College Football Links From Across the Country (2/28/20)

Image: amanda paVelka/hoosier huddle

Daily College Football Links (February 28, 2020)

Happy Friday and Happy Leap Year, Hoosier fans! To feed your weekend college football fix, I have gathered popular news stories from around the state, region and country that I thought fans would enjoy. If you have any links or stories you’d like to share please email them to TheHoosierHuddle@gmail.com. I have also included some fun off-season reading.

Indiana Hoosiers

Hoosier Huddle: Spring Practice 2020 Position Preview — Wide Receivers

Listen to “Indiana’s George Taliaferro: The First African American Drafted by the NFL”, a feature by All In on WBAA Public Radio

Big Ten Football

Athlon Sports looks ahead at 10 Big Ten teams’ most intriguing non-conference games

Detroit Free Press: Once a top recruit, former Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson just hopes to be drafted

College Football

CBS Sports discusses 2020 Heisman Trophy odds, with OSU’s Justin Fields favored over Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence

Ten college football teams that are one piece away from making the CFB playoffs via Bleacher Report

ESPN looks at 10 college football teams off to a fast start in 2021 recruiting

247 Sports takes a closer look at the best assistants in college football and their salaries

Bleacher Report: 2020 college football recruits who could start as freshmen

Off-Season Reading Suggestions

The Search for Indiana Football Glory

Billion Dollar Ball

The 50 Best* College Football Teams of All Time

Study Hall: College Football, Its Stats and Its Stories

The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football

Westbrook Selected as Senior Class Award Candidate

Photo by: amanda pavelka/Hoosier huddle

IU Athletics Release

Indiana fifth-year senior wide receiver Nick Westbrook is one of 30 Football Bowl Subdivision student-athletes selected as a candidate for the 2019 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate football. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I FBS senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
 
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. 
 
A three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, Westbrook is a business marketing major. He is a William V. Campbell Trophy semifinalist, on the Wuerffel Trophy and Senior Bowl Watch Lists, and was a candidate for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.
 
The Lake Mary, Fla., has volunteered with Everybody Plays - a sports program created by Indiana women's soccer player Allison Jorden and supported by the IU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and the IU Excellence Academy. The new program offers sports-themed events for athletes with intellectual and physical disabilities, creating a chance for them to interact and learn from current IU student-athletes.
 
Westbrook additionally has volunteered with the Riley Children's Hospital, worked with Camp Riley and participated in Change The Play, where Riley Health is partnered with Andrew Luck to bring kids together to tackle one of the growing concerns we face today—childhood nutrition and health.
 
He has also spent time as a Generosity Feeds volunteer, visited Hearthstone Health and takes part in the 2nd & 7 Foundation, which promotes reading by providing free books and positive role models to kids in need while encouraging young athletes of the community to pay it forward.  
 
The 6-3, 219-pounder owns 110 career receptions for 1,820 yards and 13 touchdowns. Westbrook became the 19th Hoosier to reach 100 catches and 1,500 yards.
 
To determine the final Senior CLASS Award winner, the 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. Along with the winner, the 10 finalists will be awarded Senior CLASS Award first- or second-team honors.
 
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the football bowl season in January.

Indiana’s Keys to Satisfactory Victory over Eastern Illinois

Photo by: sarah miller/hoosier huddle

Written by Amanda Pavelka (@AmandaPavelka3)

Much like Indiana’s season-opening game against Ball State, a victory is expected against Eastern Illinois in the Hoosiers’ home-opener on Saturday. It is not a just a win that makes the team successful, though. Here are keys to a satisfactory victory against the Eastern Illinois Panthers. 

Don’t sleep on defense

Indiana’s defense had a rather lackluster performance against the Cardinals— with a disappointing 25 missed tackles. Along with unacceptable penalties, this lost the Hoosiers yardage in a game that allowed for it. Every yard counts, and against their Big Ten opponents, the Hoosiers cannot afford misses they did last Saturday. Consider Saturday’s matchup another live tackle practice— one they need to take seriously as their battles only get tougher. 

Catch the football

Pass catching was a struggle last Saturday—too many missed catches held the Hoosiers back from their potential in Mike Penix’s first game as starting quarterback. What could have been a blowout ended up a 10-point victory, and against EIU, the receivers will be expected to minimize mistakes. 

Ramp up the run game

Running backs seemed nonexistent in the first half against Ball State. Stevie Scott stepped it up in the second half, but Mike Penix led the Hoosier rushing game. That’s unacceptable going forward. There is too much talent at that position for them to be silent on the stats sheet. 

Gain bench experience

Coaching staff pinpointed problems with tackling, receiving, and the running game between the postgame press conference and Monday’s meeting with the media. If they did their job, the Hoosiers should establish dominance early on enough to rotate through the roster. Nearly every man should have a chance to see the field on Saturday. 

Countdown to 2019 IUFB Kickoff: 22 Days (Whop Philyor)

Written by Amanda Pavelka (@amandapavelka3)

COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: 22 DAYS (#1 WHOP PHILYOR)

Height: 5’11’’

Weight: 178 pounds

Hometown: Tampa, Florida (Plant)

Year: Junior

Position: Wide Receiver

Just over three weeks remain until the 2019 Indiana football season kicks off at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Hoosiers will make their season debut on August 31st at noon as they take on the Ball State Cardinals. Today we wll re-introduce the wide receiver who wore the No.22 jersey in the 2017 and 2018 seasons as No. 1 Whop Philyor.

Whop Philyor is one of Indiana’s first players gained from the Florida recruiting pipeline Tom Allen developed to Bloomington. Philyor joins three of his high school teammates on the Indiana football roster for his junior year—linebacker Thomas Allen, defensive back Juwan Burgess, and linebacker Micah McFadden all hail from Plant High School in Tampa, Florida. 

Philyor had a “whopper” of a freshman season, recording 335 yards and three touchdowns on 33 catches that earned him a slew of honors in 2017. Philyor earned Big Ten Freshman Player of the Week and IU Offensive Player of the Week for his 127 yards and a touchdown on 13 catches against Maryland, just to name a couple. 

The bar was set high for Philyor going into his sophomore year and perhaps one of the largest letdowns on Hoosier offense was that Philyor battled injuries that forced him to sit out for almost half of the 2018 season. A high ankle sprain costed him five games and seven starts, yet he still managed to post 23 receptions for 235 yards and a 65-yard touchdown against nationally-ranked Michigan State. 

Joined by Nick Westbrook, Donovan Hale, and Ty Fryfogle, Philyor is expected to be a key component in Kalen Deboer’s offensive system and will make his speedy comeback with his switch to the No.1 jersey his junior year.