As the suspense continues to linger on in determining if/when the Big Ten decides to play college football this fall, TheHoosier.com will continue to preview the matchups between Indiana and the opponent they were supposed to line up against in that given week.
Following a Friday road season opener that would have been at Wisconsin on Sept. 4, Indiana would have returned to Bloomington to welcome Penn State to town this Saturday.
For Indiana, opening the season with two consecutive games against Big Ten opponents doesn’t happen very often. In fact, the last time this instance occurred in a season was in 1964, when the Hoosiers began their season facing four straight Big Ten opponents (Northwestern, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan State).
Here are a few storylines that would have been worth watching for:
1. The QB Duel: Michael Penix Jr. vs. Sean Clifford
Two of the best returning quarterbacks in the Big Ten, Michael Penix Jr. and Sean Clifford put up solid stats across their 2019 campaigns.
For both quarterbacks, 2019 was the “breakout” season for each quarterback, after winning the starting jobs out of summer camp.
Prior to the season-ending injury to his right sternoclavicular joint, Penix Jr. was having a great year as the top passer for the Hoosiers, after beating out incumbent starter Peyton Ramsey.. Across six games, Penix Jr. finished with 1,394 passing yards, 12 total touchdowns (two rushing), while completing 68.8 percent of his passes.
Meanwhile for the Nittany Lions, Clifford put together an impressive performance of his own in 2019, all while staying healthy. Last season, Clifford threw for 2,654 passing yards, 28 total touchdowns (five rushing), and completed his passes at a 59.2 percent clip.
Hopefully at some point this college football season, both quarterbacks will get the chance to compete against one another in a matchup that should see no shortage of highlight plays between the two.
2. Is This the Year Indiana Beat One of the “Big 4” in The Big Ten East Division?
As impressive as Indiana’s 8-5 season was in 2019, one glaring “elephant in the room” point remains— the program’s inability to get victories against four teams in their division.
Since 2017 (the first year Tom Allen took over as head coach full-time), Indiana is 0-12 against Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, and Michigan State.
Although the Hoosiers lost to Penn State by seven and Michigan State by nine (thanks to a fumble recovery touchdown that Michigan State scored with no time remaining in the game) last season, Allen and his program have to find ways to start winning some of these games if they want to have a chance to become one of the best teams in the conference.
Indiana would have been put to the test immediately in 2020, with three of their first four games against teams that appeared in a New Year’s Six bowl game last season (Wisconsin, Penn State, Ohio State).
In this matchup, would the Hoosiers have been able to end a losing drought against Pnn State that goes back to 2013?
While Indiana’s momentum is trending in the right direction, this program has to find ways to finish games against the Big Ten’s best before they can seriously be considered a threat in the conference.
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