Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Support the IDS in College Media Madness! Donate here March 24 - April 8.
Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

sports football

OPINION: IU faces a tall task against No. 25 Michigan State run defense

IU’s football team high-fives senior offensive lineman Coy Cronk on Sept. 21 at Memorial Stadium. Cronk was injured during the first quarter against University of Connecticut.

It’s never a good time for anyone, let alone the most talented and experienced offensive linemen on the team, to get hurt.

However, the devastating ankle injury to senior left tackle Coy Cronk came at perhaps the worst possible time: right before the Hoosiers face arguably the best front seven in the country.

Michigan State, while always known for dominant defense under Mark Dantonio, are as talented as they have ever been in the front seven. The Spartan defense is third in the Football Bowl Subdivision, allowing just 52.3 rushing yards per game. 

MSU  is tied for second in yards per rushing attempt, matching Ohio State’s 1.71 mark for yards per opponent rush. When facing FBS opponents the last two weekends, Michigan State held Arizona State to a 36% success rate in the rushing game, and Northwestern to a dismal 16% success rate. The nationally average, per Bill Connelly of ESPN, is 41%.

To compound matters, IU’s offensive line has struggled at times this season. IU has not been able to open up lanes for talented sophomore running back Stevie Scott III and the rest of the running backs. 

After rushing for 406 yards in IU’s first four contests in 2018, Scott has seen that production almost cut in half at just 215 yards a third of the way through the 2019 campaign.

Yes, IU is coming off its best performance on the ground of the season with 178 rushing yards — 97 on 21 carries for Scott — against the University of Connecticut. But the Hoosiers’ success against a hapless Husky defense combined with the run game struggles in the first three weeks in the season is not enough to convince me that the Hoosiers will be able to establish a ground attack against the Spartans.

There is also the question of who replaces Cronk. 

Part of it depends on if redshirt freshman quarterback Michael Penix Jr. plays Saturday. If Penix plays, expect sophomore Caleb Jones to stay at right tackle to protect the lefty quarterback’s blind side. Freshman Matthew Bedford and senior DaVondre Love would split time at left tackle to fill in for Cronk.

If Penix’ injury holds him out for a third straight week, then junior quarterback Peyton Ramsey will lead to the line being shifted around a bit more. Jones would play more at left tackle to protect Ramsey’s blind side,and Love would get the majority of snaps at right tackle.

“Caleb's going to have to be able to do both,” IU head coach Tom Allen said. “We got to keep him ready to play both sides. A guy like Matt Bedford, we will just focus him on left tackle because he's so young.”

The quarterback question is more important than just giving an indication of which linemen will play where. Against Ohio State two weeks ago, the Buckeyes crowded the Hoosiers, usually having ten men within five yards of the line of scrimmage before the play started. 

This eliminated the running game, because there was no time or space for Scott to find a hole before being mauled in the backfield. Ramsey also could not loosen the defense with a deep ball, which led to the Hoosiers trying to win the game throwing short routes against press coverage.

With Ramsey, the same issue will likely come to fruition against the Spartans.

But if Penix is deemed healthy enough to start, the MSU defense will have to respect the Florida native’s arm strength and ability to stretch the field vertically with IU’s talented receivers. A respect for the vertical passing game will force Dantonio to take men out of the box, which could open up some space for Scott.

However, the issue is that even if Penix starts and is able to loosen up the MSU defense, it is still unclear at best that IU — without Cronk — would be able to get enough push up front against a four man rush to let Scott get into a rhythm. But at least in this scenario the Hoosiers will give themselves a fighting chance in East Lansing on Saturday.

Get stories like this in your inbox
Subscribe