Young Hoosier Receivers Need to Step Up Against Penn State

Written by Matt Smith

Indiana is coming off of a much needed bye week, but the team coming to Bloomington this week is one of the tougher opponents on the schedule. The 16th ranked Penn State Nittany Lions will be in Memorial Stadium following their loss to Ohio State.

Indiana’s offense has been struggling mightily in the second half of games which has led to the Hoosiers five game losing streak.

During a bye week a coordinator can have many different jobs, but with the struggling offense, Walt Bell had other plans.

“Self-Scout, what are we doing well, what are we not doing well, keeping a key eye on Penn State.” Bell said during his Monday morning press conference. 

Indiana’s offense took another blow from injury as Cam Camper has torn his ACL and is out for the remainder of the season. Many different Hoosiers will need to step up to make plays in his absence.

“For us moving forward there are a bunch of young guys that are going to have to make plays,” Bell said. “We’ve got enough people, we just need to make sure we put them into position to be their best.

Malachi Holt-Bennett, Javon Swinton, Andison Coby, Donaven McCulley, are a few of the younger receivers that will need to step up and make plays for the Hoosiers.

Tom Allen alluded to a quarterback competition earlier in the morning, which means Dexter Williams or others could be getting some reps over Connor Bazelak.

Bell said there have been times that the quarterback has been playing good football, but they’re going to evaluate who’s playing the best during practice this week.

However, Bazelak, Jack Tuttle, and Williams were the only names that Bell mentioned and said they each have different things that they are good at.

In regards to time of possession, Bell is more concerned about all of the three and outs that occurred during the second half of the game against Rutgers that led to the defense being on the field for long amounts of time.

Bell evaluates his play calling by scoring more points than the other team.

“In every game you’re a part of, there are always two or three plays you want back,” Bell said. “You need to make sure the right players are making the right plays at the right time.”