Nick Sheridan Seeks More Complete Game From Indiana Offense

Indiana offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan wasn't shy to admit the mistakes he made on Saturday, especially when the Hoosiers were in the red zone. Indiana will look to clean that up this week.

Dylan Wallace | Nov 16, 2020

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan has reviewed the Hoosiers' red zone possessions several times since Saturday's win at Michigan State.

A slight smile even broke across his face when he heard the question about it.

Sheridan, though smiling during his Monday press conference, wasn't pleased with the way the offense performed in the red zone against the Spartans.

The Hoosiers were perfect in the red zone through three games this season, but they were just 3-for-6 in East Lansing.

But the first-year OC for the Hoosiers isn't shy to take the blame.

"I didn't do a good enough," Sheridan said. "Just to be blunt with you guys, I didn't do a good enough job in that area."

Indiana put up 24 points on Saturday, but all of those came in the first half, and 17 of them were off turnovers.

The Spartans' offense couldn't effectively move the ball against the Hoosiers' defense the entire game, so there was no real pressure to perform well in the second half up by double digits, but Indiana coaches and players were still unhappy with how they played on offense.

"If we would have executed and coached on my end and put our players in better positions with the play call in the second half, I think we would be feeling differently than we did on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday," Sheridan said.

A saving grace for the Hoosiers' offense on Saturday was the connection between quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and wide receiver Ty Fryfogle.

Penix found Fryfogle 11 times for 200 yards and two touchdowns. The performance earned Fryfogle Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors.

"I think we are improving in that area. There are still more opportunities for us to execute at a higher level and be more consistent at the same time," Sheridan said. "We did a nice job in the first half. We had about 350 yards of total offense, 300 yards passing in the first half. Give credit to our players for doing a nice job."

Indiana also didn't run the ball particularly well. One impressive stat, however, was that Indiana closed the contest with a seven-and-a-half-minute drive that consisted of just run plays.

It was something Allen was pleased with, but he still didn't think his team ran the ball effectively in other situations.

Indiana's offense line was also a bit depleted on Saturday as Caleb Jones and Mike Katic were out, so Dylan Powell and Luke Haggard stepped in.

Both fared pretty well, and Penix had nice pass protection throughout most of the game. The Hoosier quarterback only attempted 10 passes in the second half.

All that being said, No. 9 Indiana will need to be much better this Saturday as they head to Columbus for a top-10 matchup with the No. 3-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.

"As long as we prepare and come out and execute at a high level, we have the talent, we have the team that can go out and show the skills that we have through all of the things that we have done it practice," Penix said. "We have a chance to do special things each week. It is something that we focus on, we just need to continue to play our game."

Sheridan knows Indiana can't afford to make many mistakes against Ohio State's ferocious defense.

As good as Indiana's defense has played this season, they will have their hands full this weekend with Heisman candidate Justin Fields, which means Indiana's offense will have to do its part.

Despite the struggles in East Lasning, Sheridan is confident in the offense's ability to execute at a high level.

"I think our players and our staff are confident. We earned that through our hard work," Sheridan said. "Ultimately anything that has happened in previous weeks, last year's game, those things have no impact on the game this Saturday. You start over each and every week. You have to prove it each and every week."

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