Taking Control -- Smith and the Offensive Line Generate Acclaim
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana’s football rise continues to make history and redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Carter Smith reaps the rewards of remaining a Hoosier.
“There’s no place I’d rather be,” he says.
For good reason. IU remains the best story in college football. It is 10-0 for the first time in program history, just beat defending national champ Michigan, is No. 5 in the CFP rankings, and is in a bye week before heading to No. 2 Ohio State (8-1) for a Nov. 23 showdown with major national implications.
Thinking back on the team struggles from his freshman and sophomore seasons, and how many of his former teammates chose to leave, adds to Smith’s appreciation of how far the Hoosiers have come under head coach Curt Cignetti.
“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about that,” he says. “It really hit home around Week 5. We were playing Maryland for our first Big Ten home game. It was good to see the place packed.”
That was the game in which Cignetti, in an effort to convince students to stay the entire game, told them to “study later.”
The students stayed and, presumably, studied later. IU won 42-28 in a performance that really started earning the program national attention.
“Seeing the fan base rally around the team, trusting the process by staying here, it really warmed my heart,” the 6-foot-5, 308-pound Smith says.
That warmth added to his improved play, as did honing the athleticism that once enabled him to letter in volleyball at his Ohio high school. It’s the result, he says, of “cleaning some things up.”
“From a playing standpoint, I think I’ve done pretty well. All of us mesh well when we do double teams together. Whenever I go out on a single block, I feel I can control my guy.”
The entire offensive line has controlled its guys for most of the season, a big reason why IU has the Big Ten’s best scoring offense at 43.9 points with a national-best 59 touchdowns. In addition, the line has allowed pressure on just 22.5 percent of dropbacks this season, seventh best in the FBS despite getting blitzed on 31.9 percent of dropbacks. The line has five Big Ten games in which it didn’t allow a sack.
The result -- Smith and the rest of the starting offensive line of Mike Katic, Bray Lynch, Trey Wedig, Drew Evans and now Tyler Stephens are one of 10 semifinalists for the nation’s Most Outstanding Offensive Line Unit for 2024 through the Foundation of Teamwork and the Joe Moore Award.
“We have a lot of cohesiveness,” Smith says. “It comes from us hanging out together all the time. We’re a very tight-knit group. We’re all hard workers. We work together so well because we have the same mindset. We attack every week. We do extra work on the field when we need to. Everyone has meshed together because we’re all doing the same thing.”
Hoosier running backs appreciate it. Justice Ellison joked that, during the 56-7 Nebraska victory, the holes were so big, it was like the Red Sea parting. He ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries.
“That was my favorite comment,” Smith says. “As an O-lineman, it’s sometimes tough to get compliments.”
The offensive line had a setback when Evans was lost for the season with an Achilles injury. Stephens replaced him against Michigan.
The bye week helped the offensive line, and all the Hoosiers, rest, recover, and prepare for a final push.
“Some guys are banged up here and there,” Smith says, “but they’re fighting through it. They put their heads down and go in the training room when they need to. That’s contributed to our success and health.”
IU has worn down teams throughout the season. Smith credits football director of athletic performance Derek Owings, specifically the 60-yard sprints the team does every Monday.
“We make sure we keep up with our cardio,” Smith says. “Our pre-practice warmups are intense, too. They get the lungs expanded and the body moving. It’s the same thing for pre-game warmups and all the lifts he makes us do. It’s changed everyone’s body.
“(Owings) likes getting depth on squats. It’s making sure everyone is a little more flexible, which makes them a little more durable.”
The Hoosiers also are using the bye week to fine tune their play. In their last two games, they have been challenged by Michigan State and Michigan. The Hoosiers fell behind by 10 points at Michigan State before rallying for a 47-10 victory. They were pushed until the final seconds while beating Michigan 20-15.
In both cases, receiver Ke’Shawn Williams says, IU displayed the crunch-time poise crucial for elite success.
“It’s the experience we have, the confidence we have in each other and knowing that the guy next to you is going to do his job while you do yours.
“We’ve got a lot of older guys who've played in a lot of big games. We know what we are capable of. We know when we do our thing, we’re going to make stuff happen.”
Fellow receiver Omar Cooper Jr. credits IU’s composure to Cignetti’s coaching.
“He makes sure that no matter how bad we beat a team or how close a game is, we fight to the end,” Cooper says. “(Against Michigan) we showed we can do that no matter who we play.”
It helps to have one of the Big Ten’s best kickers in redshirt freshman Nicolas Radicic, once a five-star high school prospect out of Texas. He’s 8-for-8 on field goals and 59-for-59 on extra points. He’s the only conference kicker not to have missed this season, but he isn’t listed among the conference leaders because of his lack of field goal attempts, which reflects IU’s success in scoring touchdowns.
“He’s calm and cool and accurate and has a good disposition, which is great for a kicker,” Cignetti says. “We’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of good kickers in the last five to six years. We have a certain way we manage that, I manage them, but at the end of the day, they’ve got to put it between the uprights.”
As for the Hoosiers, they will continue maximizing their offensive and defensive weapons, including quarterback Kurtis Rourke and defensive lineman Mikail Kamara, who are semifinalists for major national awards.
“We’re all being held to the standard, and everyone is playing to the best of his ability,” Smith says.