No Time to "Bale" on Hoosiers

7/26/2018 7:02:00 PM | Football

WATCH | Jonathan Crawford WATCH | Wes Martin WATCH | Jacob Robinson WATCH | Luke Timian

By Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com

CHICAGO – The Big Ten, historically a Midwestern conference, has naturally featured its share of corn-fed beef in its football trenches.

Indiana fifth-year senior Wes Martin, at 6-foot-3 and 316 power-packed pounds, fits that description.

And he knows a thing or two about cows.

Specifically, dairy cows.

Martin grew up in West Milton, Ohio. His 2014 graduating class at Milton-Union High School numbered "around 130." He spent much of his summers working at a dairy farm in neighboring Darke County, contiguous to the Indiana state line.

There are myriad elaborate strength-and-conditioning approaches to developing football players -- and Martin is utilizing a cutting-edge example now at IU under the auspices of David Ballou and Dr. Matt Rhea – but there is also something to be said for simpler stuff.

Such as baling hay.

"I think it definitely helps," Martin acknowledged at this week's Big Ten Media Days. "Anybody who has baled hay could tell you it's tough. Early in the morning, or if it has rained – if the cut is wet at all – it gets really heavy. It definitely puts a lot of stress on your body.

"So, yeah, I'm sure some strength came out of that. And stamina. It builds some toughness, too. If you're loading the wagon, then unloading to the barns, day after day, in the heat and humidity, it's pretty repetitive and exhausting."

And it wasn't just baling hay.

"I didn't do too much of the dairy-specific stuff," Martin recalled. "I did what the foreman needed me to do. I did a lot of baling hay, some baling straw, and I got a big-ass skid-loader and cleared out a lot of cow crap. That was a lot of fun.

"I wasn't in charge of the 3 a.m. milking process or anything like that. Just a lot of the gritty work that needed to be done."

IU coach Tom Allen is grateful to have Martin, already a three-year starter, doing the gritty work needing done along the offensive line.

"He brings everything you want in a football player," Allen said of Martin. "Tough. Smart. Dependable. A guy who cares about the game as much as anybody."

And the sort of guy (had Martin not just gotten engaged) Allen would be pleased to have dating Allen's daughters.

"I've got two daughters and am pretty protective of both those girls, but he's just a quality, quality person," Allen said. "A guy I just have a tremendous amount of confidence in. How he's going to act, how he's going to lead, how he's going to play each and every week.

"You need guys like that on your offensive line. You need guys like that on your football team. I'm so thankful he's one of our leaders."

Martin, who sports a 3.77 grade-point-average, helps lead an IU offensive line that returns every starter and its entire depth chart from 2017. And it welcomes some promising newcomers, including graduate transfer Nick Linder, who started 26 games at center and guard for Miami's Hurricanes the past three seasons.

Coy Cronk, Brandon Knight, Delroy Baker, Hunter Littlejohn, Simon Stepaniak, Mackenzie Nworah, Harry Crider, DaVondre Love – all have started or played in regular rotation alongside Martin. It is a strong group, getting stronger.

Allen noted Ballou and Rhea are especially enamored of the offensive line's approach to conditioning this past offseason.

"They would say they're their favorite unit in the weight room, with how they work, the way they've developed, the way they've responded to them," Allen said. "A big part of that is just the leadership of Wes Martin and the other guys.

"Anytime your offensive line is considered a strength of your unit, that's a great thing.

"Simon Stepaniak has done an amazing job this of-season, changing his body. Brandon Knight looks great. Coy Cronk looks better than ever. You could go on and on and on. Hunter Littlejohn has changed. A lot. MacKenzie (Nworah) looks way different … Caleb Jones redshirted last year, but he's got to play. He's a big No. 2 (tackle) for us and, as we learned last year, those No. 2s can become No. 1s real fast … we have to have 10 or 11 guys we can count on along that offensive line."

That seems more likely now, with Martin and teammates singing the praises of Ballou and Rhea all offseason.

"It's been huge," Martin said of the new strength-and-conditioning program. "It's a mix between the old school of just power-lifting combined with the science … the different ways to track what we're doing, to build us in all different areas of our game.

"We have these monitors that track all our movements, that tell us how fast we're moving the bar, and when you're punching how much weight you're doing, and that gives you a power output number. That's been a lot of fun. That's been a great way for us to compete."

Not many are competing at Martin's level just yet. He remains the strongest Hoosier.

Two weeks back, Martin bench-pressed 535 pounds. His squat-thrust is in the mid-600s range. And last week he did a 405 on the clean-and-jerk that was so easy he wants a chance to boost that number.

"I really want to take another shot at that before the season starts," Martin said. "I think I can get up to 435 or 450 on the clean."

Despite the potential for those sorts of numbers, despite the strength he amassed as a young man working on a dairy farm, most Power 5 conference schools didn't recruit him.

Indiana's was the only offer he needed or wanted.

"The quarterback from my high school back in 2007, named Mitchell Evans, came to Indiana," Martin said. "So during his years at Indiana, me and my family would come over and watch games (with Evans starting at safety).

"That's where I really became a fan, because that's the team I watched all the time, the team I became passionate about. So when it came my time to be recruited, to go through that process, Indiana was my dream school.

"It's been unbelievable. Coming out of high school, from such a small school, I didn't have any real hype about me. Not many people knew who I was. Indiana was my only Power 5 offer. I jumped on it right from the get-go because I always wanted to go to Indiana."

Now, entering his senior season, he is a bonafide NFL prospect.

"So to be able to start there and get to where I am now," he said, "it's been an amazing experience."

It sure beats baling hay.

THOU SHALT RUN THE FOOTBALL
Returning the offensive line in its entirety, each player a year older, and augmenting it with good additions are reasons Allen is hopeful his Hoosiers can run the football better this fall.

Another factor is – after five seasons with drop-back passers such as Nate Sudfeld and Richard Lagow getting most of the snaps at quarterback -- that position now features three players who can really run in grad transfer Brandon Dawkins, redshirt sophomore Peyton Ramsey and true freshman Michael Penix Jr.

And another is that IU's top four rushers from 2017 – Morgan Ellison, Cole Gest, Ramsey and Ricky Brookins – all return.

Allen knows his team has to get a running attack going.

"There is no question," he said. "I went through this whole offseason and evaluated us from top to bottom. And one of the key things that stuck out to me, as I was watching games and evaluating our numbers – well, I didn't even have to do all that to know we didn't run the ball well enough. But when you dive into the numbers, it makes it painfully obvious that was an area we had to address.

"We hit it right away in spring football, both schematically and in terms of developing our offensive line. I know they struggled at times last year. We played three or four guys who probably really weren't ready to play but had to play because of injuries. Obviously, that was tough at the time, but it's going to help us now.

"We didn't graduate any offensive linemen last year. That's another plus. So they're all bigger, faster and stronger a year later. And hopefully a lot better, technically, with just another year to develop. And all three of our (top) running backs … are back. And our quarterbacks can all run. They don't just have the ability to run, they're all fast."

Allen wants Indiana to earn a reputation as a team that can run the football, not just throw it.

"I just feel like we absolutely are making that a focus," he said. "When I think about the culture I want in terms of how we play, how we're identified when they think of Indiana, to me, that's run the football on offense and stop the run on defense."

THOU SHALT ALSO THROW THE FOOTBALL
Not that Allen wants a one-dimensional offense. He wants quarterbacks who can and will sling the rock, and folks who can catch it.

One of the latter is fifth-year senior Luke Timian, capable of operating either in the slot or out wide, and second only to the departed Simmie Cobbs Jr. with 68 catches last fall.

Timian said he and his fellow receivers spent a lot of time this summer getting in sync with the candidates for starting quarterback this fall.

"It's kind of an accelerated process, with Brandon only coming in this summer," Timian said. "Mike, at least, has been here since spring football, so I've gotten some reps with him. And, obviously, Peyton last season (with Ramsey starting four games and completing 65 percent of his throws.)

"It's been a lot of work, trying to get on the same page with all three of them, because all three could play. But it's also exciting, just to see them all compete with each other … those guys are really athletic and fast, and I feel that's important in this league, especially, because those are fast D-linemen who are chasing you. So for those guys to all have that extra (running) ability is huge for us."

Whomever is behind center will also benefit from the return of sophomore Whop Philyor (who overcame injury to shine late in his freshman year) and the return to health of key, tall, talented redshirt junior wideouts Nick Westbrook and Donavan Hale.

"He's actually faster than he was," Timian said of Westbrook, who injured his knee on 2017's opening kickoff. "That's a testament to Dr. Rhea and Coach Ballou and the strength staff. He's worked his tail off to get back, and I actually think you'll see a better player than he was. Because he's really had time to reflect … and he's hungry. So you're going to see a really good player in Nick Westbrook.

"You'll see a faster player, and he's bigger and stronger. It was kind of like a redshirt year for him. I don't think the injury has been holding him back at all. He's just had time to develop, physically and mentally, and I think it's actually benefited him.

"(Hale) is doing really well. They've been kind of easing Donavan back into things, not rushing it. Until fall camp, we don't need to rush anything. But he's doing really well. I like what I see from him."

And then there is J-Shun Harris II, a standout slot receiver and return man who has rehabbed his third ACL knee injury and looks ready to see the field again sometime this fall.

"I can't believe how fast he still is," Timian said of Harris. "It's truly incredible. It really is inspiring to have J-Shun around, especially with the young guys.

"Injuries are almost inevitable in that pretty much everybody is going to experience something in one way or another (during their career), whether it's severe or not severe. So to see a guy who's overcome three major knee injuries and still come back and play is encouraging for our entire team."

Timian also feels the receiving corps will benefit from going against a talented Hoosier secondary every practice session. Asked specifically about going up against senior safety Jonathan Crawford, Timian replied:

"It's fun. It's real fun. He's a great player. He's very good in coverage, and that's important for me. My outlook is that if I can beat John, then I can beat anybody in this league. So I like to work different things against him and we go at it."

"(NOT NECESSARILY BIG) TEX"
Timian's fellow teammates representing IU up at the Big Ten Kickoff festivities took exception to his contention that – at 6-foot and 193 pounds out of Southlake, Texas – people now refer to him as "Big Tex."

"I have never heard – not one person at IU – call him 'Big Tex,'" Crawford said. "So I don't know where it came from. It wasn't from me."

Martin was similarly dubious.

"Highly debatable," Martin said. "I have heard a couple of people call Luke 'Big Tex,' but that number is not high. It's not high at all. So for it to be considered a sturdy nickname, I don't know. I can't make that call. It's up in the air."

Senior defensive lineman Jacob Robinson, who conducted a series of light-hearted Instagram interviews, said:

"I think that is the third time I've heard somebody call Luke Timian 'Big Tex,' and he is all three of those people."

BACK TO BEEF
Robinson also asked Martin to compare himself to a cut of beef. Which cut of beef seemed most indicative of Martin?

"Huh. That's tough," Martin replied. "Lot of good meats out there. A lot of good cuts. I love to eat. It shows.

"I don't know, probably, like, a filet mignon, you know? Good cut. Real good cut."

It is. Elite beef.

Like Martin.