David Ellis Gets His Turn to Produce in Place of Philyor Against Penn State
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Image: Amanda Pavelka Hoosier Huddle
Written by Amanda Pavelka (@amandapavelka3)
Injuries could have very well destroyed Indiana football this season. The Hoosiers have lost starting tackle Coy Cronk and quarterback Michael Penix. But for every starter that‘s been forced from the field with injury in 2019, there has been a reliable replacement. Matthew Bedford has been stellar filling in for Cronk and Peyton Ramsey has been putting up career-high numbers weekly in place of Penix. Now it may be time for true freshman David Ellis to step up in place of Whop Philyor.
After a play where star wide receiver Philyor was hit helmet-to-helmet twice (no targeting flag was thrown) and knocked into concussion protocol and off the field in State College, it was freshman David Ellis who was called up at wide receiver in the second quarter.
Although a less than ideal situation against Indiana’s second-toughest opponent this season, David Ellis was that next man up for the Hoosiers against Penn State, and did a solid job at wide receiver in Whop Philyor’s absence.
“Everyday in practice the mindset is that I’m going to be playing on Saturday,” Ellis told reporters. “Whenever there’s an opportunity for me to go in, if he needs a breather if he unfortunately gets hurt, then that’s when I have to step up for my team, for my brothers and just play hard.”
Saturday night he kept the Hoosiers close with a career-high 85 yards on seven catches— his 39-yard catch and run helped IU close the gap in their 34-27 loss to the Nittany Lions.
“I mean David Ellis, he played really well,” quarterback Peyton Ramsey said, “He stepped up. We knew what he was capable of doing. He’s a really good player and young guy. He kind of showed everybody what he’s all about tonight.”
Recruited as an athlete, Ellis has shown great potential the field on special teams as a kick returner his freshman season. Glimpses of Ellis’ versatility showcased against Rutgers, with seven quick runs for 35 rushing yards. Ellis also has thrown for a completed two-point conversion and scored a big touchdown on a sweep against Nebraska.
“David did some good things out there and he's a talented player,” Allen said. “Hopefully we get Whop back next week, but don't know about that yet. But the bottom line is Whop’s a great player, it hurts not having him. But, David Ellis is a talented player. He's his next man up behind him, so he'll make those plays, but it definitely hurts not having him.”
Further consequences came with losing Whop in the form of a preventable illegal substitution penalty.
“I think first, you saw we had that one mistake right to start the half with twelve guys and that was David (Ellis) just not used to being in there as much so that would have been one outcome of that,” Allen said “we had a couple of things like that wouldn't have happened if Whop was there.”
As far as Philyor’s return, that is unclear. What is very clear, though is IU has a solid player in Ellis, who could use experience and has the talent to grow and help the Hoosiers this season and beyond.