With spring football over, Indiana football is quickly turning its attention to further roster turnover and, eventually, the start of preseason camp over the summer.
Head coach Curt Cignetti has seen several players enter the transfer portal since the spring game. The spring window to enter the portal closes at the end of April, though more names could trickle out in the first few days of May. But May is more likely to feature commitments than outbound transfers.
But coming out of the spring game, there’s still plenty to analyze of the roster IU already has.
Taylor Lehman from Bite Size Bison sent a Q&A to several IU media members asking for thoughts from the spring game and heading into the fall. You can view his full story from all the responses here.
This is how we answered the questions.
1. What is your tweet-length review (280 characters) of the Indiana Spring Game?
The biggest optimists can probably find a lot from the game showing IU will be good next year, and vice versa for the biggest pessimists. The truth usually lies in the middle.
2. What was your most encouraging takeaway?
It has to be the running game. The offensive line run-blocked well, and the running backs capitalized on those openings. The three main backs — Kaelon Black, Justice Ellison, and Ty Son Lawton — all made some big plays. They picked up yardage through contact, burst through holes — just a lot of what you want to see out of the backfield. IU’s run game was so inconsistent last season, it would be huge if this is a sign of things to come.
3. What concerns did you leave with (or which concerns were exacerbated)?
This should be taken with a grain of salt because of injuries, but based on what we saw out there, the defensive depth looks like a concern. Not to take too much away from what Tayven Jackson and Andison Coby and the second-string offense did, but it was just way too easy for them. Injuries will happen during the season — that’s just football — so even though this will probably look a little better as some guys get healthier, what happens when others inevitably get banged up in fall? Then you’re looking at the same type of defensive depth (in the secondary, specifically). It might be an area for the staff to address in the portal this spring.
4. What was your approach to the Spring Game? (What were you hoping to see? What were you watching for? Were you looking for individual performances or whole-unit performances? Were you expecting to see more from offense, defense, or special teams? Etc.)
Genuinely, I went in without many expectations. I was just watching everything as it played out and making some notes — both physical and mental — of things that stood out. I didn’t want to pigeonhole this and look for anything specific, just see what caught my eye. I’m not sure whether I was looking for anything more than we saw from the offense and defense. Hard to really gauge special teams, though, considering we only saw the field goal unit a few times, so no kickoff or punt teams and no returns.
5. Finish the sentence: “The quarterback play was…”
A mixed bag. Kurtis Rourke can play better than that. His wide receivers dropped some passes that would’ve made his night look and feel a little better, and the defense deserves credit for some of his other difficult moments. He did look sharp in some moments, and looked a little shifty at times as well. But I think IU will hope he can perform better than that in the fall. Jackson looked good, like someone who can be — at worst — a very reliable No. 2 option. Tyler Cherry looked like you’d expect a true freshman to look in his first taste of college ball, but that’s okay.
6. Was there an individual player that grabbed your attention?
Outside of the running backs, I’ll say Myles Price. I thought Price was pretty clearly at least one of Rourke’s top options, if not the top one. And Price looks like a pretty versatile weapon, the type of receiver that could be a threat at all three levels — short/screen game, intermediate routes, and deep balls. Donaven McCulley had that sort of upside last season, but if IU can put a weapon like that in a more productive passing attack, that has other good receivers (like McCulley, potentially) to attract other defensive attention, that could be dangerous for opponents.
7. Rate what you saw defensively on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being extremely discouraging and 10 being extremely encouraging.
I’ll go 6.5. The first-team defense looked good, I thought, although with the usual caveats of how tough it is to gauge things like pass rush success when you aren’t finishing the plays against quarterbacks and when you’re going against your own offensive line. I thought the secondary held up pretty well and deserved credit for Rourke not looking his sharpest. Jacob Mangum-Farrar looked really intriguing at the new stud position — he seems like a good fit for that spot. Aiden Fisher looked good as well, with upside to be one of the better inside linebackers in the league. The depth, as I said before, is a bit of a concern, particularly in the secondary.
8. Make a bold prediction for the 2024 season with the understanding that the only evidence we have is this spring scrimmage.
Here’s a bold one that fits the criteria. IU’s possible three-headed monster in the backfield, combined with good run-blocking, could lead to a lot of production. Indiana’s had just one season with 20 or more rushing touchdowns as a team since 2016. If the promise the running game showed last week is for real, perhaps this year’s team can crack that 20 mark.
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