IU learns from big S.C. St. plays

Senior safety Chris Adkins received a call from Co-Defensive Coordinator Doug Mallory after South Carolina State wide receiver Tyler McDonald scampered 69 yards for a touchdown Saturday.

Since his Co-Defensive Coordinator Mike Ekeler is on the field, Mallory has to ring the field to speak to his players after such plays.

This sometimes allows him to control the way he speaks to players a bit more.

“A lot of times, you try to vent your frustration before you get (him) on the phone,” Mallory said. “Other times, you feel like he needs to be spoken to with a certain tone, and sometimes you’re going to let him hear it.”

Mallory said he knew that although the Bulldogs called a perfect play for the scheme IU was running, he still wanted his players to win the play.

“He realized he put me in a tough situation,” Adkins said, “but he expects more out of me to be able to make that kind of play regardless.”

IU’s defense was in a Cover 0, which is more or less man-to-man coverage. When the Hoosiers brought players on a blitz, Bulldogs quarterback Derrick Wiley hit his number one receiver for a huge gain.

“It was a Cover 0, and they ran a play to our blitz, which is one of the perfect calls you can make to any blitz scheme,” Adkins said. “He just ran a nice screen and got out on us before we knew what happened.”

The play against South Carolina State was the longest play against IU since Wisconsin wide receiver Jared Abbrederis caught a 74-yard touchdown on Nov. 13, 2010.

Mallory pointed out that 130 of the Bulldogs’ 216 passing yards came on three plays (of 69, 23 and 38 yards) — all of which were to McDonald, a stat that Mallory said “just kills you.”

Both Adkins and sophomore cornerback Lawrence Barnett said as members of the secondary, the duty oftentimes falls on them to prevent big plays from occurring.
“Especially as a cornerback and defensive back, coaches always teach us to have a short-term memory, so it’s just in the past,” Barnett said.

Mallory said he understands the mentality of defensive backs — he played the position at the University of Michigan from 1984 to 1987.

“A lot of times, there’s no one who feels worse than the kid who got beat,” Mallory said. “Having been a fellow defensive back, I kind of know where they come from. (If) you give up a big play, the last thing you want to do is have your butt ripped.”

For nearly his whole playing career, Adkins has had to deal with offenses making big plays, and he said recovering from them is a very important part of his game as a safety.

“Obviously, there are going to be big plays,” Adkins said. “After you’ve been playing for so long, even playing in high school.

“You realize that everybody’s going to have big plays here and there, it’s just not getting so negative that you take a play off and think that you’re done for.”