Despite QB change, Indiana won’t change offensive plan
By Andy Proffet Post-Tribune correspondent September 11, 2012 11:26PM
The Big Number
606— Indiana’s offensive yardage against UMass, the most for an Indiana team since Oct. 6, 2001, at Wisconsin.
Inside Scoop
Indiana’s defense did much better against the run in Week 2, allowing the Minutemen to rush for 78 yards on 36 attempts, a 2.2 yard average per run.
But co-defensive coordinator Doug Mallory said the Hoosiers missed too many tackles, something they can’t do against Ball State this week.
The Cardinals have three good running backs in Jahwan Edwards (254 yards this season), Horactio Banks (183) and Barrington Scott (87). Edwards and Scott combined for 147 yards when Ball State beat Indiana 27-20 in last season’s opener.
“From that point on, we realized we had to be more aggressive up front,” Mallory said of Indiana’s struggles against Ball State’s running game.
Updated: October 14, 2012 1:51PM
Don’t expect much to change with Indiana’s offense.
Even after losing starting quarterback Tre Roberson to a season-ending broken leg, the Hoosiers won’t make wholesale changes to the offensive plan, coach Kevin Wilson said Monday.
“It’s a little different style of play, but we won’t change the offense (for new starter Cameron Coffman),” Wilson said on his radio show. “Some things will be emphasized. Certain throws he likes, certain things he does or doesn’t.”
Coffman completed 16-of-22 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown in Saturday’s 45-6 win at Massachusetts after replacing Roberson, who was injured on a third-and-goal run early in the second quarter.
While Coffman is the starter, Wilson doesn’t want him getting too comfortable.
“He needs to play well because the other guy’s a good player,” Wilson said, referring to freshman Nate Sudfeld.
“We’re not going to have revolving doors, but in building a program, a beautiful word is called competition. It’s been a foreign thing around here. … It’s (Cam’s) time to answer the call.”
Sudfeld also played against the Minutemen, completing 3-of-4 passes for 28 yards. With Roberson’s injury, Coffman and Sudfeld are the only two scholarship quarterbacks on Indiana’s roster.
Walk-on Corey Babb, a 6-5, 221-pound freshman from Cathedral in Indianapolis, is expected to move up to No. 3 on the Hoosiers’ depth chart, with fellow freshman Nate Boudreau also in the mix.
As for Roberson, Wilson expects he’ll make a full recovery.
“He had a clean break about halfway between the ankle and knee,” Wilson said. “Supposedly the surgeries went well. It will be one of those pushing five, six month recoveries. He’ll miss this year, and playing only two games, he’ll get a medical year.”
Wilson said Roberson is already looking at how Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III bounced back from a broken ankle as a sophomore as a template for his own recovery.
“He’s got high goals, high standards,” Wilson said of Roberson. “He’s going to be a great Hoosier. We’ll just have him for three years.”
