Johns is the IU football offensive coordinator and helped the Hoosiers achieve gaudy offensive statistics in 2013: 38 points per game and 509 yards per game.
It was the first time IU had averaged more than 300 passing and 200 rushing yards per game in the program’s history.
IU is renowned for their up-tempo style of offense, sprinting to the line of scrimmage sometimes to push the pace of the game.
The official raised his hand and asked Johns, “So, how much faster can we go?”
“I don’t know how much faster we can get,” Johns ?responded.
The group of officials in the room included referees from the Big Ten, Missouri Valley Conference and the Mid-American Conference in the annual clinic at the InterContinental O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Ill.
Johns was asked to give a presentation to the referees and help them understand why IU football does what it does: go up-tempo.
Out of 123 teams in college football, IU ranked No. 120 in time of possession in 2013, holding the ball for an average of just 25 minutes and 48 seconds per game.
The Hoosiers are one of the fastest teams in the country. They use a high-tempo style of offense, trying to catch the defense on its heels and capitalize on that. As Johns explained to the referees, IU has to do this to remain competitive.
“At Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State, Texas, we can all agree there’s a certain way those teams are going to win games,” Johns said. “Certain teams have an advantage. At Indiana, tempo, that’s our advantage. That’s how we think we’re going to win games.”
Johns was giving the presentation to the group of referees because officiating teams such as IU is sometimes difficult.
Sometimes the ball isn’t spotted quick enough. Sometimes the referees try to dictate the pace too much and slow the play down.
To make it easier on the referees, Coordinator of ?Football Officials Bill Carollo announced a rule change that will give each referee crew an extra set of eyes this season.
Referees in the Big Ten have used a traditional seven-man crew in the past. Starting this season, all Big Ten crews will now have eight men, with the extra man down field.
“The game is moving more down field,” Corollo said. “It just gives us an extra body out there to take a look at the backside.”
The extra referee will also be helpful in monitoring substitutions. One of the advantages of the up-tempo offense is not substituting offensive personnel, which doesn’t allow the defense to substitute either.
But sometimes whether or not the offense or defense is trying to sneak substitutions into the game is unclear.
Now, with the extra eyes on the field, the referees can see more clearly if one side of the ball is substituting when they’re not supposed to be.
Johns said as long as the substitution rules aren’t changed for his team, he doesn’t view the addition of the eighth man as a positive or a negative thing for his up-tempo offense.
“I don’t think it will be too big of a difference,” Johns said.
