Despite being perceived as a Big Ten basement dweller, Indiana University football has continually produced immensely talented offensive players who’ve taken the conference and nation by storm over the course of their respective careers. Running back Anthony Thompson was the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 1989 behind Andre Ware. Antwaan Randle El captivated college football at the turn of the 21st century with his dual-threat ability at quarterback before starring in the NFL as a wide receiver. The past two seasons saw Cody Latimer blossom into an elite pass catcher, garnering all-Conference recognition and become the first Big Ten wideout taken in the 2014 NFL draft.
As Hoosier football looks to take the next step under fourth-year head coach Kevin Wilson and become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2007, there is a prolific weapon in the backfield for Indiana looking to join those names mentioned above. Tevin Coleman enters his junior season in Bloomington as the clear-cut feature back now that Stephen Houston has graduated. The 6’1″, 210-pound native of Tinley Park, IL has already begun to receive a healthy amount of preseason recognition from a variety of sources. He was named to the preseason all-Big Ten second team by a selection of conference writers from BTN.com and is also on the watch list for the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation’s top running back.
If his sophomore campaign was any indication as to what Coleman is capable of, you can expect some special things to take place at Memorial Stadium and elsewhere in 2014. He averaged 7.3 yards per carry in 2013, the same as 2013 Big Ten Running Back of the Year Carlos Hyde, who will spend 2014 looking to break into the San Francisco 49ers starting backfield after a brilliant career with Ohio State. If not for an ankle injury suffered in IU’s 52-35 win over Illinois cutting short his season with three games remaining, Coleman would’ve easily eclipsed the four-digit mark in rushing yards instead of finishing with 958 to go along with his 12 rushing touchdowns. Perhaps most impressive was the fact that he led the nation in runs of 40 yards or longer in 2013, a statistic that showcases perhaps his greatest quality as a runner.
What makes Coleman such a fearsome runner is a double dose of raw strength and scintillating speed. His overall size is remarkably similar to that of Adrian Peterson (6’1″ 217 lbs), and while some might balk at the comparison, both do rely on an effective combination of physicality at the line of scrimmage, coupled with an ability to outrun pursuers in the open field. Smaller running backs such as Venric Mark, Northwestern’s 5’8″, 175-pound speedster who was a semi-finalist for the Doak Walker Award in 2012, rely more on finesse and elusiveness combined with solid blocking up front to create big play potential. Though offensive line play is always important to the run game, Coleman is capable of utilizing his build to add an extra element of sheer physicality and tackle-breaking ability to his running style.
I’ve included two clips for comparison between these two versatile Big Ten backs and I hope the qualities I’ve discussed that make them unique become apparent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5ghF2rR_24
A full stable of experienced offensive lineman return for the Hoosiers, as all five starters from that unit will be back from last season’s 5-7 team. Among those returnees is senior Collin Rahrig, who began his IU career as a walk-on and in his final year of eligibility finds himself on the Rimington Trophy watch list, an award given to the most outstanding center in the nation. As Wisconsin has demonstrated on an almost annual basis, having an elite group of blockers up front provides a solid foundation for the ground game, which can only be enhanced by backs with the vision to find the gaps and get into the opponent’s secondary with regularity.
As Indiana gets ready to open its 2014 campaign at home against Indiana State on Saturday afternoon, the team and its fans should have a heightened level of confidence as it relates to being able to run the ball consistently against all twelve of their regular-season opponents. The Oregon-esque high-tempo system Wilson has installed over the course of his tenure should be firing on all cylinders, with Coleman as the anchor in the backfield and quarterback Nate Sudfeld the undisputed starter after splitting time with Tre Roberson and Cam Coffman (both of whom have transferred) over the past two seasons. Though Latimer and Kofi Hughes depart at wide receiver, guys such as Shane Wynn, Isaiah Roundtree and Nick Stoner are all seasoned seniors ready to step up and provide balance.
Should Coleman have an out-of-this-world season that not only blows away the Big Ten but also begins to attract the attention of coaches and scouts at the next level, would he forego his senior season as Latimer did in 2013? It’s hard to say, but given that not a single running back was taken in first round of the most recent NFL Draft, I think it’s safe to say we can expect to see two more years of Tevin Coleman in the Cream and Crimson. If last season was just the beginning and this upcoming one is the coming-out party, imagine what the future holds- not just for this uniquely gifted athlete, but for a Hoosier program looking to evolve into a relevant force in Big Ten football.
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