IU Aims to Play It’s Best Against Louisville
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana head coach Tom Allen expects the unexpected. How could he not? It’s the nature of the game, the nature of facing a Jeff Brohm-coached team, the nature of still defining offensive and defensive identities so early in the season.
Brohm coaches Louisville (2-0), which will face Indiana (1-1) Saturday at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium in a game that could provide a strong indication of how good these Hoosiers are.
This much, Allen knows:
“There is going to be a lot of in-game adjustments for us.”
Allen speaks from experience. Brohm spent the previous six years at Purdue, which featured dominant passing attacks.
These Cardinals have another solid passing game behind former Boilermaker quarterback Jack Plummer, as well as a potent rushing attack that might be Brohm’s best ever.
What does Allen expect?
“First of all, (Brohm is) an excellent play caller. He's one of the best in the country.
“The good play callers have a great feel. It's timing of when to call things. He has a system, and they've not gone away from that. But he adapts it to the personnel each year. It's always a little different based off of that.”
To prepare for the Lucas Oil Stadium environment, IU practiced there once during fall camp. Several Hoosiers, including Jackson, played there during their high school careers. Among the things the Hoosiers worked on was catching balls and punts.
In this case, it means a strong group of running backs led by Jawhar Jordan. He’s rushed for 231 yards with three touchdowns, including a 74-yard scoring run. He averages 16.5 yards a carry.
“He has elite speed,” Allen says. “He’s very important to what they do. Very productive. If he gets a crease, he can take it to the house.”
Allen doesn’t want any creases.
Louisville also has Isaac Guerendo, who has rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown. Four others have rushed for at least 30 yards.
Plummer completes 64.2 percent of his passes for 494 yards, four touchdowns, and three interceptions. Jamari Thrash is the leading receiver with 10 catches for 170 yards and three TDs.
Four other receivers have caught at least five passes.
“They've got a really talented receiver corps, two good running backs, and a good quarterback that knows the system,” Allen says. “Plummer is a big, athletic quarterback with a big arm.
“They love to stretch the field vertically, and they also stretch it horizontally.
“They're running a lot better than maybe they have in the past places (Brohm has) been, which puts more pressure on your defense.”
Defensively, Louisville allows 17.0 points, 134.5 rushing yards, and 192.5 passing yards per game. The defensive line is coached by Mark Hagen, the former IU standout player and assistant coach.
“They play hard,” Allen says. “Their D-line is well coached and physical. They have a lot of speed at linebacker. They rotate a lot of guys in. You have to earn what you get.
“We have to play our best football on offense to move the ball.”
With a young quarterback in Tayven Jackson and a Louisville defense likely set on pressure and disruption, IU’s offensive line play will be a key factor. Allen says offensive line coach Bob Bostad is still working to build a solid rotation.
“We want to have eight guys you can play in any combination,” Allen says. “We’re growing that group. We had several guys (against Indiana State) who didn’t start, but played 40 snaps. That’s important. We have more depth at that position. We need that to be able to finish games strong.”
To prepare for the Lucas Oil Stadium environment, IU practiced there once during fall camp. Several Hoosiers, including Jackson, played there during their high school careers. Among the things the Hoosiers worked on was catching balls and punts.
“Familiarity is always a positive,” Allen says. “Having a chance to get up there was very important for us.”