Indiana's Offensive Line not Missing a Beat as it Fights Through Injuries
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — There is a special bond between offensive linemen, and the closeness that develops with that position group is never fake. Maybe it's because of their size, or their need to constantly have five guys working as one, but that bond, it's damn strong.
It's no different at Indiana, of course, and age has something to do with that when you've got three fifth-year seniors like Simon Stepaniak, Coy Cronk and Hunter Littlejohn as your anchors. That's more than 100 career starts right there.
But here's what's been interesting about the past few weeks. This tight-knit group has taken some hits. Littlejohn, the longtime starting center, got banged up against Rutgers and limped off the field, not to return on Saturday. And Cronk, the veteran left tackle, was injured Sept. 21 and needed surgery. He's lost for the season.
Lost, but not forgotten. And not going away.
Indiana coach Tom Allen preaches LEO — Love Each Other — at Indiana, and it's a real thing with this entire offensive line group.
Where do you think the OL in LEO comes from anyway?
Cronk had his surgery and is back around the team as "Coach Cronk'' now. He was instrumental in helping true freshman Matt Bedford get ready to play left tackle the past two games, and Bedford has been sensational. Cronk is still contributing, just in a different way.
"When you lose a guy like Coy, it's going to do one of two things," Indiana coach Tom Allen said. "A group can be devastated by it and never recover, never be the same, or you can band together and realize that each guy to a man has got to elevate his preparation and elevate his performance, and I think that's what's happened.
"The group has come together and solidified its work ethic, its resolve. They're saying 'we're going to be better because we're relying on each other, we're working, we're spending extra time.''
Cronk's help with Bedford is so important that Allen wants him around all the time.
"That's why we've committed (that Cronk is) going to travel to every one of our games. He's going to be here, whether he's on crutches or on his little scooter, whatever we've got to do to get him where he needs to be.
"He's an important part of this team. (The line) has rallied around him, and that's awesome to see.''
Allen is hoping Littlejohn can play Saturday at Maryland, but there are no guarantees this early in the week. If not, Stepaniak will be the only returning starter on the line. Even left guard Harry Crider, who's played well too, is a first-year starter.
"We obviously watched (Littlejohn) limp off the field, so it's just a lower leg injury, but I don't think it's serious,'' Allen said Monday. "But any time with linemen, they don't heal as quickly as skill guys sometimes with lower leg injuries, but he'll just be doing his rehab. We'll get him out there (on the practice field) as much as possible, and he'll get ready, but I expect him to play. He's a tough guy.''
Much like Bedford sliding right into Cronk's spot, redshirt freshman Charlie O'Connor didn't miss a beat either on Saturday taking over for Littlejohn. It all came back to the group thing, five working as one, and Indiana's O-line dominated the game, even with the two freshmen in there.
“When Coy went down, obviously we rallied around him and had to make sure he was okay,'' right tackle Caleb Jones said. "But once he was off the field it was like, ‘OK, it’s time for us to step up, each and every one of us. It’s time for us all to make sure we’re doing our job. We have to take matters into our own hands to get the job done.''
Jones, a massive 6-foot-8, 358-pound redshirt sophomore who's in his first year as a starter, needing to grow up quickly, too.
“After the first few games and after Coy went down especially, [it came down to] just kind of sucking it up and taking on the role of being an older guy,” Jones said. “Even if I’m not technically an older guy, in comparison to some of the other guys playing, I am.”
Indiana rolled up 557 yards of offense on Saturday and had its best rushing day of the season with 260 yards. And redshirt freshman quarterback Michael Penix went another day without getting sacked. He's only gone down once all year.
“It was really impressive on Saturday,” Indiana offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer said. “I was super proud of the way our guys just showed that resolve. It happened with Coy’s situation and now with Hunter. Hopefully we get Hunter back, but if not, I think our guys are gaining confidence that it’s the next-man-up mentality.”
For Indiana's coaching staff, the big challenge is in knowing all these freshmen who are suddenly playing key roles on this team still constantly need to be coached up. They are playing well, but there's still going to be plenty of things they haven't seen before in a college game.
"We just challenged our staff (Sunday) about teaching and making sure what's best for each guy. Everybody is a little bit different,'' Allen said. "Don't just assume things with your guys. We have a whole process to help our guys get mentally ready, but making sure the young guys, like Matt Bedford, who hasn't been in this situation week after week after week at this level, how is he going to handle it?
"It's one thing to get thrust in there, play well the first time he got out there. Then you've got to do it again, and you got to do it again. He did good things on Saturday, now you got to do it again and you're on the road again.
"That, to me, is the message, and it's very important because that's what we're all striving for. At the end of the day, you played at a high level consistently. If you want to create change, you change something you do every day. That's a life principle that I try to live by and I challenged our staff with and talked about that very thing with our team this morning. It's that important to how we grow as a team.''
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