Indiana University Athletics
ESPN Crew Weighs in on IU Passing Attack
9/3/2017 10:19:00 AM | Football
By: Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - That didn't look like a mere passing fancy.
Even amid defeat, with No. 2-ranked Ohio State breaking open a close game late, there were some aspects of Indiana's football team that looked fully ready for prime time Thursday night.
None more so than in the passing game.
As a record-setting number of folks for an ESPN NCAA Thursday night kickoff game looked on, IU threw for 410 yards on 42-of-68 passing (.618) and three TDs.
IU fifth-year senior quarterback Richard Lagow stood tall and consistently delivered despite an unrelenting Buckeye pass rush (5 sacks, 2 QB hurries, an uncounted amount of hits on Lagow.)
Many of Lagow's throws were quick, by design of offensive coordinator Mike DeBord, to help thwart the pass rush. And many required receivers winning one-on-one battles with Buckeye defenders for the ball.
Standout 6-foot-4 redshirt junior wideout Simmie Cobbs Jr. led the way with 11 receptions (a career-high) for 149 yards and redshirt junior slot man Luke Timian added 10 for 72 (both career-highs). Senior tight end Ian Thomas supplied his first two career TD catches.
And 10 different Hoosiers caught passes, even with the loss of key wideout Nick Westbrook (a 995-yard receiver last fall) to a knee injury on the opening kickoff.
The Hoosiers passing game performance was quickly deemed praise-worthy by objective observers.
ESPN's broadcast team of play-by-play man Dave Flemming and analyst Kirk Herbstreit, a former OSU MVP as a Buckeye quarterback, praised the Indiana passing game early and often.
That tone didn't change when former IU coach Lee Corso joined them in the booth after receiving Indiana's Bill Orwig Award during the first quarter break. Nor did it change at halftime, when Rece Davis, former Georgia Bulldog star David Pollack and former Michigan Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard weighed in.
What follows is a compendium of first-half and halftime quotes from the ESPN crew regarding Indiana's passing attack.
KIRK HERBSREIT AND DAVE FLEMMING
(After Cobbs' one-handed circus catch for IU's second first down):
KH: "Great to see Simmie Cobbs back … one-handed catch, one foot (down inbounds), possesses the football, completes the catch, and that is an outstanding play by Simmie Cobbs, going up to battle for the ball and take it away from (Kendall) Sheffield."
DF: "He is a big-time talent."
KH: "Richard Lagow is telling us he feels he has the best group of receivers in the Big Ten. I asked who separates themselves and he said, 'Cobbs can win the one-on-one battle.'"
(After one of several successful flat passes to Timian):
KH: "That's another match-up they love – Timian up against a safety."
(After a terrific grab by Thomas for his first career TD):
DF: A lot of folks around here told us Ian Thomas was a breakout star."
KH: "All we heard all week – we wanted to talk about Simmie Cobbs, Luke Timian, Donavan Hale, Nick Westbrook – everybody warned us to look out for this tight end, Ian Thomas.
"Richard (Lagow) said, 'I'm telling you, this is a big-time talent.' Mike DeBord said, 'He's a NFL tight end.'"
DF: "What a catch. What a throw. Lagow put it exactly where he had to."
KH: "Anybody who watched that first series had to be really impressed with Lagow. Talk about getting the ball out of his hand. His receivers were beating people, winning the one-on-one battles. Five completions of 10 yards or more on that first series when he went 6-of-8.
"A lot of it was quick throws, not allowing the defensive line time to put pressure on him. Look at the placement of that throw for the touchdown to Ian Thomas … Mike DeBord
has to be very pleased with this start and (with) his quarterback."
(After a 28-yard third-down conversion to Donavan Hale during IU's third possession)
DF: "This time the pass is perfectly thrown to Donavan Hale, right on the money. First down, Indiana."
KH: "How about Lagow? Focusing downfield into the teeth of that pressure, puts the ball EXACTLY where it needs to be for Donavan Hale.
DF: "For 28 yards. Lagow looks good, doesn't he?"
KH: "Boy, he does … his head was spinning a bit (last year.) I think he took ownership of the 17 interceptions. Talked with his teammates about it and came back this year more of a leader, more in command and control of this team, and you can kind of see and feel his mojo from up here."
(After a tipped completion from redshirt freshman quarterback Peyton Ramsey to redshirt junior tight end Ryan Watercutter for a first down):
DF: "What a great effort. Ryan Watercutter, the tight end, picked it clean before it hit the turf."
(Lee Corso joins in after the first-quarter break):
LC: "I'll tell you right now, they have scouted Ohio State and their corners can't cover 6-5 receivers. That's all they're doing, just playing catch with those guys out there."
KH: "The strength of the Indiana offense is Lagow throwing it, and he's got a great group of wide receivers."
DF: "These wideouts and this passing game are giving (Ohio State head coach) Urban Meyer some problems."
(After a 19-yard completion to Cobbs during IU's second TD drive):
DF: "I think that's another one-handed catch by Cobbs! He's already done it once tonight. He did it again."
KH: "That's actually pretty good coverage by Kendall Sheffield. It's just the placement of the ball, back-shoulder, great catch and getting one foot down for a first down inside the 10."
DF: "Man."
(After a subsequent 18-yard completion to Cobbs):
KH: "Right now Richard Lagow looks like he's playing a video game. You've played Madden? It's like he's playing a video game out there. He looks so comfortable with the ball placement.
"I mean, he couldn't walk down there and put it any better, as far as placement is concerned, the way he's throwing it to Simmie Cobbs. Talk about getting into a zone."
(After an 8-yard scoring pass to Cobbs):
DF: "Touchdown. Great coverage. What else are you going to do?"
KH: "Look at Cobbs' fight for this football, again, for Indiana. What a night he's having."
(After a 14-yard completion to Timian for a first down):
DF: "Another completion over the middle. It's that guy again. Luke Timian has been everywhere.
KH: "That time … they did put two safeties high. But the problem is that if you don't cover underneath, Luke Timian can win those option routes against the linebackers. You take away the deep ball, but they say, 'OK, we're just going to come underneath and try to win that battle.'"
KH: "This is crazy … (Ohio State) lost three (first-round NFL picks) out of the secondary just this past year. And these new guys are out here. First game of the year, as a starter, and you're facing this quarterback and these receivers?"
(After a 15-yard completion to Hale for a first down):
DF: "Hale slips the tackle and gets out of bounds, and that's big because it stops the clock and he got the first down."
HALFTIME WITH RECE DAVIS, DAVID POLLACK AND DESMOND HOWARD
RD: "Richard Lagow was spinning the magic bean."
DP: "He was on-point. His receivers were making plays for him, as well, outside. You don't run the ball against Ohio State, against that defensive line."
RD: "Simmie Cobbs, who is putting on a show, is one of those receivers. And he was hurt on (his) first snap from scrimmage a year ago. The previous season, 2015, this guy is a 1,000-yard-plus receiver. A dynamic force.
"And they lost a receiver (Nick Westbrook) on special teams early on (on the opening kickoff), so they're not even at full strength."
DP: "Does it matter? Because their tight end …
DH: "He's a man."
DP: "A large man."
DH: "He's a weapon."
DF: "(Lagow) is not waiting for guys to be wide open. He's just getting the ball out there where they can make plays, which is what he's supposed to do."
The conversations continued much along the same lines into the second half, with completions of 17 and 19 yards to Cobbs and a 2-yard TD toss to Thomas giving Indiana a 21-20 lead with 4:56 remaining in the third quarter before the Buckeyes took control with 29 unanswered points to close out the game.
But IU's aerial attack had already proven its potential against one of the nation's top teams, auguring well for a season just starting.
