One of Indiana football's supposed strengths just two weeks ago has emerged as perhaps its biggest weakness after a pair of lackluster showings.
The Hoosiers' running game looked great two games into Big Ten play. Indiana ran for 6.8 yards per carry as a team against Northwestern with Lee Beebe Jr. taking over for an injured Turbo Richard, logging 203 yards on 24 carries to average 8.5 on the ground in large part thanks to a 70-yard burst in the fourth quarter. It looked even better the next week when the Hoosiers averaged 8.4 yards per carry with Richard turning 13 carries into 204 yards for a blistering 15.7 yards per carry.
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Ever since? Nothing remotely close.
Windy conditions made the run crucial at Nebraska and the Cornhuskers knew it, committing extensive resources to stopping the Hoosiers on the ground. Indiana, which had seen two different backs eclipse 200 rushing yards in the previous two weeks, managed just 65 rushing yards as a team and just 3 yards per carry against that defense. On top of that, Indiana lost the time of possession battle and just didn't run that many offensive plays. It was a combination of Josh Hoover's arm and processing alongside Nick Marsh's playmaking that won that game.
This seemed a potential outlier at the time. Weird game, weird weather. Whatever. Then came the massive matchup against Ohio State at home where Indiana ran into the same issue, literally.
The Hoosiers managed just 73 yards on the ground and just 2.5 per carry against the Buckeyes as Turbo Richard finished with 46 and Beebe Jr. with 24. Neither were explosive, with their longest rushes on the game being tied at just seven yards.
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Despite the criticism he's received, including from this very blog, it was Hoover that kept Indiana in position to win that game at the end. Indiana's running game was doing it no favors.
So, what gives? How did Indiana go from this explosive attack to looking pedestrian at best in just two weeks?
It isn't a talent issue in the backfield. Richard and Beebe Jr. have both proven capable, this very season and in the past, of putting together strong performances on the ground. Their individual performances against Northwestern and Rutgers weren't fools gold, that was just players making plays.
To really break this down you have to go back to this past offseason when Indiana reloaded its backfield through the transfer portal and returned a key piece from injury.
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Mike Shanahan and Curt Cignetti's offense has changed some over the years as different players have come and gone and it's certainly been friendly for quarterbacks, but everything starts with the run. That's just football in general, but humor me for a moment.
Indiana's rushing attack in 2024 and 2025, particularly the latter season, was an efficiency-focused operation. The Hoosiers' offense was so effective last season because Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black, both powerful downhill runners, could be relied on to pick up 4 or so yards on any given run. Do that enough and opposing defensive coordinators have to respond, trying to create tackles for loss and stuffs by committing more resources to the run. That opens up the pass and you get plays like all of those deep shots to Charlie Becker throughout the postseason.
There was a shift this past offseason that probably should've been immediately apparent when Indiana added Richard, a different kind of back than the program usually leans on. Indiana found success with those powerful efficiency runners like Hemby, Black and Ty Son Lawton, with some burst from Justice Ellison, but Richard was used as an explosive weapon at Boston College. The Hoosiers wanted to get more explosive on the ground.
Richard was obviously the focal point and took over immediately as Indiana's lead back but Beebe Jr. was pretty explosive in his limited attempts in 2025 and had long runs during his time at UAB. Indiana seemed to lean into this, trying to put its personnel in position to do what they do best
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For a while, that obviously worked. The Hoosiers had one of the most explosive ground games in the sport heading into the Ohio State matchup even after the Nebraska debacle:
Now, not so much.
What changed? Well, Indiana's non-running back personnel and the caliber of opponent it was up against.
Indiana lost its starting center and right tackle this past offseason with both Pat Coogan and Kahlil Benson moving onto the NFL. Not only that, tight end Riley Nowakowski departed for the professional ranks as well. That's multiple key blockers gone.
Indiana replaced Coogan by sliding right guard Bray Lynch over to the center spot, making way for Wisconsin transfer Joe Brunner to slide in at the latter's vacant spot. Adedamola Ajani, who took extensive snaps in the postseason, took over at right tackle.
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Indiana opted for a few more interesting moves at tight end, adding Brock Schott as a sophomore transfer out of Miami in an already inexperienced room.
Indiana added just one experienced piece to fill this select gap in Brunner. The remainder of the moves were either shuffling, rising depth or adding another inexperienced piece. One way or another, these players aren't performing at the standard set by their predecessors.
Lynch, sorry to say, was probably the weaker link on last year's offensive line. That's not necessarily awful, the rest of them are either in the NFL or will be soon. It's also a problem when all of a sudden he's at the line's most critical position when it comes to the run.
Coogan brought a ton of experience and leadership not only on the offensive line, but to playing center. He'd just helped lead Notre Dame's offensive line to the National Championship Game. His was going to be a tough act to follow.
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Indiana is running through the middle of its line, just like last year. Unlike last year, it's weaker, so it's finding less success.
This wasn't apparent against the fronts fielded by Northwestern and Rutgers, giving Richard and Beebe Jr. greater room to work with. Against more talented groups at Nebraska and Ohio State? Indiana was physically overmatched and couldn't get anything going.
What could help here? Well, some schematic changes and more of an emphasis on the efficiency of yesteryear could change things, but the personnel isn't as well built for that either as it was in 2025. The return of Khobie Martin, a back more in that mold, could ail the issue.
One way or another, Indiana has to figure out how to run the ball. Soon. Michigan is looming as another tough, big defensive front that's poised to give the Hoosiers issues.
