Indiana University Athletics
Johns Praises O-Line, Looks Ahead to “Sound” Nebraska Team
10/14/2016 2:30:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Before the matchup with the No. 10/9 Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday, Indiana offensive coordinator Kevin Johns spoke with the media.
In his weekly availability, Johns touched upon next man up mentality, the running game, the offensive line and the Cornhuskers.
The Hoosiers, like many football team, have been fighting the injury bug all year but Johns doesn't see that as an excuse.
"We need to get the next guy to step up and be ready to play. I feel like we are doing that to the best we can, the O-line is responding best they can and we have to continue to teach kids, educate them, get them experience and just keep putting them in the right position to make the plays," Johns said.
At Ohio State last weekend, the Hoosiers ran the ball 40 times. For Johns, this much running is just status quo as the Hoosiers keep trying to establish the run.
"You never want to be a one-dimensional offense." Johns said. "For us, we're going to keep trying and trying. We did it the week before against Michigan State, we did it against Ohio State. If you know anything about Coach Wilson, we're going to find a way to keep running the ball."
In the first three games of the season, the Hoosiers offensive line allowed quarterback Richard Lagow to be sacked eight times. In the past two games against Big Ten opponents, Lagow has only been sacked once. Johns passes that praise to offensive line coach Greg Frey.
"He's got tons of pride and he wasn't very happy about those sacks, none of us were. I think we did a good job of cleaning it up and every week we have to refocus and do it again." Johns said.
For his next test, Johns showered praise on the Cornhuskers discipline.
"Very sound with what they do, great scheme. I think they're very well-coached. The thing about Nebraska, they do a very good job with their scheme of not giving up huge plays and being very fundamentally sound." Johns said. "We were talking as coaches yesterday, they are a top 10 team for a reason and they're 5-0 for a reason. They are doing a lot of good things. On offense, they take care of the football. On defense, they don't give up big plays. They are very sound schematically. They are big, they are strong. They're stronger like you would expect in a Nebraska team, so again another week, another big challenge for us."
In his weekly availability, Johns touched upon next man up mentality, the running game, the offensive line and the Cornhuskers.
The Hoosiers, like many football team, have been fighting the injury bug all year but Johns doesn't see that as an excuse.
"We need to get the next guy to step up and be ready to play. I feel like we are doing that to the best we can, the O-line is responding best they can and we have to continue to teach kids, educate them, get them experience and just keep putting them in the right position to make the plays," Johns said.
At Ohio State last weekend, the Hoosiers ran the ball 40 times. For Johns, this much running is just status quo as the Hoosiers keep trying to establish the run.
"You never want to be a one-dimensional offense." Johns said. "For us, we're going to keep trying and trying. We did it the week before against Michigan State, we did it against Ohio State. If you know anything about Coach Wilson, we're going to find a way to keep running the ball."
In the first three games of the season, the Hoosiers offensive line allowed quarterback Richard Lagow to be sacked eight times. In the past two games against Big Ten opponents, Lagow has only been sacked once. Johns passes that praise to offensive line coach Greg Frey.
"He's got tons of pride and he wasn't very happy about those sacks, none of us were. I think we did a good job of cleaning it up and every week we have to refocus and do it again." Johns said.
For his next test, Johns showered praise on the Cornhuskers discipline.
"Very sound with what they do, great scheme. I think they're very well-coached. The thing about Nebraska, they do a very good job with their scheme of not giving up huge plays and being very fundamentally sound." Johns said. "We were talking as coaches yesterday, they are a top 10 team for a reason and they're 5-0 for a reason. They are doing a lot of good things. On offense, they take care of the football. On defense, they don't give up big plays. They are very sound schematically. They are big, they are strong. They're stronger like you would expect in a Nebraska team, so again another week, another big challenge for us."
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