Indiana University Athletics
Graham Notebook: Hoosiers Prepare for Hungry Nittany Lions
10/16/2018 9:57:00 PM | Football
By: Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana starting quarterback Peyton Ramsey has had a very solid sophomore-season showing, by most standard metrics, thus far.
IU is ensconced in the middle of the 14-team Big Ten listings for passing offense (sixth), pass efficiency (seventh), total offense (eighth) and third-down conversion percentage (sixth) with Ramsey starting all seven games, and taking every snap in all but two games.
Ramsey, individually, ranks seventh amongst his conference peers in passing, quarterback rating and total offense. And he's eighth in pass efficiency. So he's right smack in the middle, mostly just slightly above the statistical mean, of league QBs.
By his own admission, Ramsey didn't have his best game against Iowa (and not many Hoosiers did in the 42-16 setback). Indiana garnered 22 first downs and a decent 330 total yards against the nation's No. 4 defense but didn't capitalize well enough on scoring chances.
"Just having the opportunity to reflect by myself and be able to watch film, I just think, situationally on offense, we weren't very good," Ramsey said. "Third down, red zone, there were certainly things we have to try and tighten up.
"We weren't bad all day long (offensively), by any stretch. It was just in certain situations where I think we have to tighten things up and be better and execute."
Allen hasn't hesitated to praise Ramsey this fall, and Ramsey has had some very fine efforts. But Allen didn't mince words about last Saturday's performance.
"I don't think he played very well during the game," Allen said of Ramsey. "We're not bashful about saying those kind of things. We've praised him when he has played well. He didn't play his best game.
"So you always look at all your options, with everything you have on your roster, to be able to help your team be successful. He obviously has to do a great job. We talk about that position, being a protector of the football, distributor of the football, moving the football team down the field, getting first downs and scoring touchdowns.
"Didn't score enough touchdowns and turned the ball over. Have to do a better job. So yes, that will be addressed."
Both of Saturday's interceptions came in or at the end zone.
"That's kind of been the point of emphasis for us ever since we set out this year, to score TDs in the red zone," Ramsey said. "I think, early on, we did a decent job of that. We've just got to continue to push.
"Teams get stingier once you get down to the red zone. We have to be equally as tough and gritty and try to put the ball in the end zone."
Ramsey and fifth-year senior wideout Luke Timian both cited the discipline of Iowa's defense in making things tougher Saturday.
"They're disciplined in what they do and they're not going to let the big play beat them," Ramsey said. "We had one (a 33-yard scoring strike from Ramsey to classmate Ty Fryfogle)."
IU tried a couple of nuanced plays, including a lateral to freshman Reese Taylor (a standout prep quarterback at Ben Davis) with the intention to have Taylor throw deep. Taylor ended up keeping the ball for a nice gain, but Iowa didn't get gouged deep.
"No, they didn't," Timian said. "They had two guys running down there with (Nick Westbrook), even on a trick play. It just goes to show they're going to make you win in the run game, they're going to make you win in the box, in between the tackles, so we just have to be better there."
DeBord said the Hoosiers, naturally, are looking to be better everywhere. And that includes personnel, potentially.
"We talk about personnel every Sunday," DeBord said. "We review it, go over it, we talk about it. And we talked about the quarterback position. We'll do so again today and through the entire week.
"But, for instance, the interceptions, that last one down in the red zone, that was an RPO where he can run it or he can throw it. And we've used that a lot down there. And it was a situation where he should have handed the ball off. So he knows he has to make better decisions that way. That's where it is. It's more in the decision-making."
And the coaches, as the season plays out, will continue to have more decision-making to do.
McRAMSEY?
Trace McSorley, grad-student quarterback for the 4-2 Penn State club that visits 4-3 Indiana for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday, entered the 2018 campaign as a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate.
Ramsey knows he isn't in that sort of category as yet, but acknowledged that modeling himself after McSorley isn't a bad idea.
"I think so," Ramsey replied when the suggestion came Monday. "He can throw it, he can run, but he's tough. He's a competitor. He doesn't back down from anybody. You can never count him out. He's a fun guy to watch … a guy I have a lot of respect for an that I really enjoy watching."
IU senior Jonathan Crawford cited some similarities between his current quarterback and Penn State's career passing leader.
"Decision-making. Knowing when to use their feet. Getting out of the pocket and making plays. Using the targets around them," Crawford said, citing what he sees as common characteristics between McSorley and Ramsey. "With our receivers, I feel we have weapons just like Penn State does.
"(McSorley has) a natural knack for understanding the situation. And he has a lot of weapons around him that he uses really well. So I think if we can make them one-dimensional, that could be a big key."
Ramsey developing along the lines of McSorley wouldn't hurt, either.
DIRTY DOZEN
Indiana's defense has given up six touchdown passes in each of the last two games, to Ohio State sophomore Dwayne Haskins and Iowa junior Nate Stanley respectively.
Allen, who still serves as IU's defensive coordinator in addition to his head-coaching duties, isn't at all happy with that.
"After giving up 12 touchdown passes the last two games, everything is on the table for the coaching staff in terms of schemes, personnel and what have you with pass defense," Allen said Monday. "We had these discussions yesterday.
"Evaluate what you're doing. As you watch it, you see it, I see it. We weren't cutting guys loose (against Iowa). It wasn't blown coverages. Lost one-on-one matchups at times. Sometimes they had a couple steps on our guys.
"We just got to play the ball better, look at all personnel options, for sure. Don't have unlimited depth to be able to make a bunch of changes. Talked about scheme, be able to do things that help our guys. There's no question. We've got to evaluate everything we're doing."
Senior safety Crawford expects everything to be evaluated, including his own play, and figures there are multiple roots to the problem. When asked if the recent results reflected some of IU's young secondary personnel "hitting a freshman wall" or schematic issues, Crawford said:
"I think it's all the above. It's not one aspect of it. I feel like it's every little piece, every little detail, all into one. It's been a tough two weeks, knowing that we gave that up.
"We know what we're going up against (in Penn State, too). It's going to be big this week."
Crawford knows he and his teammates will go into Saturday hungry.
"I know we will, just knowing our (guys) and knowing that the loss we took was embarrassing to all of us," Crawford said. "The player meeting (Monday morning) was, I feel, a success. I think we'll come out better and stronger."
Crawford was among several seniors who spoke at the meeting.
"My point was basically being able to move on knowing we're in control of our future," he said. "No point having negative thoughts about the past week. Stay positive. And understand the season is not over.
"We have a lot of football left. And I feel, if we go ahead strong, we can finish the season strong … knowing our guys, I feel like we have a high-character group. I don't really need to be negative because they're hard on themselves. Honestly, just basically stay positive. If mistakes are made in practice, you get on them then, but I feel like, overall, staying positive (is the way forward). It's a new week, a new day to get better."
TAKE IT AWAY, BOYS
Indiana's youthful secondary, while not having the best couple of weeks against OSU and Iowa, has still helped the Hoosiers lead the Big Ten and rank 11th nationally with 14 takeaways so far this season.
And freshmen have had a hand in 11 of the 14.
IU has seen eight different defenders force a fumble and eight different players intercept a pass, with six different Hoosiers posting a fumble recovery.
GIVE ME LIBERTY … BOWL
Indiana will salute its 1986 All-American Bowl, 1988 Peach Bowl and 1988 Liberty Bowl teams while hosting Penn State this weekend – the first three of the six Hoosier bowl teams coached by the late, great Bill Mallory.
IU smoked South Carolina in that Liberty Bowl, 34-10. Hoosier quarterback Dave Schnell threw for 378 yards and two TDs, with Rob Turner catching five passes for 182 yards and a score, and Anthony Thompson ran 26 times for 140 yards (5.4) and two scores.
And the Hoosier defense held the Gamecocks to just 153 yards of total offense, compared to IU's 575.
(Tom Allen, a defensive guy are heart, has to like those numbers).
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana starting quarterback Peyton Ramsey has had a very solid sophomore-season showing, by most standard metrics, thus far.
IU is ensconced in the middle of the 14-team Big Ten listings for passing offense (sixth), pass efficiency (seventh), total offense (eighth) and third-down conversion percentage (sixth) with Ramsey starting all seven games, and taking every snap in all but two games.
Ramsey, individually, ranks seventh amongst his conference peers in passing, quarterback rating and total offense. And he's eighth in pass efficiency. So he's right smack in the middle, mostly just slightly above the statistical mean, of league QBs.
By his own admission, Ramsey didn't have his best game against Iowa (and not many Hoosiers did in the 42-16 setback). Indiana garnered 22 first downs and a decent 330 total yards against the nation's No. 4 defense but didn't capitalize well enough on scoring chances.
"Just having the opportunity to reflect by myself and be able to watch film, I just think, situationally on offense, we weren't very good," Ramsey said. "Third down, red zone, there were certainly things we have to try and tighten up.
"We weren't bad all day long (offensively), by any stretch. It was just in certain situations where I think we have to tighten things up and be better and execute."
Allen hasn't hesitated to praise Ramsey this fall, and Ramsey has had some very fine efforts. But Allen didn't mince words about last Saturday's performance.
"I don't think he played very well during the game," Allen said of Ramsey. "We're not bashful about saying those kind of things. We've praised him when he has played well. He didn't play his best game.
"So you always look at all your options, with everything you have on your roster, to be able to help your team be successful. He obviously has to do a great job. We talk about that position, being a protector of the football, distributor of the football, moving the football team down the field, getting first downs and scoring touchdowns.
"Didn't score enough touchdowns and turned the ball over. Have to do a better job. So yes, that will be addressed."
Both of Saturday's interceptions came in or at the end zone.
"That's kind of been the point of emphasis for us ever since we set out this year, to score TDs in the red zone," Ramsey said. "I think, early on, we did a decent job of that. We've just got to continue to push.
"Teams get stingier once you get down to the red zone. We have to be equally as tough and gritty and try to put the ball in the end zone."
Ramsey and fifth-year senior wideout Luke Timian both cited the discipline of Iowa's defense in making things tougher Saturday.
"They're disciplined in what they do and they're not going to let the big play beat them," Ramsey said. "We had one (a 33-yard scoring strike from Ramsey to classmate Ty Fryfogle)."
IU tried a couple of nuanced plays, including a lateral to freshman Reese Taylor (a standout prep quarterback at Ben Davis) with the intention to have Taylor throw deep. Taylor ended up keeping the ball for a nice gain, but Iowa didn't get gouged deep.
"No, they didn't," Timian said. "They had two guys running down there with (Nick Westbrook), even on a trick play. It just goes to show they're going to make you win in the run game, they're going to make you win in the box, in between the tackles, so we just have to be better there."
DeBord said the Hoosiers, naturally, are looking to be better everywhere. And that includes personnel, potentially.
"We talk about personnel every Sunday," DeBord said. "We review it, go over it, we talk about it. And we talked about the quarterback position. We'll do so again today and through the entire week.
"But, for instance, the interceptions, that last one down in the red zone, that was an RPO where he can run it or he can throw it. And we've used that a lot down there. And it was a situation where he should have handed the ball off. So he knows he has to make better decisions that way. That's where it is. It's more in the decision-making."
And the coaches, as the season plays out, will continue to have more decision-making to do.
McRAMSEY?
Trace McSorley, grad-student quarterback for the 4-2 Penn State club that visits 4-3 Indiana for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday, entered the 2018 campaign as a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate.
Ramsey knows he isn't in that sort of category as yet, but acknowledged that modeling himself after McSorley isn't a bad idea.
"I think so," Ramsey replied when the suggestion came Monday. "He can throw it, he can run, but he's tough. He's a competitor. He doesn't back down from anybody. You can never count him out. He's a fun guy to watch … a guy I have a lot of respect for an that I really enjoy watching."
IU senior Jonathan Crawford cited some similarities between his current quarterback and Penn State's career passing leader.
"Decision-making. Knowing when to use their feet. Getting out of the pocket and making plays. Using the targets around them," Crawford said, citing what he sees as common characteristics between McSorley and Ramsey. "With our receivers, I feel we have weapons just like Penn State does.
"(McSorley has) a natural knack for understanding the situation. And he has a lot of weapons around him that he uses really well. So I think if we can make them one-dimensional, that could be a big key."
Ramsey developing along the lines of McSorley wouldn't hurt, either.
DIRTY DOZEN
Indiana's defense has given up six touchdown passes in each of the last two games, to Ohio State sophomore Dwayne Haskins and Iowa junior Nate Stanley respectively.
Allen, who still serves as IU's defensive coordinator in addition to his head-coaching duties, isn't at all happy with that.
"After giving up 12 touchdown passes the last two games, everything is on the table for the coaching staff in terms of schemes, personnel and what have you with pass defense," Allen said Monday. "We had these discussions yesterday.
"Evaluate what you're doing. As you watch it, you see it, I see it. We weren't cutting guys loose (against Iowa). It wasn't blown coverages. Lost one-on-one matchups at times. Sometimes they had a couple steps on our guys.
"We just got to play the ball better, look at all personnel options, for sure. Don't have unlimited depth to be able to make a bunch of changes. Talked about scheme, be able to do things that help our guys. There's no question. We've got to evaluate everything we're doing."
Senior safety Crawford expects everything to be evaluated, including his own play, and figures there are multiple roots to the problem. When asked if the recent results reflected some of IU's young secondary personnel "hitting a freshman wall" or schematic issues, Crawford said:
"I think it's all the above. It's not one aspect of it. I feel like it's every little piece, every little detail, all into one. It's been a tough two weeks, knowing that we gave that up.
"We know what we're going up against (in Penn State, too). It's going to be big this week."
Crawford knows he and his teammates will go into Saturday hungry.
"I know we will, just knowing our (guys) and knowing that the loss we took was embarrassing to all of us," Crawford said. "The player meeting (Monday morning) was, I feel, a success. I think we'll come out better and stronger."
Crawford was among several seniors who spoke at the meeting.
"My point was basically being able to move on knowing we're in control of our future," he said. "No point having negative thoughts about the past week. Stay positive. And understand the season is not over.
"We have a lot of football left. And I feel, if we go ahead strong, we can finish the season strong … knowing our guys, I feel like we have a high-character group. I don't really need to be negative because they're hard on themselves. Honestly, just basically stay positive. If mistakes are made in practice, you get on them then, but I feel like, overall, staying positive (is the way forward). It's a new week, a new day to get better."
TAKE IT AWAY, BOYS
Indiana's youthful secondary, while not having the best couple of weeks against OSU and Iowa, has still helped the Hoosiers lead the Big Ten and rank 11th nationally with 14 takeaways so far this season.
And freshmen have had a hand in 11 of the 14.
IU has seen eight different defenders force a fumble and eight different players intercept a pass, with six different Hoosiers posting a fumble recovery.
GIVE ME LIBERTY … BOWL
Indiana will salute its 1986 All-American Bowl, 1988 Peach Bowl and 1988 Liberty Bowl teams while hosting Penn State this weekend – the first three of the six Hoosier bowl teams coached by the late, great Bill Mallory.
IU smoked South Carolina in that Liberty Bowl, 34-10. Hoosier quarterback Dave Schnell threw for 378 yards and two TDs, with Rob Turner catching five passes for 182 yards and a score, and Anthony Thompson ran 26 times for 140 yards (5.4) and two scores.
And the Hoosier defense held the Gamecocks to just 153 yards of total offense, compared to IU's 575.
(Tom Allen, a defensive guy are heart, has to like those numbers).
Players Mentioned
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