I am trying to figure out a good music equivalent.
Maybe Ice Cube leaving N.W.A., or even Justin ?Timberlake leaving ‘N Sync?
I don’t know.
All I do know is IU will be without junior quarterback Nate Sudfeld for the rest of the season.
I heard your sighs from here.
DEFCON 1 is in full effect, and the Hoosiers are left with two true freshmen and a walk-on.
IU Coach Kevin Wilson said freshman Chris Covington is the one and that he will be starting against No. 8 Michigan State on Saturday.
I think it is fair to say IU’s bowl hopes have ended with Sudfeld’s season.
All of the remaining fringe games for the Hoosiers now swing more in favor of their opponents.
The season-ending Purdue game is the only game I will say, right now, that I foresee IU winning, but I do not say that confidently.
Now, lets take a look at Chris Covington, the new starting quarterback for the Indiana Hoosiers.
Jeez, that sounds weird.
I am not going to completely form my opinion on Covington by his poor performance coming off the bench against Iowa. I will, however, look at him as a whole.
Physically, he is a strong prospect that could grow into a quality quarterback. His 40-yard dash was only 4.94, but he is football fast. He covers a lot of ground in open field and can accelerate quickly through a hole.
Covington also has a tremendously strong arm. Wilson referred to it as the strongest on the team. His accuracy is sub-par, and accuracy and timing are key components of IU’s offensive system.
It is not easy for a true freshman to come in and lead a team in the midst of the Big Ten season, let alone a true freshman as raw as Covington.
In his high school film, he basically just ran a lot of designed runs and long scrambles that worked out because he was bigger and faster than most of his ?opponents.
Teams will now load the box even more so to stop Tevin Coleman from getting any openings and to stop Covington from having success in the read ?option game.
If I were an opposing defensive coordinator, I would give IU wide receivers a ton of space and dare Covington to hit them on short routes.
The only way I see Covington having success throwing the ball is launching passes deep down field.
The thing is, the Hoosiers need him to move the ball through the air at least a little to open anything up for the run game. If he cannot do that, IU will have some long, ugly outings in front of them.
Wilson and Offensive Coordinator Kevin Johns are keen offensive minds that will attempt to alter the system a bit to open things up for a different type of ?quarterback.
Wilson implied they will be the same offense, but I assume that is to not tip off Michigan State to what they will be running.
Fellow true freshman Zander Diamont, who IU planned on redshirting, is now in play as an option.
Diamont is also more of a mobile quarterback. The difference is that Diamont is 175 pounds and is not built enough yet to take the kind of hits Michigan State or other opponents will be doling out.
I think putting him out there would be damaging to Diamont, and I personally do not think he would be much more productive than Covington right now.
Covington impressed me a little on his final drive when he fit a pass 20 yards downfield through coverage to Ricky Jones. It was not anything special, but it was a reminder that he is at least capable of making tough throws.
Covington will be more prepared this week than he was coming cold off the bench at Iowa during its homecoming weekend.
I expect these next six weeks to be unpleasant for IU, and a lot of different options may be tried out.
I wrote last week that IU had experienced every emotion possible, but I hadn’t thought about anything like this.
brodmill@indiana.edu
