Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

The Indiana Hoosiers will have a decisive advantage in one phase of the game when they travel to College Park to take on the Maryland Terrapins in a season defining swing game. That advantage comes in the form of the passing game for Indiana.

The Hoosiers come into Saturday’s contest ranked second in the Big Ten in passing offense averaging 302 yards per game through the air, while Maryland’s pass defense is ranked dead last in the conference allowing 279.9 yards per game.

Indiana quarterback Michael Penix, when healthy, has been fantastic this season. He has completed 69.5-percent of his passes for 1,091 yards and at a clip of 8.3 yards per attempt. He has nine touchdowns to just three interceptions. Penix is not the only weapon IU has in the passing game. Much of the reason Penix’s numbers are so good is that he has some high-level receivers around him.

Recently, his go-to receiver has been Whop Philyor. The two have connected 23 times for 322 yards and two touchdowns over the last two games. It should be expected that Maryland would try and double team Philyor, which should make it difficult for the IU offense. However, Indiana is more than the Penix to Philyor connection. Six Hoosiers have caught 13 or more passes and it seems whenever one receiver gets shutout another steps up. Against Michigan State it was Philyor and Donavan Hale making the plays, while Nick Westbrook was held to two catches and three yards. Last week against Rugters, Hale was held without a catch, but Westbrook had five catches for 50 yards. The Hoosiers have so many weapons through the air that it is extremely tough to take away all of them. Tight end Peyton Hendershot will be looking to follow a string of great performances from tight ends against Maryland and if the Terrapins do some how shutdown Hale, Philyor and Westbrook, Ty Fryfogle and running back Stevie Scott have made their plays in the passing game as well.

Defensively Maryland has had their issues in the passing game. Another problem was thrust upon them this week as head coach Mike Locksley announced that senior starting cornerback Tino Ellis is done for the season with an injury. Ellis may have been Maryland’s best cover corner. He had 21 career pass break ups and has played well against the Hoosiers in the past. Maryland has five interceptions and 18 pass break ups this season through six games. They are led by freshman Deonte Banks and senior Antoine Brooks Jr. There is talent in the Maryland secondary, but there is a reason they are dead last in pass defense in the conference. Should Maryland decide to drop eight defenders into coverage and force Penix to go through all his reads, Indiana can lean on the suddenly hot running attach to help balance the offense.

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