Indiana University Athletics
Quoted: Indiana at Maryland
10/25/2017 7:47:00 PM | Football
By: Nick Reith
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana's football team continues a two-game stretch away from home with another Big Ten clash on Saturday afternoon. The Hoosiers (3-4) travel to College Park to face the Maryland Terrapins (3-4), with the opening kick set for 3:30 p.m. ET (BTN) at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium.
"So I told our guys, 'You can choose to feel sorry for yourself or you can realize you just played arguably the toughest schedule in the country to start the season and you're right there,'" head coach Tom Allen recalled his message in the first team meeting of the week. "Here we are with the first half already completed plus one, and you got five games left. How are you going to respond? How are you going to finish?"
The term "battle-tested" doesn't do justice to the experienced gathered by Indiana's football team this year. The Hoosiers opened the season with one of the big games of the first weekend hosting Ohio State—a preseason favorite for this year's College Football Playoff—followed by a big road win against a Virginia squad that won their next four games after falling to Indiana. Between a couple of non-conference games, IU resumed Big Ten play against one of the conference's new CFB Playoff candidates, Penn State, along with two of the nation's toughest defenses in Michigan and Michigan State.
But regardless of how tough the schedule has been, the Hoosiers don't take moral victories. Allen knows that leaving the field in defeat—especially with how close IU has been against the nation's toughest football division—can be discouraging when stacked against the hours put into practice and game preparation.
Allen encourages his guys to stay the course, and did so by sharing some insight with his team: certain Big Ten head coaches have talked to Allen to compliment his Hoosiers on how hard they've played, their physicality on every snap, and their execution throughout this season.
"I've never gotten frustrated with him, and I never will," said offensive coordinator Mike DeBord about his redshirt freshman quarterback Peyton Ramsey. "He's going to get better as he goes through the season, and like you said he played against two of the best defenses in the country. He'll get better with time."
DeBord is taking the patient approach with Indiana's relatively fresh starter behind center. Ramsey faced a trial-by-fire in his first Big Ten start against Michigan—one of the nation's best defenses with a robust defensive line—and forced overtime. The next weekend Ramsey met a hostile road environment, and another top-10 defense, in East Lansing.
That experience will pay dividends down the road for a young quarterback, and nobody knows that better than DeBord. As Tennessee's offensive coordinator, DeBord helped develop current Steelers quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who tallied 20 combined touchdowns (11 pass, 9 rush) in 11 games over his first two seasons. When DeBord arrived in Knoxville for Dobbs' junior and senior seasons, a switch flipped. Dobbs had 23 rushing scores and 42 through the air, won the 2016 SEC Offensive Player of the Year award, landed on the short list of O'Brien finalists, and became the fourth quarterback in SEC history with 50-plus career passing touchdowns and 25-plus rushing scores.
"We'll get back to some of the base things, the stuff we usually do when facing these types of offenses," senior linebacker Chris Covington assessed the strategy for facing Maryland. "It's going to be a great game and we're facing some great athletes who like to get to the edge."
In a game where injuries can play as big of a factor as talent on the roster, the Hoosiers are grateful for Covington's contributions on defense. The Chicago native shattered his previous season-high of 29 tackles after Indiana's first five games, pulling down a career-best 11 ball carriers in last Saturday's game with Michigan State. That performance included two tackles for loss, one sack and three quarterback hurries.
Covington has found his identity in the Hoosiers' defensive unit, and it couldn't come at a better time for a group that needs everyone at their best down the stretch.
"I try to do whatever I can," redshirt junior running back Ricky Brookins described his role with the team during the week. "Different teams run different defenses, and in practice coach wants me to recognize the fronts because he knows my football I.Q., that I know who I need to protect when I go out there."
Indiana's coaching staff named Brookins the Hoosiers' Offensive Player of the Game for reasons that escape the stat sheet. He had a couple of catches in the game, one for 12 yards, but to Allen and the coaches Brookins' mental fortitude was on display.
Brookins brings a unique element to the Hoosiers' weekday preparations because he's one of the most football-literate players on the team. In game situations, the staff relies on Brookins for down-and-distance awareness, his ability to read defensive fronts and his foresight on anticipating blitz packages. Allen's rationale for the honor was that Brookins did everything asked of him as a pass protector and on screen plays. Brookins came to Indiana as a walk-on player and has since proven to be one of the most dependable players on the team.
"I've got a couple of things to work on like ball placement, which is something that Coach Allen and Coach McInerney preach," said redshirt sophomore punter Haydon Whitehead. "It wasn't a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but it was good to flip the field a couple of times."
The impact of an effective punter and coverage unit is no longer a secret in the modern game, but the Hoosiers want to take that a step further with Whitehead. An Australian Rules Football player from a young age, Whitehead's comfortability with his boot on the ball allows Indiana's special teams unit to get creative and select how they want to set up the field for the defense.
Whitehead's abilities allow him to vary the "kick point" in similar fashion to a quarterback with his passing game. If a quarterback throws from the same spot at the same point in his progression, a defense will read and anticipate. That problem can replicate in punt coverage, which is why the Hoosiers love that Whitehead's punts can confuse opposing teams and pin them deep.
Last weekend against Michigan State, Whitehead played his best game to date in a Hoosiers uniform. Four of his nine punts landed inside the Spartans' 15-yard line, and overall he racked up a season-high 393 yards on punts.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana's football team continues a two-game stretch away from home with another Big Ten clash on Saturday afternoon. The Hoosiers (3-4) travel to College Park to face the Maryland Terrapins (3-4), with the opening kick set for 3:30 p.m. ET (BTN) at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium.
"So I told our guys, 'You can choose to feel sorry for yourself or you can realize you just played arguably the toughest schedule in the country to start the season and you're right there,'" head coach Tom Allen recalled his message in the first team meeting of the week. "Here we are with the first half already completed plus one, and you got five games left. How are you going to respond? How are you going to finish?"
The term "battle-tested" doesn't do justice to the experienced gathered by Indiana's football team this year. The Hoosiers opened the season with one of the big games of the first weekend hosting Ohio State—a preseason favorite for this year's College Football Playoff—followed by a big road win against a Virginia squad that won their next four games after falling to Indiana. Between a couple of non-conference games, IU resumed Big Ten play against one of the conference's new CFB Playoff candidates, Penn State, along with two of the nation's toughest defenses in Michigan and Michigan State.
But regardless of how tough the schedule has been, the Hoosiers don't take moral victories. Allen knows that leaving the field in defeat—especially with how close IU has been against the nation's toughest football division—can be discouraging when stacked against the hours put into practice and game preparation.
Allen encourages his guys to stay the course, and did so by sharing some insight with his team: certain Big Ten head coaches have talked to Allen to compliment his Hoosiers on how hard they've played, their physicality on every snap, and their execution throughout this season.
"I've never gotten frustrated with him, and I never will," said offensive coordinator Mike DeBord about his redshirt freshman quarterback Peyton Ramsey. "He's going to get better as he goes through the season, and like you said he played against two of the best defenses in the country. He'll get better with time."
DeBord is taking the patient approach with Indiana's relatively fresh starter behind center. Ramsey faced a trial-by-fire in his first Big Ten start against Michigan—one of the nation's best defenses with a robust defensive line—and forced overtime. The next weekend Ramsey met a hostile road environment, and another top-10 defense, in East Lansing.
That experience will pay dividends down the road for a young quarterback, and nobody knows that better than DeBord. As Tennessee's offensive coordinator, DeBord helped develop current Steelers quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who tallied 20 combined touchdowns (11 pass, 9 rush) in 11 games over his first two seasons. When DeBord arrived in Knoxville for Dobbs' junior and senior seasons, a switch flipped. Dobbs had 23 rushing scores and 42 through the air, won the 2016 SEC Offensive Player of the Year award, landed on the short list of O'Brien finalists, and became the fourth quarterback in SEC history with 50-plus career passing touchdowns and 25-plus rushing scores.
"We'll get back to some of the base things, the stuff we usually do when facing these types of offenses," senior linebacker Chris Covington assessed the strategy for facing Maryland. "It's going to be a great game and we're facing some great athletes who like to get to the edge."
In a game where injuries can play as big of a factor as talent on the roster, the Hoosiers are grateful for Covington's contributions on defense. The Chicago native shattered his previous season-high of 29 tackles after Indiana's first five games, pulling down a career-best 11 ball carriers in last Saturday's game with Michigan State. That performance included two tackles for loss, one sack and three quarterback hurries.
Covington has found his identity in the Hoosiers' defensive unit, and it couldn't come at a better time for a group that needs everyone at their best down the stretch.
"I try to do whatever I can," redshirt junior running back Ricky Brookins described his role with the team during the week. "Different teams run different defenses, and in practice coach wants me to recognize the fronts because he knows my football I.Q., that I know who I need to protect when I go out there."
Indiana's coaching staff named Brookins the Hoosiers' Offensive Player of the Game for reasons that escape the stat sheet. He had a couple of catches in the game, one for 12 yards, but to Allen and the coaches Brookins' mental fortitude was on display.
Brookins brings a unique element to the Hoosiers' weekday preparations because he's one of the most football-literate players on the team. In game situations, the staff relies on Brookins for down-and-distance awareness, his ability to read defensive fronts and his foresight on anticipating blitz packages. Allen's rationale for the honor was that Brookins did everything asked of him as a pass protector and on screen plays. Brookins came to Indiana as a walk-on player and has since proven to be one of the most dependable players on the team.
"I've got a couple of things to work on like ball placement, which is something that Coach Allen and Coach McInerney preach," said redshirt sophomore punter Haydon Whitehead. "It wasn't a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but it was good to flip the field a couple of times."
The impact of an effective punter and coverage unit is no longer a secret in the modern game, but the Hoosiers want to take that a step further with Whitehead. An Australian Rules Football player from a young age, Whitehead's comfortability with his boot on the ball allows Indiana's special teams unit to get creative and select how they want to set up the field for the defense.
Whitehead's abilities allow him to vary the "kick point" in similar fashion to a quarterback with his passing game. If a quarterback throws from the same spot at the same point in his progression, a defense will read and anticipate. That problem can replicate in punt coverage, which is why the Hoosiers love that Whitehead's punts can confuse opposing teams and pin them deep.
Last weekend against Michigan State, Whitehead played his best game to date in a Hoosiers uniform. Four of his nine punts landed inside the Spartans' 15-yard line, and overall he racked up a season-high 393 yards on punts.
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