Game Wrap and Reaction: Indiana 34 Ball State 24
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Image: Sarah Miller Hoosier Huddle
Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
Opponent: Ball State Cardinals
Location: Saturday August 3sth, 2019 Indianapolis, Indiana
Why They Played: The Hoosiers and Cardinals capped off a three-game series with a neutral site finale.
What The Game Meant: The Hoosiers were looking to start the year off on the right foot. While a 34-24 win looked ugly at times, it was mission accomplished for the Hoosiers as they head into the home opener 1-0.
Top Offensive Performers:
Michael Penix, QB, Indiana- In his first colligate start, the redshirt freshman had an up and down day. Penix completed 24-of-40 passes for 326 yards with a long 75-yard touchdown to Nick Westbrook and ran for 67 yards on just seven carries, but he threw two interceptions and was a victim of many dropped passes. Penix joined Randle El as the only freshman to eclipse 300 passing yards in his first start and is one of just four
freshmen to reach the benchmark.
Nick Westbrook, WR, Indiana- Westbrook had a big day with 103 yards receiving and a long touchdown reception, but it could’ve been bigger if not for a dropped touchdown. It was his sixth 100-yard receiving game of his career.
Whop Philyor, WR, Indiana- Philyor did a little bit of everything for the Hoosier offense on Saturday as he tied for the team lead with six receptions. He had 66 yards receiving, added 22 more on the ground and had an 11-yard punt return. He finished with 99 all-purpose yards. This is the Whop Philyor that IU missed late in the season in 2018.
Drew Plitt, QB, Ball State- Plitt did a nice job of leading the Ball State offense. He finished 26-of-41 for 298 yards and two touchdowns. He gave Ball State a chance with his arm and his legs.
Yo’Heinz Tyler, WR, Ball State- Tyler made three catches for 71 yards including a 36-yard touchdown.
Top Defensive Performers
Jerome Johnson, DL, Indiana- Johnson was IU’s most disruptive player on defense Saturady, building off his solid performance in last year’s finale. He made five total tackles including 1.5 sacks.
Reakwon Jones, LB, Indiana- Jones lead the Hoosiers with 11 total tackles including half a tackle for loss.
Antonio Phillips, DB, Ball State- Phillips had an interception and made eight tackles for the Cardinals.
Bryce Crosby, DB, Ball State-Crosby led Ball State in tackles with nine and broke up a pass. It seemed like he was in on a majority of the big defensive plays Ball State had on Saturday.
Special Team Performance
Outside of two kickoffs that went out of bounds from Nate Snyder, the Hoosiers had a refreshingly excellent day on special teams. Snyder, who earned a scholarship last week, was benched after two of his six kickoffs landed way out of bounds. Last year’s kickoff specialist Jared Smolar relieved him and knocked both of his kickoffs for touchbacks.
Field goal kicker Logan Justus was a perfect four-of-four on field goals and reset his career long three times, finally topping out with a fifty-yard boot to put the Hoosiers up 10 late in the game.
Punter Haydon Whitehead averaged 51.7 yards per punt including a career-long 63-yard boot. Whitehead has been punting straight on this season and showing off his leg strength. He certainly has a chance to be a game changer at the position.
Finally, Indiana may have found their return man in freshman athlete David Ellis. Ellis returned four kickoffs for 104 yards with a long of 33. He was close to breaking a couple of them for even more yards and I would not be shocked to see him take one to the end zone at some point this season.
Key Stat(s)
6.4 to 4.9
The Hoosiers offense was just a bit more explosive than Ball State on Saturday. IU averaged 6.4 yards per play and 13.6 yards per completion on Saturday, while BSU was at 4.9 yards per play.
Turning Point
The turning point of this game came at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second when Indiana went on a 13-0 run starting with a field goal with 3:12 left in the second quarter and ending with a Stevie Scott touchdown run at the 11:53 mark of the third quarter. Indiana had turned a 10-10 ball game into a 23-10 lead and really never looked back.
I Knew it Was Over When…
Logan Justus drilled a career-long 50-yard field goal to put the Hoosiers up 34-24 with 2:15 left in the game. Jaylin Williams would ice it with an interception on Ball State’s next drive.
Players of the Game
Michael Penix, Indiana- Penix provided the spark the Indiana offense needed on Saturday. While he did make his mistakes, as any young quarterback will do, he threw the ball well and ran the read option almost to perfection.
Drew Plitt, Ball State- Plitt is more than capable to lead this offense, he is tough and while he doesn’t have the biggest arm, he gets his receivers the ball.
What I took away from the game
This may not have been the kind of win Indiana fans were expecting, but it’s a win nonetheless. Quarterback Michael Penix flashed what he is capable of doing with his arm and legs, but also showed where he needs to improve.
The most concerning aspects of the offense were an inability to get the run game going, albeit against a stacked box, and the many dropped passes by usually sure-handed receivers. The Hoosiers probably should’ve score more than 40 points. However, it is game one and all of these issues are fixable.
Defensively, the Hoosiers missed too many tackles, were a step slow in the secondary and did not get to the quarterback enough to disrupt the passing game. IU did have three sacks and seven tackles for loss, but only one takeaway. If IU cut their missed tackles in half, they win this game by 20. Another concern is the play of senior Marcelino Ball, who did make 10 tackles, but cost his team 30 yards in penalties, including a personal foul where he flipped a Ball State player over by grabbing his leg.
There was plenty to improve upon for the Hoosiers as they head into their home opener against Eastern Illinois (0-1), but the most important thing is the win. Other teams were not so fortunate this weekend and are scrambling after tough showings.