Football team shuffles quarterbacks in losing effort

LANDOVER, Md.— Edward Wright-Baker admitted that he did not expect to play against Wisconsin last week.

His fumble on the first play after starting quarterback Ben Chappell went out with a hip injury proved his words to be true.

With Chappell spending limited time in practice all week, Wright-Baker said he was not caught off guard.

“I was definitely more prepared and more ready,” Wright-Baker said. “I was ready to
prove something.”

The rotation of Wright-Baker and Chappell sparked the IU offense in a 41-24 loss to Penn State at FedExField.

The Hoosiers’ 14-0 deficit in the second quarter suggested they were still hung over from their 83-20 beatdown at Wisconsin. Determined not to let history repeat itself, IU decided to mix things up against the Nittany Lions.

With Chappell working the pass plays and Wright-Baker in for the running plays, IU broke off chunks of yardage for the first time of the day.

“It’s something that I don’t think Penn State was really ready for,” Wright-Baker said. “That’s just hard to stop because we can do anything with it.”

No play went for more than 14 yards.

The Hoosiers did not face a third down.

Every pass was completed.

It was one of the rare occurrences in recent memory that the Hoosiers methodically drove against a defense without the aid of a big play — and it came at the hands of the rotating IU quarterbacks.

Wright-Baker admitted he did not mind rotating in as Chappell’s understudy.

“I was just ready to relieve Ben from getting hit every play,” he said. “Chap takes beatings in games, and we had to figure out a way to keep him from getting hit every play.”

After a 6-yard run by Wright-Baker to get to the Penn State 13-yard line, Chappell hurried in to keep the Hoosiers’ momentum going. But Chappell did not have the help that he was used to.

The Hoosiers set up in their “Zebra” formation, which had everyone but the center shifted off the ball on the opposite hash. The play resembled the shifting field goal formation that many schools use on extra point attempts.

With Penn State’s defense confused, Chappell took the unprotected snap out of the shotgun and delivered a 9-yard completion to junior receiver Tandon Doss.

The unconventional play earned IU a first-and-goal, their fifth earned first down of the drive.

A 4-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Trea Burgess ended a 10-play, 78-yard drive that jump-started a struggling IU offense. The rotation of quarterbacks was not a look that the IU offense had shown this season.  

“I thought it was a great package for us,” Chappell said. “It’s something we did last year and hadn’t done that much this year. We found a little wrinkle, and we executed it pretty well.”

Although the Hoosiers had not run the package this season, it might be in the repertoire for the Old Oaken Bucket game next week at Purdue because of its success and the Hoosiers’ offensive struggles in Big Ten play.

Whatever the case, Wright-Baker said he will mimic the same approach he took to prepare for Penn State.

“I expect to play next week,” Wright-Baker said. “It worked today, and I’ve got to be prepared for anything.”