Indiana is Handing the Offense to Peyton Ramsey at the Perfect Time

Peyton Ramsey is now the driver of the Indiana offense. Image: Sammy Jacobs Hoosier Huddle

Written By Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

There’s a new sheriff in Bloomington and his name is Peyton Ramsey. The redshirt freshman was named Indiana’s starting quarterback going forward Monday by head coach Tom Allen at his weekly press conference in Bloomington.

“Peyton Ramsey is going to be named the starter, as of today. Met with both young men last night, and as you look back at the first four games and where we're at and our ability to move the football and score points and build a team around whoever I feel gives us the best opportunity to have success on game day. And I feel like and our staff feels like that Peyton Ramsey is the person for that responsibility. And so he's going to be our starting quarterback.”

Ramsey replaces senior Richard Lagow who had started the previous 17 games (13 in 2016 and 4 in 2017) for the Hoosiers in which he went 8-9 while throwing for 4,023 yards, 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions while completing 311-of-541 passes (57.4 percent). The last two stats are what did Lagow in as the starter as he could not consistently hit receivers and turned the ball over too many times.

This is also the perfect time to make the switch, with Charleston Southern coming to town Saturday, Ramsey will have a soft landing before being thrown into the Big Ten fire against Michigan on October 14th. Indiana’s passing offense hasn’t been great since a hot start against Ohio State. The Hoosiers rank 59th nationally in passing offense averaging 244.3 yards per contest.

Ramsey has earned the starting spot due to his ability to be a threat through the air and on the ground. The Cincinnati native is completing 60.4 percent of his passes and has thrown just one interception while tossing for four touchdowns and 316 yards. Ramsey is also averaging 3.7 yards per carry on 34 attempts (117 yards) and scored on touchdown on the ground.

So what does this mean for the offense going forward?

It’s “situation where we build our offense around what Peyton does best,” Allen told the media. “The throws that he makes and can make and will make and be able to force the defense to have to account for him in the run game as well as, you know, extending plays. And so that's for sure his strength, and getting those balls to those guys. And so they're obviously two of our best play makers we have on the team. So the objective will be to be able to get those guys the ball in multiple ways, which will be similar, but obviously a little different, just based on what he does well. And so -- but to me it's about, you know, moving the chains and creating scoring opportunities for our team. And so building of the game plan around that that's going to be featuring Peyton's strength” Allen elaborated.

Fans have been clamoring for a change to happen since the spring game and a terrific performance by Ramsey in IU’s win at Virginia stoked the flames to the point the IU faithful gave him a big ovation every time he entered the game against Georgia Southern. Tom Allen has given the fans what they wanted, Peyton Ramsey, at quarterback. Now it is time to see what kind of identity this offense can form with a dual-threat quarterback.