Indiana University Athletics
Making ‘Em Sweat – Fryfogle's New Receiving Gold Standard
11/25/2020 9:02:00 AM | Football
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Did you see this coming from Ty Fryfogle?
Did anyone?
For three years this Mississippi native was a good, but not great Indiana receiver, an outside-the-limelight performer behind the more heralded Nick Westbrook, Donavan Hale and Whop Philyor. Opposing defensive coordinators didn't sweat worrying about how to stop him.
They do now.
James Hardy, Courtney Roby, Thomas Lewis, Shane Wynn, Tandon Doss, Cody Latimer and Simmie Cobbs Jr. are among the Hoosier gold-standard receivers from years gone by.
Now comes the 6-2, 214-pound Fryfogle, whose unprecedented three-game run has generated national acclaim.
"This was always the goal," he says. "To get to a point like this where I can play the best of my game."
Fryfogle made just one catch for 13 yards his freshman year. As a sophomore, it was 29 catches for 381 yards and three touchdowns.
Last year, he had 45 catches for 604 yards and three TDs while playing in the shadows of Philyor (70 catches, 1,002 yards, 4 touchdowns) and Peyton Hendershot (52, 622, 4).
Shadows have given way to spotlight.
"It has taken time and getting better every year," he says. "You have to take it day by day. I feel I'm playing at the top of my game, but I need to keep going and get better every day."
Last Saturday, Fryfogle burned Ohio State's best cornerback, Shaun Wade, a future NFL player, for seven catches, 218 yards and three touchdowns.
He likely will face the best cornerback from Maryland (2-1) on Saturday, then Wisconsin, then Purdue and then whichever team the Hoosiers will play in the Big Ten season finale.
Oh, and don't forget the double teams.
"He is making more of the 50-50 catches," receivers coach Grant Heard says. "He is so confident right now, that wherever the ball is, he believes he can make a play."
Fryfogle has won the last two Big Ten Offensive-Player-of-the-Week awards, and it could have been three. In the last three games, he has 25 catches for 560 yards and six touchdowns.
No Hoosier receiver has ever had so many receiving yards in a three-game span, and the six TDs in that stretch have only been surpassed once, by Hardy with eight in 2007.
This has come against Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State.
Beyond that, Fryfogle has made the Biletnikoff Award Watch List. That award goes annually to the nation's best receiver. He leads IU in catches (31), yards (a Big-Ten-best 642) and touchdowns (7). He's also the first Big Ten receiver to ever have consecutive 200-yard receiving games.
"It is exciting to see my work being noticed," he says, "but I still have to keep working and get better. None of that matters after the week is over. You have a new week and you have to move on and get better."
Fryfogle grew up in SEC country, earning all-state honors at Mississippi's George County High School while setting multiple school records. He was almost unstoppable in his last two seasons, catching 89 passes for 1,432 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior, and 52 catches for 952 yards and 10 TDs as a junior.
He also played basketball.
"All we do in Mississippi is play sports, mostly football," Fryfogle says. "My favorite team was the New Orleans Saints because I was an hour from there. (Quarterback) Drew Brees is there, and has been really good."
Meanwhile, Miles Marshall is another receiver having a break-through season. The redshirt sophomore has 15 catches for 218 yards and one touchdown after totaling four catches for 89 yards, including a 68-yard reception, against Ohio State.
That basically surpasses what he did last year in 13 games -- 16 catches, 196 yards, one TD.
"I'm working on getting better every day, and on the little things," he says. "I'm getting a lot more opportunities with Nick Westbrook and Donavan Hale not being here. I'm trying to make the most of those opportunities."
Being in sync with quarterback Michael Penix Jr. helps.
"Coach Heard always gets on us in practice about running deep routes and not stopping because we don't know if he is going to throw it," Marshall says. "We have to speed up and get it.
"I always keep my head on a swivel. The arm angle he has is amazing."
The No. 12 Hoosiers (4-1) will try to bounce back from their first loss of the season. Linebacker Micah McFadden will play a big role in that.
In fact, he already has.
"I communicated with the linebackers that it's on our shoulders to get everybody in position for this team to be successful," he says.
"We need to communicate with each other and tell somebody when he is doing something wrong, and pat him on the back when he's doing something right.
"We have to continue to be the leaders and make sure everybody is locked in and getting better."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Did you see this coming from Ty Fryfogle?
Did anyone?
For three years this Mississippi native was a good, but not great Indiana receiver, an outside-the-limelight performer behind the more heralded Nick Westbrook, Donavan Hale and Whop Philyor. Opposing defensive coordinators didn't sweat worrying about how to stop him.
They do now.
James Hardy, Courtney Roby, Thomas Lewis, Shane Wynn, Tandon Doss, Cody Latimer and Simmie Cobbs Jr. are among the Hoosier gold-standard receivers from years gone by.
Now comes the 6-2, 214-pound Fryfogle, whose unprecedented three-game run has generated national acclaim.
"This was always the goal," he says. "To get to a point like this where I can play the best of my game."
Fryfogle made just one catch for 13 yards his freshman year. As a sophomore, it was 29 catches for 381 yards and three touchdowns.
Last year, he had 45 catches for 604 yards and three TDs while playing in the shadows of Philyor (70 catches, 1,002 yards, 4 touchdowns) and Peyton Hendershot (52, 622, 4).
Shadows have given way to spotlight.
"It has taken time and getting better every year," he says. "You have to take it day by day. I feel I'm playing at the top of my game, but I need to keep going and get better every day."
Last Saturday, Fryfogle burned Ohio State's best cornerback, Shaun Wade, a future NFL player, for seven catches, 218 yards and three touchdowns.
He likely will face the best cornerback from Maryland (2-1) on Saturday, then Wisconsin, then Purdue and then whichever team the Hoosiers will play in the Big Ten season finale.
Oh, and don't forget the double teams.
"He is making more of the 50-50 catches," receivers coach Grant Heard says. "He is so confident right now, that wherever the ball is, he believes he can make a play."
Fryfogle has won the last two Big Ten Offensive-Player-of-the-Week awards, and it could have been three. In the last three games, he has 25 catches for 560 yards and six touchdowns.
No Hoosier receiver has ever had so many receiving yards in a three-game span, and the six TDs in that stretch have only been surpassed once, by Hardy with eight in 2007.
This has come against Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State.
Beyond that, Fryfogle has made the Biletnikoff Award Watch List. That award goes annually to the nation's best receiver. He leads IU in catches (31), yards (a Big-Ten-best 642) and touchdowns (7). He's also the first Big Ten receiver to ever have consecutive 200-yard receiving games.
"It is exciting to see my work being noticed," he says, "but I still have to keep working and get better. None of that matters after the week is over. You have a new week and you have to move on and get better."
Fryfogle grew up in SEC country, earning all-state honors at Mississippi's George County High School while setting multiple school records. He was almost unstoppable in his last two seasons, catching 89 passes for 1,432 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior, and 52 catches for 952 yards and 10 TDs as a junior.
He also played basketball.
"All we do in Mississippi is play sports, mostly football," Fryfogle says. "My favorite team was the New Orleans Saints because I was an hour from there. (Quarterback) Drew Brees is there, and has been really good."
Meanwhile, Miles Marshall is another receiver having a break-through season. The redshirt sophomore has 15 catches for 218 yards and one touchdown after totaling four catches for 89 yards, including a 68-yard reception, against Ohio State.
That basically surpasses what he did last year in 13 games -- 16 catches, 196 yards, one TD.
"I'm working on getting better every day, and on the little things," he says. "I'm getting a lot more opportunities with Nick Westbrook and Donavan Hale not being here. I'm trying to make the most of those opportunities."
Being in sync with quarterback Michael Penix Jr. helps.
"Coach Heard always gets on us in practice about running deep routes and not stopping because we don't know if he is going to throw it," Marshall says. "We have to speed up and get it.
"I always keep my head on a swivel. The arm angle he has is amazing."
The No. 12 Hoosiers (4-1) will try to bounce back from their first loss of the season. Linebacker Micah McFadden will play a big role in that.
In fact, he already has.
"I communicated with the linebackers that it's on our shoulders to get everybody in position for this team to be successful," he says.
"We need to communicate with each other and tell somebody when he is doing something wrong, and pat him on the back when he's doing something right.
"We have to continue to be the leaders and make sure everybody is locked in and getting better."
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