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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

sports football

COLUMN: IU needs to unleash Richard Lagow

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Richard Lagow flat out has a cannon for an arm.

IU’s offense moved best against Michigan State and Ohio State when the junior quarterback was throwing the ball effectively downfield.

Through five games, Lagow has completed 60 percent of his passes for 1,460 yards and proven himself to be one of the Big Ten’s best quarterbacks.

The junior college transfer leads the conference in yard per completion with 15.7, which is good for sixth 
nationally.

He also leads the conference in yards per attempt and passing yards and is second in touchdowns.

The numbers don’t lie. So why is IU Coach Kevin Wilson being so restrained with how he uses Lagow?

Lagow had five interceptions against Wake Forest but only has two interceptions in the other four games — one coming late against Ohio State when IU was pressing because it needed to score quickly.

He did have a controversial fumble against the Buckeyes, but Lagow isn’t some turnover-prone quarterback that needs to be saddled with a conservative offense.

Against Ohio State, Lagow was asked to hand off consistently on first down as IU worked to get the game into the fourth quarter.

“I told him I thought he played well,” Wilson said. “It was the first time he’s played quarterback since he’s been here because the stress of the arena and the stress of the opponent, and the speed, size and the windows ... Great learning situation for him. He played well, but he could have played better.”

Ohio Stadium is a menacing environment for an inexperienced quarterback.

It makes sense to let Lagow settle into the game for a few drives before opening up the offense.

Instead, those few drives turned into the whole game as the offense never 
opened up.

Moving forward in Big Ten play, it’s time to let Lagow carry this offense.

It might be one-dimensional, but the Hoosier running attack appears to be completely stuck in the mud this season. Tevin Coleman and Jordan Howard aren’t donning IU jerseys 
anytime soon.

What IU does have is a quarterback capable of making pinpoint throws to all parts of the field.

While Lagow is still getting his feet wet against Big Ten teams, he’s shown enough to suggest he’s ready for a bigger workload.

The line has protected Lagow well, and the unit has only given up one sack in the past two games — an impressive stat given the injuries to starters Dan Feeney and Dimitiric Camiel.

It’s good enough to provide Lagow with enough time to have success 
downfield.

IU’s offensive identity is unclear right now.

The Hoosiers could rectify that by letting Lagow be more aggressive and go to the air more on early d owns.

It’s not about abandoning the running game completely.

Rather, it’s about letting the passing game open up the running game. It makes sense to lean on the part of the offense that’s working the best and scoring 
the most.

IU has shown itself to fit squarely in the middle third of the Big Ten East.

If IU wants to establish itself right below Ohio State and Michigan, it has to unleash Lagow.

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