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(03/22/22 5:46am)
Grace Berger started to her right, pounding the ball on the hardwood, darting past a screen, still going to her right, then hesitating, ever so briefly, before continuing to dribble to her right. Indiana (3-seed) was tied with Princeton (11-seed) 52-52 on Monday night. There were just over 30 seconds remaining in the game. The Hoosiers hadn’t made a field goal in more than four minutes. The winner would advance to the Sweet Sixteen. The loser’s season would be over.
Then Berger did a spin, twirling her back toward the basket, the defender right behind her. All the while, keeping control of the ball.
"...Growing up I was told that if I could handle the ball there was always a spot for me on the team by my dad," Berger said.
Berger said she has the same dribbling routine now before the game as she did was she was seven.
“Just consistent work at it,” Berger said. “It's kind of effortless for me now.”
And now she was in Assembly Hall, using those ball-handling skills, slipping into a mosh of black Princeton jerseys. The play was called for Berger. Associate head coach Rhet Wierzba is in charge of calling plays in special situations. He runs the play by Indiana head coach Teri Moren.
“He always checks in, is this who we want the ball -- in Grace's hands,” Moren said postgame. “We always just kind of laugh and say, well, of course we want her to go make the play for us.”
The play worked. Berger glided through the lane. She exploded up, scooping the ball with her right hand before crashing downward. The ball hit off the backboard, then dropped through the basket. Indiana led by two with 28.2 seconds remaining.
(11/22/21 11:07pm)
Being here, Grant Gremel admits, isn’t something he expected.
It’s more than an hour after Indiana’s loss to Minnesota. The stands are empty, but the lights are still on at Memorial Stadium. Gremel has a football, the one he threw for his first touchdown, tucked under his arm as a group of reporters circle him. There isn’t anything uncommon about this. It’s a ho-hum media session. Nothing more than a few minutes of questions, a few minutes of answers. But for Gremel, a preferred walk-on, this is all relatively new.
Asked what this moment is like for him — playing meaningful snaps, answering questions and, for a few minutes, being the center of attention — Gremel can’t keep himself from smiling.
“When I came here,” Gremel says. “I never thought I’d be in this position.”
Gremel, a redshirt sophomore quarterback, exists in what has evolved into an increasingly intriguing situation. If it had not been for Dexter Williams’ torn ACL in spring practice, Gremel would’ve been the fifth-string quarterback entering this season.
And now? Gremel has appeared in three games. In Saturday’s loss to Minnesota, he was one of the lone bright spots, throwing for 60 yards and one touchdown, plus 23 yards on the ground in just a handful of snaps late in the game. There’s more uncertainty at the quarterback position in Indiana’s season finale against Purdue and Gremel could very well find himself on the field again.
“Of our walk-ons that we've had here, he may have improved the most,” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said. “(He) just really bought in. Just a tough kid, works hard, attention to detail. He's very smart, excellent student. He's what you want in a walk-on in regards to, he does everything right.”
It has become impressive the extent to which Gremel holds respect from his peers despite only playing in three career games. His teammates and coaches speak of him with supreme confidence. Perhaps it’s a product of how Gremel works. During this season, even when he was low on the depth chart, he consistently watched extra film and met with the offensive line and wide receivers.
“His mindset, man,” running back Stephen Carr said about what has impressed him about Gremel. “Grant has been in the system. He knows everything just like Jack (Tuttle) or Mike (Penix Jr.) would know. What impressed me about him is that he's on point. Even though he was I don’t know how far down on the depth chart, he still treated it like he was a starter.”
(11/21/21 1:49am)
With just over six minutes left in the first quarter Saturday, Indiana seemed to have some meaningful momentum for the first time in weeks. Indiana stopped Minnesota on a fourth-down deep in its own zone. Then, freshman quarterback Donaven McCulley burst through the line for an 11-yard touchdown run to put the Hoosiers up 7-0.
This, however, wouldn’t last. In fact, that was the last of the substantial momentum Indiana would hold for the entirety of the game. The Hoosiers gave up 35 consecutive points. Their offense produced a season-low 77 passing yards. By the end, Indiana fell 35-14, marking its seventh consecutive loss and continuing its helpless season.
“This is one of the hardest things we’re going through right now,” Indiana tight end Peyton Hendershot said after the game.
The fact is that Indiana again failed to put up consistent production on either side of the ball.
It became clear that Indiana didn’t have enough confidence in its offensive line to let McCulley sit back in the pocket. McCulley threw just seven passes for 17 yards and two interceptions, both of which weren’t particularly close to connecting with a receiver. Despite the fact that McCulley ran for 72 yards, Indiana’s offense was one-dimensional given its reluctance to throw the ball. Backup Grant Gremel tossed a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but the game was already out of hand.
Indiana’s defense was largely beaten at the point of attack and gave up consecutive methodical drives. The Golden Gophers put up 391 yards of total offense and controlled the clock, holding the ball for 13 minutes more than the Hoosiers. Indiana was unable to force any turnovers, an aspect of the game that it relied on heavily last season.
Each week, the disconnect between Indiana’s expectations before the season and reality this season has become more and more striking.
Indiana started the season with hopes of a Big Ten title.
They very well may finish the season without a win over a Power Five team.
The lofty goals, though, didn’t seem too far off entering the season. The Hoosiers were coming off of a historic 6-2 season, one in which they introduced themselves onto the national stage and ascended to a No. 8 ranking.
Over the summer, players and coaches talked about aspirations of winning the Big Ten. There are signs around IU’s facility that read “What have you done today to win the Big Ten?” When head coach Tom Allen took over the program in 2016, Indiana would break down its huddles with “Big Ten Champs.” But Allen put a stop to it because he felt it was unrealistic. This season, though, he allowed his players to start doing it again.
The most highly-anticipation season in IU football history wasn’t just due to the overall aura of the program, but also the fact that Indiana was returning 17 starters, including quarterback Michael Penix Jr. They brought in multiple Power Five transfers, including former five-star running back Stephen Carr.
But for a variety of reasons, those expectations fell flat.
The offense was, at most points, disjointed. Inconsistent quarterbacking play and injuries left untested true freshman McCulley as the lone healthy scholarship quarterback. There was also an exodus of playmakers, including wide receiver DJ Matthews, Indiana’s most dynamic target, who went down with a torn ACL in the fourth game of the season. The struggling offensive line, though, was arguably the root cause of the offensive woes.
Indiana’s defense, which was its strength early in the season, devolved into a liability due to injuries, including All-American Tiawan Mullen, and the fact they were on the field for a majority of the game because of the middling offense. The result was a defense that once limited Heisman candidate Kenneth Walker III to 84 rushing yards, then gave up 38 points apiece to both Maryland and Rutgers.
“A couple busts here and there,” defensive back Bryant Fitzgerald said. “When we have them third-and-seven, we have a bust or we miss a tackle. We just have to clean those up and get our eyes right. There’s just a lot of people battling through injuries and we’re just trying to fight.”
The narrative early in the season was that Indiana’s disappointing start was in part due to the strength of its opponents. Five of its first seven opponents were at one point ranked in the top 10.
But over the second half of the season, that argument has proved to be invalid. Indiana lost to a middling Maryland team. And now over the past two weeks, Indiana has dropped home games to Rutgers and Minnesota, two mediocre teams, by a combined score of 73-17. What has been most concerning is not only that Indiana lost, but the way in which the team lost.
“We've got to sustain it (production),” Allen said. “We've got to do it for four quarters. Just not good enough. Not to our standards. Not acceptable. It’s not been that way for most of the season, so pretty frustrated.”
Allen has done a lot to build this program up. Two 5-7 seasons became an 8-5 season, which became the breakthrough 6-2 season. This season was a golden opportunity for Indiana to capitalize on all of the positivity around the program. Instead, the Hoosiers regressed to arguably their lowest point in the Allen era.
It’s not as if this means Allen can’t make a resurgence, but there is much more unknown about the future of the program. It remains to be seen how much of a hit this season will take on future fan engagement and recruiting. As the season wore on, it became clear the energy around the program had changed. A once-packed Memorial Stadium became nearly all empty.
Now 2-9, Indiana’s final hope to salvage momentum into the offseason comes against Purdue in the Old Oaken Bucket game. It won’t be an easy task, given that the Boilermakers have knocked off both Iowa and Michigan State earlier this year and Indiana’s continued descent.
But the game in West Lafayette is now the only thing Allen is focused on. As he deftly strode out of the media room Saturday night, he said two words.
“Beat Purdue.”
(11/11/21 4:25pm)
Ryder Anderson was right in Demarcus Elliott’s face. It was during summer training camp and IU’s defensive linemen were competing in various conditioning drills: medicine ball throws across the field, sled pulls, sprints. That’s when Anderson started talking. “Go, go,” he said, getting right into his teammates’ faces. It wasn’t just that, but also some banter, trying to get under Elliott’s skin. Anderson was, as Elliott says, “talking ‘the s.’”
At that point, Elliott was ticked off. The anger, though, only motivated Elliott more to beat out Anderson in the drills.
“Looking back, that’s probably one of the hardest I’ve seen another guy work, another guy push other people,” Elliott said. “...It’s coming out of a good place in his heart. He knows that the season won’t be easy. Things will get hard.”
As it turns out, things have gotten hard for Indiana. A season that started with hopes of a Big Ten title has devolved into a 2-7 record. This, however, is what has made Anderson all the more valuable. During Indiana’s downward spiral, Anderson has been a trusted leader and constant source of energy. Anderson’s impact has also come with his play, where, in his first season at IU after transferring from Ole Miss, he has been one of the most reliable pieces on Indiana’s defensive line.
“Ryder is a guy that’s always looking to improve constantly,” IU defensive line coach Kevin Peoples said earlier this year. “He’s hard on himself. He’s a guy that wants to be perfect.”
What makes Anderson’s emergence as a leader all the more impressive is the fact that he did it from the moment he arrived at IU early this year. He quickly earned the respect of his peers by the way that he worked. He built relationships but also wasn’t afraid to be hard on them when needed. It also helped that he came in with SEC experience, having played in 45 career games in four seasons for the Rebels.
“When he first got here, you couldn’t tell that he first got here,” Elliott said. “He wasn’t shy, he wasn’t timid at all. It’s kind of weird, when he got here, I felt like I’d known him my whole life.”
As Indiana’s losses piled up this season, Anderson’s belief and message remained constant.
After Indiana’s season-opening loss to Iowa: “I’ve played a lot of football. I’ve seen a lot of teams. I know this team right here is good.”
After Indiana’s loss to Cincinnati: “Love this team, it’s a long season we’re not done.”
After Indiana’s loss to Michigan State: “I care about these guys. I care about the team. I’m a competitor. Regardless of what may happen the week before, I’m going to attack the challenge ahead of me the next week.”
To a certain extent, the intangible traits that Anderson has brought to IU can be attributed to his career at Katy High School in Texas. Katy, which routinely produces blue-chip prospects, is run like a college program, where discipline and selflessness on a play-by-play basis are required. Defensive linemen are often asked to eat up blocks, so others can make plays. Given the depth of the team, there was a constant rotation of defensive linemen on the field.
“Going to school at Katy, I just learned a lot of big things like focusing on the fundamentals. being a team player, putting the team first,” Anderson said. “Just being a leader, being able to pass things down to the guys under you.”
Anderson, though, had to work his way up the ranks. As a freshman at Katy, Anderson played quarterback. He was “really tall” and “gangly,” Robert Ortiz, Anderson’s defensive line coach at Katy, said. Anderson was a “tweener in terms of his speed and quickness,” and “awkward” at receiver or tight end, Ortiz said, so the coaching staff decided to put him at defensive line.
Anderson did everything he could to make it a smooth transition. He asked questions and watched film. He’d meet with Ortiz at lunch to talk. He hit the weight room and worked on his nutrition. Anderson also had his older brother Rodney, who went on to play at Oklahoma, constantly preaching accountability.
“Work ethic,” Anderson said about what he learned from Rodney. “Just to give it my full effort trying to find ways to separate myself by putting in more work than the next person. He always stayed on me. He never let me slack.”
Anderson developed into a three-star defensive line prospect. As a junior, he helped Katy to a 16-0 state championship-winning season. Two years later, he arrived at Ole Miss and became a key rotation player by his sophomore year. As a senior last season, Anderson totaled 43 tackles and 2.5 sacks.
Then, last January, Anderson found himself amid an interesting dynamic. Six days before Anderson committed to Indiana, his Ole Miss team beat IU in the Outback Bowl. After watching Indiana up close, Anderson knew it was a good fit and was sold on the opportunity to play more exclusively as an edge rusher.
That he has done. In a defense that has had its ups and downs, Anderson, now listed at 6-foot-6, 266 pounds, ranks fifth on the team in tackles with 40, second in tackles for loss with eight, and second in sacks with 3.5. Arguably his best game of the season came against Cincinnati, where he posted eight tackles, two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.
Even though Indiana’s bowl eligibility is now gone, Anderson’s voice will continue to be heard as the Hoosiers attempt to finish the last three games of the season strong.
“I think a lot of time (Anderson's) just being a good person and being a good teammate," Peoples said. "That’s a quality that he exemplifies and the other guys fed off of that.”
(11/02/21 10:16pm)
Stephen Carr hadn’t made pasta like this before. Back home in California, Carr cooked pasta, but there was always a family member looking over his shoulder if he needed help. Now in Bloomington? He’s on his own in the kitchen. So he learned how to make tacos, steak and pasta. Sloppy Joes too. He’d call back home if any questions came up.
His culinary skills, though, are just one of the many adjustments Carr has made over the past few months.
This spring, Carr made a difficult decision to leave the University of Southern California. Carr grew up idolizing the Trojans and it was always his “dream school,” he says. In high school, when he got the offer from USC, there was never really any consideration that he’d go anywhere else. After four years, he graduated in the spring of this year.
There was also the fact that he’d be leaving California, the state he’d always considered home. As a kid, Carr’s parents went to his Pop Warner and high school games. It continued when he starred at USC. His mother’s house, he said, was only 30 minutes away from USC’s campus, meaning that he could go home after practices. She’d make tacos and his favorite, enchiladas.
This is what Carr decided to leave behind. In Indiana, though, he saw an opportunity.
He had a prior relationship with Indiana’s running back coach Deland McCullough, who coached him at USC. He admired what Tom Allen was building. But it also gave Carr a chance to look internally, a journey of self-improvement during his move across the country, away from his family and friends.
“I feel like this gives me a great opportunity to focus on myself and learn a lot about myself,” Carr said over the summer.
A few months later, Indiana’s season hasn’t unfolded the way that many expected. The Hoosiers are currently 2-6 and haven’t won a Big Ten game yet. But in his look inward, Carr has developed into a leader not only by necessity but by choice. On Saturday against Maryland, he had his best game of the season, rushing for 136 yards and two touchdowns, doing all he could to keep Indiana afloat in an eventual 38-35 loss.
It was much of the potential that Carr had once shown as a five-star recruit. As a freshman at USC, he was named All-Pac 12 honorable mention. The rest of his career, though, was marred by injuries. In his first two years, there was a sprained ankle, plus a herniated disk that required surgery. Then a hamstring injury as a junior. In his senior season, he rushed for just 176 yards.
What’s important to understand is that Carr isn’t afraid to be introspective and honest. When reflecting candidly back on his younger self, Carr says, he didn’t take game-like reps with the level of attention to detail as consistently as he should have.
“I would just tell (my younger self) to care a little bit more,” Carr said. “It’s that simple. You just have to care a little bit more.”
He continued.
“Be present and in the moment. Care and be present. That’s what I’m focusing on right now. Trying to be present and in the moment every chance that I get. Not thinking about the past or the future too much. Just stay present.”
Mindfulness is still a learning process for Carr. He doesn’t normally meditate in a traditional sense. Rather he “meditates on football,” as he calls it, which consists of watching film all the way through without letting himself get distracted by his phone or his surroundings. He tries to be aware of his thoughts. He also wears a necklace with the picture of a blue buddha, which he rarely takes off. If it pops out during games, he tucks it back in, which acts as a reminder to stay centered.
“Stay in the present moment,” Carr says. “Soak it all in.”
It manifests in maturity too. When meeting with reporters throughout the season, Carr always opens by asking how everyone is doing. When the availability ends, he tells everyone to have a great day, followed by a few fist bumps. After Indiana’s game win over Idaho, Carr’s first career 100-yard rushing game, he gave some of his gear to a young fan in the stands.
“I just love the kids,” Carr said. “I was a kid one day, who looked up to the people that are in the position that we are right now. It’s only good to give back.”
On the field, Carr has been a constant in a revolving door of players in the backfield this season. At running back, Sampson James and Tim Baldwin Jr. both entered the transfer portal. David Ellis underwent ankle surgery, leaving Carr as the only scholarship back to handle a majority of the carries. Carr also played alongside quarterbacks Michael Penix Jr. and Jack Tuttle for a handful of games before both suffered injuries. Now, he’s helping guide freshman quarterback Donaven McCulley, who was thrown into the starting role against Maryland.
Carr has done everything he can to be a steady influence. He offers encouragement like "we got this" and "let's do this" to McCulley. He cracks inside jokes and daps him up. At practice, Carr takes mental reps when he’s resting. With walk-on running backs Chris Childers and Davion Ervin-Poindexter, Carr has emphasized the importance of practicing hard. A couple of weeks ago, Childers asked Carr about how he makes guys miss in space. Carr answered with some moves that Childers had never heard before. The result? Both have notched runs of more than 25 yards this season.
“No matter what the situation is, he’s always encouraging,” wide receiver Ty Fryfogle said of Carr. “We could be down (by) whatever and he’s encouraging. We could be up (by) whatever and he’s encouraging. No matter the situation, he’s always encouraging and uplifting guys. That’s what I love about him.”
In eight games this season, Carr has rushed for six touchdowns and 588 yards, including three 100-plus yard games. Behind an inconsistent offensive line, there have been times where Carr was bottled up, like his season-low 13-yard performance against Ohio State. But he bounced back a week later against Maryland, where he burst through the line for a 66-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
After gaining some critical distance from this transitional period in his life, Carr was recently asked about what he said back in the summer.
What have you learned about yourself?
“I think I’ve learned that I’m a leader now. I’ve really taken that step to really becoming a leader and taking all of those responsibilities that come with it. Not taking shortcuts, not making excuses. When you make excuses everybody else is going to make excuses.”
He continued.
“I just look out for everybody like they’re my brother. There’s more to life than football and if you have these traits during this time while playing football, you’re going to take it over to life.”
After a few more minutes of talking to a small group of reporters, Carr slid out from behind the podium in IU’s media room.
“I appreciate you guys,” he said. “Great questions. For real.”
Then, one final message before he went on his way.
“Ya’ll have a good day.”
(10/30/21 9:26pm)
As players converged to shake hands and exchange pleasantries at Capital One Field in College Park, Maryland, a certain fitting song blared across the loudspeakers.
It was a classic: “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC.
Indiana had just lost its fourth consecutive game. This time it was to Maryland, 38-35. The Hoosiers now have a 2-6 record. They have still not beaten a power-five opponent this season. They need to win their final four games to be eligible for a bowl game.
The loss wasn't because of a lack of opportunities. Midway through the third quarter, Stephen Carr burst through the line for a 66-yard touchdown scamper. Indiana had turned what was a 14-point deficit into a three-point lead and seemingly taken the momentum. At that point, it was Indiana’s game to lose.
From there, though, it took a turn. Maryland scored 13 unanswered points. Indiana’s secondary was gashed by Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, who tossed a game-high 419 yards. A last-chance onside kick from Indiana was recovered by Maryland.
Then, the song played.
"Bye bye bye."
Much like the tune, Indiana’s bowl hopes, and chance to revive its season, went “bye.”
“Just really disappointed in our defense,” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said. “Didn’t play well enough. Too many explosive plays in the throwing game.”
As it has gone for the entirety of the season, the chances were there for Indiana. The Hoosiers led at halftime against top-10 opponents Cincinnati and Michigan State earlier this year. Both, however, ended in the loss column. It was the same on Saturday, where the Hoosiers swung the energy of the game after a putrid start. They weren't, however, unable to sustain their momentum and capitalize on chances.
The prevailing excuse for Indiana’s poor record this season was that five of its first seven opponents are currently, or were previously, ranked in the top-10. On Saturday, though, that was not the case. Maryland entered the day with a mediocre 4-3 record, having lost its previous three games. Indiana’s loss Saturday proved that, right now, it's not even worthy of being labeled a middling Big Ten team this season, instead continuing to sink to the bottom of the conference at 0-4.
That record is largely due to the fact that Indiana’s offense and defense have yet to put together a cohesive performance this season against a team not named Idaho. Indiana’s defense has given itself a chance to win almost every game this season, including Michigan State, Cincinnati and kept them somewhat close in the first half against Penn State.
The offense, on the other hand, had been unreliable. IU scored just two touchdowns in its first four conference games. The offense line’s production and playcalling have been under heavy scrutiny. Michael Penix Jr. and Jack Tuttle, Indiana’s top two quarterbacks, both went down with injuries. Against Ohio State, freshman quarterback Donaven McCulley and redshirt sophomore Grant Gremel 一 who combined for two career appearances entering the game 一 were thrown into action.
But on Saturday, the script was flipped. Indiana’s defense was the letdown. The secondary was gashed time and time again, allowing seven pass plays for more than 20 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
It didn’t help that Indiana has a depleted secondary. Starting cornerback Reese Taylor missed his third consecutive game. Tiawan Mullen played the first half, his first action in three games, but was back on the sideline in the second half. Earlier this season, Chris Keys tore his ACL and Larry Tracy entered the transfer portal.
There was also the fact that Indiana wasn't able to create any takeaways, an aspect of the game that is part of its DNA. Despite allowing a decent amount of yardage last season, what made Indiana's defense so potent was that it led the nation in takeaways. This season, however, they aren’t forcing turnovers at close to the same rate. Over the past two games, Indiana has created zero takeaways.
“I think that is the biggest difference between last year and this year,” Allen said. "Because there are a lot of similarities and things. Just not getting those picks and fumbles.”
In contrast to the trend of the season, Indiana’s offense did its job. Carr had 136 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Peyton Hendershot had six catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns. McCulley, in his first career start, improved as the game went on, finishing 14-of-25 for 242 yards and two touchdowns.
"Donaven is a good quarterback,” Allen said. “He just needs to play. Everything I’ve said all along he’s got real talent. But he’s young. He’s really, really young.”
With the chance of making a bowl seeming increasingly unlikely, the question becomes if Indiana can gain some momentum into next season. Entering this year, after a historic run, Indiana had a golden opportunity to continue to build momentum and excitement around the team in one of the most anticipated seasons in program history.
Instead, the Hoosiers have fumbled chance after chance. It seems that something larger is at stake the rest of the season. If the Hoosiers only muster one or fewer wins, the energy surrounding the program will continue to take a hit. Unlike another team on campus, IU football doesn’t have a history to fall back on.
Just a few months ago, this seemed like a program that was unstoppable. Now, there is much more unknown.
“We are where we are,” Allen said. “We’re just going to continue to keep battling, keep fighting. And continue to do everything we can every single week to win football games.”
(10/27/21 2:53am)
As he runs onto the field in front of a sold-out Memorial Stadium in mid-September, Sean Wracher forces himself to do something difficult.
Not think.
An atmosphere like this, Indiana’s highly-anticipated matchup against No. 8 Cincinnati in front of 50,000 people, could easily make him overthink. After his freshman season as Indiana’s long snapper, Wracher had a conversation with special teams coordinator Kasey Teegardin. Wracher said he was putting too much pressure on himself and not having fun. Teegardin’s response? No one is perfect.
For Wracher, clearing his mind isn’t easy. He describes his mind as a “big Excel sheet.” Snapping the ball a few inches off his target irks him. Recently, he memorized a 200-page PDF document about “The Vertical Diet,” and the exact nutritional value of a variety of foods are now filed into a folder in his brain.
But now on the sideline, he has a variety of strategies to stay loose. He takes a whiff of smelling salts. He stands on the bench and twirls a towel in the air. As he runs onto the field, he finds something, anything, to look at, except the thousands of people staring down at him. He sees a familiar referee and makes small talk. “What’s up, Tim?” he says. By the time they line up, it devolves into chatter with the other team, where the topic turns to the fact that someone’s socks are too high.
“If I play loose,” Wracher says, “I’m just having fun with it.”
When Wracher crouches down to snap the ball, he allows his mind to turn back on, but still somewhat in autopilot, letting all his preparation for the week take control. He spent hours studying his opponents’ tendencies. He spent hours understanding his own tendencies. He watches for different formations and adjusts his own unit if needed. Depending on the preferred angle of the punt, Wracher has to adjust the direction of the snap.
As a long snapper, Wracher exists in a part of the football realm that lacks grandeur and flash. But punts and field goals — part of a special teams unit prized by Indiana head coach Tom Allen — quite literally can’t function until Wracher makes his move. And despite the fact that Wracher is a three-year starter at Indiana and that Teegardin calls him “the best long snapper in the country,” few fans even know who he is.
Wracher is on the field for only a few seconds at a time.
Many watching don’t blink twice.
Beyond the surface, though, there is something much more complex.
***
Early on in Wracher’s life, his parents, Matt and Mindy, were convinced that he wasn’t going to be the athlete in the family. And for a variety of reasons.
At age four, Wracher declared to his parents that he was going to be a doctor. In first or second grade, he started asking questions about robotic science. His language capabilities, Mindy says, were “beyond normal for a four-year-old.” He could pick up a Dr. Seuss book and somewhat teach himself to read, albeit not fluently. By kindergarten, he was already reading books aloud to his class. Sometimes, the family would chuckle when Wracher would have articulate conversations with adults.
He’d also often go to the library and read “Sports Illustrated for Kids” and he was able to roll off random stats and facts about teams and players. It was a skill, Mindy learned, that eventually came in handy. One year in high school, Wracher filled out her March Madness bracket and he predicted the outcomes so accurately that she won a cash prize.
There were times when his maturity came in quirky, yet charismatic ways. As a kid, when the family was going out for errands, Wracher would proclaim, “I’m going to wear a suit and tie.” And so he would.
In high school, Wracher wanted his laundry done separately from everyone else because “he was worried a sock would get lost or something,” Mindy says. There’s very little that Wracher doesn’t like…except “he hates dog hair and he hates glitter,” Matt says with a laugh.
As he grew older, the way in which his mind is wired hasn’t changed. At IU, he studies finance at the Kelley School of Business and started an investment account. He currently follows “The Vertical Diet,” which helps digestion, where he eats practically the same foods every day. His breakfast is always cream of rice with peanut butter and raw honey. The next three meals are 800-900 calories of white rice, steak and some sort of vegetable. If he wants to add a new food, he first researches it and then plugs it into his diet spreadsheet, where he determines if it fits into his caloric and micronutrient goals.
“Trying to explain the way I think about things is almost impossible,” Wracher says. “But to me, it makes sense.”
***
When Wracher was in eighth grade, his football coach saw promise in his snapping abilities.
“This is something you could do in college,” he told Wracher.
“Eh, OK,” he responded, brushing off the idea.
Wracher grew up playing tight end, defensive line and some quarterback. Somewhere in between, his father Matt, who played offensive line at West Virginia and snapped during his career, passed the skill to Wracher. They’d snap in their driveway for fun, but Wracher never thought about doing it seriously.
In high school, though, things changed. Wracher transferred to Saint Ignatius in Cleveland, Ohio, to start high school, where there were around 100 kids on the freshman team. Wracher wasn’t nearly athletic enough to get on the field in a skill position. Long snapping, he figured, would be the way to continue his career.
Wracher started dedicating himself to long snapping. He spent hours in the batting cage in his backyard, firing the pigskin at a target or to his father. He watched videos of snapping. He woke up at 4:45 a.m. to drive 30 minutes for team lifting sessions. After school, he’d go into the gym and snap 100 times. He networked with other snappers. He researched camps and his family traveled around the country — California, Florida, Arizona.
Given how his mind works, Wracher found joy in snapping as “an art of perfection,” he said. Everything was broken down to a science. He could see something in his form and the direct correlation in the result. Wracher sent weekly film to his snapping coach Adam Tanalski, where they’d pick apart exactly what he did wrong.
“I think that cerebral side or academic side just translates to his extracurriculars,” Mindy said. “He questions. He researches. He strives to be a perfectionist.”
In the winter of his junior year, Wracher went to a Kohl’s kicking underclass event and was the best snapper there, earning his first offer from Toledo. He was eventually rated as a five-star prospect by KohlsKicking.com and was an All-District Selection, recording a 100 percent snap efficiency at Saint Ignatius. He accepted a scholarship offer to Indiana where, during some of their meetings, Allen broke down long snapping unlike any other coach his parents had heard, outlining the different ways the ball needs to be snapped based on the style of kick. Allen told Wracher he’d be the starter immediately.
By then, Matt’s willingness to train with Wracher became limited. The ball stung his hand too much.
“I’ll catch three,” Matt says, “And then I’m done.”
***
On a rainy night at Memorial Stadium, Wracher’s snap was a little bit high. It was the first quarter against Ohio State and the ball squirted through punter Jared Smolar’s hands and into the endzone, where he was tackled for a safety. Although it was a snap that Smolar might normally catch, the ball was slick, the turf was slick and the delivery wasn’t perfect.
After the play, Wracher sat alone on the bench for a second, then a teammate tapped him on the leg in encouragement. He paced down the sideline and talked to a coach before making his way back to the bench. At least from afar, he didn’t let the one slight miscue affect his performance. For the rest of the game, his snaps are right on target.
Much of Wracher’s career at IU has been focused on just that: accepting that mistakes are inevitable. There have been times where Teegardin would say, “Hey, you had a good day,” and Wracher wouldn’t accept it, instead of responding with constructive criticism. Other times, Wracher would be hard on himself for missing a target by a couple of inches. After games, when most players go out to eat, Wracher goes right home and watches film, followed by a long text to Teegardin with an analysis of his performance.
"He’s the most consistent that I’ve been around, but he’s human,” Teegardin said. “He’s going to make mistakes. Just helping him understand that, realize those little things.”
Some of the pressure, though, was difficult to avoid. As a freshman, playing in front of packed stadiums, Wracher was tasked with replacing long snapper Dan Godsil, who signed with the Cincinnati Bengals after leaving Indiana. In anticipation of the challenge, Wracher started a regimented breathing routine to calm himself. As a freshman, he had to teach himself how to block the crowd and atmosphere out. If he gets nervous now, he looks at his towel which has Mark 9:23 written on it: “All things are possible to him who believes.”
While doing mental acrobatics, Wracher quickly established himself as one of the best long snappers in the Big Ten. In his first two seasons, he started all 21 games as Indiana’s short and long snapper. In both seasons, he was named Phil Steele third-team All-Big Ten. This season, he’s started all seven games and he’s putting up NFL-level snap times of 0.7 seconds.
Teegardin has seen Wracher have more fun too. Before meetings during fall camp, Wracher and kicker Charles Campbell held a spontaneous spelling bee, where they put a camera in front of their teammates and gave them words to spell. When the name, image and likeness news hit this summer, Wracher, wearing sunglasses, peppered Teegardin with questions about what he could do. After a film session earlier this season, Teegardin accidentally skipped past a play.
“C’mon coach, you got to lock in,” Wracher joked with Teegardin after.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Teegardin said with a laugh.
It’s also come with the challenge of stepping up as a leader, both verbally and by example. Wracher normally arrives at the facility around 6 a.m. He started doing hot yoga and pilates to help his mobility. Among the specialists, Wracher created a rule that they have to be in their seats 10 minutes before meetings start.
There was a time when Wracher wanted to be a doctor and dismissed the idea of long snapping. But now, guided yet challenged by the intricacies of his own mind, Wracher’s goal of making it to the NFL is now closer to becoming a reality.
“Nobody, as a kid, dreams of being a long snapper,” Wracher says. “But it worked out.”
(10/24/21 4:44am)
Jack Tuttle got the throw off just in time, before he was swallowed in a mosh of white jerseys and silver helmets. The ball spun to Peyton Hendershot, IU’s tight end, who was camped in the back of the endzone for a touchdown.
It capped off a 15-play, 75-yard opening offensive drive, one of the best collections of plays IU had put together in the past couple of games. There was a good run-pass balance. IU converted on three third downs. There was some creativity with quarterback sneaks and an attempted flea-flicker. Most importantly, Indiana was able to punch in a touchdown in the red zone, something the team has lacked this season.
On the final play of the drive, however, two Ohio State defenders sandwiched Tuttle. As Hendershot celebrated, Tuttle remained on the turf. He sat there for a few minutes. Finally, he slowly walked off the field under his own power. He only returned for two plays the remainder of the game. Any momentum from that first drive was erased.
The result was an embarrassing 54-7 loss to Ohio State, where fans headed to the exits before halftime due to the rain but also the lopsided score. Indiana’s defense, which has kept IU in games all season, crumbled as quarterback and Heisman candidate C.J. Stroud repeatedly diced the Hoosiers.
A season that once had high expectations for Indiana has snowballed out of hand. The Hoosiers have lost three consecutive games and are now 2-5. They will need to win four of their last five games just to reach bowl eligibility, a possibility that is quickly seemingly unlikely.
Indiana’s offensive has largely been the bane of its season. The Hoosiers entered Saturday ranked 108th in total offense. After Saturday, they’ve scored two touchdowns in four Big Ten contests. The woes have gone deep beyond the quarterback position, with poor offensive line play, lack of playmaking and questionable play-calling all contributing to the inconsistencies.
Given the offense’s unreliability, the injury to Tuttle on Saturday was yet another punch to the offense that Indiana couldn’t afford. The Hoosiers were forced to put in two quarterbacks — true freshman Donaven McCulley and redshirt sophomore Grant Gremel — who combined for two appearances in their careers entering Saturday.
“It put us in a situation we didn’t want to be in,” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said.
It continued the carousel that has been Indiana’s quarterback position this season. Michael Penix Jr., who started the season under center after returning from a torn ACL, never looked like himself. Then against Penn State, Penix Jr. suffered an AC separation in his throwing shoulder and hasn’t been back since.
That prompted Tuttle, who’s been around the college game for four seasons, but never been an outright starter, to be called into action. His first start of the season last week against Michigan State concluded with just 15 points scored, two interceptions and a fumble, largely a continuation of the giveaways and red zone struggles of Penix Jr. through the first five games.
After Tuttle’s injury on Saturday, McCulley, who made his first appearance last week, was thrown into the game. He arrived on campus this summer and has only been in IU’s system for a few months. Saturday was undoubtedly a daunting task for the young quarterback — against the Buckeyes and under the lights — and one that got the most of him. His first drive ended in a three and out, including a fumble from running back Stephen Carr, which the Hoosiers ultimately recovered.
“He just hasn’t had enough reps, to be honest with you,” Allen said of McCulley.
The following drive, Indiana elected to put in Gremel. On his first drive, he fumbled but was able to recover it. It concluded in four plays and led to a bobbled punt that led to a safety for the Buckeyes.
“(Gremel playing) was never a thought going into the season,” Allen said.
Gremel and McCulley continued to switch off for the remainder of the quarter, but there was no offensive rhythm whatsoever and given the experience and circumstances, there was little reason to expect significant movement down the field.
The yardage in final four drives of the first half, not including a kneel, are as follows: -6, -8, -9 and 8. The Hoosiers finished the half with 54 total yards. They totaled -21 yards after that first drive. At that point, the game was all but over, with Ohio State holding a 37-point lead at the break.
McCulley was in for a majority of the second half, but was still unable to create a spark, finishing the game 1-for-6 for 30 yards. Gremel was 3-for-4 for nine yards. Besides those two, Stephen Carr was bottled up for 13 rushing yards on 10 carries. Hendershot was the only IU receiver to haul in more than one catch. The offensive line gave up five sacks.
After the game, Allen said that Tuttle’s X-rays came back negative, but he was in significant pain and will undergo MRIs. His status moving forward is uncertain.
The reins could be in the hands of McCulley and Gremel — two unproven quarterbacks. It will likely force Indiana to simplify the offense even more. And for an offense that hasn’t been able to make big plays, the ability to execute the simple ones will now become more uncertain.
“It’s a battle,” Allen said of the injuries to his quarterbacks. “It’s not something we expected for sure.”
(10/20/21 1:10am)
At his home in Hialeah, Florida, Noah Pierre and his mother used to repeat the same scripture in the mornings. It was Psalms 23:4, a message from David about perseverance.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me,” it reads.
During his career at Indiana, this has continued to be Pierre’s favorite line. The passage, along with his own resilience, helped him through three years where he rarely saw the field and endured multiple position changes. In a time where the transfer portal makes it increasingly accessible to leave a school, the thought was never in Pierre’s mind. When he felt down, he’d prayed.
The scripture is also relevant to last Saturday’s game against Michigan State, where Pierre, now a redshirt junior, finally got his opportunity after starting defensive backs Tiawan Mullen and Reese Taylor were out with injuries. Saturday brought yet another crossroads in the fourth quarter, one where Pierre’s discipline would be tested again.
Michigan State threw Pierre’s way with frequency, knowing that he was the most inexperienced member of Indiana’s secondary. Understandably, Pierre was somewhat frustrated.
But before Michigan State’s final drive, when Indiana was down by five with just over three minutes remaining, cornerbacks coach Brandon Shelby pulled Pierre to the side.
“Listen, forget all the negative, you’re going to have an opportunity,” Shelby said. “Do you believe?”
“Yeah, coach,” Pierre said, but sounded slightly deflated.
“Do you believe it?” Shelby asked again.
“I believe it,” Pierre said more confidently.
(10/16/21 10:29pm)
Caleb Jones trudged toward the sideline, his hands on top of his helmet, eyes staring toward the turf. He looked up toward the seats, pounding his hands on his thighs. He ripped his helmet off and flung it to the ground.
Michigan State defensive back Chester Kimbrough had just broken through the right side of the line, part of Jones’ responsibility, and knocked the ball out of IU quarterback Jack Tuttle’s hands. With just under six minutes left in the game and IU down by five, Michigan State took over possession.
It was another turnover. It was another drive that the offense let get away. It was another missed opportunity to beat a top 10 team.
As it turned out, Indiana got one more chance after Indiana defensive back Noah Pierre came down with an interception. But the following four plays were emblematic of Indiana’s offensive effort as a whole: incompletion, sack, incompletion, incompletion.
Indiana’s defense gave it a chance. The offense wasted it.
And that was it. Indiana dropped its homecoming game to Michigan State, 20-15.
“At the end of the day, the buck stops with me,” head coach Tom Allen said. “I’m responsible. The kids played hard. From that perspective, I can’t fault them on that. But you got to execute. That’s the bottom line.”
Saturday was a chance for Indiana to get its season back on track after a mediocre 2-3 start. Indiana was coming off a bye-week, a 14-day period for the team to reset and evaluate themselves. A win on Saturday would’ve allowed them to regain some of the momentum they’d entered the season with.
Instead, Indiana is now 2-4 with Ohio State coming to Bloomington next week. The offensive issues aren’t getting any better and there is little reason to believe there’s a solution for the rest of the season.
Indiana’s defense was exceptional, as it’s been all season. They contained Michigan State’s Heisman candidate Kenneth Walker III to just 3.7 yards per carry. They held MSU quarterback Payton Thorne to just 126 passing yards. They forced two turnovers.
“I think our D-line did a great job knocking their O-line back and playing gaps,” Linebacker Micah McFadden said. “Everybody else did their job finding the ball and bumping their gaps.”
The questions, though, come on the other side of the ball. There was a cautious optimism that Indiana’s offense could find a new gear with Tuttle, who was taking over for the injured Michael Penix Jr. One of the reasons Indiana’s offense had struggled much this season was due to Penix Jr.’s inconsistencies and inability to take care of the ball.
Unfortunately for Indiana, it might not matter how productive the defense is the rest of the season given the offense’s continued shortcomings. What made Saturday’s offense performance even more frustrating was the fact that Indiana outgained Michigan State 332-241 in overall yardage, 188-144 in the air and 134-100 on the ground.
But regardless of who was under center, the problems that have plagued Indiana’s offense all season remained: turnovers and an inability to score in the red zone.
Indiana couldn’t score a touchdown on two red-zone appearances in the first half. Indiana led by two at halftime, but similar to the game against Cincinnati, its defense put the Hoosiers in a position to be up by much more. After finally breaking through with its first Big Ten touchdown of the year in the third quarter, Indiana is now 12-for-24 (50 percent) scoring touchdowns in the red zone this season. The Hoosiers were 23-for-35 (65 percent) last season.
“It continues to be the same issues as far as not finishing drives in the red zone, moving the football but not getting touchdowns,” Allen said. “That can be the difference when you lose the game by five points.”
Then there were the turnovers. Tuttle threw a pick-six in the first quarter, more points for the opposition that were out of the defense’s control. In the third quarter, Tuttle lofted a pass over the middle of the field, which the Spartans turned into seven points. Between Tuttle and Penix Jr., the Hoosiers have thrown 10 interceptions in six games this season. They had a total of five in eight games all of last season.
“I take full responsibility,” Tuttle said. “I just got to take care of the ball and take a sack if I get pressure. That’s it.”
A prevailing criticism of Indiana’s offense up to this point was its lack of creativity, a majority of which was directed at offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan. The Hoosiers, however, tried some different looks on Saturday. On the first possession, Indiana threw the ball nine consecutive times. They spread running back Stephen Carr out wide to get him in space. They put in freshman quarterback Donaven McCulley for some designed runs. It opened up some holes for running backs Chris Childers and Davion Ervin-Poindexter to break off big gains.
But Indiana’s inability to connect on the deep ball, something that was a key part of the offense last season, continued to make it one-dimensional on Saturday. A majority of Indiana’s completions were on underneath routes. They didn’t even didn’t complete a pass for more than 22 yards, a fact that is also due to its receivers not winning one-on-one matchups. It allowed Michigan State’s safety to creep up and stack the box, limiting short passes.
“Somebody’s got to step up and make a play,” Allen said of the wide receivers. “… I’m frustrated with that. It needs to get fixed, like today. That’s how you created explosive plays.”
On Saturday, Indiana’s quarterback changed. They tried opening up the playbook more. But it still didn’t work. And there seem to be few answers left.
(10/14/21 12:35pm)
Ryder Anderson had just finished a conditioning session when he heard an unusual noise coming from the side of the field.
It was during Indiana’s fall training camp, still the “dog days” of the Midwest summer, as Anderson describes it. It’s no surprise then that Anderson and his defensive line teammates, who had finished up some daily conditioning, were a little bit tired.
That’s when Anderson heard the sound, a deep heaving noise. He whipped his head around to see what it was.
There was Weston Kramer, head down, throwing up into a trash can.
“Wes, you good?” Anderson asked.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Kramer responded. “Let’s go.”
Kramer quickly returned to the field. He didn’t miss a play. In the next drill, he made a tackle for loss.
“Weston,” Anderson said, “is not going to miss a play.”
This was just one of the many moments that have made Kramer’s intensity somewhat legendary around the Indiana locker room in just his first season with the Hoosiers. There’s also the fact that Kramer slaps himself in the face before lifting weights to get himself motivated. Or that his cleats sometimes squish when he walks because he’s so drenched in sweat.
Kramer’s coach at Marmion Academy in Aurora, Illinois, Dan Thorpe, says “he’s a different breed.” Anderson says “he’s always got this look in his eye.” Indiana defensive line coach Kevin Peoples puts it like this: “He really has just one speed.”
Kramer’s tangible and intangible traits have made him an indispensable part of Indiana’s defense, a unit that has been a bright spot amid the team’s mediocre start to the season. Kramer, who only had two offers out of high school and who became a graduate transfer this offseason before committing to Indiana, is thriving because of his relentless nature. At Indiana, he currently ranks seventh on the team in tackles with 16, while adding a tackle for loss and fumble recovery. His overall impact, however, can’t be quantified.
“Just his effort, it’s that way every single day,” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said. “I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a kid at this level practice as hard as he does. Every single day. It does not matter. To me, that’s infectious, it’s contagious. I love it.”
When trying to understand Kramer, perhaps it’s best to start with two of the tattoos on his left arm, and the way he describes them. Inked on the outside of his bicep is a “fierce bear,” its jaw wide. On the inside, there’s a “wise owl,” its gaze focused.
***
As a kid, Kramer’s parents signed him up for all types of sports so he’d use his energy in a constructive way. He joined the swim team when he was four. Later, he started playing hockey, football and baseball. Back then, though, he wasn’t close to the 6-foot-2, 290-pound wrecking ball he is now. As a freshman in high school, he weighed just 170 pounds. Before that, when Kramer was younger, his mother Kristine had to sew up his bathing suit just so it wouldn’t fall down.
Regardless, it quickly became evident that Kramer liked contact. In pee wee football, his coaches used to get mad at him because he hit too hard. When he played running back, he’d often drag tacklers on his back across the field. In baseball, he’d sometimes truck the first baseman or catcher when speeding down the basepaths.
“He was just so excited to get to the base,” his father Richard said.
Kramer also displayed a certain level of determination. In eighth grade, Kramer was playing running back when the other team intercepted a pass. Kramer raced 70 yards down the field, caught his opponent from behind and forced a fumble, which his team recovered.
This trait was apparent off the field too. When Kramer was trying to learn how to ride a bike, he told his mom that he didn’t want any help and that she couldn’t run beside him for stability. At first, he’d teeter over and go crashing down. But then he’d get right back up and try again. Soon, he mastered it.
“It took him probably 20 minutes,” Kristine said.
It was around when Kramer started playing varsity football as a sophomore in high school that he started to bulk up. He guzzled down 2,000-calorie protein shakes every night before bed. He ate hamburgers, chicken and Mexican skirt steak.
“The butcher always knows when my boys are coming home,” Kristine said.
Kramer joined the weightlifting club, where he’d deadlift 500 to 600 pounds, dripping in sweat, but a smile on his face nonetheless.
“He doesn’t need flashy uniforms or flashy weight lifting equipment,” Thorpe, his high school coach, said. “Open the door and get out of his way.”
During games, he’d play offensive and defensive line and nearly always decline a break when the coaches offered it to him. He was so exhausted after games that he’d come home and soak in an ice bath.
There were times, though, when Thorpe had to pull back Kramer’s ferocity. It’s a known rule among football programs that you don’t hit the quarterback during practice. But Kramer wasn’t able to control himself, sometimes tackling the quarterback, who even wore a different color jersey to signify he should go untouched.
There’s a juxtaposition, though, to Kramer’s personality off the field. He’s described as “fun-loving” and “extremely personable.” He once dressed up in clown costume for Halloween. He helped organize school spirit events, where, one time, he put together a mock WWE wrestling event in the cafeteria and walked around with signs as if it was being televised.
It all relates to how Kramer treats others. If the athletic department needed help, he’d almost always volunteer. One time, he led a group of classmates in putting up Christmas tree lights around the city. In middle school, a girl on his football team was facing a barrage of trash talk from their opponents. Kramer stepped in front of eight or so opposing players and told them to leave her alone. They did.
“He was always the first one to help someone out,” Kristine said.
***
The first call sounded something like this: “Oh my god, this kid’s a beast.”
It was a coach from Northern Illinois, live from a summer recruiting camp, dialing Thorpe about Kramer.
“I told you so,” Thorpe responded.
A few minutes later, the phone rang again.
“We just made him get 12 reps in a row and he met every kid and he’s ready for the next rep,” Thorpe recalls an NIU coach saying.
“I told you so,” he responded.
A few minutes later, it rang again.
“We can’t believe no one’s recruiting him,” an NIU coach said. “We’re going to offer him right now.”
“I told you so,” Thorpe responded.
It was the summer heading into Kramer’s senior season. He went to his first big camp at NIU, where around 25 to 30 schools and 300 to 400 players were in attendance. Kramer did what he’s always done. He blew up plays and threw opponents to the ground. The college coaches were giddy, to the point where they shouted his name across the field.
Despite tallying a dominant 134 tackles, 40 for loss and six forced fumbles throughout his junior and senior high school seasons, Kramer was only regarded as a 2-star recruit and ranked as the 3,857th player in the 2017 class. It could be explained by the fact that he was somewhat undersized. Kramer was listed at 6-foot-2, but Thorpe estimated he was closer to 6-foot and didn't possess the long, athletic frame that some coaches gush over.
But then Thorpe’s phone started receiving call after call from an NIU coach.
NIU did offer him. And Kramer, who grew up attending NIU games with his parents, committed to the Huskies.
In four seasons at NIU, Kramer appeared in 45 games, including 30 starts, where made 97 tackles and tallied 3.5 sacks. In his senior season, he was named second-team All-MAC. It didn’t, however, all go smoothly. In four seasons, he played for two different head coaches and three different defensive line coaches and three different defensive coordinators. Amid those changes, Richard said, Kramer tried to keep his teammates together and be the example.
“When I was at Northern Illinois, I just trained very hard every single day,” Kramer said. “I always just tried to make myself better at everything that I did.”
In the offseason, he entered the transfer portal to play at a high-profile league like the Big Ten. This time around, programs like Iowa, Texas and Michigan State all showed interest. But he ultimately chose Indiana, his father saying that he loved Peoples’ demeanor. Plus, Kramer’s personality fit right in with the L.E.O. culture.
“The first time I talked to coach Allen, I committed right after that just because I just really bought into what he was saying, the energy he brought to that conversation,” Kramer said.
Kramer quickly moved up the depth chart into the starting role and became a key force on the interior. He had seven tackles against Iowa. Then a fumble recovery against Idaho. He recorded five more tackles against Penn State.
As Indiana tries to get its season back on track, Kramer’s drive hasn’t wavered. Undersized or not, underrecruited or not, his effort has finally made a resounding statement, one that’s starting to get the attention that he deserves. On Saturday, Kramer will be tasked with trying to stop Michigan State’s Heisman candidate running back Kenneth Walker III.
Kramer will do it with the tattoos wrapped around his left arm, an accurate representation of who he has become. The “fierce bear,” its jaw wide. The “wise owl,” its gaze focused.
“I just got them,” Kramer says, “Because I see it as myself a little bit.”
(10/05/21 12:23pm)
There were few questions about what Indiana could rely upon on a game-by-game basis last season. The defense was going to create turnovers. They were going to stymie opponents in the red zone. On the other side of the ball, Indiana’s offense was going to capitalize off those takeaways.
The Hoosiers were the tougher team. They made opportunistic plays.
It led to a historic 6-2 season, one in which Indiana ascended all the way to No. 7 in the AP Poll and officially introduced itself onto the national stage.
Among other factors, there were two elements crucial to Indiana’s identity last season: turnover margin and production in the red zone.
Last year, the Hoosiers were tied for 10th nationally in turnover margin. They had the top-ranked red-zone defense in the nation.
This season?
Those characteristics are absent.
The Hoosiers currently rank 103th in turnover margin. Their red-zone defense is 117th in the nation.
We’re five games into the season. The Hoosiers are 2-3. Indiana still hasn’t established an identity.
First, it’s unfair to discount the arduous schedule that Indiana has played. Three of its first five games have come against teams that are now ranked in the top five of the AP Poll — No. 3 Iowa, No. 4 Penn State and No. 5 Cincinnati. There’s not much wiggle room to figure out exactly what type of team you are when facing that opening schedule. The problem, though, is that it won’t get much easier: three of Indiana’s remaining seven opponents are currently ranked in the top 11.
But a certain phrase has been repeated over the course of the season.
Micah McFadden after Saturday’s loss: “I think guys need to take a look in the mirror.”
Cam Jones after Saturday’s loss: “Guys can look themselves in the mirror.”
Head coach Tom Allen after the loss to Iowa: “You’ve got to be able to look yourself in the mirror.”
It sounds like a team that’s still searching for an identity.
Indiana’s defense has undoubtedly been the more consistent side of the ball. There have still been flaws like breakdowns in the secondary against Western Kentucky and a second half collapse against Cincinnati following McFadden’s ejection. But for the most part, like against Penn State, Indiana’s defense has kept them in games.
From solely a yardage standpoint, Indiana’s defense has actually been better this season than last. The Hoosiers allowed 378 yards per game last season versus 349 yards per game this season.
The difference, however, is red-zone efficiency and forcing turnovers — two elements that Indiana thrived in last season, but have held them back this year.
Last season, Indiana’s defense forced turnovers at an unnatural rate. The Hoosiers ranked fourth in the nation in takeaways with two and a half per game. They were tied for 13th in turnovers gained, including 17 interceptions (second in the nation). Their top red-zone defense held opponents to score on just 64 percent of its red-zone appearances.
This season, though, Indiana has forced just 1.2 turnovers per game — less than half of what it did last season — which is tied for 88th in the nation. Indiana is tied for 74th in turnovers gained, including just two interceptions. Indiana’s red-zone defense has allowed opponents to score on 94 percent of their opportunities.
There are a few causes for these changes. First, Indiana lost safety Jamar Johnson, who accounted for five of those takeaways, to the NFL. Also, the Hoosiers have been riddled with injuries. Cornerback Chris Keys tore his ACL, starting safety Devon Matthews was out for two games, and defensive backs Jaylin Williams, Reese Taylor and Tiawan Mullen have all missed varying amounts of time.
Indiana has had significantly less pressure on the quarterback, which could account for the decrease in takeaways. The Hoosiers were 15th nationally in sacks per game last season. This year, they rank 107th.
The offense, however, has been by far the most pressing issue for Indiana this season and there is a wide variety of blame to go around. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. never quite got into a rhythm, besides the game against WKU.
The offensive line, though, hasn’t given Penix Jr., or Jack Tuttle for that matter, much of a chance. Playmakers on the outside, especially Ty Fryfogle, have been dropping passes. Many others will point to the lack of creativity in the play-calling.
But again, red-zone efficiency and turnovers — two key elements of Indiana’s success from last season — have been subpar this year.
Last season, Indiana capitalized on the chances its defense created. While not eye-popping, the Hoosiers were 62nd in the nation in red-zone offense, scoring touchdowns on 23 of their 35 red-zone attempts (66 percent).
This season, however, Indiana’s red-zone production has dropped. Indiana ranks 102nd nationally in red-zone offense, scoring touchdowns on just 11 of 21 attempts (52 percent). Against Cincinnati, the Hoosiers came up with zero points on three red-zone appearances. Against Penn State, it happened twice again.
There’s also the issue of turnovers. Last season, the Hoosiers, who again were tied for 10th in turnover margin, gave away just five interceptions. This season, however, Penix Jr. and Tuttle have already combined to throw eight interceptions. It’s also been a matter of the timing of the turnovers. Against Cincinnati, running back Tim Baldwin Jr. fumbled at the goal line in what would’ve been the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.
Much of Indiana’s inconsistencies, in both the passing and running games, can be attributed to struggles from the offensive line. There were a variety of schematic and injury-related shifts within the group throughout the first few weeks that didn’t help the cohesiveness.
Last season Indiana’s offensive line gave up 10 sacks in eight games. This season, they’ve already given up nine in five games. Because of that, there’s not one facet of the offense that can be relied upon as a consistent threat.
In all, the Hoosiers haven’t been the tougher team. They haven’t made opportunistic plays.
There is still plenty of season left, but Indiana is quickly losing traction to achieve its lofty preseason goals. The bye week is here, giving the Hoosiers extra time to find their unique spark.
Maybe they can look themselves in the mirror and figure out who they really are.
(10/04/21 5:04pm)
In the aftermath of Saturday night's 24-0 loss to Penn State, where Indiana was shut out for the first time since 2000, the Hoosiers' struggling offense will face more uncertainty.
The first and most pressing issue revolves around the health of Michael Penix Jr. The second is that sophomore runningback Tim Baldwin Jr. entered the transfer portal and is no longer with the program, Indiana head coach Tom Allen confirmed Monday.
On Monday, Allen announced that Penix Jr. suffered an acromioclavicular (AC) separation in his left shoulder and is designated as “week to week.” Allen said that surgery is not necessary and Penix Jr. has already started his rehab process. There isn’t, however, an exact timeline for his return.
(09/28/21 11:23pm)
If there was one game to serve as a symbolic representation of Miles Marshall’s promising yet inconsistent career, it was Indiana’s win against Western Kentucky on Saturday.
For the first two quarters, Marshall, a redshirt junior wide receiver, was silent. Despite throwing for 218 yards in the first half, Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. only tossed two passes Marshall’s way, both of which were incomplete.
In the third quarter, though, Marshall suddenly emerged. A few minutes into the second half, Marshall ran a perfect route, cutting toward the sideline, and Penix Jr. hit him in the chest for a 12-yard gain. Three plays later, Marshall streaked across the middle of the field and hauled in an 11-yard catch. Then, Penix Jr. delivered a ball at Marshall’s toes, but he adjusted, cradling his arms under the pigskin to secure the catch.
“We knew a lot of underneath throws were going to be there, so we just took what the defense gave us,” Marshall said.
In the fourth quarter, however, Marshall disappeared again. He had no catches and wasn’t even targeted one time during the crucial final stretch of the game.
In all, Marshall finished with five catches for 64 yards. Three of those catches, however, came on one drive. The game painted an accurate picture of Marshall’s career as a whole: He's showed flashes of his skill, but there hasn't been any reliable production.
On Monday, IU head coach Tom Allen announced that star newcomer wide receiver DJ Matthews is out for the rest of the season. Ahead of Saturday's matchup at Penn State, and for the remainder of the season, somebody else in the receiving room needs to step up.
Marshall has all of the tools to do so with a 6-foot-4 frame, speed and length. For years, coaches have raved about Marshall’s potential. Now is the perfect time for him to show it.
“You have to be able to, when called upon, rise up and seize the day,” Allen said about the wide receiver group.
Even back to Marshall's days at Parkview High School in Lilburn, Georgia, the word “measurables” seemed to follow him. As a ninth-grader, Marshall was taller than most of his teammates, with a long frame and obvious athleticism. As he grew taller, Marshall developed better body control, allowing him to use his size to his advantage. He didn’t miss practices. He stayed after to get in extra work if he needed it. He was always on time.
“A hard-working, respectful, very coachable kid,” Parkview head coach Eric Godfree said. “He’s a great student, he’s great on the field, off of the field, his parents raised him right. Basically what we all want our sons to be.”
Even at Parkview, a school that regularly produces Division I talent, Marshall stood out. He’d run out-routes “as naturally as anyone that’s come through here,” Godfree said. One game, Parkview was trying to get into field goal range before halftime when Marshall caught a 5-yard hitch, made a defender miss and flew down the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown.
“It was like, ‘Ok, his explosiveness is starting to come out,’” Godfree said.
Marshall went on to set Parkview single-season records for receptions (73), yards (1,118) and touchdowns (15). He eventually committed to Indiana, where he was rated as a three-star prospect, but it was clear to his coaches that he had so much more upside than that ranking.
“His ceiling was much higher,” Godfree said. “We knew that he was going to go out in college and make an impact and be a great player and continue to improve.”
At Indiana, though, Marshall hasn’t broken out as many had hoped.
After redshirting his first year, Marshall had 16 receptions for 196 yards and one touchdown in his freshman season. Then last season, he finished third on the team with 290 yards on 19 catches. He had encouraging moments like four catches for a career-high 89 yards against Ohio State. But he also battled through a concussion, and the play that will stick in most fan’s minds was when he let would’ve been a walk-in touchdown go right through his hands against Wisconsin.
“I watched it (that play) probably one hundred times to see what I did wrong,” Marshall said. “There’s nothing I really did wrong. I followed the ball all the way through, it was just a lack of focus.”
During his time at IU, he’s absorbed knowledge from wide receivers like Nick Westbrook, Whop Philyor and current teammate Ty Fryfogle, which he said has helped him improved his practice habits. That, plus another year of experience under his belt and the departure of Philyor, created optimism that Marshall was ready to take a significant step in his role this season. Instead, he was a non-factor through the first three games, tallying just two catches for 32 yards.
“As a football player and a human being, it’s just human nature to get down on yourself when you drop a ball you knew you were supposed to catch,” wide receiver teammate Jacolby Hewitt said of Marshall.
But there’s hope that his five-catch performance on Saturday could serve as a springboard. The IU coaching staff teaches all of its receivers to play both on the outside and slot positions, meaning Marshall will have more than enough opportunities for the remainder of the season.
“I know that he’s going to step up in a big way this week,” Hewitt said. “We’ve both been telling each other, ‘Be ready for that moment.’”
Marshall’s plan? Keeping it simple.
“Every time I’m on the field, I think the ball's coming my way,” Marshall said. “I try to run every route to get open and catch the ball.”
For right now, that’s all Indiana needs.
(09/26/21 1:58pm)
The timing was exceptional, if not perfect.
There was Michael Penix Jr., balanced in the pocket, eyes locked down the middle of the field, knowing that Ty Fryfogle would be there, because they’d done it so many times before.
There was Fryfogle, cutting across the field five yards beyond the line of scrimmage and turning his head for the ball, knowing that Penix Jr. would put it there, because they’d done it so many times before.
The game against Western Kentucky still wasn’t decided. Indiana, leading by two points with just under two minutes remaining, had a third and eight from its own 37-yard line. A first down would end the game. A failure would give Western Kentucky’s offense a chance to win.
But Penix Jr. tossed a dart right into Fryfogle’s hands. The senior wide receiver caught it in stride, using his momentum to cross the first-down marker. The play sealed Indiana’s 33-31 road victory over Western Kentucky and, given what they’ve been through in their careers and the bond they’ve built, it only seemed right.
“I’m always going to continue to trust him, continue to love him,” Penix Jr. said after the game. “That’s my brother. I’m going to give him the ball whenever he’s open.”
There are a variety of reasons to be concerned with Indiana’s performance against Western Kentucky. Indiana’s offense, which got off to a hot start for the second consecutive game, wasn’t able to score a touchdown for more than two quarters. Indiana’s defense, which has been the most reliable aspect of the team this season, was repeatedly exposed, especially in the secondary.
Frankly, if Indiana wants to be able to achieve its lofty goals, which were significantly tempered after the first three games of the season, beating Western Kentucky by just two points isn’t convincing enough. Through four weeks, the Hoosiers have failed to put together a complete performance on both sides of the ball.
If anything, though, Penix Jr. and Fryfogle, who have both faced criticism the first three weeks, had their best performances of the season on Saturday in a game Indiana couldn’t afford to lose. It’s difficult to imagine Indiana achieving a high level of success, or pulling off an upset over Penn State next week, without both of them playing up to their potential. On Saturday, they showed that they have what it takes to bring a spark back to Indiana’s offense.
Penix Jr. threw for a season-high 373 yards on 35-of-53 passing, adding a rushing touchdown. Fryfogle hauled in a team-high 10 catches for 98 yards, six of which came in clutch fashion, on third or fourth downs, allowing Indiana to extend drives and ultimately pull out the victory.
The connection between Penix Jr. and Fryfogle was a common occurrence as Indiana ascended into the national spotlight last season and their tightly-knit friendship became well-known.
This, however, wasn’t always the case throughout their careers at Indiana.
Fryfogle arrived at IU in 2017. Penix Jr. came a year later. For a large part of those first two seasons where their careers in Bloomington overlapped, they weren’t close friends. Maybe it was a result of Fryfogle’s quiet, low-key demeanor. Maybe it was a result of Penix Jr. still trying to establish himself as a leader.
“We really didn’t talk as much,” Penix Jr. admitted earlier this year.
In those two seasons, both had their moments of promise and a bond began to build, but they didn’t completely establish themselves yet. Fryfogle totaled 991 receiving yards as a sophomore and junior, but was a secondary option. Penix Jr., on the other hand, won the starting quarterback job as a freshman and sophomore, but both campaigns led to season-ending injuries.
And then came last season, where Penix Jr. and Fryfogle’s friendship grew significantly off the field, translating to their performance on it. Penix Jr. became the symbolic leader of Indiana’s meteoric success after his game-winning touchdown against Penn State. Fryfogle had a breakout season, becoming the first Indiana wide receiver to earn All-American status in more than a decade. They both had arguably their best games in a near upset over Ohio State, where Fryfogle accounted for 218 of Penix Jr.’s 491 yards. Sometimes Penix Jr. would just toss the ball up to Fryfogle, who would outjump his defenders and make a play as if his hands were covered in magnets.
“These last two years, we became so close,” Penix Jr. said. “We always hangout. I’m with Ty more than anybody else. He’s a great guy. We love each other. He wants the best out of me and I want the best out of him.”
But last season, the duo’s time together at Indiana could’ve ended rather abruptly. Penix Jr. tore his ACL six games into the season. There was some uncertainty whether Fryfogle would return for another season, given he’d worked his way onto some draft boards. It led to conversations between the two this offseason, where Fryfogle ultimately decided to return to IU in hopes of continuing the momentum of the Indiana program alongside his quarterback.
“We talk about that every single day,” Fryfogle said after announcing his return.
The first three games of this season, however, didn’t go as planned, while Penix Jr. and Fryfogle navigated the uncharted territory of high expectations and heightened pressure. Penix Jr. looked lost as he returned from a torn ACL. Fryfogle had just 11 receptions for 126 yards, including three drops in last week’s loss to Cincinnati.
Saturday, however, was a tangible progress for Indiana’s offense, which put up 507 total yards, much due to the performances of Penix Jr. and Fryfogle, where their chemistry was apparent again. Most of the damage was done in the first half, where Penix Jr. connected with Fryfogle for seven catches and 65 yards. Then in the fourth quarter, on a third and four, Penix Jr. hit Fryfogle for a 10-yard gain, keeping the drive alive, which ended up resulting in the deciding touchdown. A few minutes later, there was the crucial third-down conversion to ice the game.
"I strive to be as mentally strong as Mike Penix,” kicker Charles Campbell, who made four field goals, said. “He's a dog. He really is."
There still plenty to work on for Penix Jr. and Fryfogle, but after a worrisome three games from both, Saturday showed that they still have some fight left in them.
(09/22/21 12:55pm)
The Sweetwater Eagles, down 22-14 to local powerhouse Grand Park in the 2012 Pop Warner City Championship, desperately needed someone to make a play.
There were just over seven minutes remaining in the game at TIAA Bank Field in Florida, where an estimated 2,000 fans filled the seats. A bid to the regional championship was on the line.
Willie Green, a local Florida coach, was at the game. It was there, Green recalls, standing near the endzone, that a “little skinny dude” on Sweetwater named DJ Matthews started calling for the ball as Grand Park prepared to kick off. Matthews danced around. He taunted the other team. He begged them “kick the ball to me, kick the ball to me,” as Green remembers.
And because Grand Park “thought they were the big dawgs” in the area, they kicked it to Matthews.
It was a deep boot, long enough to force Matthews to field the pigskin near his own goal line. He made his way to the 20-yard line, where he shook one tackle. Then he was gone, untouched the rest of the way. It was a nearly 100-yard return for a touchdown. On the sideline, Matthews did a little Dougie, swaying his body back and forth in celebration.
Sweetwater won the game. Then they went on to win the 2012 Division I Pop Warner National Championship.
“Everybody in the area was like, ‘this guy is legendary,’” Green said of Matthews.
Nine years later, Matthews, now listed at 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, has shown the same at Indiana. After transferring from Florida State last year, Matthews, a wide receiver with seemingly boundless energy, has become a spark plug for a struggling Indiana offense. In his first three games, Matthews has 11 catches for 150 yards, plus a rushing touchdown and an 81-yard punt return touchdown. In his first season with the Hoosiers, he’s quickly fit into the culture, where he says head coach Tom Allen’s phrase “LEO” after speaking with reporters.
“Ever since he’s been here, he’s been great,” Allen said. “He’s worked extremely hard and he had a tremendous attitude. And he’s got a great smile.”
But his college career up to this point hasn’t exactly gone as expected. Once a highly-touted recruit, his time at Florida State was riddled with inconsistencies. He also had an internal feeling he couldn’t shake. Ever since high school, he was “searching” for something, a sort of inner peace. For the longest time, before the birth of his daughter Sevynn last year, he couldn’t find it.
(09/20/21 6:59pm)
During his first three seasons at Indiana, which consisted of 15 appearances, Michael Penix Jr. tossed a total of eight interceptions.
In just three games this season, Penix Jr. has nearly matched that figure with six. He threw three inceptions in one game for the first time in his career against Iowa. Then he did it again in Indiana’s loss to Cincinnati on Saturday, one of which was in the red zone, part of the Hoosiers’ overall inability to capitalize on a variety of opportunities.
After Saturday’s game, an IU spokesperson said that Penix Jr. was undergoing X-rays, but no further details were given. On Monday, Indiana head coach Tom Allen said that tests on Penix Jr.’s non-throwing hand came back negative.
There were already concerns entering this season about Penix Jr.’s ability to bounce back from last year's ACL injury, his third consecutive season-ending injury. Through three games, that apprehension has become more pressing and criticism has come from all directions about whether Penix Jr. should remain the quarterback at Indiana.
But on Monday, Allen’s trust in Penix Jr. was unwavering, saying that he will start on Saturday against Western Kentucky.
“Michael Penix is our starting quarterback and I believe in him with 100 percent of my heart,” Allen said. “And know that our team feels the same way.”
It wasn’t all bad on Saturday for Penix Jr. Solely from a yardage standpoint, Penix Jr. had his best game of the season, throwing for 224 yards and outgaining the combined total from his first two games.
There were certainly moments, albeit not consistent, when Penix Jr. looked more comfortable. In the first quarter, he flashed his ability to make throws on the run when he hit tight end, Peyton Hendershot, for a 16-yard touchdown. While on the move again in the second quarter, Penix Jr. lofted a touch pass to running back Stephen Carr for a five-yard touchdown.
Penix Jr. also connected on a few deeper passes, notably to DJ Matthews, an element of the quarterback’s game that had been lacking the first two weeks.
“He made some really good plays, made some really good throws that not many guys could make,” Allen said. “...He's showing growth and progress in that and confidence in his knee.”
Ultimately, though, Penix Jr.’s mistakes outweighed his incremental progress. It remains that Penix Jr. was quick to make decisions when he was under pressure and didn’t appear fully composed, which, more often than not, led to interceptions or incompletions.
One of those came midway through the second quarter when Indiana had the ball on the Cincinnati eight-yard line. The pocket was collapsing around Penix Jr. and, throwing off his back foot while slightly off-balance, he tossed an interception. Similarly, later that quarter, Penix Jr. was starting to be dragged down by a Cincinnati defender when, instead of taking the sack, he almost blindly launched a ball to the middle of the field and was picked off again.
The last mistake came with less than four minutes left in the game and Indiana down by six points. Penix Jr., rolling to his left, threw the ball across his body, something that quarterbacks are taught not to do, leading to an easy interception.
“You turn the ball over that many times against a top-10 team, you're not going to win,” Allen said. “We did some good things but we didn't finish. He's (Penix Jr.) part of that. He's got to finish, as well, and that's going to be the focus is consistent performance.”
There were other factors that contributed to Penix Jr.'s struggles. Indiana’s offense line took steps forward but was still largely inconsistent. The run game, which showed promise in the first half, slowed down significantly in the second half. Indiana’s All-Big Ten receiver, Ty Fryfogle, finished with just one catch and an uncharacteristic three drops.
“He practices well, he practices hard,” Allen said of Fryfogle. “To me, that just was a hiccup for him because that's not him.”
Saturday’s game against Western Kentucky will give Penix Jr. yet another opportunity to get into a rhythm, but it will be intriguing to see how long Allen continues to stick with his quarterback should his struggles continue.
While not established at the college level, the options behind Penix Jr. are not incapable of producing. Penix Jr.’s backup, Jack Tuttle, a former blue-chip recruit, has long been regarded as someone with the tools to be successful, although he hasn’t proven to do so. Behind him is freshman Donaven McCulley, a dual-threat quarterback that the coaching staff has spoken highly of during fall camp.
Last season, Penix Jr. was the symbolic leader of Indiana’s success, a figure that was praised for the team’s meteoric rise. Now, he’s experiencing the other side of that attention, finding himself at the epicenter of Indiana's unprecedented expectations and uncharted pressure.
“You cannot let circumstances and things around you cause that to waver, and that's what we're going to be the challenge to him,” Allen said. “But once again, we're just teaching him and growing with him and helping him through this because he's still growing and maturing, too.”
(09/18/21 10:35pm)
Tom Allen deftly strode into the press room below Memorial Stadium with a noticeable sense of urgency, his eyes focused straight ahead, his hat pulled tightly on his head. He slid behind the podium to address the media after Indiana’s 38-24 loss to No. 8 Cincinnati Saturday afternoon.
Normally, Allen gives opening thoughts about the game. On Saturday, though, he declined.
“Questions,” he said, skipping the usual routine.
Allen is usually teeming with energy, a nonstop motor of emotion who chest bumps his players on the sideline and gives long, thought-out answers during interactions with media. After a game like Saturday, it’s not expected that Allen will exude that same boundless energy. Still, it was apparent by the way Allen walked in, by the way he answered the first question with just nine words, that there was frustration, even irritation.
(09/15/21 5:31pm)
Aurora High School football coach Bob Mihalik describes AJ Barner as the type of physical, yet mindful, player who will “help a kid off the ground after he just beat the crap out of him” with a block.
During a game in Barner’s senior year at Aurora, he did exactly that.
Barner, who was squatting in a three-point position as a tight end, had an edge rusher staring down his right shoulder. When the ball was snapped, Barner exploded forward at the defender, using his arms to pop his opponent, sending the kid’s arms flailing in the air. After another shove, the defender was sitting on the turf.
Then, Barner reached out his hand to help him up.
“(He) just did everything the right way,” Mihalik said of Barner.
Barner, now a redshirt sophomore tight end at IU, showed off some of that physicality during the Hoosiers’ 56-14 win over Idaho on Saturday. He hauled in a 76-yard touchdown catch — the first touchdown of his career — and blocked a punt, contributing to Indiana’s dominant special teams performance and giving a glimpse of his potential. As a result, he was named one of IU's special teams' players of the game.
But for the first two seasons of his high school career, Barner didn’t play tight end. He was tall and skinny, measuring maybe 6-foot-2 and weighing 180 pounds, but was a hard-nosed linebacker and a smashmouth quarterback.
As a junior, Mihalik and the coaching staff figured they’d put Barner at tight end because “he loves to hit,” Mihalik said. After bulking up in the weight room and growing a few inches, Barner became a force on the line. During a run play, Barner drove his man back five yards and pushed him into another defender, causing them both to topple over like bowling pins. On a goal-line play, Barner nearly blocked a defender into a referee, who was standing near the back of the endzone.
“He’s big, he’s fast, he's athletic,” Mihalik said. “And he’s an aggressive kid who just wants to get involved in every play that he can.”
As a senior, Barner was named the 2019 Northeast Ohio Division III Defensive Player of the Year after tallying 124 tackles on a team that went to the state semifinals. At tight end, in an offensive system that didn’t utilize that position much in the passing game, Barner had just 15 catches for 123 yards.
What made Barner even more valuable, Mihalik said, was his personality. Teachers frequently raved about having him in class. He acted like a “big brother” to the younger and practice squad players, Mihalik said, where he’d help them up after knocking them to the ground. It has continued at IU, where Barner was named the Scholar-Athlete of the Month this August.
“(He’s) the kind of kid that you’d let date your daughter,” Mihalik said.
Most college coaches recruited Barner to play defense, including Ohio University where he originally committed. And Barner originally wanted to play on defense too. But IU offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan was steadfast in wanting Barner to play tight end, telling him that his frame and skills would translate to tight end at the next level. The relationship ended up paying off for Indiana after Barner decommitted from Ohio and pledged to attend IU.
“Coach Sheridan started recruiting me when not many big schools were talking to me,” Barner said. “That was big for me because I didn’t want to go somewhere where I was someone’s afterthought.”
After redshirting his freshman season, Barner played in all eight games last year, mostly on special teams, where he made four tackles. It gave him time, though, to learn the intricacies of the position, like hand placement and run blocking, from All-Big Ten tight end Peyton Hendershot and veteran Matt Bjorson.
“Just being able to ask those guys: what do I do on this play?” Barner said. “How can I improve?”
His development showed on Saturday, where, during the fourth quarter, Barner glided across the middle of the field, hauling in a pass from Jack Tuttle near the IU logo. An Idaho defender lunged at Barner’s legs, but Barner put his foot in the ground and spun away, taking it into the endzone.
(09/13/21 5:38pm)
Stephen Carr, who’s in his first season at Indiana after transferring from USC, had one of the best performances of his career Saturday night. He rushed for a total of 118 yards. He scored a touchdown. Plus, his backfield teammates Tim Baldwin Jr., Chris Childers and Davion Ervin-Poindexter added a combined 61 yards on the ground.