Indiana football's offensive line bullies Maryland. 'Them boys did their thing today'
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BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football put its offensive line depth on display in College Park on Saturday.
The No. 2 Hoosiers (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) didn’t miss a beat in a 55-10 win over Maryland with backup offensive lineman Zen Michalski stepping into the lineup at left guard for an injured Drew Evans.
Once the Ohio State transfer settled in, it was business as usual for IU’s high-powered offense. The Hoosiers put up 50-plus points for the firth time this season and topped 500 yards of total offense for the first time since a Week 4 win over Illinois.
“He’s played in big games at Ohio State, and that’s what he was brought here to do, play in big games,” Indiana starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza said. “I thought he did a fantastic job.”
Michalski gave up an early sack and was called for a pair penalties (a false start and holding penalty), but it was hard to find much fault with his blocking in the run game. The Hoosiers pounded the ball between the tackles and ripped off huge chunks of yardage with six runs of 15-plus yards.
Indiana finished the game with 367 yards on the ground, the most since a 2016 win over Maryland.
It’s why Kaelon Black, who had a team-high 110 yards, spent much of his time at the microphone after the game singing the group’s praises.
“Them boys did their thing today, I know y’all seen it,” Black said.
Indiana made upgrading its offensive line one of its key offseason priorities after the group struggled in high-profile matchups against Ohio State and Notre Dame in 2024. The Hoosiers added Michalski, Pat Coogan (Notre Dame) and Kahlil Benson (Colorado) out of the transfer portal while returning three starters up front.
Michalski ended up losing out on a starting spot — he competed with Benson at right tackle throughout fall camp — but his versatility allowed the coaching staff to make him a swing offensive lineman off the bench who could step into four of the five spots up front.
He started against Indiana State at right tackle when Benson was benched in the first half for an unspecified violation of team rules.
Indiana will have to lean on that depth in the coming weeks with Evans expected to miss at least a few weeks.
“With the leadership we have under coach (Bob) Bostad and all the offensive line leaders, it’s such a strong cultured group, all those guys are excellent football players,” Mendoza said. “Whether it’s Drew or Zen, whoever is in the game, I have full and genuine confidence in my offensive line.”
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IU football’s short-handed offensive line ‘excels’ in win over Maryland
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