Indiana University Athletics
Home Game for Twenty-Three Hoosiers
8/31/2018 7:19:00 PM | Football
By: Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Perhaps Indiana football coach Tom Allen has connections upstairs.
Because when 2018's initial game week arrived in Bloomington, Mother Nature complied to supply some Florida-style weather to help get Allen's Hoosiers acclimated to what they'll likely find Saturday in Miami.
"It was warm during the mock game, started getting warmer," Allen said Monday about last Saturday night's dress rehearsal for the opener at Florida International. "Has the Florida feel to it out there right now.
"We need as much heat as we can get. It's definitely here. It's very important. You can't simulate that. You can talk about it, do different things. I lived down there for many, many years. We have a big chunk of our players from the south. They'll be ready for that part."
Indeed, 14 of the players listed in the 50-man depth chart IU released for this week's game hail from the Sunshine State and, overall, the Hoosiers have 23 Floridians on their roster.
"It's like a homecoming," said redshirt junior wideout Nick Westbrook, who hails from Lake Mary, just northeast of Orlando. "I've got a bunch of people coming out to the game."
And, as with most of the Floridians, Westbrook is looking to expand the customary ticket allotment per player.
"We normally get just four. From there we can trade among players," Westbrook said, before adding with mock exasperation: "Unfortunately, a lot of the Indiana-based guys are using their tickets because their families are flying down and using it as a vacation! I'm kind of upset! They get seven home games for their families to go to!
"It's all right. We'll figure it out. Everybody is excited. Because we have so many Florida guys on our team now. Bunch of guys from Tampa, which is south Florida, right by there. And just all over the state. And everybody is excited for our families to come out and see us play."
Hoosier head coach Tom Allen was defensive coordinator at Tampa's University of South Florida before coming back home again to Indiana.
Allen's son Thomas, now a redshirt freshman linebacker at IU, graduated from Tampa's Plant High School. So did Indiana sophomore wideout Whop Philyor, redshirt freshman safety Juwan Burgess and true freshman linebacker Micah McFadden.
True freshman linebacker James Miller is from Plant rival Brandon Armwood. True freshman quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and true freshman defensive lineman Jonathan King hail from Tampa Bay Tech. Senior safety Jonathan Crawford and redshirt junior wideout Donavan Hale are both from Largo and redshirt freshman defensive lineman Tramar Reece is also from a Tampa-area school, Clearwater.
"Well, that has been a huge area for us in recruiting," Allen affirmed, "and an area that I'm very familiar with as both a high school coach down there in the past, and also at the University of South Florida with Coach (Willie) Taggart."
IU's Miami area players – such as graduate transfer center-guard Nick Linder, defensive end James Head Jr., defensive back Noah Pierre and running back Craig Nelson – were doubtlessly swamped with ticket requests for Saturday.
Crawford, a crucial leader and All-Big Ten candidate at safety, has joined them in ticket-hunting mode.
"There are people asking for a Iot of tickets," Crawford confirmed. "People are still asking. I need some myself. I might have to tell them to buy some.
"Marcelino Ball is from Georgia and he's asking for eight. So … it's going to be crazy."
Crawford said the Floridians will share more than a paucity of tickets and state pride.
"There is a lot of pride in Florida and down-south teams, in general," he said, "and we take a lot of pride being from the Big Ten.
"This is my last year. Just being able to play in Florida one last time is good, and to (do so) as a member of the Big Ten … especially since we're so far away, when I first came here, I never expected to play a game in Florida, honestly. I'm excited to go back home and represent the people I played with and for in high school – my parents, family and friends. That's always going to be a positive."
Westbrook saw action as a true freshman against FIU in 2015 and has fond memories of the Hoosiers' 34-13 win at FIU in 2016. But he missed all but the first play of the 2017 to injury and is happy to be back, and returning to old stomping grounds full-go healthy.
"Yeah, it was definitely good to get that first-time, in-game experience," Westbrook recalled. "I played a little bit as a freshman … getting that experience helped propel me to having a pretty good season two years ago. So, hopefully, going back to the same place will have the same effect this year."
Westbrook started getting that Florida vibe even before fall camp formally began, during IU's annual picture day.
"When we were doing picture day, we did it by states, and it was funny – I think this was the first time the Florida picture was bigger than the guys from Indiana," Westbrook said. "So we've got a huge Florida base here."
Westbrook wasn't precisely correct. Indiana, counting walk-ons, has 35 in-state players on its current roster.
But Westbrook isn't going to back down when it comes to the caliber of prep football played in Florida and the quality prospects it produces.
"There's definitely a little bit of rivalry (between all the states represented on the team)," Westbrook said. "Everybody says who has the best high school football, the best athletes.
"But, uh, you know, definitely Florida wins that battle."
TEAM TAMPA
Players such as Crawford and Philyor are already established Hoosier standouts. But Allen was asked during Tuesday's weekly Big Ten Teleconference to gauge the most recent Tampa products arriving in Bloomington:
"Really encouraged by the guys that we have on our team and the way they've developed," Allen replied. "Michael Penix kind of sticks out in regards to one of the freshmen that has come in here…he came in here mid-year from Tampa Bay Tech and really has tremendous poise and maturity for a kid his age. He throws the ball extremely well, and he's very athletic. So excited for him and what he brings to our team.
"I tell you a guy that has maybe been a little bit of a pleasant surprise is Micah McFadden from Plant High School. He's a guy that as we really got into fall camp wasn't really sure what his role would be, but he started showing up on special teams, and then making plays at linebacker. So now he's in the mix and he's going to play on Saturday night. He is kind of the next linebacker in after we get the Mike and Stinger position, which is our middle backer and weak-side backer. So he's really kind of been a pleasant surprise.
"James Miller has done well. He's big and physical and he's real savvy. He's one of those guys that plays extremely well when it gets live. Tramar Reece is another one, out of Clearwater High School, that has really kind of come on. He's gained a lot of weight this offseason and is going to be in the rotation on the defensive line. So really excited. And there are several other guys that are here with us, but those kind of are the ones that jump out to me."
BIG TEX. BIG HAT.
Westbrook exhibits proper Floridian pride, but has nothing on Texas roommate and fellow wideout Luke Timian in that regard.
"He actually put a Texas flag up in our apartment, a huge Texas flag up on the wall," Westbrook said of Timian. "He'll try to intimidate me – wear his big Texas hat, big 10-gallon hat – when we play Mortal Combat or some fighting game.
"So he walks in the room with his big Texas hat. He tries to intimidate me. It doesn't work."
But Timian's teammates are starting to think his self-proclaimed "Big Tex" nickname seems to work, actual physical size (6-foot-0, 195 pounds) notwithstanding.
"Yeah, it has been," Timian replied when asked if the nickname was well received. "I've been pleasantly surprised, for sure. Kind of went out on a limb there and I guess I just got lucky with it sticking."
Timian came clean as to the nickname's origin. When asked if he invented it, he replied. "Yeah, pretty much. I'm not even gonna lie … I think it kind of started as a joke, but it stuck."
Presented the Stetson hat during fall camp by his team, Timian is transporting those items to Miami in hopes of a "W."
"If we get a 'dub,'" he said, "I'm definitely going to wear it on the ride home."
CATCHING ON
IU redshirt sophomore quarterback Peyton Ramsey feels Timian's nickname fits because, "He's got a big heart. He plays big."
Timian and Philyor are the leading returning receivers. Westbrook was the leading returnee last year before the injury. Who do the veterans see coming along to augment the receiving corps?
"There have been some young guys (showing well), but a guy that doesn't get talked about a lot is Chris Gajcak," Timian said of the walk-on redshirt junior from Lisle, Ill. "He's not necessarily young, but he hasn't played a lot.
"That kid's been making plays all spring, all summer and all fall camp. He'll get a lot of game action and that's a guy that really comes to mind. Also, not a young guy, but just having J-Shun (Harris II, returning from a third ACL knee injury) back has been huge, just adding depth to the group."
Westbrook echoed Timian regarding Gajcak.
"We're so happy for him and proud of him," Westbrook said of Gajcak "Walk-on. Probably the most improved player I've seen in football. He's stepped up into the two-deep, fighting for a starting position.
"Nobody expected that out of him, but all he did was get better every day, starting his freshman year. Every year a little bit better. A little bit faster. A little bit stronger. And he'd definitely earned that spot in the two-deep."
Westbrook feels Ramsey will have plenty of targets.
"Everyone has stepped up." Westbrook said of the receivers. "Everyone has gotten so much better. Luke (Timian), definitely, has taken that leadership role and I think he's helped everybody get better, overall, every single player. He's demanding a lot out of us.
"Whop was already good last year. I think you'll see a lot out of (sophomore) Ty Fryfogle this year. He's definitely stepped up a lot more. I think he'd kind of in the same process I was my sophomore-freshman year. Now the game has slowed down … everything is flowing easier for him. He's able to play fast. He's not thinking about how he might mess up a play. He knows the offense. So now it's just him making plays, and he's super athletic, super strong. I expect a really big year out of him."
Westbrook has also taken note of redshirt freshman Peyton Hendershot, who has emerged at tight end alongside Austin Dorris, Matt Bjorson and others.
"We call him '24/7,' because he was always open, the whole camp," Westbrook said of Hendershot. "It just came out of nowhere, really. He's really stepped up."
Then there is that other Peyton, the guy doing the throwing. Westbrook sees a much more confident quarterback this fall.
"I feel like, kind of bagged on him for the last year, but that was his freshman year," Westbrook said. "He was a freshman playing in the Big Ten East, starting at quarterback. It came at him so fast.
"Now, he's a great leader. He's definitely taken control of this locker room. Everybody loves him and respects him and trusts him to win us games. Just having that confidence. Just knowing. Watching all the film he can. Letting us know where he wants us on certain routes. That confidence, that bravado, that a quarterback needs."
Ramsey is the son of a coach, an inveterate film-watcher, a student of the game.
"There is a reason why," Westbrook said, "he's named after Peyton Manning."
DEFENSE IN DEPTH
IU "speed specialist" Dr. Matt Rhea, in the wake of a fleet freshman class arriving, has speculated that a talented Hoosier secondary might be as fast, collectively, as any in the nation.
Crawford certainly sees more depth than he's ever seen in an IU secondary.
"Definitely – we're definitely rotating a lot," Crawford said. "In the past, I feel that's kind of been our downfall, not being able to sub a lot. Now that we're deeper, more athletic, faster, it's going to be good."
There were times last fall Crawford basically played every defensive snap, and special teams. That wasn't the case by spring.
"For me, it was just the shock of being taken out – because in the past, I wasn't taken out," Crawford recalled. "Even during the spring, the coaches would sub me, and … I'd just kind of stop (and look at them) … and then I'd run off (laughs).
"But, really, even in the spring, we felt there was a big difference. Just being able to be able to run full-speed every time you're out there – not getting tired, so much, but knowing there is somebody behind you who can pick up the pace."
Were there times during the 2017 season Crawford would have welcomed a substitution?
"Honestly, I never want to come out," he replied with a grin. "So I don't really think that (way). But there were maybe times I was fatigued and maybe I should've been out.
"A lot of times last year, we started (well) but didn't finish. I feel like, having emphasized it (with "finish" the team's slogan for the 2018 season), there is definitely going to be a different feeling about the way we finish."
Marcelino Ball, back from missing much of 2017 to injury, shares Crawford's sentiments about wanting to play every snap, but has taken true freshman acolyte Cam Jones under his wing at the Husky spot this fall – because Ball knows depth is crucial if the Hoosiers want to win games late.
"The main thing I talked about my sophomore year (last fall) was that we needed depth," Ball said. "I like playing the whole game. I don't even care. But in the long run, you know, it's not great to do that.
"I'll play the whole game. But with us rotating out, and with the offense rotating out, it's beneficial for us to do that, and it's going to happen with me, as well. Sometimes … you need that."
And that plays into what Crawford wants to see Saturday night and beyond.
"Finishing the game, first quarter to fourth. Going through just playing physical and fast. Showing that we're a different team."
A deeper team.
And one that has a lot of guys used to playing in the Florida heat.
