Penix, Philyor Proving to be Lethal Combination
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Photo by amanda pavelka/hoosier huddle
Written by Evan McShane (@very_reasonable)
Saturday’s homecoming game against Rutgers marked one of the most dominant Big Ten games in Indiana football history. The Hoosiers were favored by 28 points, their largest margin over a conference foe. Indiana covered the spread and pitched a shutout while out-gaining Rutgers 557 yards of offense to just 75. A balanced attack from the Hoosiers accumulated 297 passing yards and added 260 on the ground. Wide receiver Whop Philyor had a career day with 10 catches for 182 yards and Stevie Scott added 164 rushing yards on just 12 carries.
The Hoosiers offense was gifted a 7-0 lead before it ever took the field thanks to a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Reakwon Jones on the opening kickoff. Indiana’s offense took the field after a Rutgers three-and-out and immediately the explosiveness of Whop Philyor and Michael Penix was on display. Penix connected with Philyor on a swing pass which Whop took 56 yards down the sideline. Penix found Peyton Hendershot for a 14-yard TD the following play. Hendershot continued his dominance: this was his fourth touchdown catch of the year, tied for second in the Big Ten and first among tight ends in the conference.
The Hoosiers forced another three-and-out and promptly marched down the field again, this time going 59-yards in five plays. Stevie Scott eased his way into the game, chunking out two 8-yard runs to setup another touchdown pass from Michael Penix, a 19-yard touchdown strike to Nick Westbrook.
With a 21-0 lead, the Hoosiers had their first and perhaps only hiccup of the day. On the fifth play of the drive with the ball at midfield, Penix stared down his receiver and threw an interception. It was a textbook freshman mistake, and something to be expected from a 19-yard old quarterback making just his fourth career start. Tom Allen remarked on Penix’s performance: “I thought today was a good growth day for Michael Penix. Wasn't as clean as the last performance. I think he's young, you know, and that's going to be part of the process.” Even on an off day, Penix still managed to complete 20-of-29 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns.
Allen knows the offensive performance wasn’t all roses despite the 35-0 victory. Elaborating on Penix’s performance, coach reiterated the sentiment of growth: “You know, you're not going to always be at the top of your game, and he is going to be learning from it, and I think you just -- sometimes it's just how you handle, as well, the growth process of being patted on the back after a great performance and getting ready to go do it again and then you go do it again and go do it again, so that to me is a big part of him, and I thought he was solid but not as crisp and sharp as I know he can be.”
The Hoosiers offense was shutout in the second quarter after scoring touchdowns on its first two drives. Following the interception, Indiana punted three times, Sampson James lost a fumble, and turned it over on downs to end the half. After driving 94 yards down the field, Ronnie Walker Jr. was stuffed on 4th and 1 at the 5-yard line. To begin the second half, IU got back on track, scoring a touchdown in just four plays on an impressive contested catch from Ty Fryfogle:
The following drive was Indiana’s most impressive of the day. The Hoosiers strung together a 98-yard touchdown drive over 13 plays, knocking off over seven minutes on the game clock. Indiana dominated time of possession 36 minutes to 24 and was a steady 6-of-12 on third down conversions. The story of the day remained Whop Philyor. The junior wide receiver is proving to be Penix’s favorite target. Asked what makes the connection so special, Penix said, "Just trusting in each other. He trusts me and I trust him to run the right routes. Coach [is] putting us in great situations and the offensive line has been really holding up."
The Hoosiers now sit at 4-2 on the year. With weapons like Penix, Philyor, and Scott, the sky is the limit for this offensive unit. IU finds themselves sitting 25th overall in Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings, a statistics-based ranking system. Connelly has Indiana’s offense currently ranked 23rd in the nation. The Hoosiers are two wins away from bowl eligibility, can they make it happen before the Bucket?