Michigan State at IU, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, BTN

Coach Tom Allen called IU football’s offensive line the offense’s most consistent group ahead of the season opener against Florida International, and no one batted an eye.

The experience the group returned from 2017 dictated as much.

But then it faltered and failed to finish during the win in Miami. Too often the group, led by junior left tackle Coy Cronk and redshirt senior left guard Wes Martin, among others, wasn’t able to manufacture the push necessary in short-yardage situations. So Allen challenged the players to realize their potential.

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“I would say it was a solid performance, but it wasn't what I expected out of that group, who I've said from the beginning is the strength of our team,” Allen told reporters Sept. 3, two days after the win. “I want them to own that and I want them to take it personal, and I want them to elevate their levels of play and rise to another level of being able to dominate on game day for 60 minutes.”

A week later he would honor the entire offensive line — Cronk, Martin, redshirt junior center Hunter Littlejohn, graduate transfer center Nick Linder, redshirt junior right guard Simon Stepaniak, redshirt senior right guard Delroy Baker and senior right tackle Brandon Knight — as IU’s players of the game on offense for guiding freshman running back Stevie Scott to a 204-yard game.

The line responded, and against Ball State continued to chip away at improvements it’s wanted to make as the season’s progressed. But now with the arrival of Big Ten play, defensive front-sevens like Michigan State’s will test the legitimacy of that progress. IU recorded 213 yards rushing against FIU, 237 against Virginia and 255 against Ball State, but Michigan State has allowed just 69, total, through two games.

“We’ve got to figure out a way to run the football,” offensive line coach Darren Hiller said Tuesday. “If we can’t run the football it’s not going to be a good day. We were in third-and-long too many times last year and third-and-longs are not going to win us the game. So we know what we’ve got to do.”

IU managed just 94 yards rushing last year in a 17-9 loss in East Lansing, and converted just four of 17 third downs. Nine failed conversions came in situations where the Hoosiers faced third downs of at least seven yards.

“That’s just not enough,” Martin said. “Michigan State takes a lot of pride in stopping the run, but we have to get tough yards and have to run the ball effectively. That’s going to be huge and that sets us up for success in the fourth quarter.”

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The Hoosiers held a six-point lead against the Spartans midway through the final quarter before the Spartans scored 14 unanswered points. It’s a late let-up Cronk and others have said is on their minds this week, and one they plan to avoid.

The defense MSU coach Mark Dantonio has run since he took the job about a decade ago hasn’t changed much, so who has the upper hand in the trenches Saturday will come down to execution and not so much deciphering schematic mysteries. Offensive coordinator Mike DeBord and running backs coach Mike Hart both emphasized the importance of winning one-on-one matchups.

If those one-on-one battles are lost, expect to hear the names of Joe Bachie, Andrew Dowell and Kenny Willekes, two linebackers and a defensive end who owned the top three spots in tackles for the Spartans in 2017 and caused issues for IU in the last matchup.

“If you look at their third down blitzes and their packages, they do a lot,” Cronk said. “It’s some situations we want to avoid. If we keep getting behind the chains and playing third and long the whole game it’s going to be a long game for us.”

However long and taxing it is, Martin is confident his teammates are up to the task. Take away the institutional knowledge from Big Ten experience in years past and the line would still be the most physically prepared he's seen it at this point in the season since he arrived on campus — thanks to IU's offseason training.

And while there is always room for improvement, the way everyone played against Virginia and Ball State has him confident the line is ready for Michigan State."We’ve got to have a little chip on our shoulder," Cronk said. "They’re really good up front, so we’re going to have our hands full.”

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Jordan Guskey on Twitter at @JordanGuskey or email him at jguskey@gannett.com.