Game Day Primer: Indiana Hoosiers vs. Idaho Vandals

Week Two Primer – Idaho Vandals

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

What: Indiana Hoosiers (0-1) vs. Idaho Vandals (1-0)

When: Saturday, September 11 at 7:30 PM

Where: Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, IN

How to Watch: The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network and can be heard on the IU Radio Network.

Series History: The two schools are meeting for the very first time. The two will play again in 2022. The Hoosiers last played an FCS foe in 2019. That was also a week two contest and they blasted the Eastern Illinois Panthers, 52-0.

What’s at Stake: The Indiana Hoosiers entered the season with a lot of expectations and a very difficult schedule. That began with a week one clash at Iowa and it went just about as poorly as anyone could have imagined. With a contest next week against a top ten opponent looming, there is a huge importance on accomplishing two main things this Saturday against Idaho. Step one, get on the board with a victory. Step two, build confidence after a very disappointing performance in Iowa City. The Hoosiers need to play well, particularly on offense, to feel good about themselves again and Idaho is coming off the most lopsided victory the program has had in several decades. The Vandals, despite being an FCS foe, will be buoyed by their performance in week one and by the six FCS upsets of FBS opponents already this season.

A FEW THINGS TO LOOK FOR

-Can the Offense Get On Track?

Indiana University quarterback Michael Penix was returning from another knee injury and it was the first game of the season. Logically, some rust was to be expected when IU played at Iowa. However, the performance by the offense on Saturday went well beyond “rust”. The Hoosiers only had 11 first downs and gained a total of just 233 yards as they sputtered to six points. Idaho’s defense is most certainly not Iowa’s but the Vandals did shut out their week one opposition (Simon Fraser, a DII school in Canada). IU needs to make improvements across the board on the offensive side of the ball but this particularly point will focus on everything besides Michael Penix. The offensive line was a large concern coming into the season and when Zach Carpenter and Luke Haggard were ruled out shortly before the game at Iowa, the concern became a very real problem. It is not known who will be available for IU but the line absolutely has to play better. They need to give the quarterback a cleaner pocket and the Hoosiers have to rush for better than 2.5 yards per carry. The receivers had at least a few instances of running incorrect routes and that must be remedied. The offensive play-calling was uncreative and did nothing to help jumpstart the attack when it was struggling. The Hoosiers had three turnovers that gave Iowa 17 points. In short, this offense has to find some rhythm and success before facing Cincinnati and doing nearly everything differently than how it went at Iowa seems like a good place to start.

-Building on a Solid Defensive Performance

The defense was not perfect at Iowa but they were probably good enough to win most weeks. The Hoosiers forced a pair of takeaways and held Iowa to a total of 303 yards of offense and 20 points. Holding a top 25 opponent on the road to those numbers is a pretty good defensive day. They will be looking to build on that performance by cutting down on the number of big plays they surrendered (mainly, a 56-yard run for Tyler Goodson and completions to the tight end) and increasing the disruption they can create in the Idaho backfield. Ryder Anderson had two sacks but no one else really pressured the quarterback. Upping the amount of “havoc” created is a priority for the defensive staff and if they cannot do that against Idaho’s line, that is a concern.

-Michael Penix Has to Be Better

Michael Penix has been through a lot of adversity in his career at Indiana University. His three previous seasons have ended with injuries and he’s had to go through grueling rehabilitation each time to come back. After tearing his knee in November of 2020, Penix was “100%” for the opener at Iowa. In his return, he struggled mightily and the Hoosiers absolutely need a better Michael Penix to reach anywhere close to their ceiling as a team. “As you watch, you see a lot of high throws and just getting comfortable in the pocket,” Tom Allen told the media after the Iowa game. “I think you’ve got to go through and he’s got to work through the process of being live, you know. I just think in practice, you can say what it is, and you’re not live, obviously, at that point and you’re not going to make it live. I don’t think….there’s no way you can go back and ever do that, but until it is (live), it’s really not the same probably.” Watching how Michael Penix responds to his worst collegiate performance will be very interesting. Watching how offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan approaches the game plan and attempts to get his quarterback into a rhythm and comfortable space in the pocket will be equally so.

Names to Know and Injury Notes

-Stephen Carr – There was a lot of curiosity about how the running back rotation would play out. While we don’t have an answer yet, we do have one game of data and it appears we’ll see a lot of Stephen Carr. The USC transfer had 19 carries for 62 yards while all other IU backs combined for 12 carries. That number may shift some, particularly if David Ellis can get healthy, but the Idaho game could show us more of what Stephen Carr can offer as RB1.

-Ryder Anderson, Weston Kramer and Raheem Layne – three new defensive players (two new to the program and one new to the safety position) led the team in tackles on Saturday. Anderson had seven tackles with two sacks while Weston Kramer had seven tackles and Raheem Layne had six tackles with a forced fumble. Seeing how that trio follows up the debut performances will be worth watching.

-Switching over to Idaho, they’ll be quarterbacked by Mike Beaudry (former UConn QB) and CJ Jordan, a freshman from Portland. The two both played in their opener and both are capable of running or throwing. The Vandals ran for 316 yards and threw for 277 yards so they showed good balance in the opener against an overwhelmed opponent. Roshaun Johnson is likely the top tailback for the Vandals and they were able to sack the opposing quarterback five times.

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