Game Wrap and Reaction: Indiana 52 Eastern Illinois 0

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Opponent: Eastern Illinois Panthers

Location: Saturday September 7th, 2019 Bloomington, Indiana

Why They Played: The Hoosiers and the Panthers played for the first time in their history as part of the 2019 IU non-conference schedule.

What The Game Meant: This was a tune up game for the Hoosiers before they take on the Ohio State Buckeyes next week. The Hoosiers

Top Offensive Performers:

Michael Penix and Peyton Ramsey, QBs, Indiana- Michael Penix and Peyton Ramsey combined to complete 27-of-34 passes for 423 yards and four touchdowns. Penix was 14-of-20 for 197 yards and two scores and did not play the final two quarters as Tom Allen chose to give Ramsey playing time ahead of Indiana’s noon match up against Ohio State next week. Ramsey finished a nearly perfect 13-of-14 for 226 yards and two scores.

Donavan Hale, WR, Indiana- After a quiet performance in week one, Hale had a career-high 110 yards on five receptions.

Whop Philyor, WR, Indiana- Philyor had an electric day receiving that included a well-balanced tackle breaking run after catch and a drive grab. He finished with four catches for 75 yards.

Top Defensive Performers

James Head Jr, DL, Indiana- Head led a group of defensive linemen who pressured EIU all day. Head was one of four players to lead the team in tackles, with four (IU played many players). Head also had one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.

DeMarcus Elliott, DL, Indiana-Elliott also had four tackles including a sack. Elliott was a junior college transfer who has now become an impact player along the defensive line.

Alfred Bryant, DL, Indiana- Bryant set the tone early recording two tackles for a loss on the first two EIU plays from scrimmage.

Special Team Performance

It was a mistake free performance on special teams that saw the Hoosiers block a punt and forced EIU into many short punts. The Panthers netted just 30.4 yards per punt. EIU also didn’t kick it to David Ellis on their only attempt and it resulted in a short kick that was returned 14 yards to the 31-yard line by Ahrod Lloyd.

Logan Justus had six extra points on the day before giving way to redshirt freshman Charles Campbell. Campbell scored his first career point on the PAT after IU’s seventh touchdown and kicked his first career field goal, a 48-yarder, late in the fourth quarter.

IU solved their kickoff issues as well as Nathanael Snyder kicked off six times with two touchbacks and Jared Smolar had three touchbacks in three attempts. Punter Haydon Whitehead was solid again averaging 41.3 yards on three punts and pinning EIU inside their own 20-yard line twice. Indiana head coach Tom Allen has been very vocal about rest player’s legs and his use of four kickers Saturday showed him carrying out that plan.

​Key Stat(s)

555 to 116

The Hoosiers dominated this matchup and put up 555 yards of total offense while the Panthers only mustered 116 yards.

Turning Point

The turning point of the game happened on IU’s first drive when Michael Penix hit Peyton Hendershot for 15 yards on second-and-16. The drive looked like it may stall out after a 15-yard penalty for an illegal block by Stevie Scott III.

I Knew it Was Over When…

Eastern Illinois first drive was a three-and-out that netted negative six yards.

Players of the Game

Indiana Quarterbacks- All three scholarship quarterbacks received snaps in the blow out win. The completed 30-of-41 passes for 441 yards and four touchdowns. They spread the ball around to 12 different pass catchers.

Josh Delgado, Punter, EIU- For a team that surrendered 52 points and had an offense that picked up just 116 yards, the player of the game may be the punter Josh Delgado. He wasn’t even that great either, averaging just 35.4 yards per punt.

What I took away from the game

This was a dominating, record-setting (largest margin of victory at Memorial Stadium) win for the Hoosiers. They did what they needed to do. While people will say it’s only Eastern Illinois, the Hoosiers needed a confidence booster as they open Big Ten play against Ohio State next week. Good teams do what they need to do against weaker opponents and we’ll see where this Hoosier team stacks up against the Big Ten’s best next week. But for now, enjoy the 52-0 win. The Hoosiers put a lot of good things on tape, something head coach Tom Allen was stressing in his pregame speech.

Seven different Hoosiers scored touchdowns, 12 players caught passes and 11 players carried the ball at least once. At the very least, IU has now become more of a pain to prepare for. There are still things on offense they need to clean up. Once again points were left on the field because of dropped passes and early penalties made drives harder than they should have been and the run game struggled. However, the Hoosiers are building depth and getting young players reps that will hopefully pay off in October and November.