Bully Ball, Will Breaking Fuels IU’s Dominance
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Bully ball is alive and well at Indiana. Head coach Curt Cignetti’s “fast, physical, relentless” approach is the catalyst for its 14-0 record and No. 1 college playoff seed entering Friday night’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl semifinal opportunity against fifth-seeded Oregon (13-1) in Atlanta.
The Hoosiers hit hard and often, again and again, offense and defense, every play, until the other guy blinks, then buckles.
Last Thursday’s 38-3 Rose Bowl win over Alabama was the latest example.
“It’s four quarters of us playing our game,” running back Roman Hemby says. “You see the guys we have up front; they work really hard. They make myself and (fellow running back Kaelon Black's) job really easy.
“We try to out-physical our opponents. We want to make it a four-quarter fight where we impose our will. At some point in the game, we feel we can potentially break the defense or make the play that helps us win.”
Adds Black: “We take a lot of pride in breaking an opponent's will. That's something we preach in practice as running backs, get our feet planted in the ground, get vertical. We can't spend too much time dancing around, going east and west. The fastest point to form a straight line is going straight. We try to get in the end zone and score touchdowns.”
Mission accomplished. IU has rushed for 31 touchdowns and thrown for 41 more. It has scored 30-or-more points 10 times, and averages a Big Ten-best 41.6 points a game.
The Hoosiers wore down Alabama in the second half, just as they’ve done so often this season. The Big Ten’s best run game (220.7 yards) sets the tone.
“The biggest part of our run game is being able to break down a defense's will,” offensive lineman Carter Smith says. “We've done that many times this year.
“We stick to our preparation. All the things that we do in practice are going to translate onto the game field. Making sure we keep that speed and physicality throughout practice is our edge setter. It’s definitely one of our strengths.
“Making sure that everybody's on top of that week after week after week is one of the edges we have on the offense.”
Another is creativity. At one point during the Alabama victory, the 6-foot-5, 313-pound Smith was in the backfield as perhaps college football’s largest fullback.
“That was a lot of fun,” he says.
That reflects the versatility in every offensive lineman, something offensive line coach Bob Bostad constantly develops, and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan efficiently exploits.
“It allows Shanahan to scheme a little bit,” Smith says with a smile.
“At the end of the day, it's about getting the right guys ready for the job. (redshirt freshman offensive lineman Adedamola Ajani) was given that opportunity last week. He did a great job. The first half he was in for most of the game. He balled out.
“He's done great for our (offensive line) room. He still has a lot of growth left, but he's also a young guy, so he understands that. I think he'll understand his role a little later in his career.”
Will breaking leaves Hemby and Black as perhaps the nation’s best running back duo. Hemby has rushed for 1,007 yards and seven touchdowns while averaging 5.2 yards a carry. Black has 898 yards and eight touchdowns. He averages 5.7 yards a carry. Don’t forget backup Khobie Martin, who has rushed for 463 yards and six TDs while averaging 6.3 yards a carry.
“We have that brotherhood to where we kind of don't care who has the success,” Hemby says. “We want to feed the hot hand. That's how we operate.
“Both of us have been through a lot in our careers. We're both veteran guys. Anytime we take the field, we have the trust in one another that we'll get the job done.
“You can kind of see how our last game went. Kaelon set the tone for our offense in the second half. I was able to kind of ride that wave, kind of follow up on what he was able to do.
“Anytime you have a good running back tandem to where both guys can stay fresh and healthy, and can play for one another, that gives us the ability to run hard and to not hold anything back. We're in the stretch to where we want to go win a national championship. We're not really leaving anything on the table.”
Is there a personal competition between the two running backs?
“We don't have one now,” Hemby says with a smile. “I might make one. I might start a little bet with him or something, and maybe it will make us even better. We're not too much worried about that right now. We just want to play our role to help our team win.”
Adds Black: “When it comes to me and Roman, I don't want to call it a competition. It's one of those things where we both want to help the offense improve and do anything we can to make sure that we can succeed.”
IU won at Oregon 30-20 in October by scoring the game’s final 10 points. Both teams have evolved since then.
The Ducks have won eight-straight games, seven by double digits.
“That's a team that really sticks to their DNA because it works,” Smith says. “It's shown against other competition this year.
“There are a couple schematic changes we have seen so far. It's still pretty early into the week for us. It's all about keeping the main thing the main thing. Everyone has to be in his playbook and understand the schemes.”
IU snapped Oregon’s three-year, 18-game home winning streak. It is arguably the best victory by any team this season. Receiver Elijah Sarratt says it boosted an already confident group.
“Before the game we were pretty confident going into that week because we had a great week of prep going into it,” Sarratt says. “We really believed we belonged there.
“Winning that game, it instills even more confidence because you're playing a great team. Being able to go on the road (against a top-5 team) in a hostile environment, pull out a win in a game that was going back and forth like that, it definitely gives you a bit of confidence.”
The win won’t, Sarratt adds, have any effect on Friday night’s contest.
“It isn’t going to do anything for us coming up on Friday. It's a whole new ballgame. We have to have a great week of practice to face this great team.”