Normal Fall Camp Means the World to Indiana Tackles Matt Bedford, Caleb Jones

Indiana's offensive line has plenty of talent and depth, and it's going to be critical for them to improve as run blockers and also keep quarterback Michael Penix Jr. upright. A normal fall camp has helped, and they are ready to shine.

Tom Brew | Aug 21, 2021

Normal Fall Camp Means the World to Indiana Tackles Matt Bedford, Caleb Jones /

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For Caleb Jones, even when he was little, he was big. The Indiana offensive tackle has always been a mountain of a man, but controlling his weight has often been an issue.

But as Jones – an Indianapolis native who played at Lawrence North and basically grew up eating several meals a day in his father's Eastside restaurant – enters his fifth season with the Hoosiers, getting SMALLER has actually been a priority this season. He's 6-foot-8, and he said Friday that's he's playing right around 350 pounds right now, something he hasn't done since early in his high school career.

He's had a good career thus far at Indiana, but he wants to be great in his final season. And for someone with NFL aspirations, he knows that keeping his weight under control makes a big difference. It was an issue a year ago in the COVID-infused 2020 season, and he knew as soon as the calendar turned that he made to make some changes to be at his best in 2021.

"The number one focus I had was getting my weight under control,'' Jones said Friday when he met with the local media. "Last season I didn't perform the way that I should have and didn't reach the goals I had in mind.

"I am sure a lot of people saw that in the way that I played, so this offseason was all about getting my weight under control, working as hard as I can so I can maximize the talents that I have this final season. I am making sure that I'm working hard and leading my teammates.''

Jones, who played at 350 pounds or more in high school, was probably closer to 400 than 250 last year. He'll be the first to admit that he needs discipline, and when COVID changed the way college football worked last year, his weight ballooned quickly after from the daily structure of the weight room and workouts.

He was still good in Indiana's breakthrough 6-2 season a year ago, but he didn't have he endurance to be great for four quarters, and he struggled against quicker defender with all that extra weight.

That had to change, and he knew it. And when offensive line coach Darren Hiller discussed it with him in January, nothing surprised him in that conversation, either. He knew the 2021 season will define his career at Indiana.

"He and I have had these conversations since 2017 and I think he finally really committed to it in January,'' Hiller said. "He’s a guy who when he has been in the building has always been great. He always worked – whether it would be in the weight room or on the practice field – it was always just a matter of what was he doing when he was outside of the building and the weight room. He battled that.

"[Playing without the extra weight] it’s showing up from a quickness standpoint. He just looks better running, changing direction and all of the movement that he’s doing out there. It just shows up. He’s moving a lot better, and I can tell you he looks a lot better. I’m watching the film and you know how it is; when you’re around the guys every single day and you see him on a consistent basis you kind of forget what they used to look like. We were throwing on some film of 2019 and 2020, going back and looking at some things, and it was drastic when you looked out there and you see No. 77 in those two years compared to right now. I look forward to him having a great football season.''

All eyes on this position group

Indiana has designs on competing for a Big Ten title this year, and they have the skill position people to contend. The question has always been, is Indiana's offensive line good enough? They certainly seem solid at tackle, with Jones and junior Matt Bedford, who's played a lot of football in his first two seasons. Luke Haggard will see plenty of action, too.

There's plenty of talent inside, too, led by Mike Katic and Dylan Powell, and at least a half-dozen others who are competing for larger roles in fall camp. As a group, they are improving, and big things are expected this season. They need to be better in the run game and they absolutely, positively have to keep quarterback Michael Penix Jr. healthy. Penix has had season-ending injuries each of the last three seasons.

"It doesn't matter what we say, we have to go do it,'' Indiana offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan said. "I like that group. They're stronger, they're bigger, they're in better shape. They've had a more consistent offseason to train with (strength) coach (Aaron) Wellman and his staff, and that has shown up in different moments in practice where we've been physical and blocked in strain.

"The challenge in that room has always been communication. It's important to see it with one set of eyes. All five of these guys have to see the front and make the ID and communicate collectively. If one guy sees it differently or makes a call we shouldn't make, we won't have a good run or you don't have a good pass protection.''

Back to normal after COVID

This entire group has benefited from a normal season. In 2020, they only had a few days of spring practice before the COVID shutdown, and the fall was a mess with so many starts at stops.

But this year, they've had a good spring, had a lot of great player-run workouts all summer and they've gotten a lot done in fall camp already.

Normalcy is a wonderful thing.

"It's almost night and day compared to last fall,'' Jones said. "Having the offseason helped in order for me to be successful. I am in better shape, I'm making the most out of our practices, and I'm able to go hard and make the most of every day.''

Last year, Indiana mostly struggled with the run, averaging just 3.1 yards per carry, ahead of only Michigan State in the Big Ten. They had their moments though, closing out games against Michigan and Maryland by running the ball well.

This year, though, it's more about consistency. They want to run it well from start to finish every game.

"We're always trying to run the football,'' Hiller said. "There were times where we did run the football well, There are answers to that, but we also have to be able to say you know what, we don’t care how many dudes are in there.

" I think there were some times last year during the season that we had to closeout a game and we were able to run the football, generate some first downs in late game situations against heavy boxes and I think we proved that we can do it. But the consistency wasn’t there. It’s just a grind. It’s always getting through the details and being as best as we can in there and being tough enough and strong enough.''

Bedford, who was rushed into service as a true freshman because of injuries, had a so-so sophomore year and is looking forward to making a big jump in 2021.

"We've put in a lot of good work and I feel like we've grown as far as our fundamentals and our technique,'' Bedford said. "Personally, I definitely have grown in pass protection. Last year that was my Achilles heel, but this year I think I am going to be a lot stronger in that area.

"Now that we are all back in the team room together, we've formed a better bond because we can talk and communicate after practice about how we messed up a play or ‘let me go talk this person.’ Being able to have a face-to-face interaction has been great for us. The communication has been tremendous. It has been great being able to call plays during practice and communicate off the field. Also, it has been great to communicate our mistakes, correct those mistakes, and come out on the next play and make great things happen. That's all we care about.''

The 17th-ranked Hoosiers open the season in two weeks at No. 18 Iowa, and they know they're in for a battle. The Hawkeyes are always tough in the trenches, and getting off to a good start is critical.

Even though Indiana started out 4-0 last year, they averaged only 1.6 yards per carry in that season-opening 36-35 overtime win against No. 8 Penn State. They all know that can't happen again.

"We continue to harp that,'' Sheridan said. "I'm pleased with that group, and we still have plenty to work on, but that's for the whole offense. We're not ready to play a game tomorrow. We need the time and preparation to get ready.

"We recognize we have to be ready, and we need to continue to get better through the year. We did that last year, and we want to do that again this year. But we also recognize we need to be ready to roll the first game just like we did a year ago (when there were no nonconference games). We didn't do a good enough job in the opener last year, so that's been the challenge for this group. We recognize the quality of the opponent we're going against here in two weeks, so we still have work to do. We're trying to be a more consistent and efficient group that executes at a high level, down in and down out.

Jones feels like everything is coming together nicely for Indiana's offense, and there's no reason why their lofty goals shouldn't be attainable.

"The sky is the limit for this team. I truly believe we can go as far as we want to go as a unit,'' Jones said. "A big thing for the offensive line is the run game. It has been our focus for most of this fall camp. We are making sure that we can open gaps for our running backs and making our offense as balanced as it should be. We are working on getting to the level we need to get to be successful.''

Indiana opens the season on Saturday, Sept. 4 against the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City. The game starts at 3:30 p.m. ET, and will be televised on the Big Ten Network. As of Tuesday morning, Iowa is a 3.5-point favorite according to sports gambling website FanDuel.com. The over/under is 46.5 points.

Normal Fall Camp Means the World to Indiana Tackles Matt Bedford, Caleb Jones

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