Indiana University Athletics
Allen, Defense, Anxious to Get Back on the Field
9/27/2016 8:24:00 PM | Football
By: Nick Reith
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Tom Allen was anxious to get back to work following Indiana's first loss of the season last weekend.
The first-year defensive coordinator of the Hoosiers doesn't like losing the takeaway battle, and he's determined to solve the issues that led to zero takeaways versus Wake Forest. But Allen understands that, once in a while, a game just seems to not go in your favor.
"We actually got one and then gave it back because of a penalty, which kind of, unfortunately, seemed to be a pattern for the rest of the game," Allen said. "That happened early, it was a great job of stripping the ball, and then we were offsides and didn't get that takeaway. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot with that, and that kind of continued with some other big plays."
That doesn't excuse the defense's shortcomings on Saturday, in Allen's mind. He stressed the importance of forcing takeaways, saying that the loss on Saturday served as a painful reminder of how they can swing a game's momentum.
"We realized that when we don't take care of it on one side, and we don't uphold our end of the bargain of creating them, it becomes a total flip of the game," Allen said. "It's very difficult to win games that way. That's part of what we do, and we will not waver on that, and our guys understand that. The first thing we did in practice today was a takeaway circuit, so that will continue to be, culturally, part of what we do."
The process of creating takeaways begins in the trenches, according to Allen, and he's looking to make adjustments on the utilization of the defensive line. Allen wants more pressure from the defensive line on early downs, in addition to greater duress on the opposing quarterback.
Because when you put their quarterback under pressure, Allen says, the takeaways come naturally.
"There's no question," Allen continued. "It all fits together. If you watch any film, when the quarterback is under duress, he throws picks, so that's what you have to do. It all fits together to the scheme of what we're trying to do."
Allen has formulated a recipe for success on the line alongside defensive line coach Mark Hagen. The linemen need to explode out of their stance, and that explosiveness needs to extend into their move past the blocker. The lineman's block-shedding techniques come into play as well, in addition to the pressure schemes created by coaches.
Those ingredients are forged on the practice field, but Allen believes in another crucial component that comes from within.
"A big part of that is your grit, your want-to," Allen said. "It takes a tremendous amount of effort to rush the passer because it's a thankless task. You can rush, and rush, and rush, and not quite get there every time. But the opportunity will come, so you have to keep coming. It's a relentless mentality, which also feeds into what we teach and preach with how hard we want to play."
Those adjustments and recalculations will be put to the test this weekend in the Hoosiers' Big Ten opener against No. 17 Michigan State. Allen has seen the Spartans form a true identity in how their offense is schemed: physical play with big linemen, downhill running and use of the play action for downfield passing.
Allen has coached against other teams who play a nearly identical style to Michigan State, but he knows that there's a reason why they've found more success than most with that system.
"The thing they do differently from a lot of downhill teams is they do a lot of shifting, jet sweeps, and more than most do with that type of personnel," Allen said. "They have a lot of 'eye candy', as we call it, to get you distracted horizontally. At the end of the day they want to take it right at you and take their shots downfield as a result of their play action. It's a good system. You study it and they put you in conflicts. They've done a tremendous job and we have a lot of respect for their coaching staff and how hard their kids play. We've got to strap it up and be ready to take that challenge head-on."
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