Game Thread: 9/11 vs. Idaho - 7:30 - BTN

[Hoosierfan1901]

Hendershot got a little too excited

[Southside]

So Tuttle has more total yards than Penix, and only needed 2 completions :-)

[LamarCheeks]

Kinda wanted to see Tuttle throw a little more. Granted, it's against an FCS team -- but to me, he looked more comfortable running the offense tonight than he ever did last season. 

Even though we're up by 42, I don't think anybody's gonna kick up a fuss if we throw on third and 11. 

[cthomas]

I don't understand what we are doing here. If you are getting your backup quarterback some minutes, why not let him do what he does best. Throw the football. We might just need those skills before the season is over. Anybody can hand off the football.

[Stuhoo]

Hayden Whitehead was a fantastic punter for IU from Australia.

That was NOT RELEVANT whether James Evans from New Zealand would be good.

James Evans is NOT good.

We better find another punter methinks.

[Hovadipo]

19 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Hayden Whitehead was a fantastic punter for IU from Australia.

That was NOT RELEVANT whether James Evans from New Zealand would be good.

James Evans is NOT good.

We better find another punter methinks.

Haydon got significantly better as an upperclassman. He was here forEVER, so his early years might be forgotten. Give Evans six years and he’ll be right there with Whitehead. 

[Stuhoo]

3 minutes ago, Hovadipo said:

Haydon got significantly better as an upperclassman. He was here forEVER, so his early years might be forgotten. Give Evans six years and he’ll be right there with Whitehead. 

How long do I have to give him before I am justified in thinking he stinks.

Please don’t say six years.

[Hovadipo]

1 minute ago, Stuhoo said:

How long do I have to give him before I am justified in thinking he stinks.

Please don’t say six years.

I’d be surprised if you aren’t pleased with him by the end of this season. It isn’t great right now, no doubt, but the staff can live with growing pains  because his pure leg talent is excellent. Believe me, there aren’t other options waiting in the wings at the moment. 

[Stuhoo]

7 minutes ago, Hovadipo said:

I’d be surprised if you aren’t pleased with him by the end of this season. It isn’t great right now, no doubt, but the staff can live with growing pains  because his pure leg talent is excellent. Believe me, there aren’t other options waiting in the wings at the moment. 

I can wait that long. 

[LIHoosier]

I just saw this. Can we get our s*** together please?!? Ken has since deleted this tweet.

[lillurk]

Turnout looked awesome, well done. I can’t make it to Btown for games much but love to see it.

[HoosierAloha]

I just saw this. Can we get our s*** together please?!? Ken has since deleted this tweet.

Our attention to detail is… missing?


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[Hoosierfan2017]

Call me crazy but I would prefer to see Tuttle out there next Saturday. Penix looks like a shell of himself, and a top 10 opponent isn’t the best time to figure it out. Idaho was the perfect opportunity to air it out and try to get him acclimated again. Instead, we ran the ball 50 times and Penix threw for 68 yards. The coaches will never do it but I think we’d have a better chance with Tuttle. 

[mamasa]

10 hours ago, Hovadipo said:

Haydon got significantly better as an upperclassman. He was here forEVER, so his early years might be forgotten. Give Evans six years and he’ll be right there with Whitehead. 

 

[Hoosier Roots]

Haven’t seen anyone mention this, but when me and my friends tried to enter the student section yesterday, we were told that it was so packed that they weren’t letting anymore people in and instead we had to sit in a different section by the south endzone… which was also entirely full of students. Seems like the student body is really showing out this year. 

[Naturalhoosier]

3 hours ago, Hoosier Roots said:

Haven’t seen anyone mention this, but when me and my friends tried to enter the student section yesterday, we were told that it was so packed that they weren’t letting anymore people in and instead we had to sit in a different section by the south endzone… which was also entirely full of students. Seems like the student body is really showing out this year. 

That is awesome!!!!  Now, can we lock the gates so they can’t leave?!  

[Alford Bailey]

10 hours ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

Call me crazy but I would prefer to see Tuttle out there next Saturday. Penix looks like a shell of himself, and a top 10 opponent isn’t the best time to figure it out. Idaho was the perfect opportunity to air it out and try to get him acclimated again. Instead, we ran the ball 50 times and Penix threw for 68 yards. The coaches will never do it but I think we’d have a better chance with Tuttle. 

QB continues to be a big area of concern for me

[yogisballin]

Kinda wanted to see Tuttle throw a little more. Granted, it's against an FCS team -- but to me, he looked more comfortable running the offense tonight than he ever did last season. 
Even though we're up by 42, I don't think anybody's gonna kick up a fuss if we throw on third and 11. 

I’m with you. I’m very concerned with Penix


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[Hoosierfan2017]

23 minutes ago, Alford Bailey said:

QB continues to be a big area of concern for me

Penix was outstanding against OSU last year, but in three games since then he’s 31-66 for 308 yards. 4.67 yards/attempt. Was OSU a fluke? Is he just in a rut? Did he benefit a lot from playing in empty stadiums? Who knows. Time will tell. But I’m starting to wonder if the cumulative injuries are starting to affect him. Three season ending injuries in three seasons. One of them a shoulder injury and two of them being torn ACLs in his right knee. 

We don’t have much time for him to figure things out. Our next five games are brutal. Cincinnati, WKU, Penn State, Michigan State, and Ohio State. If Penix doesn’t get a lot better we’re looking at 1-4 over the next 5. Tuttle was getting the first team reps over the spring due to Penix’s injury. He might be more comfortable right now. 

[GnarlyNormEllenberger]

15 hours ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

Penix was outstanding against OSU last year, but in three games since then he’s 31-66 for 308 yards. 4.67 yards/attempt. Was OSU a fluke? Is he just in a rut? Did he benefit a lot from playing in empty stadiums? Who knows. Time will tell. But I’m starting to wonder if the cumulative injuries are starting to affect him. Three season ending injuries in three seasons. One of them a shoulder injury and two of them being torn ACLs in his right knee. 

We don’t have much time for him to figure things out. Our next five games are brutal. Cincinnati, WKU, Penn State, Michigan State, and Ohio State. If Penix doesn’t get a lot better we’re looking at 1-4 over the next 5. Tuttle was getting the first team reps over the spring due to Penix’s injury. He might be more comfortable right now. 

Agreed.

Michael Penix isn't the All Big-Ten QB we were hoping he would be right now. He's off. It's possible he'll eventually round into form and get to that point. But right now? He's out of sync for the most part. Save for a couple of nice throws he looked unimpressive against Idaho. Was it rust? Confidence? Offensive play-calling? A combination of all three? I don't know. I was hoping Idaho would be his "get right" game that would allow him round back into shape. 11/16 for 68 yards and 2 TDs in three quarters against an FCS team wasn't exactly putting the Big Ten on notice.

Am I saying bench him? Not necessarily. But I guess I would say that if you trot Penix out there the next game and we have 3-4 series of unspectacular offense then I wouldn't hesitate to give Tuttle a shot for a change of pace. That's not to say Tuttle will be much better... but it at least looks like he has more confidence than Penix right now. Being QB1 in the spring probably played a role in that. He's made a couple of nice throws in limited playing time and it seemed like the offense ran a little more smoothly with Tuttle taking the snaps.

And that doesn't mean if you bench Penix midway thorugh a game that he's no longer your starter. I just wouldn't force him if it seems like he doesn't have "it" for the day. I suppose the counter-argument is that he may need more snaps to get back into the rhythm of game play but as you said his current level of QB play probably gets you a 1-4 record over the next five games. Penix clearly has a higher ceiling, but if Tuttle is playing better right now... I don't see how we don't give him PT for the betterment of the team.