Quoted: IU players react to 34-24 win over Ball State
Indiana quarterback Mike Penix, wide receiver Nick Westbrook, running back Stevie Scott, linebacker Reakwon Jones and kicker Logan Justus all discussed Indiana's 34-24 win over Ball State on Saturday.
Mike Penix
Redshirt freshman Mike Penix Jr. became the first quarterback to start a season opener for Indiana since Antwaan Randle El. He threw for 326 yards and one touchdown, but also threw two interceptions against the Ball State secondary.
“Just mental errors you know just getting through my reads,” Penix Jr. said after the game. “I flushed it, 1-0 mindset, kept pushing, you know. The team kept me up and we just kept working to get the win.”
After completing 24 of his 40 passes on the afternoon, Penix Jr. led Indiana to its first win of the season. The Hoosiers are now 15-1 in their last 16 non-conference matchups.
“It felt great, you know, I wasn’t worried about it at all,” Penix Jr. said. “I knew everything was going to be good so it felt great to feel that, just keep playing.”
Nick Westbrook
Fifth-year senior Nick Westbrook’s 75-yard touchdown was the longest Indiana passing score since Sept. 24, 2016, when he hauled a pass of equal distance against Wake Forest.
“I kinda knew once that play started that I was the guy getting the ball,” Westbrook said after the game. “Mike put it in a great spot.”
He led the team with 103 receiving yards on the day, but juniors Whop Philyor and Ty Fryfogle led the Hoosiers with six receptions each. Redshirt freshman quarterback Mike Penix Jr. has the ability to throw anywhere on the field.
“It’s huge because it’s one more dynamic of our offense that you’ve got to worry about because we can attack all areas of the field at any time,” Westbrook said. “It’s just huge to have a deep threat.”
Stevie Scott
Sophomore running back Stevie Scott carried the ball 19 times during Indiana’s season opener against Ball State.
“It’s the first game and we go back to practice on monday, so well watch film and fix what we could do better on and try to improve,” Scott said after the game. “We’re not really stressing about the first game because there’s a long season ahead of us.”
The Hoosiers will look ahead to begin preparations for Eastern Illinois next Saturday, Sept. 7.
“Look at the negatives,” Scott said. “That’s something we stress a lot. We did the good things and all. That's fine, but we just have to make sure we have a perfect, complete game so we can have no negatives.”
Reakwon Jones
Fifth year linebacker led Indiana’s defense with a career-high 11 tackles, the first time he’s accounted for double digit tackles.
“We made some mistakes in the linebacker room. It’s common,” Jones said after the game. “But at the end of the day, I think every linebacker that went out there today played hard.”
After an interception late in the fourth quarter by sophomore Jaylin Williams, Indiana has 19 consecutive games with a takeaway, the longest streak in the country.
“That’s what we preach,” Jones said. “It’s what we envision ourselves doing every day. Takeaways, takeaways. Takeaways, tackling, effort. It was great to be able to finish it off with a takeaway. We did have a fourth down stop. We want to continue to do that throughout the season.”
Logan Justus
Fifth-year senior Logan Justus converted on all four of his field goals against Ball State, helping Indiana ensure a victory to start the season.
“So this game I told the coaches that I was comfortable with like 56 to 58,” Justus said after the game. “It’s usually around that range. I’ll tell them what I feel comfortable in and then the absolute farthest I could go.”
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