Indiana University Athletics
Keep Calm and Carry On
11/5/2018 10:18:00 PM | Football
By Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Football coaches don't necessarily like field goals, often with good reason.
Better, instead, to score touchdowns.
But if one must attempt a field goal, it is certainly better to make it.
That's where Logan Justus comes in.
Justus, who came to Indiana as a walk-on from Mt. Vernon in 2015, won the place-kicking job after a spirited preseason competition and has shown why this fall.
The redshirt junior has made 11-of-13 field goal attempts and 23-of-24 extra-point conversions this season – production that has placed Justus among the 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, bequeathed annually
to the nation's top college kicker.
Justus went 3-for-3 on field goals in the first 16 minutes of the Hoosiers most recent game at Minnesota, Oct. 26, before the bye week ensued.
Not bad for a guy with no major Division I offers coming out of high school. But not surprising, either.
Justus had to emerge from a competitive field that included scholarship freshman Charles Campbell (who also kicked very well in fall camp) and kickoff specialist Jared Smolar to claim the job.
And Justus has given the Hoosiers the sort of dependability they got from graduated 2017 Big Ten Kicker of the Year Griffin Oakes.
Oakes proved a fine mentor to Justus.
One of Oakes' main messages was in keeping with the now-famous 1939 motivational poster put out by the British government to help prepare the populace to keep a stiff upper lip during the pending World War:
"Keep calm and carry on."
Justus said Oakes advised that "you can't let your highs get too high or your lows too low. Just stay calm. Just keep doing what you know to do. I learned a lot (from him). What it's like to come from a small school to playing in the bigs… and how every kick is just simple."
When that first field goal attempt came this fall from 36 yards out, helping to seal the opening win at Florida International, the left-footed Justus admitted some anxiousness.
"It was very relieving," he said of seeing the ball split the uprights. "I was waiting for that kick, probably for like three days, to happen. I was ready."
And Justus doesn't mind clutch kicking. He became accustomed to booting game-winning field goals in high school, with the outcome on the line.
"I like being in pressure situations … I know I'm able to stay calm," he said. "You just have to see it as another kick. You can't really think about it a lot. You can't over-think.
"In high school, I had about four game-winning kicks. So I was used to that. And the coaches are great at putting us in those situations (in practice) and adding every little bit of pressure, just so we can get used to that sort of thing, coming down to the end of a game."
Hoosier head coach Tom Allen will bark into his megaphone and hit the siren button, and other coaches and Justus' teammates all contribute to the cacophony during those practice situations.
"That's really loud," Justus said with a smile. "And all the other coaching staff is around, trying to get in your head. That taught me a lot, in terms of just blocking everything out, doing my job, and trusting every other person (on the kicking unit)."
Justus credits his holder and back-up punter Drew Conrad, among others, for helping foster that mutual trust among the unit.
"It's actually very strong," Justus said. "We're a close group. Even though it's competitive, we're still friends and help each other with anything.
"(Conrad) helps a lot. He still helps – in games, making sure I'm relaxed and staying loose. Just talks to me and makes sure I don't over-think."
So Justus just trusts muscle-memory to do its work. And kicks keep sailing through the uprights. That's the result of work done and trust gained.
"It's a true process," he said. "I've done a lot of work and gained a lot of trust. The line and the snapper and the holder – just working on that and creating that trust (meant) a lot. I knew it would show during the season."
It has.
The Brits would like how it has.
REST, REHAB, RESET
When Indiana's game at Minnesota concluded, the Hoosiers finally became the 14th and last Big Ten team to enjoy a bye week this fall.
"Honestly, I kind of forgot about the bye week until it happened," sophomore cornerback Raheem Layne recalled. "Until after the Minnesota game, and the talk was 'Take a week off and take care of your bodies.'
"That was, like, music to my ears. That was good to hear."
The Hoosiers practiced Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday last week, then the players got Thursday through Saturday off while the coaches got in some valuable recruiting time on the road.
The Hoosier players, to a man, appreciated the time off.
"I think just about everybody was banged up, nicked up and stuff," Layne said. "So this week off was great, just to get treatment, get your body right so we could just focus on finishing strong. So it was well needed, really."
Redshirt freshman safety Bryant Fitzgerald (who had an interception and forced a fumble at Minnesota) took advantage of the free Friday to see his high school alma mater, Avon, wax Hendricks Country rival and previously unbeaten Brownsburg.
"Watched my guys beat our rivals, 38-0," Fitzgerald said. "That was a very good feeling, to go back home and see that, and got to spend time with a lot of my family. So that was very beneficial for me.
"Some people got to go home, talk to some family, watch some other teams around the country and get their minds back right. We hit a rough patch here and there, so the time off is definitely beneficial to hit the reset button."
That was needed after four straight losses, including the 38-31 disappointment up in Minneapolis.
"We knew that we needed to win and we probably put too much pressure on ourselves and we weren't successful," quarterback Peyton Ramsey said. " … That was a much-needed bye week.
"Sometimes I don't really think people understand that going nine in a row is a lot harder than what you really realize. So that was a much needed bye week for us. The guys came back in with a good mindset this morning.
"I think it's encouraging. I think guys are really understanding what's at stake for us. It could go one of two ways. I think we're moving in a positive direction. I think the mindset throughout the team is really, really good and I'm really pleased with that."
PLAYERS ARE FANS, TOO
Peyton Ramsey is a quarterback and a football coach's son. So there wasn't much doubt how he was going to spend two straight Saturday's off (following the Friday night game at Minnesota and through the bye week).
Ramsey watched college football on TV.
"Not only Big Ten games, but I think when you play on a Friday, you have the opportunity to watch a lot of teams you haven't gotten to see throughout the country," Ramsey said. "It was cool to be able to sit down and
take a deep breath and watch football and enjoy it on a Saturday, because that's what we grew up loving.
"Sometimes you don't get the opportunity to watch it as much as you'd like to in the season. So it was cool the last two Saturdays just to be able to watch college football. Obviously, I did watch the Big Ten games. I watched the Penn State-Michigan game, then it was Purdue-Iowa. Watched Notre Dame-Northwestern, then LSU-Bama were the four I watched the most on Saturday."
And now it is a refreshed Ramsey back at practice among refreshed teammates. True freshman Reese Taylor, now the back-up quarterback after the season-ending knee injury Oct. 20 to classmate Michael Penix Jr., got a lot of reps at that spot.
"I think the guys up front and a lot of those receivers, we got to rest them, and allow Reese to get all the quarterback snaps," IU offensive coordinator Mike DeBord said. "That rest helped Peyton.
"You know, it's been a long grind. We've had nine weeks of games, and then you add training camp to that, so this rest was needed for some of those guys. And I really think it benefited us."
REESE PIECES
Reese Taylor came into fall camp as a do-it-all talent, but with experience at quarterback, having led Indianapolis Ben Davis to an unbeaten season and Class 6A state title last year.
But Taylor played mostly receiver and defensive back before the Penix injury.
"Reese Taylor got a lot of reps at quarterback," Coach Allen affirmed about the bye week. "That was extremely important for us to give a chance to rest Peyton and get his body healed up, let him rest his arm, rest everything. We really saw Reese get a lot of work in during those three practices."
Allen was non-committal about shifting Taylor solely to quarterback for now, however.
"That's kind of the tough balance," Allen said. "We're still going to use him on offense, yes. You play that game with that. Still one of our more explosive guys that you want to get involved."
But when the Hoosiers do use Taylor at QB, now, he'll be more ready.
"Well, it helped him a lot, with several things," DeBord said of Taylor and the bye week. "Number one, just being able to do more things with him now. We were able to add more plays for him to execute and put more into his package. So it was really beneficial for him – executing them, as well as doing more things."
Ramsey took note.
"I think his confidence is raising, for sure," Ramsey said of Taylor. "When he came in, it's hard to not play QB in college football for eight, nine weeks and then just be thrown into a college offense.
"He's doing a great job of letting the game come to him and understanding a lot more. He's working really hard. (He brings) his athleticism, obviously. He's so quick and shifty. When defenses have to account for him when he has the ball in his hands, it's really hard to do. He's doing a really good job."
Ramsey said the same of Penix, who has had to deal with all the ramifications of a torn ACL.
"His spirits are high," Ramsey said of Penix. "Every time I see him, we're not really talking about football or anything, we're just joking around with each other. He's got a smile on his face, so he's doing a good job with it."
TREAT YOUR FEET
Stevie Scott's talented feet have covered 791 yards in 159 carries this fall (both figures second nationally among true freshmen, and forging a nifty 5.0 average). And they have taken him into the end zone seven times rushing and once receiving.
So when he came to meet the media Monday, Scott was pampering them. They were encased in a fine set of moccasins.
"Yeah, that's what we do a lot where I'm from," the Syracuse, N.Y., native said with a grin.
As with his teammates, Scott appreciated and enjoyed the bye week.
"It definitely felt good having time off, just letting us recuperate and letting our bodies heal," he said, "and to keep striving, keep thinking positive, keep trying to finish the season strong.
"It's just giving us more time to spend time with each other, even though we do on the field, but off the field also. Building that chemistry to help us stay focused and keep pushing forward and just keeping a positive mindset. Once we start thinking negative, that's when things start falling apart. As long we keep thinking about that, things will be fine."
IU's coaches emphasized rest and recuperation. So did Scott's father.
"Our coaches always stress to us, take care of our bodies," Scott said. "Also, my dad (Stevie), because he always tells me that a body is like a car. You have to take care of it (or it) breaks down. That's how I look at things."
Hence the moccasins?
"Got to keep your feet warm," he said, "once it gets a little cold out there."
ONCE. BUT NOT TWICE.
Scott had a solid performance at Minnesota, gaining 96 yards on 18 carries and scoring the tying TD for the Hoosiers in the fourth quarter.
But blitzing Minnesota linebacker Blake Cashman came unblocked to stop Scott and IU from converting a crucial 3rd-and-1 late.
And it was a harsh lesson in execution, or lack thereof.
"Not to put blame on anybody or anything, but it was just basically a combination block that we had executed earlier," DeBord noted. "We executed the same play against the same blitz (earlier). And we gashed them on it.
"Again, we have to execute that particular combination block."
Allen also held the play up as an example of how winning teams have to execute at critical moments.
"You got to be able to execute in those key times," Allen said. "You got to be able to finish plays, make plays, create separation on offense, (catch) contested balls -- need to focus on that, the details, the little things.
"Even that last play, the 3rd-and-one play, go back to that and reflect. They ran a blitz before, the guys picked it up, got a good gain. That time we didn't. Difference between picking it up, being a big gain, or not converting at all. That continues to need to be a focus."
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Scott was named IU's Offensive Player of the Game, with Fitzgerald cited as Defensive Player of the Game and Justus getting the nod for Special Teams.
Scout Team honorees for the week were: Aaron Casey and Madison Norris (defense), Justin Berry, Connor Thomas and Bradley Ellis (offense) and Jeremy Boyd (special teams).
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Football coaches don't necessarily like field goals, often with good reason.
Better, instead, to score touchdowns.
But if one must attempt a field goal, it is certainly better to make it.
That's where Logan Justus comes in.
Justus, who came to Indiana as a walk-on from Mt. Vernon in 2015, won the place-kicking job after a spirited preseason competition and has shown why this fall.
The redshirt junior has made 11-of-13 field goal attempts and 23-of-24 extra-point conversions this season – production that has placed Justus among the 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, bequeathed annually
to the nation's top college kicker.
Justus went 3-for-3 on field goals in the first 16 minutes of the Hoosiers most recent game at Minnesota, Oct. 26, before the bye week ensued.
Not bad for a guy with no major Division I offers coming out of high school. But not surprising, either.
Justus had to emerge from a competitive field that included scholarship freshman Charles Campbell (who also kicked very well in fall camp) and kickoff specialist Jared Smolar to claim the job.
And Justus has given the Hoosiers the sort of dependability they got from graduated 2017 Big Ten Kicker of the Year Griffin Oakes.
Oakes proved a fine mentor to Justus.
One of Oakes' main messages was in keeping with the now-famous 1939 motivational poster put out by the British government to help prepare the populace to keep a stiff upper lip during the pending World War:
"Keep calm and carry on."
Justus said Oakes advised that "you can't let your highs get too high or your lows too low. Just stay calm. Just keep doing what you know to do. I learned a lot (from him). What it's like to come from a small school to playing in the bigs… and how every kick is just simple."
When that first field goal attempt came this fall from 36 yards out, helping to seal the opening win at Florida International, the left-footed Justus admitted some anxiousness.
"It was very relieving," he said of seeing the ball split the uprights. "I was waiting for that kick, probably for like three days, to happen. I was ready."
And Justus doesn't mind clutch kicking. He became accustomed to booting game-winning field goals in high school, with the outcome on the line.
"I like being in pressure situations … I know I'm able to stay calm," he said. "You just have to see it as another kick. You can't really think about it a lot. You can't over-think.
"In high school, I had about four game-winning kicks. So I was used to that. And the coaches are great at putting us in those situations (in practice) and adding every little bit of pressure, just so we can get used to that sort of thing, coming down to the end of a game."
Hoosier head coach Tom Allen will bark into his megaphone and hit the siren button, and other coaches and Justus' teammates all contribute to the cacophony during those practice situations.
"That's really loud," Justus said with a smile. "And all the other coaching staff is around, trying to get in your head. That taught me a lot, in terms of just blocking everything out, doing my job, and trusting every other person (on the kicking unit)."
Justus credits his holder and back-up punter Drew Conrad, among others, for helping foster that mutual trust among the unit.
"It's actually very strong," Justus said. "We're a close group. Even though it's competitive, we're still friends and help each other with anything.
"(Conrad) helps a lot. He still helps – in games, making sure I'm relaxed and staying loose. Just talks to me and makes sure I don't over-think."
So Justus just trusts muscle-memory to do its work. And kicks keep sailing through the uprights. That's the result of work done and trust gained.
"It's a true process," he said. "I've done a lot of work and gained a lot of trust. The line and the snapper and the holder – just working on that and creating that trust (meant) a lot. I knew it would show during the season."
It has.
The Brits would like how it has.
REST, REHAB, RESET
When Indiana's game at Minnesota concluded, the Hoosiers finally became the 14th and last Big Ten team to enjoy a bye week this fall.
"Honestly, I kind of forgot about the bye week until it happened," sophomore cornerback Raheem Layne recalled. "Until after the Minnesota game, and the talk was 'Take a week off and take care of your bodies.'
"That was, like, music to my ears. That was good to hear."
The Hoosiers practiced Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday last week, then the players got Thursday through Saturday off while the coaches got in some valuable recruiting time on the road.
The Hoosier players, to a man, appreciated the time off.
"I think just about everybody was banged up, nicked up and stuff," Layne said. "So this week off was great, just to get treatment, get your body right so we could just focus on finishing strong. So it was well needed, really."
Redshirt freshman safety Bryant Fitzgerald (who had an interception and forced a fumble at Minnesota) took advantage of the free Friday to see his high school alma mater, Avon, wax Hendricks Country rival and previously unbeaten Brownsburg.
"Watched my guys beat our rivals, 38-0," Fitzgerald said. "That was a very good feeling, to go back home and see that, and got to spend time with a lot of my family. So that was very beneficial for me.
"Some people got to go home, talk to some family, watch some other teams around the country and get their minds back right. We hit a rough patch here and there, so the time off is definitely beneficial to hit the reset button."
That was needed after four straight losses, including the 38-31 disappointment up in Minneapolis.
"We knew that we needed to win and we probably put too much pressure on ourselves and we weren't successful," quarterback Peyton Ramsey said. " … That was a much-needed bye week.
"Sometimes I don't really think people understand that going nine in a row is a lot harder than what you really realize. So that was a much needed bye week for us. The guys came back in with a good mindset this morning.
"I think it's encouraging. I think guys are really understanding what's at stake for us. It could go one of two ways. I think we're moving in a positive direction. I think the mindset throughout the team is really, really good and I'm really pleased with that."
PLAYERS ARE FANS, TOO
Peyton Ramsey is a quarterback and a football coach's son. So there wasn't much doubt how he was going to spend two straight Saturday's off (following the Friday night game at Minnesota and through the bye week).
Ramsey watched college football on TV.
"Not only Big Ten games, but I think when you play on a Friday, you have the opportunity to watch a lot of teams you haven't gotten to see throughout the country," Ramsey said. "It was cool to be able to sit down and
take a deep breath and watch football and enjoy it on a Saturday, because that's what we grew up loving.
"Sometimes you don't get the opportunity to watch it as much as you'd like to in the season. So it was cool the last two Saturdays just to be able to watch college football. Obviously, I did watch the Big Ten games. I watched the Penn State-Michigan game, then it was Purdue-Iowa. Watched Notre Dame-Northwestern, then LSU-Bama were the four I watched the most on Saturday."
And now it is a refreshed Ramsey back at practice among refreshed teammates. True freshman Reese Taylor, now the back-up quarterback after the season-ending knee injury Oct. 20 to classmate Michael Penix Jr., got a lot of reps at that spot.
"I think the guys up front and a lot of those receivers, we got to rest them, and allow Reese to get all the quarterback snaps," IU offensive coordinator Mike DeBord said. "That rest helped Peyton.
"You know, it's been a long grind. We've had nine weeks of games, and then you add training camp to that, so this rest was needed for some of those guys. And I really think it benefited us."
REESE PIECES
Reese Taylor came into fall camp as a do-it-all talent, but with experience at quarterback, having led Indianapolis Ben Davis to an unbeaten season and Class 6A state title last year.
But Taylor played mostly receiver and defensive back before the Penix injury.
"Reese Taylor got a lot of reps at quarterback," Coach Allen affirmed about the bye week. "That was extremely important for us to give a chance to rest Peyton and get his body healed up, let him rest his arm, rest everything. We really saw Reese get a lot of work in during those three practices."
Allen was non-committal about shifting Taylor solely to quarterback for now, however.
"That's kind of the tough balance," Allen said. "We're still going to use him on offense, yes. You play that game with that. Still one of our more explosive guys that you want to get involved."
But when the Hoosiers do use Taylor at QB, now, he'll be more ready.
"Well, it helped him a lot, with several things," DeBord said of Taylor and the bye week. "Number one, just being able to do more things with him now. We were able to add more plays for him to execute and put more into his package. So it was really beneficial for him – executing them, as well as doing more things."
Ramsey took note.
"I think his confidence is raising, for sure," Ramsey said of Taylor. "When he came in, it's hard to not play QB in college football for eight, nine weeks and then just be thrown into a college offense.
"He's doing a great job of letting the game come to him and understanding a lot more. He's working really hard. (He brings) his athleticism, obviously. He's so quick and shifty. When defenses have to account for him when he has the ball in his hands, it's really hard to do. He's doing a really good job."
Ramsey said the same of Penix, who has had to deal with all the ramifications of a torn ACL.
"His spirits are high," Ramsey said of Penix. "Every time I see him, we're not really talking about football or anything, we're just joking around with each other. He's got a smile on his face, so he's doing a good job with it."
TREAT YOUR FEET
Stevie Scott's talented feet have covered 791 yards in 159 carries this fall (both figures second nationally among true freshmen, and forging a nifty 5.0 average). And they have taken him into the end zone seven times rushing and once receiving.
So when he came to meet the media Monday, Scott was pampering them. They were encased in a fine set of moccasins.
"Yeah, that's what we do a lot where I'm from," the Syracuse, N.Y., native said with a grin.
As with his teammates, Scott appreciated and enjoyed the bye week.
"It definitely felt good having time off, just letting us recuperate and letting our bodies heal," he said, "and to keep striving, keep thinking positive, keep trying to finish the season strong.
"It's just giving us more time to spend time with each other, even though we do on the field, but off the field also. Building that chemistry to help us stay focused and keep pushing forward and just keeping a positive mindset. Once we start thinking negative, that's when things start falling apart. As long we keep thinking about that, things will be fine."
IU's coaches emphasized rest and recuperation. So did Scott's father.
"Our coaches always stress to us, take care of our bodies," Scott said. "Also, my dad (Stevie), because he always tells me that a body is like a car. You have to take care of it (or it) breaks down. That's how I look at things."
Hence the moccasins?
"Got to keep your feet warm," he said, "once it gets a little cold out there."
ONCE. BUT NOT TWICE.
Scott had a solid performance at Minnesota, gaining 96 yards on 18 carries and scoring the tying TD for the Hoosiers in the fourth quarter.
But blitzing Minnesota linebacker Blake Cashman came unblocked to stop Scott and IU from converting a crucial 3rd-and-1 late.
And it was a harsh lesson in execution, or lack thereof.
"Not to put blame on anybody or anything, but it was just basically a combination block that we had executed earlier," DeBord noted. "We executed the same play against the same blitz (earlier). And we gashed them on it.
"Again, we have to execute that particular combination block."
Allen also held the play up as an example of how winning teams have to execute at critical moments.
"You got to be able to execute in those key times," Allen said. "You got to be able to finish plays, make plays, create separation on offense, (catch) contested balls -- need to focus on that, the details, the little things.
"Even that last play, the 3rd-and-one play, go back to that and reflect. They ran a blitz before, the guys picked it up, got a good gain. That time we didn't. Difference between picking it up, being a big gain, or not converting at all. That continues to need to be a focus."
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Scott was named IU's Offensive Player of the Game, with Fitzgerald cited as Defensive Player of the Game and Justus getting the nod for Special Teams.
Scout Team honorees for the week were: Aaron Casey and Madison Norris (defense), Justin Berry, Connor Thomas and Bradley Ellis (offense) and Jeremy Boyd (special teams).
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
DB
/ Football
K
/ Football
LB
/ Football
P
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DB
/ Football
K
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
K
/ Football
QB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
K
/ Football
ATH
/ Football
RB
/ FootballFB: Elijah Sarratt - MSU Postgame Press Conference (10/18/25)
Saturday, October 18
FB: Fernando Mendoza - MSU Postgame Press Conference (10/18/25)
Saturday, October 18
FB: Omar Cooper Jr. - MSU Postgame Press Conference (10/18/25)
Saturday, October 18
FB: Aiden Fisher - MSU Postgame Press Conference (10/18/25)
Saturday, October 18