There’s been a running joke since IU Coach Tom Allen took the head coaching position earlier this month.
The former defensive coordinator can’t just congratulate the defense anymore. He has to celebrate with the offense when it finds success in practice — against the defense he coached to the best improvement in the country this season.
Last week after practice, senior receiver Mitchell Paige said the offense won in red zone practice, 2-1, on a review by a recruiting assistant. The two sides take it seriously, Allen said.
But that’s the competition Allen wants to breed in this program, competition that can help jumpstart the offense before IU’s bowl game against No. 19 Utah on Dec. 28.
“We just want to create competition,” Allen said after a Dec. 14 practice. “Whoever comes up on the short end has to do a little extra gassers. Today came down to a controversial call. The offense got the edge, so the defensive guys told me I was a traitor.”
It’s been back and forth, Allen said. The offense has won and then defense has won, but it’s the offense that needs to improve coming out of the 2016 regular season.
The Hoosiers enter postseason play with two glaring weaknesses on the offensive end — turnovers and red zone offense — as they finished the regular season second-to-last in the Big Ten in both statistics.
That’s a problem, as IU meets one of the Pac-12’s most aggressive defenses in Utah, which has forced the second-most turnovers in the conference.
Junior quarterback Richard Lagow is second in the Big Ten in interceptions thrown, with 16, while Utah forces the second-most interceptions in the Pac-12 and sacks the quarterback more than any school in the conference.
Those same mismatches exist on the ground as well. IU’s struggling running attack takes on a Utah rushing defense that only allows 129 rushing yards per game, good for second-best in the Pac-12.
Despite its struggles to back up its defense, the IU offense is still ranked third in the Big Ten statistically, but without the offensive-minded Kevin Wilson at the helm, it’s hard to tell what that unit will be capable of in the Foster Farms Bowl.
“Coach Allen has been preaching, ‘Make sure we win this game. This is how you end a good season,’” senior receiver Ricky Jones said.
Jones has been leading the offensive charge since the Purdue win, sophomore safety Jonathan Crawford said. He’s been giving Allen’s defense the hardest time in practice.
The senior receiver said the practices have been different since last season.
Wilson had two-hour practices with breaks throughout, but Allen has one-hour practices without breaks, where the team goes 100-percent for the entire practice, Jones said.
“This year it’s an hour going hard, competition,” Jones said. “It’s a great thing. I love it.”
Even though the Hoosiers lost their head coach of six seasons and are struggling significantly more on offense than last season’s bowl appearance, Allen is making sure that they aren’t taking for granted their second 6-6 record since 2007.
The goal is to win.
“We face a lot of good defenses in our league, so I think our guys will be able to adjust to what we see,” Allen said.
