Allen Happy with Position Battles in Camp
8/18/2017 9:09:00 PM | Football
By: NIck Reith
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Head coach Tom Allen and the Hoosiers have reached a crucial weekend in assembling their depth chart. In many cases, the players aren't making their decision process any easier.
As Indiana approaches its second and final scrimmage before its August 31 home opener against Ohio State, players are battling for the top spot in their position groups. According to Allen, Chase Dutra and Tony Fields have been slugging it out for who starts at safety alongside Jonathan Crawford. The corners, from A'Shon Riggins down to the freshmen, are fighting for the spot alongside fifth-year Rashard Fant. Even the receivers, who look as talent-laden as they have been in years, are jockeying for positions on the field.
Allen loves it.
"We all need that," Allen said about Riggins and the cornerbacks. "I believe everybody responds to the motivation of someone else breathing down their neck with the threat of losing their job. That's a position where you just can't have enough guys, and we basically made it with three last year. Having him, those other three guys, and Andre [Brown], is huge, and they're going to battle it out and see who wants it."
Allen hopes for a more positive outcome from the defense in this weekend's scrimmage, especially when it comes to gaining takeaways. He wasn't discouraged—the offense did well to eliminate opportunities—but he'd like to see more aggression on certain plays, like raking balls and looking for takeaways in every situation.
"We'll see how this final scrimmage plays out on the defensive side of the ball. We have several guys vying for who's getting on the field to play in that first group."
One guy leading the way for this defense is Marcelino Ball, who returns to the Hoosiers after an All-Freshman campaign last season. Despite all that he provided last year, from three takeaways to 60 solo tackles (3rd among all FBS true freshmen), Allen is excited for what he can do with the experience and maturity that comes from playing the full cycle of a year in college football.
The fruit of Ball's labor is revealing itself in practice. When the defense is running gassers at the end of practice, Ball is often first across the line because physically, he's in a different place than a year ago. When he finishes the rep, he leaps back into action by encouraging the players who need motivation. He's mentally sharper than he was last year, both as a player and a teammate.
"When you come here as a freshman, you're just trying to learn what to do and you don't really say much to your teammates," said Allen. "In some ways, you're just trying to survive and figure it all out. But now he's able to do what he's doing at a much higher level with much more accuracy and fewer mistakes, and now he's mentoring other guys.
"You're seeing him take that next step in his leadership."
At this stage, with less than two weeks left in the preseason, Allen is comfortable with working on the fly and carries a sense of calmness against the uncertainty. First and foremost, football is fun for Coach Allen, and he's more than content to roll with the adversity.
"It's funny that you say that because I do have ideas, and sometimes I think of ideas when somebody makes a mistake," Allen said with a smile after fielding a question about his thought process. "Somebody runs a blitz wrong, and it creates a new pattern. We actually made one up a couple of days ago because of that. We're just finding different ways to disguise them and come from different places, which makes it fun. I get bored when we're just playing our base defense."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Head coach Tom Allen and the Hoosiers have reached a crucial weekend in assembling their depth chart. In many cases, the players aren't making their decision process any easier.
As Indiana approaches its second and final scrimmage before its August 31 home opener against Ohio State, players are battling for the top spot in their position groups. According to Allen, Chase Dutra and Tony Fields have been slugging it out for who starts at safety alongside Jonathan Crawford. The corners, from A'Shon Riggins down to the freshmen, are fighting for the spot alongside fifth-year Rashard Fant. Even the receivers, who look as talent-laden as they have been in years, are jockeying for positions on the field.
Allen loves it.
"We all need that," Allen said about Riggins and the cornerbacks. "I believe everybody responds to the motivation of someone else breathing down their neck with the threat of losing their job. That's a position where you just can't have enough guys, and we basically made it with three last year. Having him, those other three guys, and Andre [Brown], is huge, and they're going to battle it out and see who wants it."
Allen hopes for a more positive outcome from the defense in this weekend's scrimmage, especially when it comes to gaining takeaways. He wasn't discouraged—the offense did well to eliminate opportunities—but he'd like to see more aggression on certain plays, like raking balls and looking for takeaways in every situation.
"We'll see how this final scrimmage plays out on the defensive side of the ball. We have several guys vying for who's getting on the field to play in that first group."
One guy leading the way for this defense is Marcelino Ball, who returns to the Hoosiers after an All-Freshman campaign last season. Despite all that he provided last year, from three takeaways to 60 solo tackles (3rd among all FBS true freshmen), Allen is excited for what he can do with the experience and maturity that comes from playing the full cycle of a year in college football.
The fruit of Ball's labor is revealing itself in practice. When the defense is running gassers at the end of practice, Ball is often first across the line because physically, he's in a different place than a year ago. When he finishes the rep, he leaps back into action by encouraging the players who need motivation. He's mentally sharper than he was last year, both as a player and a teammate.
"When you come here as a freshman, you're just trying to learn what to do and you don't really say much to your teammates," said Allen. "In some ways, you're just trying to survive and figure it all out. But now he's able to do what he's doing at a much higher level with much more accuracy and fewer mistakes, and now he's mentoring other guys.
"You're seeing him take that next step in his leadership."
At this stage, with less than two weeks left in the preseason, Allen is comfortable with working on the fly and carries a sense of calmness against the uncertainty. First and foremost, football is fun for Coach Allen, and he's more than content to roll with the adversity.
"It's funny that you say that because I do have ideas, and sometimes I think of ideas when somebody makes a mistake," Allen said with a smile after fielding a question about his thought process. "Somebody runs a blitz wrong, and it creates a new pattern. We actually made one up a couple of days ago because of that. We're just finding different ways to disguise them and come from different places, which makes it fun. I get bored when we're just playing our base defense."
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