After months of talk and projection, we finally got to see who was ready to see the field for IU football, and who was ready to perform at a high level.
Snap counts and grades are in for Indiana’s 31-7 week one win over Florida International.
Today we’ll take a look at the IU offense.
All according to PFF, here is where the Hoosiers rank nationally after week one:
- Overall Offense: 56th (out of 134)
- Passing: 85th
- Pass Blocking: 48th
- Receiving: 49th
- Running: 52nd
- Run Blocking: 43rd
Kurtis Rourke’s overall grade was 61.6, and his passing grade was 66.3 — 58th nationally out of 70 quarterbacks who had at least 25 drop backs over the weekend.
While there was talk of three running backs seeing snaps, two emerged with Ty Son Lawton playing 35 snaps and Justice Ellison 24. The anticipated third back in the rotation, Kaelon Black, only played two snaps. Ellison earned the highest grade on the team for running the football, but graded poorly in pass protection, while Lawton was much better in that area.
UPDATE: Curt Cignetti said Monday Black had hamstring tightness and was limited on Saturday.
Among backs with at least 10 carries, Ellison had the 15th best rushing grade in the nation.
In a deep receiver room, Elijah Sarratt led the way with 62 snaps. Next up was a somewhat surprising 47 from Omar Cooper, Jr., who was on the field to start the game rather than Donaven McCulley, who also left the game with an injury. Miles Cross, who made ESPN’s top plays with his one-handed catch, had the highest receiving grade on the team.
Overall, IU played seven wide receivers. E.J. Williams was out with an injury and figures to factor into the rotation when healthy.
There was never much mystery about the tight end position coming into the season. Zach Horton played 60 snaps, while James Bomba played 15. Bomba was on the field mostly for running plays. Horton graded well as a receiver and had the third best overall offensive grade on the team, any position.
The competition at starting guard after the season-ending injury to Nick Kidwell had clear winners. Bray Lynch and Drew Evans took the first 69 snaps at guard before the entire first unit took the last drive off. Lynch earned a very good pass blocking grade, while Evans was slightly better in run blocking.
Curt Cignetti said the pressure in the passing game came from the edge, and that’s reflected in Trey Wedig’s pass-blocking grade, a team worst mark among the offensive linemen. Meanwhile, on the other end Carter Smith had the best pass blocking mark on the team, and eighth best in the nation. Lynch wasn’t far behind at 17th best in the nation, both irrespective of number of snaps played or position.
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