Written by Amanda Pavelka (@amandapavelka3)

Much of Indiana’s success this season is attributed to new offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer’s brilliantly-crafted game plan, and the highly-rated passing game only proves he has been worth the $800,000 investment. Indiana now sits atop the Big Ten in passing offense— after backup quarterback Peyton Ramsey and wide receiver Whop Philyor’s monster game at Nebraska, the Hoosiers are averaging 312.8 passing yards per game.

It was a breakout performance for both juniors against Nebraska, but Peyton Ramsey’s grit, precision and consistency that lead the cream and crimson squad out of Lincoln victorious.

“He threw in rhythm,” DeBoer told the media on Monday, “It helps when you have good protection up front to where you’re not worried and your eyes are coming down, but he just threw with great rhythm.”

Philyor was the most frequent pass catcher for Ramsey last Saturday, with a tie for career-high 14 catches for 178 yards. The Florida native now leads the Big Ten with 57 receptions and 737 yards— his biggest catch being a 56-yarder against Rutgers.

“When you keeping doing what you do, I think there becomes a trust and a feel that guys have. We do different receiving drills with the quarterbacks that I think are really starting to help us out in those deep ball throws— just tracking the ball, and trusting where the receiver is going to fade to if it’s a fade ball or where he’s going to be running a post to.”

DeBoer’s plan to stretch the field, making more use of tight ends has served the Hoosiers well. Peyton Hendershot has been a key in the passing game. His 40-yard catch for a touchdown against the Huskers was amongst highlight reel plays.

“Peyton Hendershot went right down the seam and Peyton Ramsey threw a great ball, but it was Hendershot putting his hands up and making it a great catch over the outside shoulder. That’s something we work on a lot throughout the week— just those fundamental skills of tracking the football. We have certainly gotten better.”

What DeBoer’s transformed and made of Indiana’s offense is working, but a true test lies ahead when they face Northwestern elite pass defense.

How does he plan for it?

“There are things that I'll walk through from week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… just as a review and, you know, we usually go with the game plan and there's really nothing more we add,” DeBoer said, “I think in the end it's just different window dressing and just the guys being confident I'm going to get them to certain spots that are somewhat consistent from week to week. It just may look the same, either at the beginning or at the end, but the concepts are all going to be the same and the reeds are going to be consistent for the quarterbacks and so forth.”

Saturday’s matchup with Northwestern will pose another challenge in a crucial game to continue momentum going into the open week. Indiana’s ability to overcome the Wildcats’ defense for a win will set the tone moving forward to the final three games of the regular season.

The Huddle

DeBoer and Company Have Indiana's Passing Offense Atop the Big Ten

Hoosier Huddle