With new focus, offensive coordinator, IU turns focus to passing game

After a season in which the Hoosiers ran well against Big Ten opposition, rising junior tight end Ted Bolser and his teammates are preparing to improve in the passing game with the help of new Offensive Coordinator Seth Littrell.

“Last year, we were running a lot of triple option with (freshman quarterback) Tre (Roberson),” Bolser said. “Coach (Littrell) said we need to be throwing the ball for at least 350 a game to win, so that’s what we’re going to be doing.”

The Hoosiers only managed to surpass 350 passing yards in one game in 2011 — a loss to North Texas.

In contrast, Littrell’s Arizona Wildcats averaged 370 passing yards per game and only failed to reach the 350-yard mark twice in 2011. Littrell said he and IU Coach Kevin Wilson have similar coaching backgrounds and that nothing dramatic is being added to the offensive scheme.

“I’m not coming in here and bringing something that he hadn’t already done,” Littrell said. “Obviously, there’s a foundation already set here. Now we’ve just got to continue to get better there.”

Rising junior wide receiver Kofi Hughes said the plays themselves are very similar to last year’s playbook but the differences are in the routes the receivers are running.

“We’re finding the green grass,” Hughes said. “When you have a dig, it isn’t just going to be a regular dig. You’re going to have to come out of that dig, and you’re going to have to find where the open hole is, and that’s how we’re going to really play with teams.”

Hughes said the quarterback then has to see the same hole the receiver sees.

Hughes also said the communication has been steadily improving but will still take more time to perfect.

Although a great deal of the offense depends on how the defense reacts to the offense, Littrell said it’s far too early to prepare for specific defenses.

“When we’re talking about looking at other defenses and scouting for next year, we’ve got to worry about us right now,” Littrell said. “We can’t even begin to go there yet.”

In terms of preparing for the future of the offense, however, a selection of pro-style, pass-heavy quarterbacks have been visiting Bloomington. Included in this group are Masillon, Ohio, native — and recent Cincinnati commit — Kyle Kempt and Arlington Heights, Ill., quarterback Mickey Macius.

Both high-school juniors said they received the impression that the offense was becoming much more pass-oriented. Macius said the dual-threat, option offense could become less and less prominent for the Hoosiers in the coming years.

“I think they’re actually moving away from that,” Macius said, “because the new offensive coordinator, Coach Littrell, he comes from those Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, pass-heavy offenses, and they don’t necessarily have those dual-threat quarterbacks where I think they’re trying to start recruiting a pass-oriented quarterback now.”

Littrell has coached at Texas Tech and Arizona prior to heading to Bloomington in  early January of this year.

Though Roberson made a name for himself in 2011 with his legs more than his arm, Hughes said he has seen his quarterback change into a pass-first quarterback.

Hughes said Roberson gladly accepted the role of changing from more of a running
quarterback to a passer.

“I think that’s what he took as a challenge,” Hughes said. “Whatever the blogs said or whatever people are saying, that he’s a run-first quarterback and this and that. I’d say he’s definitely a pass-first quarterback now.”