Peyton Ramsey proves to be a pillar Indiana can lean on when in need
With redshirt freshman quarterback Mike Penix running into multiple injuries in just eight weeks, Indiana has needed to turn to sure-handed redshirt junior quarterback Peyton Ramsey, and the former starting quarterback has stepped up when needed.
Before Indiana’s game against Maryland, a game that would determine the momentum of a program on the cusp of achieving bowl eligibility the earliest it has since 2007, Indiana head coach Tom Allen spoke to his team – “challenged” them, as he said after the game. One of the most locked in players in that moment was redshirt junior quarterback Peyton Ramsey, Allen said.
One of the observations noted most often by Allen and offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer regarding Ramsey is that he doesn’t change. He was locked in when he was a starter in 2017 and parts of 2016, and he’s locked in in 2018, after redshirt freshman Mike Penix was appointed the new starting quarterback in August.
The preparation that pairs with Ramsey’s focus has come to Indiana’s aid multiple times this season, as Penix battles injury, but none of those games was as significant as the game at Maryland on Saturday, which handed the Hoosiers their fifth win and pushed them into two winnable games before the next bye week.
“Sometimes, mentally, it’s hard to get yourself to go into the film room when you know you’re not going to be the guy,” Ramsey said after the win Saturday. “But you’ve got to do it because you never know when your team is going to need you. If I wasn’t ready out there – if I wasn’t prepared – and let those guys down, it would've been miserable.”
Ramsey has a stake in the Indiana program as much as anyone, even if the offense isn’t his to run on a weekly basis. He’s been in Bloomington for three years and change, and during those three years, he redshirted behind transfer quarterback Richard Lagow on the way to a bowl loss, took Lagow’s job in 2017 and started the entire 2018 season – the last two seasons falling just short of bowl eligibility.
The progress of the program has been on his shoulders offensively during the Tom Allen Era, which is why the announcement naming Penix the starter came as a surprise, even though Penix’s arm talent is one of the best in the conference. What is equally surprising is that Ramsey didn’t decide to transfer, as Allen noted following the win Saturday, even though transfering continues to become easier as years pass.
“He chose to stay for this football team,” Allen said. “That's why I respect him so much, because he lived it out. He made a choice, and not just to stay but to be prepared every week. He prepared this week to be the starter, even though he might not even play a snap. That's hard to do. It's really hard to do.”
That preparation has put Indiana in a privileged position in 2019. Allen said it’s rare for college programs to have two quarterbacks that can step in and execute well, and Penix and Ramsey have executed more than well. Indiana’s pass offense is rated second in the Big Ten and 16th in the nation, as it averages just over 300 yards per game.
Much of that can be attributed to DeBoer’s system. According to Pro Football Focus, among quarterbacks with at least 125 dropbacks this year, Penix (80.3) rates sixth nationally in adjusted completion percentage, and Ramsey (79.4) is 10th, while they both have the lowest number of sacks within that same group in the Big Ten.
The ball is coming out quickly and accurately, and when Indiana’s playmakers get the opportunity, they get yards after the catch. Among wide receivers and tight ends with at least 15 targets in the Big Ten, only Indiana and Purdue have five pass-catchers inside the top-35 in yards after the catch per reception.
While Ramsey limits the offense in ways Penix doesn’t – arm strength on short passes, lack of a deep threat, loaded boxes, smaller playbook – he tends to execute the plays that are called at a phenomenal rate. His 67-percent completion rate hasn’t been seen at Indiana.
“The completion percentage he has in practice, especially during the Rutgers week, was through the roof,” DeBoer said Monday. “I don’t know if I’ve seen a completion percentage as high as his was in the Rugers week. He’s just really locked in.”
The junior completed 20-of-27 passes at Maryland for 193 yards and a touchdown, and he flashed – as he has at times before – an ability to hit targets down the field when he connected with Nick Westbrook in the corner of the endzone to end the first half. And the issue of getting passes to receivers on short routes too slowly rarely surfaced once Ramsey had logged some passes.
But the offense was clearly built around a quarterback with a skillset more similar to Penix, who can get the ball out quicker and takes risks down the field more often, and when Penix is playing, Ramsey said he’s on the sideline using his experience to assist Penix in reading the defense on gameday.
“When you’re out there and everything is live and going fast, I think it’s hard to see everything,” Ramsey said Monday. “When he comes to the sidelines, I’m doing the best I can to relay any information, any different looks that I’m seeing. I think that’s been consistent all year.”
While it was Ramsey that guided the offense throughout most of the game at Maryland, the Hoosiers seemed most effective on that side of the ball when Penix was pushing the ball downfield. On 9-of-14 passing, he recorded 141 yards, a touchdown and an interception that went through the hands of Peyton Hendershot.
If the injuries continue for Penix, most games could feature him as a game-time decision, as the Nebraska game does this week, but Ramsey has shown that he can be the security blanket for Indiana. And because of that, Indiana might find one of its most successful seasons of the 21 Century.
“I was really locked in on the gameplan, where we were going, what we were doing, where the ball was supposed to go,” Ramsey said after the Maryland win. “You prepare every single week like you’re going to be the guy. Sure it’s been hard, but there are a lot of guys in that locker room who I’ll fight for every single day.”
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