Indiana Offensive Keys to the Game: Wisconsin

Image: Indiana University Athletics

Written By: Nate Comp (@NathanComp1)

Indiana secured it’s fifth win last Saturday after defeating Maryland 27-11, but the story was all about the health of star quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Unfortunately, the Hoosiers received the worst-case news Monday when it was confirmed that Penix had torn his right ACL and would miss the remainder of the season. This will be the dominating headline moving forward with this Indiana offense, and the central point of this week’s edition of Indiana’s offensive keys to victory.

Welcome Jack Tuttle

Filling in for Penix will be redshirt sophomore quarterback Jack Tuttle. Tuttle was a 4-star recruit out of high school, nationally ranked as the number 4 pro-style quarterback by Rivals and the number 5 by 247Sports. In his senior season, Tuttle threw for 3,171 yards and 41 touchdowns with just 4 interceptions. By 247Sports Composite’s measures, he was the 167th best player in the 2018 class and the 8th best quarterback. He ultimately committed to Utah before transferring to Indiana having not seen any game action with the Utes.

Coach Tom Allen made it clear how badly he felt for Penix but made sure the team kept looking forward to the potential this roster still has.

“I am excited for the opportunity that this presents for our football team to come together and rely on our defense, the run game, and Jack Tuttle,” said Allen on Monday. “He has worked extremely hard and prepared at a high level. He is a very good football player. That is why we recruit, why we develop, and why he came to Indiana, was for opportunities like this.

Jack Tuttle is a special player, too. I know that he has not played a lot here, but he has a big-time arm and has tremendous football instincts and football IQ. He is extremely bright, but his greatest quality is his work ethic. He was the first guy to our walk-through this weekend and was doing drops on air. He did not even know if he was going to play a snap.”

This will be Tuttle’s seventh appearance in college, all with the Hoosiers, but his first start and first time outside of just mop-up duty.

Two Weeks in a Row of a Run Game?

To ease the pressure Tuttle will certainly be feeling, Indiana should try to focus once again on establishing a run game. All the criticism was heard after the abysmal negative-one-yard rushing performance against Ohio State and the Hoosier tailbacks responded Saturday with 234 yards on the ground, far outpacing the aerial attack. It would be great if Stevie Scott, Tim Baldwin, and Sampson James (if he is back after being inactive last week) are once again able to take some pressure off of their receivers and new quarterback to carry the load on offense.

“The team has to rise up and has to be able to execute as a football team,” added Allen. “As that happened, the play of our team kept getting better and better for the rest of the game. This is a tight group of guys, a close-knit family that trusts in each other, loves each other, and cares about each other. Part of that is being ready when called upon.”

Both Baldwin and Scott earned player of the week honors from Coach Allen, and Scott was Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after his three touchdowns. A similar performance would really ease the pressure off this offense.

Play Four Quarters

Penix was behind center for the entire first half of the game, and the Hoosier offense was far from electrifying. In fact, it wasn’t even very good. Penix completed just two passes in the first half, one of which was deflected away from its intended target and fell into the hands of Peyton Hendershot, while the other was a prayer of a throw to Miles Marshall after Penix’s clap had drawn an offsides penalty. Other than that, a newly unveiled wildcat formation was the only thing that really brought the offense any life.

The Hoosiers will not be as lucky this week, as they’ll face a much tougher opponent in the Wisconsin Badgers. They’ll also be on the road, less of a factor when fans are not permitted to attend, but an added difficulty, nonetheless. The offense needs to consistently put together drives that at worst flip the field position if they want to leave Madison 6-1 on Saturday. Constant three-and-outs that leave the defense on the field for long stints will be detrimental, especially against a physical Badger team.

“Paul Chryst has done a phenomenal job there,” said Allen. “When you watch them play you see a model of consistency and a culture that they have created. They have so much size and play with such a high level of execution. We know that we have a fight on our hands up there in Madison. We have to have a great week of preparation to play our best football.”