Whether it was Coach Tom Allen, offensive coordinator Mike DeBord or any of their players, everybody within the IU football program reiterated the same thing Monday afternoon.
It’s time to move on.
After losing 35-21 in a discouraging home contest against then-No. 24 Michigan State on Saturday, the Hoosiers are now 3-1 on the season and 0-1 in Big Ten Conference play.
But Allen and his players all said they're looking to put that performance in the past as they prepare to travel to 1-3 Rutgers this weekend.
Saturday's contest against the Scarlet Knights will be IU's first road conference game of the season.
“Now it’s just a matter of moving on and trying to stay focused,” sophomore quarterback Peyton Ramsey said. “We’ve done a good job of moving on from wins, now it’s the same.”
With a win, it would mark IU’s first Big Ten road-opening victory since 2007 when the Hoosiers defeated Iowa 38-20. It would also be IU’s third straight win over the Scarlet Knights after bludgeoning them 41-0 at home last season and defeating them 33-27 in Piscataway, New Jersey, in 2016.
Allen and DeBord both shared their thoughts from the loss against Michigan State and what they think IU needs to work on moving forward during Monday’s press conference at Memorial Stadium.
1. The Hoosiers are a little banged up.
IU was hampered by injuries heading into the Michigan State game and came out with even more questions regarding the health of some of its players.
Senior wide receiver Luke Timian and senior defensive lineman Jacob Robinson were both out for the Hoosiers on Saturday, forcing the team to find replacements for two key spots on both the offensive and defensive ends.
Allen said Timian will be a game-time decision to play against Rutgers and Robinson is being evaluated on a week-by-week basis.
Allen also said freshman defensive back Cam Jones, who went to the locker room and did not return after hauling in an interception in the fourth quarter against Michigan State, is also a game-time decision to play against Rutgers.
And while it’s not an injury, sophomore defensive back Marcelino Ball will be suspended for the first half at Rutgers after he was ejected from Saturday’s game for targeting.
That could make Jones’ injury even more important as he serves as Ball’s back-up at the husky position.
Allen said those next in line on the depth chart, freshmen Bryant Fitzgerald and Jamar Johnson, will need to step up quickly.
“You'd better be ready,” Allen said. “If you're a third-string guy, and you think you may never see the field, and you're not preparing the way you're supposed to prepare, you'd better.”
2. Allen wants to see an improvement in the running game.
One thing IU certainly struggled with against Michigan State was finding consistency in the running game.
On the day, the Hoosiers rushed for just 29 yards on 32 carries for an average of just 0.9 yards per carry. Freshman Stevie Scott, who had tallied 388 total rushing yards and three touchdowns heading in to Saturday, managed just 18 yards on 11 carries against the Spartans.
“We had some errors,” Allen said. “We had some technical scheme, not executing it right, and then also them just disrupting and that's why that part of the game was so huge. It's hard to get things going when the line doesn't hold up, and it's hard to stop somebody if you can't do it on either side.”
DeBord also said he was disappointed in the Hoosiers’ rushing attack and said everybody from the running backs to their blockers played a part in the fruitless effort on the ground.
“In the run game, it takes everybody,” DeBord said. “That could be the offensive line or the tight ends or it could be the running back on the reads. There were just times in that ball game where we didn’t have everybody in sync.”
One thing that could work in IU’s favor is the fact Rutgers ranks 119th in the country in rushing defense, allowing 219 rushing yards per game.
In the Scarlet Knights’ embarrassing 42-13 home loss to Buffalo on Saturday, the Bulls’ freshman running back Jaret Patterson ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns.
3. The Michael Penix Jr. situation
After showing flashes of being a more than capable, developing young quarterback option behind Ramsey against Florida International and Ball State, freshman Michael Penix Jr. did not see the field against Michigan State.
It was the second game this season that Penix Jr. did not see the field but multiple factors have played a part in that coaching decision.
In the first game Penix Jr. didn’t play in against Virginia, factors like a torrential downpour and a close game in which Ramsey was playing well kept him on the sidelines. Against Michigan State, Ramsey ended up leading IU on a run in the fourth quarter and going up against a top-tier defense like the Spartans’ would have been a tough position to place a true freshman in.
While Penix Jr. hasn’t seen the kind of reps he saw in the season-opener at FIU, he still has two more games left that he can play before he uses up his chance to redshirt. Yet, Allen said he expects him to get some playing time against Rutgers and in the future.
“He's our backup quarterback. He's our No. 2 quarterback, so I expect him to play,” Allen said. “Right now when you're the backup quarterback, chances of that guy playing is pretty high.”
