IU coach Bill Lynch loves to give short answers, then a longer answer, then follow it back up with his original short answer.
At one of the practices last week a question was asked what area's his team needs to improve on most. I'll spare you the long answer, but the short answer was to, 'do a better job running the ball and do a better job stopping the run.'
The Hoosiers have added depth at running back, most notable incoming freshman Darius Willis. IU also has added some gurth on the offensive line, which figures to bold well for the run game.
But what about stopping the run? For those of you that had nightmares of Rashard Mendenhall, Javon Ringer, P.J. Hill and Dantrell Savage, will IU continue to struggle against more bruising, power I teams? Let's take a closer look
As a life-long Chicago Bears fan (I know, go ahead and give me crap Colts fans) the only good teams that i've ever had in Chicago could consistently stop the run. How did they do it? With mammoth defensive tackles that needed to be accounted for, which freed up space for their playmaking linebackers.
For IU, fifth year senior Greg Brown and sophomore Deonte Mack hope to play the role of road blocking defensive tackles. Brown will be entering his third year as a starter, but is resting over the spring to get healthy in the fall. I ran into Brown over the weekend and had a brief chat with him, and he said this is the first time his entire college career that he's felt 100%. It will be Mack's first year as a starter, replacing the slightly bigger, graduated Joe Kremer.
If Mack and Brown can occupy space, and maybe even command double teams, it will free up playmaking defensive ends Greg Middleton, Jammie Kirlew and Ryan Marando, who can stop running backs from turning the corner.
For the linebackers, there doesn't need to be a Brian Urlacher in the bunch for them to be effective at stoping the run. Outside linebackers Will Patterson and Geno Johnson are returning starters, and both showed the ability to be big time playmakers. The key for Patterson and Johnson will be to work on being a little more consistent in their tackles.
Middle linebacker Matt Mayberry is the new starting linebacker, taking over for Adam McClurg. McClurg was a former walk-on, and a real workaholic. He earned everything that he got, and his work ethic will surely be missed.
That being said, physically Mayberry is likely an upgrade. Mayberry has added almost 15 pounds from last season, and from the looks of practice, it has been all muscle. When McClurg went down in the Insight Bowl, Mayberry stood out in a couple of plays, showing the ability to meet the back at the line of scrimmage and keep him there.
Typically stopping the run is the job of the front seven, but having aggressive defensive backs certainly helps. Safeties Nick Polk and Austin Thomas are returning starters, the later of the two had a couple of monster games tackling wise. Polk will be in his second year since his switch from wide receiver, and a year under his belt in Big Ten competition may lead to an improvement in tackling. The cornerbacks all need to show the ability to step up and make tackles, as last season the only consistent tackling cornerback on the team was Tracy Porter.
All in all, if Lynch and the Hoosiers are going to be better at stopping the run the two keys will be the health of Brown and the adjustment to starter for Mayberry. If Brown can play at a higher level due to his health and anchor the defense, and Mayberry can add a little more athleticism to the linebacking core, the nightmares of opposing running backs could be a thing of the past.
