Film at 11: Indiana Offense
Editor’s Note: Each week during the season, the FTB Staff will release its scouting report on Penn State’s upcoming opponent. Normally, these blogs will be posted at 11 a.m. EST Thursday and Friday…but we’re a little premature this week. Hey, happens to the best of us.
Before Indiana caught up with the Joneses and finished construction of its new football facility in 2018, the coaching staff had their offices buried on the ground floor of Memorial Stadium. I know this because work took me there in 2004.
Though dated, the place wasn’t bad. It had chairs and furniture and a pleasant receptionist. Down the hallway, to the left, was a trophy case. It contained what you might expect. Lot of Randle-El stuff. Lot of Anthony Thompson stuff. If there was a second trophy case, I don’t remember it.
Across from there, large framed team photographs of every Indiana bowl team hung on the wall. John Pont’s 1967 Rose Bowl Team. Lee Corso’s 1979 Holiday Bowl team. Bill Malory’s final bowl team – the 1993 Independence Bowl squad. Then, there was another picture frame…except it didn’t have a picture. No, it had a question mark. The gold-plated placard at the bottom read, “Indiana’s Next Bowl Team,” or maybe it said “Indiana’s First Bowl Team This Century.” Doesn’t matter. Point is, the frame was empty…and let’s face it, a little cringy.
More than motivational – which I assume was the intent – the “Next Team” frame felt more like a stark reminder that there’s always going to be a low ceiling of expected success at Indiana.
Although, if there’s ever a year Indiana could bust through that low clearance, it’s 2020.
Coming off an 8-win campaign (that should have been 9 wins if Indiana didn’t “Indiana” in the Gator Bowl) the Hoosiers welcome back a boatload of starters, a delicate yet deadly quarterback, and at least one skill guy opponents need to gameplan around.
Fair warning: Week 1 scouts are always going to be clunky since not everyone you’ll see in clips remains on the team. Because of that, we wanted to make sure we examined a Michael Penix, Jr., game, even though he missed the back half of 2019 with an sternoclavicular joint injury (google it). Therefore, this is the INDIANA OFFENSE vs. MICHIGAN STATE – the only ranked team Penix faced as a starter.
(Click to enlarge)
FORMATIONS
The majority of snaps against Sparty came with Indiana in this weird sort of Shotgun/Pistol Hybrid we’re calling SHOTOL. The back – 8 Stevie Scott III – lines up catty corner to the quarterback. When Indiana runs out of this formation, it’s inside zone 99.9 percent of the time. I don’t think there’s a read element to the play…or if there is, Penix Jr. spat on it, because he never kept the ball.
Indiana did go empty on occasion, but never with five true wide receivers. Twice in this game, the Hoosiers showed an Ace Formation, bluffing like they were about to flex and man-up, only to punk out and try and get cute. Both plays were dumpster fires. Here’s the first:
PHILOSOPHY
THE BALL IS LAVA! During the early first-quarter script versus Michigan State, 9-Penix Jr., got the ball out of his hands with the quickness – mitigating the trouble spots littering the Hoosiers offensive line (more on this later). Indiana wants to play the game outside the hash marks, stretching the ball horizontally with quick bubbles and hitches at the line of scrimmage.
Really, these are run plays in pass clothing – low-risk concepts designed to get the ball in the hands of their homerun hitters in space where one defender slip or misread results in a chunk play. On the other hand, if a wide receiver whiffs on a block, or the quarterback throws into the concept without numbers, well, then Indiana gets “off-schedule”, the defensive pass rush comes back into play, and many times Penix Jr. takes a lot of punishment.
Boiled down, Indiana’s offense asks non-Whop wide receivers to swallow their pride and square up defenders in space. When they do, good things like this happen:
When they don’t, well…not good.
Therefore, keep an eye on Penn State’s young corners (sans TCF) and how efficiently they shed blocks and make sound tackles on the perimeter.
Winning on the edge in the quick passing game is vital if Indiana wants to find any success running the football. After peppering the ball outside the numbers, Indiana likes to sneak in an inside zone to 8-Stevie Scott III – a 230-pound, one-cut downhill runner who isn’t as physical as a guy that size probably should be.
SS3 was a 2nd Team All-Big Ten selection in 2019. He should eclipse the 2,000-yard mark for his career against Penn State (he’s 18 yards shy). He’s not a super instinctual runner, struggles to sniff out open space in a crowd, and 9 out of 10 times is unable to make something out of nothing. But give him a hole, and he’ll get you 10 yards.
The junior from upstate New York does have a smidge of make-ya-miss in him, seen in this impressive 4th-down toss play against Michigan State…but if he makes the good guys in white look silly this weekend, I’d be shocked.
So it’s quick pass to the boundary, quick pass to the boundary, inside zone, now back to Penix Jr. flipping the ball to the edge in 1.2 seconds…the D-line is frustrated, the linebackers are gassed, the DBs are cheating ever so slightly because of all the repetition in play calling. Then, SURPRISE!
Indiana will take 1 or 2 shots per game max. After seeing this play, it’s clear why the Hoosiers ration their use of big bombs downfield. The Trips set puts 1-Philyor one-on-one with Michigan State safety David Dowell – a mismatch Penix Jr. recognizes before the snap and is determined to exploit…even as his pocket falls apart like cotton candy in the rain. Left tackle 76-Matthew Bedford gets bull-rushed on his backside, but slyly pulls down the MSU DE during the emasculating process. Right tackle 77-Caleb Jones probably gets away with a hold. MSU’s DTs get a decent push, yet Penix Jr. doesn’t flinch and lets it fly. The Florida-Fast Philyor (say that three times fast) blows past the flatfooted Dowell but misses out on an 87-yard touchdown that likely would have won the game by a micro-step.
POTENTIAL LION TAMERS
9- MICHAEL PENIX JR., QUARTERBACK: For underdogs like Indiana, landing a LOI from program-transformers involves a little luck and a lot of persistence. Such is the case with Penix Jr. A three-start recruit from Tampa and the No. 89 player in the state according to 247 Sports, Penix Jr. decommitted from Tennessee in mid-December 2017 after the mess that was Butch Jones’ firing/Greg Schiano’s faux hire/Jeremy Pruitt taking the job. Florida State finally offered Penix Jr., the day before that decommitment – leading most to figure he’d flip to the in-state destination – yet somehow Indiana convinced the underrated difference-maker to come to Bloomington. Credit Tom Allen and Co. for continuing their relationship with Penix Jr. even when he appeared Rocky Top bound. The rest is history awaiting to be written.
The first couple pages of Penix’s story are pretty darn riveting, though. I admit, I went into this film review figuring all this Penix hype was more sizzle than steak. I ended this film review wondering if Penix Jr. finishes this abbreviated season injury-free – which is a big IF – how he isn’t the 4th or 5th quarterback taken in the 2021 NFL Draft? He’s that freaking good!
It’s insane Penix Jr. has only started six games in his career, because from a maturity standpoint and poise standpoint he acts like an upperclassman. Despite standing in front of an iffy-at-best offensive line, he never drops his eyes to look at the rush. Against Michigan State, we marked him down for one bad read. ONE. This is it – should have thrown it to the flat.
After that flub, Penix Jr. did THIS on the next play:
Dude is gifted, eh? Michigan State drops eight with a spy. Penix spots a hiccup in coverage and pounces immediately. Most quarterbacks don’t have the arm/quick release to exploit mistakes like this, but Penix Jr. isn’t most quarterbacks.
The BTN announcers mentioned more than once that Penix Jr. ran a 22.80 200-meter dash in high school…which, unless I’m wrong, isn’t all that fast, so I don’t know why they made such a big deal out of it? Last year, Penix’s 22.80 wouldn’t have finished in the Top 20 in the 4A Florida State High School Track Meet. Not dogging the guy…just pointing out that Penix Jr. isn’t much of a dual-threat.
Whereas Trace McSorley possessed a sixth sense for avoiding the rush, stepping beyond pressure and punishing the defense when the play broke down, Penix Jr. resembles a baby giraffe fresh out the womb when left to improvise. Observe:
No, he’s a disciplined pocket passer who would much rather flash his ungodly arm talent than his fast-ish legs. Though it seems counterintuitive, I think Penix Jr. needs to scramble MORE in 2020 to stay healthy. I don’t know the exact cause of Penix Jr.’s multiple injuries suffered in a short sample size of playing time, but I do know he got hit hard in this game a BUNCH because he didn’t hit the Eject button and get out of danger.
During one stretch, Penix Jr. completed 20 passes in a row. And they weren’t all layups. Check out these NFL throws:
The incompletion that snapped the 20-consecutive completion streak was pretty sweet, too. Good coverage, but Penix Jr. throws up another masterpiece only 3-Ty Fryfogle (All-Name Team) can catch. We’ll show it twice since the dumb BTN score bug obstructed our view. A better WR gets his feet in-bounds.
Now, if you’re an Indiana fan reading this, turn away. I’m about to tick you off (although luckily, this blog is only 8 days old, so I’m sure no one is gonna read this) – I really wonder if Penix Jr. finishes his career at Indiana.
I don’t know how close Michael Penix Jr. is to graduating (seems with the proliferation of cake online classes players can rack up a degree in three years), but he seems to be a prime candidate to take the Jaime Newman Easy Road Grad Transfer Route and replace D’Eriq King at Miami or Kyle Trask at Florida…that is if he isn’t playing for a paycheck next year.
But, hey, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he loves Not Sinking The Biz and snow. Maybe he stays…and continues to deal with “Indiana.”
1- WHOP PHILYOR, WIDE RECEIVER: Debated whether to give the eclectic senior pass catcher the prestigious Lion Tamer tag, especially when I learned Whop isn’t his real name but rather a nickname he earned as a youngster because he loved Whoppers. Who the heck likes Burger King?!?!?! Gross. I’m sure NFL scouts will question the hell out of that at the Combine. Next, you’re gonna tell me no one showed up to his birthday party. Red flag.
Due to a nasty knock to the head – that somehow wasn’t flagged – last year against Penn State, we (thankfully) didn’t get to witness Philyor’s entire bag of tricks…although we got the gist. His 2019 stats – 75 receptions, 1,002 yards – are a bit inflated because of the frequent freebies tossed his way in the aforementioned quick passing game.
But Philyor does have elite vertical speed (see above) and despite weighing 175 pounds, he’s strong enough to make lazy tacklers pay after the catch. Like this:
PROBLEM AREAS (RED-TINT PLAYERS)
OFFENSIVE LINE: If Indiana plans to upset Penn State this weekend, it MUST turn a profit on 1st and 2nd down because obvious passing situations could very well be disastrous…especially since the Nittany Lions’ defensive strength rests in its deep rotation of edge rushers.
If you’ve bothered to click on the clips above, you’ve probably noticed that 76-Matthew Bedford had a tough time against Sparty. To be fair, the 307-pounder from Cordova, Tennessee was thrown to the fire as a true freshman and got quite an education, starting eight games thanks to injuries to upperclassmen.
Bedford’s run blocking wasn’t much better. What do you do when you completely whiff on a second-level block that if executed would have sprung the back for a big gain? Well, keep running until you’re complete off-screen, of course.
Good news is Bedford can only get better…presumably. Let’s be nice and end on a positive highlight. As you can see, the now-sophomore is still a bit raw, but he’s got talent and flashes a nasty streak on occasion.
57-Harry Crider moves from left guard to center this season. Here’s Harry getting stood-up by an MSU linebacker giving up 70 pounds. Not great.
THE UNKNOWN
NICK SHERIDAN: The Catch-22 of running a program devoid of history and prestige, like Indiana, is that success comes at a price – those who do well move on. Such was the case with last year’s playcaller Kalen DeBoer. After putting up a bunch of yards and a bunch of points in Bloomington last year, he ducked out of town to take the head job at Fresno State.
Enter internally-promoted Nick Sheridan. If that name sounds familiar, there’s a reason. Nick Sheridan captained Michigan’s second-half implosion in Happy Valley back in 2008. This is Nick getting sacked in the end zone. Remember now?
Considering Sheridan has never called plays before, he probably doesn’t have the coaching equity to overhaul a proven system. Maybe he’ll tweak things here and there, but Indiana’s offense probably won’t look drastically different.
Very in depth write up. Thanks for this breakdown with the clips as well.