Tom Allen Highlights Key Moments from Saturday's Scrimmage
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — If Tom Allen had to pick a "winner" from his team's second preseason scrimmage this past Saturday, he'd have to settle with the offense.
But he has to admit it was pretty balanced.
There were times where the offense would move down the field in a long drive, but the defense would hold them to a field goal in the redzone. Mark that up as a win for the defense.
There were other times where the offense marched down and scored a touchdown. Advantage offense.
Both sides of the ball endured some penalties that hurt them, but overall, Allen, a defensive-minded coach, wasn't pleased with some mistakes on that side of the ball.
"From an objective perspective, I felt like I didn't like that we missed some tackles on defense. I thought we jumped offside too many times on defense and not have any illegal procedures on the offense," Allen said. "So, I'd give the edge to the offense for the overall scrimmage if I had to give a grade. But it was definitely back and forth."
Allen said the one's and two's each got about 50 snaps, but compared to the first scrimmage two weeks ago, he thought there were more penalties this past week.
For the second straight scrimmage, true freshman Javon Swinton has been a player that has stood out to Allen at the wide receiver position.
"He continues to make plays," Allen said. "Really encouraged by his consistency at this point. Catches the ball a lot and gets open, so he's really catching my eye."
Some other receivers that Allen was impressed with on Saturday include sophomore Jacolby Hewitt and freshman David Baker.
"Those young guys are coming along and making good plays," Allen said
Allen was very pleased with Harry Crider's consistency at center. This is Crider's first season playing center, but so far, all his coaches and teammates haven't noticed much of a change in how the offense flows.
The offensive line isn't completely set yet. Crider will play center while Matthew Bedford and Caleb Jones will fill the tackle positions with Bedford on the right side and Jones on the left.
In terms of guard, Allen said Dylan Powell, Mackenzie Nworah and Mike Katic are all battling it out for that position.
"They're all going to play, but I really like the way they're competing right now," Allen said. "They're giving us a chance to get the best guys on the field."
In terms of the defensive end, Allen liked what he saw from Devon Matthews on Saturday.
"He made some key plays we need to be made by him," Allen said. "(I like) just his development of playing in the secondary."
Other defensive players who stood out were Javon Swann, who is a graduate transfer and is adjusting well to Indiana's system, and linebacker Aaron Casey, who Allen said got into his run fits well and made good tackles.
Overall, it was another good day for the Indiana football team as they inch closer to the season opener against Penn State.
Allen said they are still installing some things, but the team will begin to add in some Penn State preparation starting this week.
"It is always the same game one nerves that you have because we have not played a game since the bowl game," Allen said. "The whole execution piece, the tackling piece makes you nervous going against somebody else, especially to someone of Penn State's caliber."
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