Indiana University Athletics
Johns, Offense know the Challenges MSU Presents
9/30/2016 6:08:00 PM | Football
By: Ben Segelbaum
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, IND. – When a high-profile team such as Michigan State comes to town, all facets of the Hoosiers need to be running, and that begins with Kevin Johns and the Indiana offense.
"(Michigan State) presents a lot of challenges. They've been going well on defense for a long time. It's a lot like Wake Forest where they're going to challenge every run, every throw in the perimeter, the DBs will get hands on you." Johns said. "They are a great pressure team and you know they pride themselves on playing great defense. For us, it'll be an 11-man operation."
Over the past three games, Johns and the Hoosiers have had no problem using any one of the guys on the roster to fill that 11-man operation, especially at wide receiver.
"(Nick Westbrook's) done a good job of making some big-time plays for us so far, some long receiving yardage." Johns said. "I think if you ask Nick, he's nowhere where he can be or wants to be. He's got a lot of growth to do and work to do, but he's done a good job when the opportunity presents itself."
Another wide receiver who played a factor against Wake Forest was Donavan Hale, who hauled in a long touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
"That's depth and we need that. Coach talks about it all the time, we need the second-, third-year players to keep coming and that's we're going to continue to get with depth and just keep building this program." Johns said "We're going to keep challenging those kids. We need him to play for us. We need them to play a lot of snaps and we need them to play big roles for us. We're going to continue to push them and throw them out there and see what happens."
At IU, quarterbacks and wide receivers share the same room off the field and that translation on the field still needs improvement in Johns eyes.
"That's the essence of football. As you go through the season, you try to get better every single day at practice and every single game. A sign of a good team is a team that plays their best at the end of the year." Johns said. "We're still climbing, we're still trying to get better every single day and we are. We're going to work hard like we did at practice and prepare to play Michigan State, and move on from there."
The man throwing to these wide receivers, quarterback Richard Lagow, had three touchdowns and 496 yards of his own last Saturday, which Johns praised.
"Just getting the ball down the field and again like we said earlier, Ricky Jones made some big catches and some competitive plays. Really, we just tried to get it down the field more vertically and he was able to find a couple couple open guys." Johns said.
Johns' 11-man operation faces its biggest test in this early season, Saturday at 8 p.m., at Memorial Stadium.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, IND. – When a high-profile team such as Michigan State comes to town, all facets of the Hoosiers need to be running, and that begins with Kevin Johns and the Indiana offense.
"(Michigan State) presents a lot of challenges. They've been going well on defense for a long time. It's a lot like Wake Forest where they're going to challenge every run, every throw in the perimeter, the DBs will get hands on you." Johns said. "They are a great pressure team and you know they pride themselves on playing great defense. For us, it'll be an 11-man operation."
Over the past three games, Johns and the Hoosiers have had no problem using any one of the guys on the roster to fill that 11-man operation, especially at wide receiver.
"(Nick Westbrook's) done a good job of making some big-time plays for us so far, some long receiving yardage." Johns said. "I think if you ask Nick, he's nowhere where he can be or wants to be. He's got a lot of growth to do and work to do, but he's done a good job when the opportunity presents itself."
Another wide receiver who played a factor against Wake Forest was Donavan Hale, who hauled in a long touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
"That's depth and we need that. Coach talks about it all the time, we need the second-, third-year players to keep coming and that's we're going to continue to get with depth and just keep building this program." Johns said "We're going to keep challenging those kids. We need him to play for us. We need them to play a lot of snaps and we need them to play big roles for us. We're going to continue to push them and throw them out there and see what happens."
At IU, quarterbacks and wide receivers share the same room off the field and that translation on the field still needs improvement in Johns eyes.
"That's the essence of football. As you go through the season, you try to get better every single day at practice and every single game. A sign of a good team is a team that plays their best at the end of the year." Johns said. "We're still climbing, we're still trying to get better every single day and we are. We're going to work hard like we did at practice and prepare to play Michigan State, and move on from there."
The man throwing to these wide receivers, quarterback Richard Lagow, had three touchdowns and 496 yards of his own last Saturday, which Johns praised.
"Just getting the ball down the field and again like we said earlier, Ricky Jones made some big catches and some competitive plays. Really, we just tried to get it down the field more vertically and he was able to find a couple couple open guys." Johns said.
Johns' 11-man operation faces its biggest test in this early season, Saturday at 8 p.m., at Memorial Stadium.
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