Indiana spent most of its week leading up to Eastern Illinois preaching consistency, and that's what it showed on the field for the home-opener Saturday.
Th eHoosiers also gave an effort in involving more running backs and getting reps to al three quarterbacks in the 52-0 victory.
Running Backs Were Involved
The running back position was one of much anticipation coming into the 2019 season, but the season-opener against Ball State left some wanting more. Stevie Scott carried the ball 19 times for just 48 yards, and the ball carriers behind him – Cole Gest, Ronnie Walker Jr. and Sampson James – each received just one carry.
That left a definition of the running back position in question, but the tools in the backfield came into focus throughout the EIU blowout.
“Just from watching it, you could tell there was quite a bit of a difference,” Allen said after the game Saturday. “But at the same time, we’ve got to continue to work it.”
The run-pass ratio between the games against Ball State and Eastern Illinois was nearly identical. Th eHooseirs passed the ball 41 times in both games, ran the ball 33 times against Ball State and ran it 34 times against EIU on Saturday. The difference was the Stevie Scott didn’t receive 19 carries, and the backup tailbacks were more involved.
Scott ran the ball 12 yards for 61 yards and a touchdown. Sampson James was the next-most-used back with 12 carries on the final couple series, and he also scored a touchdown, the first of his career.
But it was clear that there is still some maneuvering the staff needs to do with the stable of backs in order to flesh out ways to most efficiently get the ball to playmakers in the backfield. Cole Gest, who scored his first touchdown since Nov. 18, 2017, had just one carry and one reception with a skillset that has been discussed for four seasons because of its uniqueness, and Walker, who converted a 64-yard touchdown reception, has been working in with the twos most often but had only three carries Saturday.
Consistency in Multiple Ways
From the moment the page turned and Indiana began moving away from Ball State and preparing for Eastern Illinois, the message the staff tried to convey to its players was consistency. Tom Allen mentioned as recently as Thursday that the most elite athletes are “comfortable with the boredom of consistency.”
“We need to be consistent in the way that we approach every single practice, no matter what happens the previous week,” Allen said Thursday. “There’s a phrase, we brought in a sports psychologist, that said, ‘embracing the boredom of consistency.’ Elite athletes can do that. I think that’s a great way to say because it does get monotonous, it does get mundane.”
On Saturday, it got monotonous and mundane as Indiana continued to stack score upon score with little to no contest from Eastern Illinois. When the second- and third-string players entered the game, it didn’t change much either. But the Hoosiers maintained consistent pressure on EIU and didn’t get back on their heels.
Turnovers haven’t been as closely dissected as in recent seasons’ past at Indiana – at least not yet – but the Hoosiers did lose the turnover battle to Ball State in Week One. Mike Penix threw two interceptions, and Indiana intercepted one of its own at the end of the game. Allen stressed turnovers during practice in the week leading up to the EIU game.
“One thing, we didn’t have any turnovers,” Hale said. “Last week, we had a couple. Coach Allen really emphasized turnovers. We had way too many penalties. This was something like a test to see what our offense was made of, but the real test is next week.”
Consistency showed in other aspects of the team as well. The tackling improved from last week against Ball State. The Indiana staff calculated 181 yards after contact in Week One, but in Week Two, th eHoosiers only surrendered a total of 116 yards.
The dropped passes also decreased considerably. Whop Philyor was one fo the biggest culprits of the drops last week, but he had four catches for 75 yards, including a 36-yard catch he extended out for. There was a dropped by Ty Fryfogle deep down the field as he hit the ground, but few others.
Once the staff began to rotate second- and third-string players into the game, the play didn’t drop too much, in terms of turnovers, communication or effort. IU was consistent all the way through.
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” Allen said. “It's hard to shut somebody out. I don't really care who it is. We play who is scheduled on our schedule and, just like I've always said, don't take anything for granted. It was just a good, solid, consistent performance is what I would categorize it.”
Three Quarterbacks Getting Reps
With just less than two minutes remaining in the frist half, Tom Allen removed Mike Penix from a game for the first time of the 2019 season, entering Peyton Ramsey with a 28-0 lead and an opportunity to run a two-minute drill.
“I felt like last week we had two minute situations that we executed really well in that game,” Allen said. “And to have Peyton in there doing one with this group, with this offense, with the new offensive coordinator, I thought it was a good time to get him in.”
But Ramsey wasn’t able to get the two-minute drill experience. His first pass – a short loft to Ronnie Walker in the flats – was defended poorly, and Walker rna the reception 64 yards for a score.
Ramsey had one of those nights Saturday against Eastern Illinois, as another blown assignment left Donavan Hale wide open along the right sideline for a 43-yard score. The contrast between Penix’s arm and Ramsey’s arm was certainly there, but Ramsey, who went 13-of-14 for 226 yards and two touchdowns, was able to get reps in with th e2019 Kalen DeBoer offense.
Tuttle also made his way into the game with most of the fourth quarter remaining, and the Utah transfer 3-for-7 with 18 yards.
In terms of the most important games Indiana will play in 2019, Ramsey and Tuttle’s reps are likely insignificant, but Indiana is no stranger to the necessity of dipping into the second- and third-string quarterback options.
Hale, after the game, went as far as noting the the 2014 Ohio State national championship team that balanced time between J.T. Barrett, Cardale Jones and Braxton Miller at quarterback. That’s not nearly the same scenario as 2019 Indiana, but the potential for playing more than Penix at quarterback is there.
“Peyton, he’s still our quarterback,” Hale said. “Jack is too. All of them need reps. We’re going to need all of them probably at some time, like that one year at Ohio State. They had three quarterbacks, and they won a national championship. You’re gong to need everybody.”
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