Many injuries nag Hoosiers at season’s halfway point

Several of IU’s players are feeling the effects of the violent sport of football and seeking treatment for injuries ranging from minor to significant, which is all-too-regular in football by the midway point of the season.

Monday, IU coach Bill Lynch gave an update about the status of several player’s.
Junior offensive tackle Josh Hager will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL, Lynch said on his radio show Monday night.

“It was really one of those unusual non-contact kind of plays that kind of got him in a bad situation,” Lynch said.

Another offensive lineman, senior James Brewer, was listed out for Saturday’s game with an ankle injury, and Lynch does not expect him to play this week.

Notwithstanding sophomore running back Darius Willis’ season-ending knee injury last week, IU was also short at times Saturday with injuries to several running backs.

“We got a good report on Trea (Burgess), that’s the first one because he got banged up in the game,” Lynch said at his afternoon press conference. “Nick (Turner), we’ll kind of test him out a little to see where he’s at today. Antonio (Banks), hopefully he’s feeling better. He was sick a lot last week.”

Lynch said all four running backs would practice Monday. He also gave a final update to a player the Hoosiers have been without all season: junior safety Chris Adkins, who injured his ankle in preseason camp.

Lynch is hoping he will be available for the season’s final four games.

“I was told today that he’s going to get to do some dry-land running. I’ve never heard that one before, but I’m very impressed to have some dry-land running,” Lynch said, smiling. “That’s about as much as I can tell you. As I say that, I can tell you he’s been running in the water tank treadmill and all of that stuff.”

Does IU’s offensive playbook have room to grow?
Senior quarterback Ben Chappell has been at the helm of the IU offense for the vast majority of this season’s snaps, save for a few gadget plays that offensive coordinator Matt Canada has thrown at opposing defenses.

Such plays have included direct snaps to junior wide out Tandon Doss and redshirt freshman backup quarterback Dusty Kiel. Kiel took snaps in a Wildcat-like formation that moved Chappell to receiver.

But aside from the blatantly obvious formations or plays from the IU offense, they’ve also attacked defenses in a myriad of regular fashions ranging from a five-receiver set to a simple running formations.

“I think we’ve done a good job,” Chappell said. “We’ve done a lot of stuff. We’ve got a lot of stuff for the defenses to watch.”

Obviously playing his hand close to the chest, Chappell remained vague on when or if IU could introduce new plays during a game.

“We’re going to continue to evolve,” Chappell said. “As guys continue to step and make plays, those are the guys who we’re going to get the ball to.”

Defense showed improvements
IU has allowed 28.7 points per game this season, ranking 83rd out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams. In total yards allowed, IU ranks as the third-worst team in the Big Ten by giving up an average of 400.7 yards per game.

Those statistics state the obvious: Playing defense has been a challenge for the Hoosiers this season.

However, Lynch thought his team improved in that department against Arkansas State.

“We rallied to the ball, kept the ball in front. We had good pursuit,” Lynch said. “We didn’t have as many missed tackles. We had the fewest number of M.A.’s (missed assignments) that we’ve had. You’re always going to have some, of course, over 70 plays or whatever and all the adjustments that go into all of the formations.”

Most notable might have been the number of “big plays” the Hoosier defense allowed. Lynch, basing his parameters as a 12-yard or longer rushing play or a 20-yards-or-more passing play, said his defense gave up two in the 36-34 win.

Taking care of their own, offensively
Junior Justin Pagan also made an appearance at IU’s weekly press conference.

Pagan, who has played at multiple positions on the offensive line this season, was asked about protecting Chappell. He was also asked about the pride that his teammates on the blocking front have to keep Chappell from taking too many hits or sacks.

He quickly had those in attendance laughing.

“He’s not one of those ‘fast quarterbacks,’ as they call them,” Pagan said. “He’s going to be behind you all the time. You’ve got to take a lot of pride in it. You can’t — as Will (Matte) calls him the ‘little sister’ — you can’t let your little sister get hit.”

Chappell walked in the team room moments later and laughed when he was told what Pagan said.