Six Freshmen Impress During Indiana's Fall Camp
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana head coach Tom Allen went out of his way to mention six freshmen that he thought stood out to him during the Hoosiers' fall camp.
There were three defensive players and three offensive players.
The three defensive were defensive back Jordan Grier and linebackers Maurice Freeman and Matt Hohlt. The three offensive players were quarterback Donaven McCulley, running back David Holloman and wide receiver Malachi Holt-Bennett.
Allen had those six stand up in a team meeting to recognize them on Sunday.
"Not that other guys didn't, but when you take the whole body of work, I felt like those guys — and this wasn't something we did as a staff — it was something that I thought, 'you know what, we always challenge our players that if you want to have an opportunity to play, you get your coaches attention and make plays when it is live, because live football to me is live tackling, live blocking, everything is live, and you are just going to play to the whistle and that is when you really see who is out there making plays,' and those six guys stuck out to me throughout the course of fall camp," Allen said on Monday. "Other guys flashed at times, but those (6) guys were most consistent, so I want to recognize those guys."
It's not the first time Allen has mentioned some of those players either.
A couple weeks ago, Allen spoke on McCulley and how "you notice him" when he's out on the field. McCulley was a standout quarterback at Lawrence North.
“I’ve really been encouraged by his growth,” Allen said on Aug. 9. “I feel that even some things today we were able to isolate certain parts of what we do and you could just see the talent, it’s shown up from the beginning.”
Then there's Holt-Bennett, who was dynamic player on both sides of the ball at Fairfield High Preparatory School in Birmingham, Alabama.
Allen said early on when he committed that he would be playing receiver for the Hoosiers.
“I really loved his personality. I think he's great fit with us in so many different ways, from an academic focus, to his character, and all the different things he brings," Allen said. "I'm really excited about him. I just feel like he's a guy that really can and will be a big part of our offense in the future. To me he just fits with our offensive philosophy, fits with our culture.”
Holloman is a a 6-foot, 215-pound running back from Avondale High in Auburn Hill, Michigan, and Allen called him one of the fastest players on the team.
With the departure of Sampson James, an opening could have been created for a player like Holloman to see some action this season.
On the defensive side, Indiana is deep in both the secondary and linebacking core, so it's a promising sign that players like Grier, Freeman and Hohlt stood out.
Grier is a 6-foot, 193-pound safety out of Cedar Grove High in Ellenwood, Georgia, and Freeman is a a 6-foot, 200-pound linebacker out of Oscar Smith High in Chesapeake, Virginia. Both players were 3-star commits.
Hohlt is a 6-foot-2, 220-pound linebacker from Center Grove High in Greenwood, Indiana, and was a preferred walk-on. His named has been mentioned by Allen a couple times this fall camp.
"He hasn't mastered the scheme, but he has a really good feel for the game," Allen said Monday. "Some guys just have a great presence in the box and have a knack to get to the football. When we're live, he makes plays."
Allen has often said that he thinks the 2021 roster is the deepest team he's had since being at Indiana, and with freshmen standing out among all the returnees the Hoosiers have, it proves that point.
Indiana will open its season in one week-and-a-half at Iowa on Sept. 4. The Hawkeyes are currently a 3.5-point favorite according to the FanDuel.com website.
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