timian caught seven passes for a career-high 95 receiving yards against Michigan, several times boldly making catches in traffic over the middle on crossing patterns.
Timian's college football pattern crossed Indiana's path after he spent a year redshirting and rehabilitating an injury at Oklahoma State. That was a place that harbored family and friends. Timian, a walk-on, decided he wanted a place to focus solely on football. And IU beckoned.
"I actually grew up a fan of Oklahoma State," the Southlake, Texas, native said. "My cousin played there. My parents went there. It's like a family school. So when I decided to walk on, I felt I'd be comfortable there. And if I decided football wasn't going to work out, I'd be happy just going to school there.
"Once I decided football was definitely what I wanted to pursue, I needed a fresh start and Indiana was probably the best fit for that. I'd been to a camp here during my junior year of high school – actually met J-Shun (Harris, Timian's current back-up in the slot) – and they recruited me. They ended up not offering me, but I kept in contact with coach (Kevin) Johns when he was still here.
"For me, I needed to go somewhere where I could just focus on football, where there were no outside distractions. And I didn't know anyone else here, besides Mitchell Paige and Coach Johns. I thought, 'I can come up here and do my thing and really refocus.' "
Timian now finds himself an increasing focal point for redshirt freshman quarterback Peyton Ramsey and IU's passing attack. He now ranks second only to Simmie Cobbs's 37 catches with 29 receptions through IU's 3-3 start.
"He just kept getting open," Ramsey said of Timian. "That's what he does. Every single day. He's a really good route-runner, finds windows and will just sit down there for me to find him and get him the ball."
PEYTON'S PLACE
Peyton Ramsey relished the challenge of making just his second career start Saturday tasked with scoring points against the nation's top defense.
And the Hoosiers scored 10 points in the final 3:27 of regulation time against a Wolverine unit that hadn't previously surrendered a fourth-quarter point all season.
But Ramsey rued the fact the Hoosier offense couldn't capitalize after forging a 1st-and-goal from the Michigan 1 in overtime. And he emphasized that the IU coaches called plays that would have worked with better execution.
"That was definitely a step up in competition and it was fun to be out there, on our home turf for Homecoming, and have an opportunity to win," Ramsey said Tuesday. "At the same time, it's disappointing. We just had so many opportunities where we didn't execute.
"Those (final four snaps of OT) were just all execution issues. The play-calling was great. Just awesome opportunities to win the game (or in that case, tie it.) We've just got to continue to practice and rep those plays out. We do practice short-yardage and we're going to continue to practice short-yardage after this week. We just have to be better."
Ramsey credited coaching adjustments for why the Hoosiers were better immediately after halftime Saturday. They went 64 yards in just six plays for the TD that cut Michigan's lead to 13-10. True freshman back Morgan Ellison rushed for 45 yards on the drive, which was also buoyed by a key 3rd-and-4 pass for 19 yards from Ramsey to Luke Timian.
"That was just coming out of the locker room having made some adjustments, and Morgan ran really, really well behind the big O-line that was getting a push," Ramsey said.
"He kind of took it to them on that drive."
But then IU's offense stalled until the final minutes.
"Our defense did a great job, forcing (three straight) 3-and-outs," Ramsey said, "but we couldn't win the field position battle because we kept going 3-and-out and were backed up. We've got to do better on first and second downs."
Ramsey said that Michigan's fleet, No. 1-ranked defense naturally had something to do with IU's offensive issues.
"They were pretty fast," Ramsey acknowledged. "Just overall, they could run around and get to the ball."
The defense IU will face Saturday at Michigan State has some similarities.
"Just another good defense, as we were talking about Michigan last week, where they're just really good at what they do," Ramsey said. "They don't do a whole lot but, what they do, they do really well. They're just very fundamentally sound.
"They're a Cover 4 team and they'll press you up (with man coverage). So it's just the same thing. We have to get open. We have to protect. And we have to be able to run the ball."
And the next time he has a chance with a game on the line, Ramsey wants the sort of execution allowing him to take up residence in the opposition end zone.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Gandolph the Grey, when confronted by a rather inflamed Balrog in "The Lord of the Rings," intones:
"You shall not pass!"
The fictional wizard, while clearly not deferential to demons of the underworld, might take a liking to this current Indiana football defense.
IU allowed Michigan just 58 yards passing during Saturday's 27-20 overtime loss to the Wolverines, having allowed Charleston Southern zero in a 27-0 victory the week before.
That was the first time the Hoosiers had permitted foes fewer than 100 yards passing in back-to-back games since 1989. And it marked the second straight season IU held Michigan to fewer than 60 (59 in 2016).
And Coach Tom Allen's Hoosiers continue to progress toward a stated goal of ranking among the nation's top 25 in total defense, now residing at No. 39 (allowing 353 total yards per game).
But IU just played the nation's leader in total defense (Michigan at 223.8 yards) and is about to play the nation's No. 5 defense, with Michigan State's Spartans hosting the Hoosiers for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday with the Old Brass Spittoon up for grabs.
MSU and IU are virtually tied at second in the Big Ten behind Michigan for defending third downs, with both teams allowing opponents to convert just 29.1 percent of third-down situations. The Spartans and Hoosiers respectively rank 15th and 16th in that category nationally.
There is at least one key statistical category, however, that Indiana's defense would love to shore up. Despite prioritizing takeaways both philosophically and in practice, IU has just four on the season (3 fumble recoveries and 1 interception). The next-lowest Big Ten team, Northwestern, has twice as many. IU ranks 124th nationally among 129 teams in that crucial, often game-changing category.
The Hoosiers appeared to have an interception against Michigan, with fifth-year senior cornerback Rashard Fant providing the honors, only to see it wiped out via a pass interference call on Fant that left the IU sideline a trifle animated.
Not that Fant recalls Allen saying much directly to him at the time.
"He didn't really say anything more, other than to keep playing," Fant said Tuesday. "I know he knows that I'm a vet and that it wouldn't affect me. Probably, during my younger days, I'd have definitely gotten upset.
"It happens. Personally, I know that was probably one of the best coverage plays I've had in a long time. And I know it wasn't a P.I., looking back. But the ref's view is different and he saw what he saw. There's nothing you can do. You've got to play, and we've got to find a way to go get some more takeaways out there."
During IU's 34-17 win at Virginia (the lone Cavalier loss this season), the Hoosiers had an interception by Chase Dutra nullified by a penalty, and an apparent defensive scoop-and-score (via a Greg Gooch fumble-inducing sack and a Robert McCray recovery and TD run) wiped out by a targeting call on Gooch.
Fant led the Big Ten with 17 pass breakups (third nationally) last season – but noted Tuesday that more of those need to become picks.
"I think the key is to not get frustrated," Fant said. "I think I can look at it personally and see I have all those pass breakups, but about six are dropped picks … but when the opportunity comes, you don't want to over-think it.
"You continue to practice catching balls, making those plays, so that when you have them in a game, it translates. You just keep pushing through and, eventually, the tide will turn and some of those will fall your way. You can't hang your head and get down about it."
And you can't count on a passing wizard waving a wand.
NEW FIELDS OF STUDY
Tony Fields filed seven solo tackles against Michigan, seemingly settling in nicely to the hybrid safety/linebacker Husky spot in place of injured sophomore Marcelino Ball.
Fields started all 13 games last season at free safety, his position when the 2017 campaign commenced, but he's a Husky now.
"I'm getting more comfortable, day by day," Fields said Tuesday. "I'm learning new things, different techniques and how to play different coverages. I'm definitely getting more comfortable, and I'm enjoying it, and am just glad to be with my teammates."
Fields credited Ball's pointers, in part, for that and also thanked his other teammates for "helping me out," adding, "I trust them and they trust me."
Classmate and cornerback Rashard Fant, wandering past the Fields interview, interjected, "You're welcome."
Fields laughed, then elaborated on the differences between the two positions he's filled as a starter this season.
"(Husky is) being more involved with the run, up close," Fields said. "Trying to fit the run, reading blocks and just being more involved. Free safety is deeper, so you don't get a lot of action. It's like you're saving touchdowns.
"Husky is more involved. I'm dealing with more linemen and fitting the run. I'm covering and I'm blitzing and I'm doing different things. So it takes a lot of getting used to. But the good thing is you're around the ball, so I'm enjoying it."
Fields, as is the case with most defenders, likes to blitz.
"Oh, yeah!" said the former Tallahassee (Fla) Godby High standout. "Definitely enjoy blitzing. Reminds me of high school."
So does Fields like playing Husky more than free safety?
"I wouldn't say I like it more, but it kind of allows me to show a different side of my abilities. So it asks different responsibilities from me and counts on how versatile I can be.
I'm glad I got to play it. But, I don't know, I kind of like free safety, still."
But he will play any place the coaches ask.
"They asked me and I was ready to go," Fields said about his position shift in the wake of Ball's injury. "I'm willing to do anything for this team. I love my guys. I love my teammates. And I'm trying to do anything to win, so I was ready."
A DANDY DOZEN (BUT NEEDED A BAKER'S DOZEN)
IU fifth-year senior safety Chris Dutra supplied a career-high 12 solo tackles and tied his career-high with game-high 13 overall stops against Michigan, but would have loved joining his teammates in making at least one more.
Dutra minced no words Tuesday about the first snap in overtime, on which the Hoosiers initially appeared to have Karan Higdon trapped in the backfield only to see Higdon escape around left end for what proved the game-winning touchdown.
"For us, as a defense, to give up the very first play as a touchdown, it hurts," Dutra said. "You preach about finishing.
"But we have to shake it off and learn from our mistakes. We have a great opportunity again, this weekend, with Michigan State, another ranked opponent (at No. 18), another big-time opponent. So we're just excited to get back on the field."
LUKE'S ROUTE RUNS TO IU
Redshirt junior slot receiver Luke Timian caught seven passes for a career-high 95 receiving yards against Michigan, several times boldly making catches in traffic over the middle on crossing patterns.
Timian's college football pattern crossed Indiana's path after he spent a year redshirting and rehabilitating an injury at Oklahoma State. That was a place that harbored family and friends. Timian, a walk-on, decided he wanted a place to focus solely on football. And IU beckoned.
"I actually grew up a fan of Oklahoma State," the Southlake, Texas, native said. "My cousin played there. My parents went there. It's like a family school. So when I decided to walk on, I felt I'd be comfortable there. And if I decided football wasn't going to work out, I'd be happy just going to school there.
"Once I decided football was definitely what I wanted to pursue, I needed a fresh start and Indiana was probably the best fit for that. I'd been to a camp here during my junior year of high school – actually met J-Shun (Harris, Timian's current back-up in the slot) – and they recruited me. They ended up not offering me, but I kept in contact with coach (Kevin) Johns when he was still here.
"For me, I needed to go somewhere where I could just focus on football, where there were no outside distractions. And I didn't know anyone else here, besides Mitchell Paige and Coach Johns. I thought, 'I can come up here and do my thing and really refocus.' "
Timian now finds himself an increasing focal point for redshirt freshman quarterback Peyton Ramsey and IU's passing attack. He now ranks second only to Simmie Cobbs's 37 catches with 29 receptions through IU's 3-3 start.
"He just kept getting open," Ramsey said of Timian. "That's what he does. Every single day. He's a really good route-runner, finds windows and will just sit down there for me to find him and get him the ball."
PEYTON'S PLACE
Peyton Ramsey relished the challenge of making just his second career start Saturday tasked with scoring points against the nation's top defense.
And the Hoosiers scored 10 points in the final 3:27 of regulation time against a Wolverine unit that hadn't previously surrendered a fourth-quarter point all season.
But Ramsey rued the fact the Hoosier offense couldn't capitalize after forging a 1st-and-goal from the Michigan 1 in overtime. And he emphasized that the IU coaches called plays that would have worked with better execution.
"That was definitely a step up in competition and it was fun to be out there, on our home turf for Homecoming, and have an opportunity to win," Ramsey said Tuesday. "At the same time, it's disappointing. We just had so many opportunities where we didn't execute.
"Those (final four snaps of OT) were just all execution issues. The play-calling was great. Just awesome opportunities to win the game (or in that case, tie it.) We've just got to continue to practice and rep those plays out. We do practice short-yardage and we're going to continue to practice short-yardage after this week. We just have to be better."
Ramsey credited coaching adjustments for why the Hoosiers were better immediately after halftime Saturday. They went 64 yards in just six plays for the TD that cut Michigan's lead to 13-10. True freshman back Morgan Ellison rushed for 45 yards on the drive, which was also buoyed by a key 3rd-and-4 pass for 19 yards from Ramsey to Luke Timian.
"That was just coming out of the locker room having made some adjustments, and Morgan ran really, really well behind the big O-line that was getting a push," Ramsey said.
"He kind of took it to them on that drive."
But then IU's offense stalled until the final minutes.
"Our defense did a great job, forcing (three straight) 3-and-outs," Ramsey said, "but we couldn't win the field position battle because we kept going 3-and-out and were backed up. We've got to do better on first and second downs."
Ramsey said that Michigan's fleet, No. 1-ranked defense naturally had something to do with IU's offensive issues.
"They were pretty fast," Ramsey acknowledged. "Just overall, they could run around and get to the ball."
The defense IU will face Saturday at Michigan State has some similarities.
"Just another good defense, as we were talking about Michigan last week, where they're just really good at what they do," Ramsey said. "They don't do a whole lot but, what they do, they do really well. They're just very fundamentally sound.
"They're a Cover 4 team and they'll press you up (with man coverage). So it's just the same thing. We have to get open. We have to protect. And we have to be able to run the ball."
And the next time he has a chance with a game on the line, Ramsey wants the sort of execution allowing him to take up residence in the opposition end zone.
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