Tom Allen is more of a defensive-minded guy and helped transform Indiana’s unit when he arrived in Bloomington ahead of the 2016 season. But being a defensive coach doesn’t mean he’s oblivious to what the offense needs to do to win football games.

Allen joined The Ride with JMV on 1070 The Fan this week to talk about Indiana’s upcoming season — his third as head coach. He was asked about the offense heading into fall, and what to expect from the Hoosiers with Kalen DeBoer running the system. So far, Allen is really pleased with what he’s seen and believes the offense will be able to create more explosive plays.

It’s something the Hoosiers have struggled with since Kevin Wilson parted ways with the program.

“To be able to create explosive plays, whether it’s the run game, the pass game. That’s a big key focus that we’ve had,” Allen said. “It doesn’t mean that you’re getting 60-yard bombs, I’m just talking about being able to create those explosive plays that change games.”

Last season, Indiana ranked near the bottom of the B1G in the number of 10-plus yard plays and scoring offense. It was just one of the factors that led to the Hoosiers finishing the year 5-7, missing the postseason for a second-straight year.

With DeBoer in town, Allen is hoping that changes this year. And he believes IU has all the pieces to have a much more effective and efficient offense in 2019.

“That’s one area we haven’t done as good a job here in the last couple years, in my mind, is creating those explosive plays,” Allen said. “To me, Kalen’s got a great system in place to do that. Teams are going to have to be very disciplined in what they do as they defend us and approach us.”

Indiana has finished each of the last two years under Allen at 5-7, falling one win short of a bowl appearance. Getting back to the postseason is a big goal for the Hoosiers this season.

The Hoosiers open the season on Saturday, Aug. 31 against in-state foe Ball State at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.