Notebook: Scrimmage Showcases Advantages of QB Competition
3/24/2018 5:24:00 PM | Football
By: Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON - The referee whistles had stopped; the spring football scrimmage was finished; the coaching bullhorn had grown silent.
Amid Mellencamp Pavilion calm on a wintry Saturday afternoon, Michael Penix Jr aimed for one last challenge:
A trash can.
The true freshman quarterback had already received extended back-up scrimmage reps. While teammates scattered for post-practice duties -- a mix of sprinting, stretching, and meeting under the direction of position coaches, Penix eyed opportunity.
The trash can was 60 yards away. Penix grabbed a football and fired a spiral.
It missed the can by perhaps six feet, but showcased impressive arm strength. Three months into his first college experience -- he arrived for the second semester after an all-state turn at Tampa Bay Tech High School out of Florida -- Penix has shown poise and calm beyond his years.
Will that lead to playing time in the upcoming season?
That's too early to say, but it should make for plenty of quarterback competition given the presence of returning starter Peyton Ramsey and projected back-up Nick Tronti (a former Florida Mr. Football).
The 6-3, 198-pound Penix has starting potential, and if it doesn't happen this coming season, it certainly could in future ones.
Penix did, after all, throw for 61 touchdowns against just six interceptions during his last two high school seasons when he wasn't starring as a baseball center fielder and a track sprinter and long jumper. He did graduate in December to get an early start on college preparation.
Coach Tom Allen likes what he sees.
"(Penix) continues to move forward and make good decisions," Allen said. "It's hard at this point, because one of his strengths is his ability to move around, and being in a blue jersey and having a quick whistle on him (part of the scrimmage's don't-hit-the-quarterback mandate), that part of it is neutralized a little bit. You don't see all of that.
"What you can see is the decision making and the accuracy of the throws. The ball comes out of his hand pretty quick. I was encouraged by his play. He was worthy of that promotion (to more second-team reps). We'll continue to press."
Allen wants as much quarterback depth as possible given the importance of the position and the chance -- given the way IU likes its quarterbacks to run -- injury could force others into action.
It happened last season, when an injury sidelined Ramey and gave veteran Richard Lagow a final chance to run the team.
"We have to continue to make ourselves better," Allen said. "(Quarterback) is a critical position. You need multiple guys at that spot. I've never been through a season where one guy plays snap after snap. We have to have that depth."
Tronti, a redshirt freshman, and Penix have never thrown a college pass. Ramsey threw for 1,252 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions in nine games (4 starts) last season as a redshirt freshman.
For now, Ramsey has the edge.
"Peyton has experience running the offense," fifth-year senior receiver Luke Timian said. "He seems very comfortable back there, which is nice.
"The younger guys, Nick and Mike, they have a lot of talent. They've got to bring that experience along. That will come with more reps."
SCRIMMAGE POSITIVES
Saturday's scrimmage -- the first of the spring -- featured officials, situational drills and, at times, live hitting.
Allen said he saw plenty of reason for optimism.
"I thought it was physical. The guys did some good things on both sides of the ball. We had a chance to see guys blocking effectively, and I thought we tackled pretty well when we went live.
"We did get a fumble, so that's great for the defense. For the offense that's not what you want, but overall the ball was secured well.
"I was encouraged by our specialist work. Our protection was good.
"When you look at the big picture, the first impressions were very positive."
Added Timian: "I thought we had, from the offense's standpoint, good tempo. We were competing, having some fun.
"We started off a little slow. We have to get that fixed, but it's good to get that first scrimmage and compete a little bit. The offense made some plays. The defense made some plays. It was good."
COMMUNICATE OR ELSE
Cornerback A'Shon Riggins was back after an injury-limited sophomore season.
Last fall he played in six games and started three, totaling 14 tackles and five pass breakups.
As a freshman in 2016, he played in 12 games with eight starts. He totaled 37 tackles and 10 passes defended.
He, too, liked what he saw in Saturday's scrimmage.
"We were flying around on defense," he said. "The offense was doing what they do.
"They have good tempo on offense. It prepares us to play harder and faster, so when the season comes, offenses don't move as fast as ours. As a secondary, I felt we did a good job with that."
Riggins and redshirt junior cornerback Andre Brown Jr. are the veterans in a young, but talented secondary.
The key to success, Riggins said, is communication.
"Our communication has been getting better. We have a lot of young guys, new guys, in the back end with the safeties. We're still working on it.
"As far as cornerback, me and Andre Brown have been leading the room, getting the younger guys ready to play. The communication has gotten better.
"Older guys are stepping up and being leaders."
DEVELOPING DEPTH IS CRUCIAL
For Allen, developing depth is a priority, for this season, and all the others to come.
A lack of depth meant too many players played too many snaps last season, which cost the Hoosiers a chance at a winning record. They finished 5-7.
"We played guys way too much," Allen said. "It hurt us. It hurt us on special teams. It hurt us late in the season. It hurt us late in games.
"It even hurt a guy like (veteran defensive back) Jonathan Crawford. That's why we have someone like Juwan Burgess behind him. Jonathan is a great player, but he can't play 85 snaps a game. Guys like him have tremendous special teams, late game and late season value. Your body just gets worn down.
"My goal is to have every position two-deep with every guy having the starter mentality. That's what we recruited to. That's why we recruited so many safeties and linebackers.
"Yes, they'll be young, but we believe our system is set up so they can learn and execute it at an early age by the way it's structured."
ALL IN THE FAMILY
For the first time Allen gets to coach his son, Thomas, a linebacker.
The younger Allen redshirted last season as a freshman. He's vying for significant playing time next season.
How has it gone so far?
"It's interesting," the older Allen said. "I've been on the other end of it because I played for my dad (in high school).
"The butt chewing from your dad at practice is different. I know how it feels. The challenge is this -- you find yourself being so hard on him. I was told by several coaches don't be his position coach. That's almost impossible to do. But I'm a linebacker guy. That's where my eyes go first.
"I'm not his position coach, which is good. Last fall he was on the scout team, so there was none of that. Now he's in the middle of stuff. It's learning how to take that criticism from your dad. On the field he calls me Coach Allen, but he'll always be my son.
"The key is this -- he knows he has to earn (playing time). He has to learn, like I did with my dad, that you have to go above and beyond. My dad made it that way. That's okay. That's a part of it. At the same time I want to be fair.
"If you've never done it, you don't understand how different it is, but it's also very special. Having him here is a neat thing. If he wasn't here, you'd never see him."
The 6-3, 237-pound Allen totaled 470 career tackles at Tampa (Fla.) Plant and Oxford (Miss.) High Schools with 13 sacks.
"I'm blessed to have him here," the father said, "and I'm going to be all over his tail."
ACCOUNTABILITY MATTERS
Riggins recently returned to his former high school, Hamilton in Ohio, to talk to current players. He was an all-state player there as a defensive back, receiver, running back and quarterback.
His message reflected what he's learned at Indiana.
"I told them to be accountable with each other. I told them to be more brothers, more LEO (Love Each Other). Be accountable for each other. Keep the spirits up when somebody gets down. I told them they are student-athletes first.
"It was good to be back."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON - The referee whistles had stopped; the spring football scrimmage was finished; the coaching bullhorn had grown silent.
Amid Mellencamp Pavilion calm on a wintry Saturday afternoon, Michael Penix Jr aimed for one last challenge:
A trash can.
The true freshman quarterback had already received extended back-up scrimmage reps. While teammates scattered for post-practice duties -- a mix of sprinting, stretching, and meeting under the direction of position coaches, Penix eyed opportunity.
The trash can was 60 yards away. Penix grabbed a football and fired a spiral.
It missed the can by perhaps six feet, but showcased impressive arm strength. Three months into his first college experience -- he arrived for the second semester after an all-state turn at Tampa Bay Tech High School out of Florida -- Penix has shown poise and calm beyond his years.
Will that lead to playing time in the upcoming season?
That's too early to say, but it should make for plenty of quarterback competition given the presence of returning starter Peyton Ramsey and projected back-up Nick Tronti (a former Florida Mr. Football).
The 6-3, 198-pound Penix has starting potential, and if it doesn't happen this coming season, it certainly could in future ones.
Penix did, after all, throw for 61 touchdowns against just six interceptions during his last two high school seasons when he wasn't starring as a baseball center fielder and a track sprinter and long jumper. He did graduate in December to get an early start on college preparation.
Coach Tom Allen likes what he sees.
"(Penix) continues to move forward and make good decisions," Allen said. "It's hard at this point, because one of his strengths is his ability to move around, and being in a blue jersey and having a quick whistle on him (part of the scrimmage's don't-hit-the-quarterback mandate), that part of it is neutralized a little bit. You don't see all of that.
"What you can see is the decision making and the accuracy of the throws. The ball comes out of his hand pretty quick. I was encouraged by his play. He was worthy of that promotion (to more second-team reps). We'll continue to press."
Allen wants as much quarterback depth as possible given the importance of the position and the chance -- given the way IU likes its quarterbacks to run -- injury could force others into action.
It happened last season, when an injury sidelined Ramey and gave veteran Richard Lagow a final chance to run the team.
"We have to continue to make ourselves better," Allen said. "(Quarterback) is a critical position. You need multiple guys at that spot. I've never been through a season where one guy plays snap after snap. We have to have that depth."
Tronti, a redshirt freshman, and Penix have never thrown a college pass. Ramsey threw for 1,252 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions in nine games (4 starts) last season as a redshirt freshman.
For now, Ramsey has the edge.
"Peyton has experience running the offense," fifth-year senior receiver Luke Timian said. "He seems very comfortable back there, which is nice.
"The younger guys, Nick and Mike, they have a lot of talent. They've got to bring that experience along. That will come with more reps."
SCRIMMAGE POSITIVES
Saturday's scrimmage -- the first of the spring -- featured officials, situational drills and, at times, live hitting.
Allen said he saw plenty of reason for optimism.
"I thought it was physical. The guys did some good things on both sides of the ball. We had a chance to see guys blocking effectively, and I thought we tackled pretty well when we went live.
"We did get a fumble, so that's great for the defense. For the offense that's not what you want, but overall the ball was secured well.
"I was encouraged by our specialist work. Our protection was good.
"When you look at the big picture, the first impressions were very positive."
Added Timian: "I thought we had, from the offense's standpoint, good tempo. We were competing, having some fun.
"We started off a little slow. We have to get that fixed, but it's good to get that first scrimmage and compete a little bit. The offense made some plays. The defense made some plays. It was good."
COMMUNICATE OR ELSE
Cornerback A'Shon Riggins was back after an injury-limited sophomore season.
Last fall he played in six games and started three, totaling 14 tackles and five pass breakups.
As a freshman in 2016, he played in 12 games with eight starts. He totaled 37 tackles and 10 passes defended.
He, too, liked what he saw in Saturday's scrimmage.
"We were flying around on defense," he said. "The offense was doing what they do.
"They have good tempo on offense. It prepares us to play harder and faster, so when the season comes, offenses don't move as fast as ours. As a secondary, I felt we did a good job with that."
Riggins and redshirt junior cornerback Andre Brown Jr. are the veterans in a young, but talented secondary.
The key to success, Riggins said, is communication.
"Our communication has been getting better. We have a lot of young guys, new guys, in the back end with the safeties. We're still working on it.
"As far as cornerback, me and Andre Brown have been leading the room, getting the younger guys ready to play. The communication has gotten better.
"Older guys are stepping up and being leaders."
DEVELOPING DEPTH IS CRUCIAL
For Allen, developing depth is a priority, for this season, and all the others to come.
A lack of depth meant too many players played too many snaps last season, which cost the Hoosiers a chance at a winning record. They finished 5-7.
"We played guys way too much," Allen said. "It hurt us. It hurt us on special teams. It hurt us late in the season. It hurt us late in games.
"It even hurt a guy like (veteran defensive back) Jonathan Crawford. That's why we have someone like Juwan Burgess behind him. Jonathan is a great player, but he can't play 85 snaps a game. Guys like him have tremendous special teams, late game and late season value. Your body just gets worn down.
"My goal is to have every position two-deep with every guy having the starter mentality. That's what we recruited to. That's why we recruited so many safeties and linebackers.
"Yes, they'll be young, but we believe our system is set up so they can learn and execute it at an early age by the way it's structured."
ALL IN THE FAMILY
For the first time Allen gets to coach his son, Thomas, a linebacker.
The younger Allen redshirted last season as a freshman. He's vying for significant playing time next season.
How has it gone so far?
"It's interesting," the older Allen said. "I've been on the other end of it because I played for my dad (in high school).
"The butt chewing from your dad at practice is different. I know how it feels. The challenge is this -- you find yourself being so hard on him. I was told by several coaches don't be his position coach. That's almost impossible to do. But I'm a linebacker guy. That's where my eyes go first.
"I'm not his position coach, which is good. Last fall he was on the scout team, so there was none of that. Now he's in the middle of stuff. It's learning how to take that criticism from your dad. On the field he calls me Coach Allen, but he'll always be my son.
"The key is this -- he knows he has to earn (playing time). He has to learn, like I did with my dad, that you have to go above and beyond. My dad made it that way. That's okay. That's a part of it. At the same time I want to be fair.
"If you've never done it, you don't understand how different it is, but it's also very special. Having him here is a neat thing. If he wasn't here, you'd never see him."
The 6-3, 237-pound Allen totaled 470 career tackles at Tampa (Fla.) Plant and Oxford (Miss.) High Schools with 13 sacks.
"I'm blessed to have him here," the father said, "and I'm going to be all over his tail."
ACCOUNTABILITY MATTERS
Riggins recently returned to his former high school, Hamilton in Ohio, to talk to current players. He was an all-state player there as a defensive back, receiver, running back and quarterback.
His message reflected what he's learned at Indiana.
"I told them to be accountable with each other. I told them to be more brothers, more LEO (Love Each Other). Be accountable for each other. Keep the spirits up when somebody gets down. I told them they are student-athletes first.
"It was good to be back."
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