Indiana University Athletics
IU Spending More Time Studying Duke
12/18/2015 12:09:00 PM | Football
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Postseason preparation is unlike anything a college football team does in the regular season.
Teams are used to working on a rolling schedule. One game ends and then the next opponent becomes the focus at practice. This process repeats week in and week out over the course of the 12-game regular season.
But then things change.
By the time Indiana takes the field at Yankee Stadium to play Duke in the Pinstripe Bowl on December 26th, the Hoosiers will have had a full three weeks knowing the Blue Devils were up next. With that in mind, Indiana's coaching staff has had to get creative to balance understanding Duke's tendencies and over studying until reaching diminishing returns.
"You've got a lot of time to prepare, but you don't want to waste it," head coach Kevin Wilson said. "We'll be smart about how we go about it."
Wilson said IU started to dive into game film more this week than in previous weeks where the Hoosiers kept things light in practice. By the time the Hoosiers leave for New York next Monday, they'll have a good understanding of Duke's tendencies.
Indiana's defense will be studying one of the more dynamic offenses in the country. Wilson has spoken highly of Duke head coach David Cutcliffe's system and offensive mind, calling him one of the best in the country. He's had a rich tradition of building high-powered offenses led by talented quarterbacks, including the Manning brothers.
Junior quarterback Thomas Sirk is at the helm now, helping Duke finish first in the ACC in pass attempts this season, second in completions and fourth in yards despite being near the bottom of the conference in both yards per attempt and yards per completion.
"They haven't changed a whole lot from a few years ago," defensive coordinator Brian Knorr said. "They do what they do, and they do it very well."
Duke's defense was up and down in 2015, statistically. The Blue Devils finished among the middle of the pack in the ACC in the majority of the defensive categories.
Cutcliffe announced earlier this week that safety Jeremy Cash, who earned ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, will not be available. However, offensive coordinator Kevin Johns said that shouldn't change much of what Indiana does in preparation.
"We don't necessarily change what we do," Johns said. "At the end of the day, we need to focus on what we're doing."
Knorr and Johns both conceded that there's danger in studying an opponent too much. There's a chance a team can beat itself by trying to study every tendency and every play just to see it be wasted effort.
But they'd rather do too much than not enough.
"I don't know that you can over prepare," Johns said. "Sometimes you can try to do too much as coaches. Sometimes we can try to draw up too many cute schemes. As long as we keep things simple, do what we do, we'll be fine."
Knorr agreed, saying the coaches have tried to balance rest with preparation as best they can.
But he's not about to stop anyone from getting a jump on preparing for Duke to help Indiana bring the George M. Steinbrenner Trophy back to Bloomington.
"We've tried to break it up," Knorr said. "You want to keep preparing and preparing and preparing. We'll do a good job when we get out there of cutting down a little bit and getting our guys right for Saturday."
#####
Indiana (6-6) will face Duke (7-5) in the 2015 New Era Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 26. The game will be held at Yankee Stadium with a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ABC. Student tickets for the Pinstripe Bowl are just $10 and can be purchased by clicking here. Tickets for the general public can be purchased by clicking here.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Postseason preparation is unlike anything a college football team does in the regular season.
Teams are used to working on a rolling schedule. One game ends and then the next opponent becomes the focus at practice. This process repeats week in and week out over the course of the 12-game regular season.
But then things change.
By the time Indiana takes the field at Yankee Stadium to play Duke in the Pinstripe Bowl on December 26th, the Hoosiers will have had a full three weeks knowing the Blue Devils were up next. With that in mind, Indiana's coaching staff has had to get creative to balance understanding Duke's tendencies and over studying until reaching diminishing returns.
"You've got a lot of time to prepare, but you don't want to waste it," head coach Kevin Wilson said. "We'll be smart about how we go about it."
Wilson said IU started to dive into game film more this week than in previous weeks where the Hoosiers kept things light in practice. By the time the Hoosiers leave for New York next Monday, they'll have a good understanding of Duke's tendencies.
Indiana's defense will be studying one of the more dynamic offenses in the country. Wilson has spoken highly of Duke head coach David Cutcliffe's system and offensive mind, calling him one of the best in the country. He's had a rich tradition of building high-powered offenses led by talented quarterbacks, including the Manning brothers.
Junior quarterback Thomas Sirk is at the helm now, helping Duke finish first in the ACC in pass attempts this season, second in completions and fourth in yards despite being near the bottom of the conference in both yards per attempt and yards per completion.
"They haven't changed a whole lot from a few years ago," defensive coordinator Brian Knorr said. "They do what they do, and they do it very well."
Duke's defense was up and down in 2015, statistically. The Blue Devils finished among the middle of the pack in the ACC in the majority of the defensive categories.
Cutcliffe announced earlier this week that safety Jeremy Cash, who earned ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, will not be available. However, offensive coordinator Kevin Johns said that shouldn't change much of what Indiana does in preparation.
"We don't necessarily change what we do," Johns said. "At the end of the day, we need to focus on what we're doing."
Knorr and Johns both conceded that there's danger in studying an opponent too much. There's a chance a team can beat itself by trying to study every tendency and every play just to see it be wasted effort.
But they'd rather do too much than not enough.
"I don't know that you can over prepare," Johns said. "Sometimes you can try to do too much as coaches. Sometimes we can try to draw up too many cute schemes. As long as we keep things simple, do what we do, we'll be fine."
Knorr agreed, saying the coaches have tried to balance rest with preparation as best they can.
But he's not about to stop anyone from getting a jump on preparing for Duke to help Indiana bring the George M. Steinbrenner Trophy back to Bloomington.
"We've tried to break it up," Knorr said. "You want to keep preparing and preparing and preparing. We'll do a good job when we get out there of cutting down a little bit and getting our guys right for Saturday."
#####
Indiana (6-6) will face Duke (7-5) in the 2015 New Era Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 26. The game will be held at Yankee Stadium with a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ABC. Student tickets for the Pinstripe Bowl are just $10 and can be purchased by clicking here. Tickets for the general public can be purchased by clicking here.
FB: Spring Game - Postgame Press Conference
Thursday, April 23
FB: Bray Lynch - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Drew Evans - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Nico Radicic - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21