Sophomore quarterback Zander Diamont stepped into the pocket to pass.
Before he could even begin his progression, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound white blur found its way through the crimson wall of the offensive line, flushing the sophomore out of the pocket.
That white blur was redshirt senior Zack Shaw, who rushed from his bandit position and forced a pass that was batted down to end the drive.
“Throw it again, Zander,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said.
Shaw had gotten to the quarterback so quickly that the purpose of the final practice play — to practice throwing deep passes — was upended.
“I take a lot of pride in being a force player and wreaking havoc on the edge,” Shaw said about the bandit position.
The fifth-year senior is a near lock to start in the bandit, which combines the responsibilities of a linebacker and a defensive end, in defensive coordinator Brian Knorr’s variation of the 3-4 scheme — the 3-3 bandit.
Knorr and his scheme have been with the Hoosiers for two years now.
“It’s kind of like being a defensive end, but I’m a linebacker as well because you’re at the edge of the defense,” Shaw said.
The 3-3 bandit involves three defensive linemen — usually a nose tackle, a defensive tackle and a defensive end — and three linebackers — two inside and one outside.
The bandit, who begins in a standing position just outside the defensive tackle, acts as the fourth linebacker in a 3-4 scheme and a fourth lineman in a 4-3 scheme, combining the two types of defenses and providing an opportunity to switch from one to the other in the middle of play.
The bandit must not only be athletic enough to play both positions, but he must also be intelligent enough to identify which position to play when the ball snaps.
“You’ve got to be able to read run or pass,” Shaw said. “When it is pass, you’ve got to know where to get to on the pass route, but also, when you read run, you’ve got to know whether you’re a spill or a hammer player. I feel like with my experience and my versatility, I can do both.”
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Playing a position that requires double the responsibility would be difficult for most football players, but not Shaw.
With experience in the pass-rushing, run-stopping and pass-coverage defenses throughout his career, Shaw has experience he can use to his advantage at the bandit position.
The senior finished his high school career as the 14th-best inside linebacker in the country, according to 247Sports, and he set the Coshocton (Ohio) High School record in tackles with 450. He even rushed for 1,190 yards and 18 touchdowns as a running back.
After redshirting his freshman year at IU in 2011 as an inside linebacker, Shaw switched to defensive end in 2012, where he appeared in all 12 games and earned a spot on the All-Big Ten Freshman team.
In the 36 games in which he has been on the active roster, Shaw has found his way to the field. Last year, he recorded 25 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 12 games on 30 snaps per game.
“Sometimes, as a bandit, you’re out there acting like you’re going to rush, and then you drop back, so you get that tackle to kick,” Shaw said. “We can kind of confuse the offensive line a little bit and help our defense and defensive line.”
One NFL team that ran a bandit scheme was the Pittsburgh Steelers with Dick LeBeau as their defensive coordinator. Bandit James Harrison was Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 in the LeBeau scheme, and the Steelers allowed the fifth-fewest yards in the NFL that year.
“We watch a lot of Steelers film,” Shaw said. “James Harrison — I love to watch him play.”
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Defensive line coach Larry McDaniel set up the blocking sled, and the linemen formed a single-file line in front of it.
Shaw was first in line.
On McDaniel’s whistle, Shaw burst his hands to the middle of the sled, lifted it off the ground and threw it to the side.
“Good job, Shaw, but we need to be more explosive,” McDaniel said.
The Hoosiers finished 11th in the Big Ten with just 23 sacks in 2014, and they were 11th in the conference in yards allowed per game.
With the 10th-worst rush defense in the conference and the worst pass defense, the Hoosiers need their front seven to step up in 2015.
“Just attacking,” Shaw said about the focus of the front seven. “Everyone comes out with that mindset. They’ve got to get after it, and when we’re all on the same page and ready to go, we make plays, and you can see that out there.”
In addition to it being the second year of Knorr’s scheme, and with five returning starters in the front seven - not including Shaw - he said he has a positive outlook on the season.
“This is the best offseason I’ve ever been a part of,” Shaw said. “Around the locker room, a lot of the guys came together this year. Everyone’s on the same page, and they know what’s expected of us and what we need to do this year in order to win games and hopefully be better this year.”
With an unproven secondary behind the defense, Shaw will have to make plays similar to the one he made on Diamont in practice Friday, and the front seven will have to be one of the best in the conference if the Hoosiers hope to make it to a bowl in 2015.
“It would mean a lot,” Shaw said about bowl season. “I’ve been here five years and haven’t had one yet. I feel like this is the year this year.”
