The Buzz Grows About #IUFB
3/4/2018 10:04:00 PM | Football
By Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
It sounded, for all the world, like a swarm of angry hornets.
The instinctive response was to look toward the ground and nearby trees, or any place nests might reside.
But then the sound drew the eyes skyward.
And it turned out to be a drone flying overhead, deployed to provide aerial views of Indiana's second spring football practice.
"Yes, it was one of ours," head coach Tom Allen confirmed. "A 'Cuban Center Special.'
"We made sure to tell the coaches, to make sure they didn't think somebody was spying on us."
Irrespective of the drone's arrival and departure, there was still plenty of buzz generated by Hoosiers hard at work.
(And any observant spy would have noted that, among many other things, true freshman quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has a rather strong left arm.)
QUARTERBACKING BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL
Penix enrolled in January out of Tampa Bay Tech High School and joins a quarterback room featuring redshirt sophomore Peyton Ramsey, who completed .654 percent of his passes for 1,252 yards and 10 TDs (with 5 interceptions) while appearing in nine games last fall.
But Allen likes open competition at that position and others. Redshirt freshman Nick Tronti along with walk-ons Mike Fiacable, Johnny Pabst and Jack Kellams are also competing at quarterback.
Penix threw for 61 touchdowns and just six picks while completing over the past two seasons at Tech. He's at a different competition level now.
"He was checking from fronts, with blitzes, which is not easy to do for a young guy," Allen said of Penix after Sunday's session. "So that's a good sign, for him, in understanding what he's doing.
"As you'll notice, he has a very live arm. The ball jumps off his hand. That's something he has, naturally. Really strong athleticism, in the pocket and moving around. So it's really a matter of learning the offense and making those reads."
Allen had previously addressed the quarterback situation after Saturday's practice that opened spring football by saying:
"Nick (Tronti) is battling. He's got a chance, now, understanding the system better. It's his second time being here (for off-season drills). Peyton got good reps last year and, with his experience, probably looked the best out there running the offense.
"Mike Penix did some good things. His mind's racing right now, about a lot of things – especially when the defense comes racing at you full speed. But I thought he did some great things, as well. So there'll be a lot of competition, and it'll be open the whole time. And it'll be that way at a lot of positions, but that's the one everybody always wants to ask about."
Folks are also asking about the "signal-callers" on defense, the linebackers.
Both 2017 linebacker starters, All-American Tegray Scales and All-Big Ten honoree Chris Covington, exited. So did their top backup, Dameon Willis Jr., who opted not to play his final season of eligibility.
The most experienced returnees are fifth-year senior Michael McGinnis and redshirt junior Reakwon Jones, who had seven tackles apiece last fall. Fifth-year senior Kiante Walton, who played in eight games, had two tackles.
Scales and Covington, by contrast, combined for 174 tackles. Tack on Willis' 27 and that's 201 tackles gone from the defense.
Another aspect is new position coach Kane Wommack, with former linebacker mentor William Inge shifting into a newly-created role to oversee special teams.
But head coach Tom Allen's own background features heavy emphasis on linebacker instruction. And IU defensive line coach and assistant defensive line coach Mark Hagen was an All-Big Ten linebacker for the Hoosiers in his playing days. So the position doesn't lack for brain-trust.
Nor does it lack for prospects.
Beyond McGinnis, Jones and Walton, there are redshirt freshmen Mo Burnam and Thomas Allen and walk-on redshirt sophomore Andrew Stamm.
"The two Mike (middle) linebackers who, right now, are battling, Mike McGinnis and Thomas Allen, are doing a real good job of communicating," Allen said. "They're developing a real good understanding of the defense, of getting guys lined up right. And playing with fanatical effort. Those are two things that have been consistent.
"We can really judge that group when they really have to go make plays. That's when we'll know how we're doing. But I think Reakwon is coming along. Mo Burnam as well. Kiante (Walton) as well. Those are guys who are getting a lot of good reps in there.
"The pressure is on for them. They've got to step up, for sure. That's kind of the glaring position on defense where there are a lot of question marks right now and those guys all have to keep working."
TAKING AWAY TAKEAWAYS
McGinnis' diving interception of a tipped pass was one of five picks for defenders during Sunday's drills, to go along with a fumble recovery, nominally twice the number IU's defense needs per day to avoid post-practice sprints.
But Allen arbitrarily erased a couple to keep up the pressure.
"Yeah, I took a couple away," he said. "I'm always looking for ways to create stress. Which is good, because that's one of our points of emphasis, too, to overcome adversity.
"When it's sudden-change. Or things go wrong. Or the officials don't give you a call you thought they should have. Whatever. You've just got to learn to handle it, to have mental toughness."
Allen likes McGinnis' knack of being in the immediate vicinity when footballs pop free for the taking.
"Part of that is just being ball-savvy," Allen said. "Smart kid. Very, very bright. And he has to be able to utilize that to the fullest to gain an extra step or two. That's why guys like him are always around the football.
"He's a senior. This is his time. This is why he came here. And he needs to take advantage of it. And it looks like, at this point, he is."
BALL AT 'BACKER?
Marcelino Ball, the redshirt-sophomore who excelled at the hybrid linebacker-safety "Husky" position as a freshman in 2016 before missing most of last year to injury, was seen drilling with the linebackers Sunday – but that does not portend a position change.
"We've changed the way we group our guys," Allen explained. "We've taken the Husky position and moved it into the linebacker room.
"So he's still playing that same Husky position. But in terms of carry-over, with the coaching change (at safeties, with Kasey Teegardin in), we thought it best to have the person coaching the Stingers (outside-linebackers) and Huskies in the same room."
YOUNG AND HUSKY
Redshirt freshmen Bryant Fitzgerald and Juwan Burgess could emerge at either safety or Husky. Erstwhile receivers Isaac James (Husky) and Jonah Morris (safety) are also looking for playing time in those spots.
"You see Fitzy out there, and his head has to be spinning, for sure, but getting him and Juwan Burgess going has really been a huge thing," Allen said. "And then we've got Jonah (Morris) at safety. We'd just lost too many safeties and we're trying to shore that up.
"Isaac James is another one – he's another one whose (body) has changed a whole bunch. So much stronger. He was already fast. And just his confidence level (is up). We're excited about him at the Husky position and just being able to give (Ball) a break … now that he's been on defense for a while, you can just see the growth, and he'll continue to develop."
Allen has sung Fitzgerald's praises since the latter was an Avon High School standout and noted the freshman could end up at free safety, Husky or Stinger.
"Those three positions kind of share similar explosive traits we're looking for and he fits into that," Allen said. "We're trying to recruit a lot of guys who fit that category.
"They sometimes can grow into linebackers. They can play out in space. They can play up high. The more guys you have like that, the better your football team is."
BACK IN BLUE
Nick Westbrook will continue wearing a blue practice jersey connoting no-contact status, but the redshirt junior wideout looked fully healthy soaring for a great two-handed grab Sunday. And he was running freely after having missed last season via a knee injury sustained on the campaign's opening kickoff.
"Yeah, he's probably the one who has made the most progress," Allen said of Westbrook, just one among receivers rehabilitating leg injuries, including Donavan Hale and J-Shun Harris. "He has shown that out here, both days, and we expected that. He'll still be in the blue jersey, so there'll be no contact for him this spring. But he's way, way ahead of schedule. He's healed extremely well and that's great to see. I'm happy for him, because I know he's worked so hard to get back.
"J-Shun is working. He'll be a lot longer, because his (injury) was obviously later, and it's his third one. It's just tough. Donavan Hale is just working through his. He'll be out here, hopefully, after we get back from spring break. We'll give him a chance to get going and get him into practice."
POLITENESS PAYS
During a very busy drill Sunday for IU wideouts and defensive backs, the players still took time to reach down and pick up seemingly discarded towels from the turf, while making football moves.
"That helps teach a guy how to bend, how to play from a power-line position, to drop his hips and bend his knees," new IU strength and conditioning coach Dave Ballou said. "It's about generating more power and burst."
NEW BODY TYPES
Ballou and Dr. Matt Rhea are working to increase the Hoosiers' power and speed, with results already apparent, despite the fact their program was instigated just two months ago. Allen cited some examples off the top of his head.
"Harry Crider, to me, is one who got way, way stronger," Allen said of the sophomore out of Columbus East who played extensively as a freshman. "We knew he was strong coming out of high school, just naturally, but he's really taken off with our new strength staff. He's a guy who really jumps out to me.
"Ja'merez Bowen is another one, when you look at his numbers in the weight room that are transferring out onto the field. I was talking with Coach Ballou about him this morning. Michael Barwick is another who was always real strong, but had to adjust some areas to get looser and to fit getting even stronger. He's squats are way up. His power numbers are way up.
"Michael Ziemba – we have so many guys who've gotten stronger … the weight room has been good to him. He works so hard. He really had not played defensive end before. He was a linebacker in high school and played a lot of tight end. He learned to put his hand down and obviously played a lot there for us last year. He's another kid where you can see the difference, already, just in terms of confidence about what we're doing and also just physical confidence … I think he has a chance."
Bowen, Barwick and Ziemba are all defensive linemen. Crider, a center, has also seen some action at guard this spring. Ballou has especially emphasized the Hoosiers manning the trenches for improved physicality.
"There have been pretty dramatic increases in all areas," Allen said. "And we're going to share (statistics showing that) with our guys. They feel it, for sure, but when you see it on paper, it just adds an exclamation point to the progress we're making.
"Change of direction and burst. That's what we've seen already. I think the upper body part, the physicality, will be apparent once we put pads on."
The Hoosiers will wear shell-pads Tuesday and then don full pads for the first time this spring Thursday, before a week's hiatus for spring break.
IUHoosiers.com
It sounded, for all the world, like a swarm of angry hornets.
The instinctive response was to look toward the ground and nearby trees, or any place nests might reside.
But then the sound drew the eyes skyward.
And it turned out to be a drone flying overhead, deployed to provide aerial views of Indiana's second spring football practice.
"Yes, it was one of ours," head coach Tom Allen confirmed. "A 'Cuban Center Special.'
"We made sure to tell the coaches, to make sure they didn't think somebody was spying on us."
Irrespective of the drone's arrival and departure, there was still plenty of buzz generated by Hoosiers hard at work.
(And any observant spy would have noted that, among many other things, true freshman quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has a rather strong left arm.)
QUARTERBACKING BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL
Penix enrolled in January out of Tampa Bay Tech High School and joins a quarterback room featuring redshirt sophomore Peyton Ramsey, who completed .654 percent of his passes for 1,252 yards and 10 TDs (with 5 interceptions) while appearing in nine games last fall.
But Allen likes open competition at that position and others. Redshirt freshman Nick Tronti along with walk-ons Mike Fiacable, Johnny Pabst and Jack Kellams are also competing at quarterback.
Penix threw for 61 touchdowns and just six picks while completing over the past two seasons at Tech. He's at a different competition level now.
"He was checking from fronts, with blitzes, which is not easy to do for a young guy," Allen said of Penix after Sunday's session. "So that's a good sign, for him, in understanding what he's doing.
"As you'll notice, he has a very live arm. The ball jumps off his hand. That's something he has, naturally. Really strong athleticism, in the pocket and moving around. So it's really a matter of learning the offense and making those reads."
Allen had previously addressed the quarterback situation after Saturday's practice that opened spring football by saying:
"Nick (Tronti) is battling. He's got a chance, now, understanding the system better. It's his second time being here (for off-season drills). Peyton got good reps last year and, with his experience, probably looked the best out there running the offense.
"Mike Penix did some good things. His mind's racing right now, about a lot of things – especially when the defense comes racing at you full speed. But I thought he did some great things, as well. So there'll be a lot of competition, and it'll be open the whole time. And it'll be that way at a lot of positions, but that's the one everybody always wants to ask about."
Folks are also asking about the "signal-callers" on defense, the linebackers.
Both 2017 linebacker starters, All-American Tegray Scales and All-Big Ten honoree Chris Covington, exited. So did their top backup, Dameon Willis Jr., who opted not to play his final season of eligibility.
The most experienced returnees are fifth-year senior Michael McGinnis and redshirt junior Reakwon Jones, who had seven tackles apiece last fall. Fifth-year senior Kiante Walton, who played in eight games, had two tackles.
Scales and Covington, by contrast, combined for 174 tackles. Tack on Willis' 27 and that's 201 tackles gone from the defense.
Another aspect is new position coach Kane Wommack, with former linebacker mentor William Inge shifting into a newly-created role to oversee special teams.
But head coach Tom Allen's own background features heavy emphasis on linebacker instruction. And IU defensive line coach and assistant defensive line coach Mark Hagen was an All-Big Ten linebacker for the Hoosiers in his playing days. So the position doesn't lack for brain-trust.
Nor does it lack for prospects.
Beyond McGinnis, Jones and Walton, there are redshirt freshmen Mo Burnam and Thomas Allen and walk-on redshirt sophomore Andrew Stamm.
"The two Mike (middle) linebackers who, right now, are battling, Mike McGinnis and Thomas Allen, are doing a real good job of communicating," Allen said. "They're developing a real good understanding of the defense, of getting guys lined up right. And playing with fanatical effort. Those are two things that have been consistent.
"We can really judge that group when they really have to go make plays. That's when we'll know how we're doing. But I think Reakwon is coming along. Mo Burnam as well. Kiante (Walton) as well. Those are guys who are getting a lot of good reps in there.
"The pressure is on for them. They've got to step up, for sure. That's kind of the glaring position on defense where there are a lot of question marks right now and those guys all have to keep working."
TAKING AWAY TAKEAWAYS
McGinnis' diving interception of a tipped pass was one of five picks for defenders during Sunday's drills, to go along with a fumble recovery, nominally twice the number IU's defense needs per day to avoid post-practice sprints.
But Allen arbitrarily erased a couple to keep up the pressure.
"Yeah, I took a couple away," he said. "I'm always looking for ways to create stress. Which is good, because that's one of our points of emphasis, too, to overcome adversity.
"When it's sudden-change. Or things go wrong. Or the officials don't give you a call you thought they should have. Whatever. You've just got to learn to handle it, to have mental toughness."
Allen likes McGinnis' knack of being in the immediate vicinity when footballs pop free for the taking.
"Part of that is just being ball-savvy," Allen said. "Smart kid. Very, very bright. And he has to be able to utilize that to the fullest to gain an extra step or two. That's why guys like him are always around the football.
"He's a senior. This is his time. This is why he came here. And he needs to take advantage of it. And it looks like, at this point, he is."
BALL AT 'BACKER?
Marcelino Ball, the redshirt-sophomore who excelled at the hybrid linebacker-safety "Husky" position as a freshman in 2016 before missing most of last year to injury, was seen drilling with the linebackers Sunday – but that does not portend a position change.
"We've changed the way we group our guys," Allen explained. "We've taken the Husky position and moved it into the linebacker room.
"So he's still playing that same Husky position. But in terms of carry-over, with the coaching change (at safeties, with Kasey Teegardin in), we thought it best to have the person coaching the Stingers (outside-linebackers) and Huskies in the same room."
YOUNG AND HUSKY
Redshirt freshmen Bryant Fitzgerald and Juwan Burgess could emerge at either safety or Husky. Erstwhile receivers Isaac James (Husky) and Jonah Morris (safety) are also looking for playing time in those spots.
"You see Fitzy out there, and his head has to be spinning, for sure, but getting him and Juwan Burgess going has really been a huge thing," Allen said. "And then we've got Jonah (Morris) at safety. We'd just lost too many safeties and we're trying to shore that up.
"Isaac James is another one – he's another one whose (body) has changed a whole bunch. So much stronger. He was already fast. And just his confidence level (is up). We're excited about him at the Husky position and just being able to give (Ball) a break … now that he's been on defense for a while, you can just see the growth, and he'll continue to develop."
Allen has sung Fitzgerald's praises since the latter was an Avon High School standout and noted the freshman could end up at free safety, Husky or Stinger.
"Those three positions kind of share similar explosive traits we're looking for and he fits into that," Allen said. "We're trying to recruit a lot of guys who fit that category.
"They sometimes can grow into linebackers. They can play out in space. They can play up high. The more guys you have like that, the better your football team is."
BACK IN BLUE
Nick Westbrook will continue wearing a blue practice jersey connoting no-contact status, but the redshirt junior wideout looked fully healthy soaring for a great two-handed grab Sunday. And he was running freely after having missed last season via a knee injury sustained on the campaign's opening kickoff.
"Yeah, he's probably the one who has made the most progress," Allen said of Westbrook, just one among receivers rehabilitating leg injuries, including Donavan Hale and J-Shun Harris. "He has shown that out here, both days, and we expected that. He'll still be in the blue jersey, so there'll be no contact for him this spring. But he's way, way ahead of schedule. He's healed extremely well and that's great to see. I'm happy for him, because I know he's worked so hard to get back.
"J-Shun is working. He'll be a lot longer, because his (injury) was obviously later, and it's his third one. It's just tough. Donavan Hale is just working through his. He'll be out here, hopefully, after we get back from spring break. We'll give him a chance to get going and get him into practice."
POLITENESS PAYS
During a very busy drill Sunday for IU wideouts and defensive backs, the players still took time to reach down and pick up seemingly discarded towels from the turf, while making football moves.
"That helps teach a guy how to bend, how to play from a power-line position, to drop his hips and bend his knees," new IU strength and conditioning coach Dave Ballou said. "It's about generating more power and burst."
NEW BODY TYPES
Ballou and Dr. Matt Rhea are working to increase the Hoosiers' power and speed, with results already apparent, despite the fact their program was instigated just two months ago. Allen cited some examples off the top of his head.
"Harry Crider, to me, is one who got way, way stronger," Allen said of the sophomore out of Columbus East who played extensively as a freshman. "We knew he was strong coming out of high school, just naturally, but he's really taken off with our new strength staff. He's a guy who really jumps out to me.
"Ja'merez Bowen is another one, when you look at his numbers in the weight room that are transferring out onto the field. I was talking with Coach Ballou about him this morning. Michael Barwick is another who was always real strong, but had to adjust some areas to get looser and to fit getting even stronger. He's squats are way up. His power numbers are way up.
"Michael Ziemba – we have so many guys who've gotten stronger … the weight room has been good to him. He works so hard. He really had not played defensive end before. He was a linebacker in high school and played a lot of tight end. He learned to put his hand down and obviously played a lot there for us last year. He's another kid where you can see the difference, already, just in terms of confidence about what we're doing and also just physical confidence … I think he has a chance."
Bowen, Barwick and Ziemba are all defensive linemen. Crider, a center, has also seen some action at guard this spring. Ballou has especially emphasized the Hoosiers manning the trenches for improved physicality.
"There have been pretty dramatic increases in all areas," Allen said. "And we're going to share (statistics showing that) with our guys. They feel it, for sure, but when you see it on paper, it just adds an exclamation point to the progress we're making.
"Change of direction and burst. That's what we've seen already. I think the upper body part, the physicality, will be apparent once we put pads on."
The Hoosiers will wear shell-pads Tuesday and then don full pads for the first time this spring Thursday, before a week's hiatus for spring break.
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