The No. 4 Wisconsin Badgers (8-0, 5-0) will take on the Indiana Hoosiers (2-5, 0-4) on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, so to get the inside scoop on the Hoosiers we asked Stu Jackson of TheHoosier.com a few questions - and his answers are included below.
The Hoosiers had one of the more unexpected head coaching changes last year when they dismissed Kevin Wilson and installed Tom Allen as his replacement. Can you give us a quick recap of why the Indiana administration made that change? And why did they decide to stick with Allen instead of doing a full fledged coaching search?
Stu Jackson: Wilson’s dismissal was primarily a combination of “philosophical differences” (IU AD Fred Glass’ words) and allegations of player mistreatment, specifically mishandling injuries. They stuck with Allen because he had done a remarkable job turning a historically bad defense in his first year coordinating the unit like he’d done at previous stops at South Florida and Mississippi and wound up being in contention for the Broyles Award last year, which is given to the nation’s top assistant coach. With all that said, he was probably going to end up getting an opportunity to be a head coach with a program sooner rather than later, so they likely felt it was best to promote him.
What’s different about Indiana from an on-field perspective now that Allen is running the show? Did he make any major staffing changes or personnel changes that have made an impact this year?
Stu Jackson: The staff was reorganized quite a bit, especially on the offensive side. Under Wilson, there was one person coaching both the quarterbacks and wide receivers and coordinating the offense. Then you had a running backs coach, a tight ends coach and an offensive line coach. Under Allen, Mike DeBord is the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach. Grant Heard coaches the wide receivers and also serves as the passing game coordinator. Mike Hart coaches the running backs. Nick Sheridan coaches the quarterbacks. Defensively, Allen is still the defensive coordinator, while Mark Hagen, William Inge, Brandon Shelby and Noah Joseph coach the defensive line, linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties respectively. In other words, Allen retained Indiana’s defensive staff but retooled the offensive staff to his preference. The most noticeable impact is Indiana being much more effective with its redzone offense, an area that was a major struggle last year.
At least on paper it looks like Indiana is struggling to find some consistency on offense, which is a little strange to see out of an Indiana team that Wisconsin fans remember as explosive on offense but leaky on defense. Is that an accurate read on the situation, and if it is what’s holding them back this year?
Stu Jackson: That’s definitely fair. The biggest setback for this offense so far has been injuries. While that’s not foreign to any other team in the country, let alone the Big Ten, Indiana has had an unusual amount of injuries this year. In total, 18 different players have gotten hurt through the first eight games, at least 11 of which could be starters. Looking at the offense alone, eight starters have sustained an injury to this point in the season. The resulting absences along the offensive line, at quarterback and wide receiver have made it difficult for Indiana to get consistent performances out of its offense week in and week out. There also doesn’t seem to be a quarterback on Indiana’s roster who’s a good fit for IU’s offense right now. Redshirt freshman Peyton Ramsey replaced redshirt senior and incumbent Richard Lagow as the team’s starting quarterback in Week 5 against Charleston Southern. Ramsey gives the offense greater mobility with the ability to extend plays, but he doesn’t have the strongest arm. Lagow, meanwhile, has a strong arm but lacks the mobility and had accuracy issues through IU’s first four games. The Hoosiers need someone whose skillset provides mobility and the ability to make big plays through the passing game, but that someone currently isn’t on the roster right now.
The Hoosiers have had a series of close games not go their way this season - has there been a common thread in those losses? What do they need to do to flip the script, either in this game or the weeks to come?
Stu Jackson: An inability to finish has been the commonality. Special teams, which was a strength early in the season, has committed multiple untimely turnovers against Big Ten opponents in recent weeks. These mistakes end up killing any positive momentum generated by the offense and put the defense in a challenging position. Put simply, the Hoosiers just need to take better care of the ball on special teams. Injuries aside, Indiana’s offense has also struggled with execution. Part of that has been the special teams gaffes, part of that has also playing four top 20 defenses in its first eight games. So the offense has to execute better than it has in recent weeks.
Finally, what do you expect to see in the game this weekend? Who wins and why?
Stu Jackson: Whether Jonathan Taylor plays or not, I expect Wisconsin to control the time of possession and rely on its defense to come out with the victory. Ramsey is still learning and for the most part has struggled against the Big Ten’s best defenses. Wisconsin comes in at No. 5 nationally in total defense, which doesn’t bode well for an Indiana offense battling injuries and execution issues of late. While the Badgers have their own injury concerns, I still see them winning comfortably in Bloomington.
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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.
