Notebook: IU Head Coach Tom Allen Previews Michigan, Gives Injury Update
The Indiana Hoosiers (7-3 overall, 4-3 Big Ten) are coming off a close 34-27 loss to Penn State in Happy Valley last week. They play another top-15 team in the Michigan Wolverines (8-2 overall, 5-2 Big Ten) this Saturday.
Hoosiers head coach Tom Allen met with the media to preview the matchup with the Wolverines. He also gave an update on an injury that occurred against PSU.
Indiana Hoosiers Head Coach Tom Allen Previews Michigan Game
Indiana is 4-1 this season when playing at home, with the lone loss coming Sept. 14 against Ohio State. This Saturday will be the final home game of the season in Bloomington, and Allen is hoping to end it on a high note for his seniors.
"We've got a big opportunity for our seniors," Allen said. "We're going to recognize 16 seniors on Saturday. It's a special group of guys, really special to me because of the change they've created here."
Allen's group will face the challenge of playing a surging U-M team that has won its last three games, all in blowout fashion.
"I have a lot of respect for them and their coaches, the talent that they have, and how they’ve recruited," Allen said while complimenting U-M. "They are who they are historically.
"They’re playing their best football. They're a really impressive football team, physically and athletically, and just doing great things in all three phases. They’ve got talented specialists, and an excellent quarterback and stable of running backs. It's a really impressive receiver corps, and big, physical and athletic offensive line. There are some new faces on defense, but they're really explosive and [defensive coordinator] Don Brown does a phenomenal job schematically, and they play really hard. Coach [Jim] Harbaugh’s got them playing really, really well.
"They had a big game last week in an important game for them, and they played really, really good football in all three phases. We’ve got a great chance to finish out a home slate for this season. That’s important to us. It’s about how you finish, and that’s a big emphasis for our guys."
The Hoosiers have struggled to contain running quarterbacks at times this season, including last week against Nittany Lions signal-caller Sean Clifford. Clifford ran it 10 times for 55 yards and 2 touchdowns in the game.
U-M senior quarterback Shea Patterson will pose a similar challenge, and he has shown the ability to keep the ball on read-options, in addition to being able to get out of the pocket.
"Shea Patterson is a really good athlete," Allen said. "He can run it as good as anybody we’ve played the whole year. They have a ton of talented receivers to defend — that’s where the stress comes."
Like many people, Allen has noticed a difference between U-M's play early in the season to now.
"Going back [to the beginning of the year], they look like a completely different team, especially on offense," Allen noted. "I think part of it is a new system. They did make changes; it. I think that takes a little time.
"You go through your season and figure out what you really do well within that new system and you try to maximize those [strengths]. Then guys get more confident and start to execute, just like you see with our team.
"I just think they’re playing with a high level of confidence, and they’re executing their scheme better — guys are getting open, they're getting the ball to receivers and protecting the ball. They had issues with that early on, and they haven’t really had issues with that lately. That’s a big deal, when you start turning the ball over, then a lot of bad things happen.
"You just see a comfort level with what they’re doing and the system that they’ve installed. They’ve got a lot of good athletes, a lot of really good players, so it’s starting to look a lot different. That creates a lot of challenges for us."
Allen Talks Injury To Junior Wide Receiver Whop Philyor
Hoosiers' junior wide receiver Whop Philyor left the PSU game with an apparent concussion and will be questionable for this weekend's contest. Philyor is on the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation's most outstanding receiver, and he has 61 receptions for 863 yards and 3 touchdowns on the season.
"I do not know yet," Allen said, after being asked if Philyor will be able to play Saturday. "That's a process that we'll go through throughout the week, and we'll do a great job of being very diligent with that in his best interest."
Additional Indiana Hoosiers Football Notes
• The Hoosiers will be without redshirt freshman quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
Penix completed 110 of his 160 passing attempts on the season for 1,394 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also had 22 rush attempts for 119 yards and two touchdowns, but suffered a season-ending injury in the Nov. 2 game against Northwestern.
• With Penix Jr. out, redshirt junior Peyton Ramsey will start under center for the Hoosiers. Ramsey has been productive, completing 72.7 percent of his passes on the season. He is 144 of 198 for 1,673 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Ramsey has experience playing against the Wolverines' defense. In the 2018 game between the two teams, he completed 16 of his 35 attempts for 195 yards, one touchdown and an interception.
In 2017 against U-M, Ramsey completed 20 of his 41 attempts for 178 yards, one score and two picks.
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