2019 Indiana Football Season Offensive Recap
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Peyton Ramsey led the Hoosiers in passing in 2019 Image: Amanda Pavelka Hoosier Huddle
Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
Hoosier Huddle’s final installment of our season recaps highlights the offensive side of the ball. The Hoosiers offense was much improved in 2019 and will have many of the impact players back for 2020.
Statistics
Preseason Recap
Heading into the 2019 season the Hoosier offense was under the direction of new offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer. His mission was a simple one, make the Indiana offense more potent after the Hoosiers lacked explosiveness and left too many points on the field.
The Hoosiers also had a quarterback battle on their hands as Michael Penix was back healthy and ready to compete for the starting spot in fall camp. It was a job he would eventually win, but would not hang on to due to injuries that knocked him out of the season in Week Nine.
Outside of the quarterback battle, everything was basically set in stone. Running back Stevie Scott III was back after a 1,000-yard season, the receiving corps returned most of its talent from 2018 and the offensive line looked to be a veteran strength. The Hoosiers were set up to have a pretty darn good offense.
2019 Season Recap
Had someone told fans that senior offensive lineman Coy Cronk would only play in four games, that Michael Penix would play only in parts of six games and time would be missed by both Donavan Hale and Stevie Scott, they would say that eight wins was a minor miracle for the Hoosiers.
The Hoosier backups stepped up in a major way in 2019, led by quarterback Peyton Ramsey, who show toughness and guts leading the Hoosiers to their best season in decades. True freshman Matthew Bedford stepped into Coy Cronk’s role and performed beautifully while also giving the Hoosiers a young foundation to build the line around over the next couple of seasons. Sampson James replaced Scott in the game at Purdue as well as the bowl and gave Hoosier fans a glimpse of what was to come.
Overall, the 2019 season was a success for the Indiana offense. The Hoosiers finished fifth in scoring offense (31.8 ppg), second in passing (302.4 ypg) and third in total offense (432.8 ypg). The mission was to make the offense more explosive as well. The Hoosiers were ninth in plays of 20-plus yards in 2018 with 53. Offensive Coordinator Kalen DeBoer helped the Hoosiers climb to fourth in the Big Ten in 20-plus yard plays with 71. IU also climbed from 11th in red zone efficiency in 2018 to seventh in 2019. Mission accomplished.
There were some holes in the Indiana offense however. The running game was not what it was in 2018 as the Hoosiers struggled to run the ball consistently for most of the season. While the passing game picked up the slack, the lack of a consistent running game just made it that more difficult for IU to close out some games.
2020 Season Expectations
The Hoosiers have tabbed Nick Sheridan to take over for Kalen DeBoer who is now heading up the Fresno State program. The hire was greeted with mix emotions from the IU fan base, but is one of the bright young coaches in the sport and those in the business rave about him. The Hoosiers will also have to replace Simon Stepaniak, Hunter Littlejohn and Coy Cronk along the offensive line. There is some young talent being joined by some veteran transfers, but it will be an area of concern heading into the season. The Hoosiers can still bring in some immediate help if they need to for 2020.
The expectation for Indiana is to not revert back to their offensive ways of 2018, where they were not dynamic enough to be the strength of the team. Quarterbacks Michael Penix, Peyton Ramsey and Jack Tuttle are all returning as of publication, so the Hoosiers have depth and talent at the quarterback position. They key in 2020 will be to keep Penix healthy and see what he can do with a full-season while Tuttle will have another full spring and fall practice to hone his skills.
The receiving group should still be very good despite the losses of Nick Westbrook and Donavan Hale. 1,000-yard receiver Whop Philyor returns and 2019 was a breakout season for Ty Fryfogle, who may be the Hoosiers best receiver. Tight end Peyton Hendershot will also return after setting single-season records for the most catches and yards by a tight end. The Hoosiers will also get Jacolby Hewitt back from injury and try and find more ways to use David Ellis who showed flashes of how explosive he could be in 2019. Four-star freshman Rashawan Williams and redshirt freshman Jordan Jakes could also work their way in to the mix.
The struggles for the running game in 2019 was not due to a lack of talent. The Hoosiers have a very capable running back room and all of them return for 2020. Stevie Scott missed back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons by 155 yards as he missed the last two games due to injury. Sampson James will look to build upon a sophomore season that should what he can be capable of and Ronnie Walker, who was used mainly on third downs. Walker will need to be more productive in 2020, but his touches were very limited last season.
All in all, the Hoosiers offense has the pieces to at the very least duplicate what they did in 2019, if not improve.
Highlights
Indiana’s Win at Purdue
Donavan Hale “Mosses” a Northwestern Defender
Peyton Ramsey TD pass to Ty Fryfogle at Nebraska
Nick Westbrook’s Diving TD catch against Maryland
Michael Penix hits Donavan Hale for the Touchdown at Maryland
Michael Penix’s 20-straight Completions against Michigan State
Donavan Hale’s Touchdown pass to Peyton Hendershot against Ohio State
Ronnie Walker takes it the distance against Eastern Illinois