Trey Lyles said he went to “six or seven” Indiana men’s basketball games this past season. And he watched a few more IU games on television.Television announcers referred to it as the “Wild-Mitch,” an offshoot of the wildcat packages popping up more in the NFL and college game.
Indiana added the wrinkle of using wide receiver Mitchell Evans at quarterback for the first time this season during Saturday’s 23-19 victory against Western Michigan. Coach Bill Lynch liked the results.
Evans took 11 snaps. He ran for 35 yards on six carries and threw one pass, which was incomplete. Evans could be used in similar fashion Saturday at Akron.
“We’ll always have different tweaks to it as we go through the year,” Lynch said during his weekly news conference Tuesday at Memorial Stadium.
“It’s part of what we did last spring and what we did in preseason camp. I don’t think we go into it with a certain number of times that we want him to do it. I’d say 10 to 15 times is probably what we are looking for.”
Evans, a junior, is no stranger to the position.
He arrived at IU as a quarterback during the 2007 preseason camp before moving to safety.
He switched to wide receiver last year but also played quarterback against Central Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State. He threw a touchdown pass, which came on an end-around against Northwestern.
“I feel just as comfortable (playing quarterback),” Evans said after the game. “I think it’s because I had some chances to do it last year, but we’ve been doing it all spring and all fall, so it’s not something new. I feel very comfortable.”
Evans contributed in multiple ways Saturday. He caught two passes for 31 yards and also made two tackles on special teams.
“The biggest thing is that we have to keep him healthy,” Lynch said.
“He has done a lot out there. He’s a heck of a football player. He really can do it well. He made some great plays on special teams as well.”
Lynch said freshman backup quarterback Edward Wright-Baker could also be used in the package.
Lynch said the flow of the game will determine when to make a switch. He doesn’t want to take starter Ben Chappell out when he’s got a hot hand.
“That’s why you have to have a feel for when you are doing it. That’s why it’s not a scripted thing,” Lynch said. “The other side of it is, it can disrupt your rhythm, but it can also change your rhythm when you need it. We wanted to do that on Saturday.
“We didn’t purposely run it against Eastern Kentucky (in the season opener), and there were probably times in there where we didn’t have any rhythm, we hit those lulls where we probably needed something to juice us up a little bit. That’s what it will hopefully give us.”
