An Early Look at What Indiana Football has Ahead of Them in the 2020 Season

Stevie Scott breaks through a hole against Eastern Illinois Image: Amanda Pavelka Hoosier Huddle

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

After a heartbreaking and supremely frustrating end to the 2019 season, fans of the Indiana Hoosiers could be forgiven for not wanting to think about college football for a few months. However, it is important to put the loss in context and realize the season was still an unqualified success and Tom Allen’s program still has a lot to look forward as we turn attention to the future of the program. Indiana won eight games in the regular season and had a winning record in the Big Ten for the first time since 1993. They return most of the pieces from this season and appear to have a schedule conducive to building on the momentum they earned this past season.

Coaching

The coaching staff will look different in 2020 as offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer took the head coaching position at Fresno State and took William Inge with him to be his defensive coordinator. Tom Allen promoted Nick Sheridan to offensive coordinator, which should minimize the changes to the successful offensive system currently in place. Kane Wommack will have another year of experience under his belt at defensive coordinator but this is now the youngest coordinator duo in major college football so some growing pains could be endured.

The Hoosiers are also hiring Kevin Wright to take over the tight ends group, Jason Jones to coach safeties and moving Kasey Teegardin to special teams coordinator.

Offense

If you would have told any IU fan that Michael Penix Jr. would miss several games, Coy Cronk would miss the majority of the season and a list including Whop Philyor, Donavan Hale, Simon Stepaniak and others would miss multiple games, I imagine that fan would have had grave concerns about IU’s ability to score. However, despite those issues, Kalen DeBoer’s offense did a nice job of producing a quality attack that helped IU to eight wins. Nick Westbrook, Donavan Hale, Simon Stepaniak and Hunter Littlejohn have exhausted their eligibility and Coy Cronk has entered the transfer portal (he could still return) but IU returns a majority of the production they had in 2019. Peyton Ramsey, Michael Penix and Jack Tuttle will compete for the starting quarterback position unless one or more of them exits. Stevie Scott and Sampson James will head the running back group. Peyton Hendershot and Matt Bjorson are both back at tight end. Whop Philyor and Ty Fryfogle should be the top two targets at wide receiver and tackles Matt Bedford and Caleb Jones return to anchor the line. This article is about the future though so who could be stepping into a bigger role or what new faces could help IU try to put together another successful season?

-Dylan Powell- offensive guard/center – A grad transfer from Stanford, Powell is expected to compete for a starting position on the interior of the offensive line. The Hoosiers needed to add quality and depth to the line and Powell could be a very nice addition. I think he’ll end up starting at right guard.

-David Ellis – wide receiver – Ellis will be a sophomore in 2020 and coming off a season with sixteen catches. He averaged 10.8 yards per catch but flashed his quickness on multiple occasions. IU desperately needs to develop another twitchy playmaker at receiver to help take pressure off Whop Philyor. Too often in 2019, opponents were able to take Philyor out of the game (or he was out with an injury) and IU’s offense lacked explosiveness without him. Ellis seems like the most likely candidate to step up.

Other names to know moving to 2020: Tim Baldwin (RB), Rashawn Williams (WR), Miles Marshall (WR), Gary Cooper (TE).

Defense

IU’s defense was a bit feast or famine in 2019. They were dominant against weak opposition (Eastern Illinois, UConn, Rutgers and Northwestern) but struggled mightily against teams like Nebraska, Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan. While that’s far from surprising, IU’s inability to get key stops against Michigan State and a lack of success against good offenses were frustrating. The good news? IU showed good things against Tennessee in the Gator Bowl and they bring back nearly every contributor for the 2020 season. The Hoosiers lose one defender at each level: Reakwon Jones, Allen Stallings and Khalil Bryant. There are several reasons to believe the Indiana defense should be able to take a step forward in 2020 thanks to most of the contributors returning and some of the names below that are ready to step into starring or bigger roles:

-Demarjhe Lewis – DL – Lewis is one of the top prospects in the 2020 signing class and he is enrolling in the spring to get a jumpstart on being ready for the 2020 season. He has a college-ready body and could step into a role as a disruptive interior defensive lineman as early as the coming season. IU needs more playmakers on the defensive line and Lewis could be what the Hoosiers have been looking for.

-Reece Taylor – DB – Taylor is entering his junior season and I truly believe he is now ready to shine. Taylor does not have a lot of cornerback experience but he began to get a grasp on the position as the season went on and by the end, he was seeing a lot of reps at the second defensive back (opposite of star Tiawan Mullen). I think the former Mr. Football in Indiana will be ready to seize the starting position and help solidify the IU secondary.

Other names to consider: Beau Robbins (DL), Josh Sanguinetti (DB), Cam Williams (LB/Husky)

Schedule

A huge part of how successful a season can be is based on who you play. The Hoosiers begin the 2020 season with a very tough trip on a Friday night to Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. The defending Big Ten West champions lose Jonathan Taylor and a number of stars to the NFL but you can bet IU will be a large underdog in the season opener on September 4. The non-conference schedule sets up nicely for IU as they host Western Kentucky (a bowl team in 2019) and Ball State before traveling to Connecticut. IU then gets an open week and hosts Maryland on October 10. The remaining Big Ten home games are Michigan State, Penn State, Illinois and Purdue. The B1G road games (besides Wisconsin) are Rutgers, Ohio State and Michigan. Without knowing who is coming back what those teams will look like, you have to like IU to beat Maryland at home and knock off Rutgers. Toss-up games would include Michigan State, Illinois and Purdue and hosting Penn State gives you an opportunity to knock off the Nittany Lions. At first glance, another eight-win season does not seem too far-fetched.

The Gator Bowl loss was a bitter pill to swallow but it does not erase the progress the Indiana football program has made under Tom Allen. Games are played on the field and as this season showed, the margin between success and failure is a razor-thin one, but the near future looks to a bright one as Indiana tries to establish itself as a consistent bowl program and tries to climb the ladder in the Big Ten.