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(09/12/21 4:58am)
Idaho quarterback Mike Beaudry didn’t have more than a few seconds before he found himself in an unfavorable situation.
It started with a stunt on Indiana’s defensive line. As the ball was snapped, Ryder Anderson, who was playing at end, crisscrossed toward the interior, while Weston Kramer, who started on the inside, surged forward. It caused some confusion on the Idaho offensive line, allowing linebacker Micah McFadden to fly untouched into the backfield.
Anderson and McFadden closed in on Beaudry at nearly the exact same time, engulfing him to the turf as the ball popped out. Kramer, who stayed with the play, bounced on the pigskin.
With the Hoosiers leading by seven near the end of the first quarter, the takeaway set Indiana up at the Idaho 13-yard line. Two plays later, Indiana punched it in for a touchdown.
This allowed Indiana to pull away early: defense and special teams setting the offense up for success, which became integral given Indiana's inconsistency on offense. It resulted in 56-14 Indiana victory at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.
It was also an important response for Indiana coming off of a disappointing loss to Iowa last week. Although it wasn’t perfect, Indiana’s win was convincing. More importantly, it gave the Hoosiers some much-needed momentum heading into the matchup with Cincinnati next week.
"Just to be able to bounce back from that (Iowa), to regroup and address some things that we needed to address going into the week," IU head coach Tom Allen said. "I thought our guys responded by having a really good week of practice and they showed that in their performance and the way they started."
With the Hoosiers up 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, Indiana’s special teams made their first big play of the game.
Idaho was punting from deep in its own territory when Noah Pierre broke through the line, diving forward and swatting the punt toward the turf. In one motion, wide receiver Javon Swinton, who was suspended for Indiana’s opener against Iowa, scooped up the ball and trotted into the endzone for a touchdown. Indiana’s lead extended to 21-0.
That, however, wasn’t the end of Indiana’s impressive special teams' performance. By the end of the first half, with Indiana leading 28-0, Idaho was again punting from its own zone. This time the punter got the kick out, but Indiana made Idaho pay in a different way.
DJ Matthews, Indiana’s dynamic wide receiver and punt return transfer from Florida State, backpedaled to his own 20-yard line, where he caught the ball over his shoulder. He made his way to the far side, before planting his left foot and cutting upfield. He then tiptoed down the sideline, shaking off a defender with a stiff arm as he glided in for a touchdown.
"I was feeling it at the end," Matthews said of his 81-yard return. "My legs got tired on me."
With Indiana leading 35-0, the game, at that point, was all but over, mostly thanks to Indiana's defense and special teams. The contest marked the first time that Indiana had scored multiple special teams touchdowns since 1969.
To add to the special teams' effort, tight end AJ Barner blocked another punt in the fourth quarter, which set up a touchdown run by Davion Ervin-Poindexter, although the game was already out of hand. If Indiana’s special teams unit can continue to perform at the level it did Saturday, it will give the Hoosiers an undeniable boost, which will become especially important in closely contested games.
"A huge emphasis is special teams," Allen said. "I'm in every single meeting and that's on purpose. I want our guys to know how important they are... The challenge was, let's go make those game-changing plays. We've been solid the last few years, but I said, ‘No it's time to help us go win a game.’”
In all, Indiana’s defense was phenomenal, with the exception of a couple of drives. At the end of the first quarter, Idaho’s offense had gained a total of six yards. The Vandals finished the game with 261 yards, including just 65 on the ground.
Indiana had balanced production across its defense. Tiawan Mullen led the way with nine tackles. Cam Jones and Marcelino McCrary-Ball added five each. Anderson had four.
The Hoosiers also addressed an issue that IU defensive coordinator Charlton Warren outlined during the week: limiting big plays. Against Iowa, Indiana gave up a 56-yard touchdown run, a play that Warren called a “catastrophic” play. On Saturday, Idaho recorded just three plays of 20 yards or more.
"It's a credit to our DBs on the back end, just staying over top of things," McFadden said. "It's just communication. Being on the same page."
It was also further affirmation that Indiana’s defense has the potential to be the backbone of the team, as it was last season. It’s a necessary trait given the overall unreliability of the offense, with Michael Penix Jr. and the offensive line still figuring out a rhythm. Forcing turnovers, arguably IU’s biggest strength last season, has also been evident again, with the Hoosiers recording three in the first two games.
"The defensive guys," Allen said. "I expect them to set the tone for each game."
(09/11/21 8:40pm)
Early Saturday morning, even while the sun was still rising and a college town like Bloomington should have been dormant from a night of partying, there were hints that something was different.
Before 8 a.m., a pair of college-aged men skipped across Third street, one of them wearing a pair of probably overpriced candy-striped pants that, nonetheless, were purchased because it was worth representing Indiana. At a parking lot near Bill Armstrong Stadium, a sign noted that a “special event” was taking place. Around 9 a.m., there was already a line snaking around the block outside Kilroy’s on Kirkwood.
The game, Indiana’s home opener against Idaho, was still 10 hours away.
Eryck Escobedo, who set his alarm for 6:30 a.m. to ensure he got into Kilroy’s, was among those waiting early in the morning. Escobedo and his friend Jorge Ortega, both seniors at IU, stood in anticipation for the bottomless mimosas that they planned on ordering once they made it in.
“We didn’t have it last year,” Ortega said. “It's a whole different vibe now. I went to the bars before COVID, but I feel like it’s a different experience now. You got to get the most of the last year here.”
On Saturday, for the first time in almost two years, there was a somewhat normal gameday atmosphere in Bloomington, where a full capacity crowd was allowed at Memorial Stadium.
Part of what makes sports so special, particularly college football, isn’t always what happens on the field. That part was absent last season, where, during Indiana’s seismic rise, fans weren’t allowed due to COVID-19 protocols. Tailgaiting fields were barren and the stands were nearly all empty. Along with it, a sense of tradition, one associated with a singular geographic location and intertwined with the identity of so many people, was lost.
Saturday, however, was a revitalization of that tradition.
At 1 p.m., the tailgaiting fields near Memorial Stadium had become somewhat of a Hoosier mecca, with varying generations, all connected by the team they root for, blended together. On one side of the field, Drake’s new song “Way 2 Sexy” blared out of a speaker. On the other side, “Eye Of The Tiger'' sounded. A group of grown men bumped fists after one hit a game-winning cornhole shot. Not far away, a group of young kids ran routes, tossing the football to each other.
For Adam Dills, his childhood helped shape his current Hoosier fandom. Dills, who was hosting a tailgate Saturday, grew up in Jasper, Indiana. He played youth football and would pile into a bus with his teammates to go to an IU football game once or twice a year. They’d make their way up to the nosebleed seats and watch Antwaan Randle El, one of his favorite players, work magic on the field.
Dills eventually attended Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, but those formative memories, watching games with his teammates and parents, kept him drawn to IU, where he’d come visit his friends for tailgates.
“It’s something that we look forward to and talk about all year long,” Dills said about tailgating and attending games.
On the northwest end of the field, a charred aroma filled the air as Darryl Ferguson leaned over a grill, flipping burgers and turning bratwurst. There was also a crockpot full of cheesy potatoes — made up of frozen potatoes, creamy chicken soup, sour cream and sharp cheddar cheese — a famous recipe from his wife Becci.
But this was more important than just food. Darryl and Becci first met at IU’s McNutt dorm in 1985. Becci went to football games and Derryl didn’t. Their relationship grew as they spent time on Kirkwood, frequenting a local arcade, where they’d take a handful of quarters to play “OutRun.”
They eventually got married. Two of their daughters have already graduated from IU. A third is currently a freshman. For the past six years, they’ve tailgated, making the drive from Indianapolis and bringing one of the neighbors with them. These gatherings have allowed them to remain in tune with the place that their relationship began.
“It made me feel a lot more connected (to IU) than I did for years,” Becci said of the tailgates.
Across the field, Joe and Micah Hedinger were taking pictures of their one-and-half year old daughter, who they requested not to be named. Their daughter was dressed in a striped IU onesie. This was her first ever tailgate.
Joe and Micah, who met at IU and have recently graduated, were both a part of the IU Student Foundation, which organizes the Little 500. They attended football games as students. Last season, their daughter sat facing the TV, taking in the action along with her father. This season, she will get to experience her first game in person.
“I’m hoping,” Joe said, “to raise her an IU Hoosier fan.”
(09/07/21 9:44pm)
There was a play late in last season’s game against Ohio State that still remains in Marcelino McCrary-Ball’s mind. McCrary-Ball wasn’t on the field. In fact, he was out for the entire season with a torn ACL. The sequence, however, sticks out because of what Josh Sanguinetti did.
The Buckeyes held a 42-28 lead in the fourth quarter when quarterback Justin Fields rolled out to his right. He fired a pass to five-star freshman wide receiver Garrett Wilson, who tiptoed on the sideline to try to haul it in. But Sanguinetti, who was listed more than 15 pounds lighter than Wilson and playing in his first season, came flying in. Sanguinetti lowered his shoulder into Wilson’s back, leaving Wilson face down on the turf as the ball popped out for an incompletion.
“Josh,” McCrary-Ball said. “Is definitely fearless.”
Sanguinetti showed that trait again in Indiana’s opening loss against Iowa Saturday. When starting safety Devon Matthews went down with an injury in the first half, Sanguinetti stepped in, making two tackles and recovering a fumble in the fourth quarter. Now a redshirt sophomore, Sanguinetti figures to be a key part of the secondary for the foreseeable future, given the unknown recovery time for the multi-year starter Matthews.
“I’m just going to make the best of it,” Sanguinetti said. “Just like coach said when another guy steps up there should be no letdown. I’m making sure that there’s no letdown.”
Sanguinetti’s hard-hitting mentality started during his youth. He and his friends used to play two-hand touch on the street or tackle on the grass. But Sanguinetti and his brother were always the youngest of the group, so “we had to be tough,” he said. One time, Sanguinetti rocked one of his friends with a big hit near the sideline.
“He got mad at me,” Sanguinetti said with a laugh.
Sanguinetti packed a lot of power in his hits, despite having a relatively wiry frame. At University School, a prep academy in Ft. Lauderdale, Sanguinetti recalls only weighing about 160 pounds. On Tuesday, McCrary-Ball joked that Sanguinetti was only “95 pounds.” In reality, Sanguinetti is currently listed at 6-foot-1, 185 pounds.
What he lacked in physicality, he made up for with his instinct and wingspan, which measures 6-feet-8. He used it to his advantage in high school, where he’d lure quarterbacks into thinking the wide receiver was open, only to use length to break up passes. As a result, he was University School’s all-time interceptions leader with 24.
There were a variety of turns in Sanguinetti’s recruiting process. He was once touted as a five-star prospect in the 2018 class, but dropped significantly in the recruiting rankings as his career unfolded, potentially due to the fact that he was undersized. At one point, he had a top final list that included Auburn, Florida, Michigan and Miami, among others. But he waited too long to sign and many rosters had already filled up.
But Sanguinetti kept pushing forward, something that he learned from his parents, who are both from Jamaica. They eventually moved to the United States, where Sanguinetti was born. His father wakes up around 3 or 4 a.m. to work at the Ft. Lauderdale airport. His mother wakes up early to work as a nurse’s assistant.
“That just drives me to do better,” Sanguinetti said. “One day, I can hopefully retire my parents because they work hard to this day, every day.”
Sanguinetti eventually took a visit to Indiana and committed shortly after. He redshirted his first year in Bloomington. Then, last season he made six appearances, tallying eight tackles while playing behind Matthews and Jamar Johnson, who was drafted by the Broncos this spring. But he learned from both, frequently watching film with Matthews. He also embraced Johnson’s aggressive “see ball, get ball” mentality.
Entering this year, Sanguinetti was again on the second unit behind Matthews and Raheem Layne, who was returning from a season-ending injury. Sanguinetti did, however, take some first team reps during fall camp so he’d be ready for moments like Saturday.
“I thought he did a really good job,” IU head coach Tom Allen said of Sanguinetti. “I want...him to develop and communicate at a higher level, but he made some plays for sure.”
Sanguinetti has been eating 4-5 meals per day to try to bulk up. But regardless of his stature, he keeps the same mentality he had as a kid, while playing against older kids on the street.
“You can’t play scared,” Sanguinetti said. “You just gotta be fearless. It don’t matter about your size. It’s about your heart.”
(09/06/21 8:00pm)
Standing behind the podium on Monday morning, Indiana head coach Tom Allen pulled off his crimson hat and peered at the white lettering.
“Let me check something first here,” Allen said, turning the hat so he could see the front. “Make sure Indiana is spelled right.”
Allen was referring to what had become a viral moment before Saturday’s game against Iowa, when a photographer caught the front of freshman David Holloman’s jersey, which read: “Indinia.” This was the first of many indications that Saturday wouldn’t, in fact, be Indiana’s day. The Hoosiers went on to be thumped by Iowa, 34-6.
For the time being, the loss somewhat tempered the viability of Indiana’s lofty expectations, at least from the perspective outside of the program. On one hand, it was just Indiana’s first game and in a tough, road environment. On the other hand, there was also never a question of who deserved to win the game, and there certainly was no shortage of potential long-term problems, especially on offense.
“You've got to be able to look yourself in the mirror,” Allen said. “And you've got to be able to make honest assessments and evaluations, and you've got to go fix them.”
Much of Indiana’s season will be defined by how the Hoosiers respond. Given the tough Big Ten schedule they have to face, there will surely be peaks and valleys throughout the season. Indiana's next test comes Saturday against Idaho, although it may be difficult to sufficiently gauge the team’s potential improvement given the Hoosiers should be able to handle that matchup with little difficulty.
The question for Indiana now becomes whether the game against Iowa was an outlier or if it will become the norm. The epitome of this pendulum is quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who had arguably one of the worst games of his career from an efficiency standpoint.
Penix Jr., who is coming off of his third consecutive season-ending injury, has shown flashes of his potential, like when he threw for almost 500 yards against Ohio State last season.
But it remains to be seen if he can do that consistently. It may be somewhat glossed over how much of a challenge it is not only physically but also mentally to return from those injuries. Penix Jr. speaks in the type of coach-speak cliches, saying that he felt prepared mentally and physically, although it didn’t necessarily appear that way against Iowa.
“I can only imagine… what that would’ve been like for a 21-year-old kid,” IU offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan said about Penix Jr.’s adverse career. “I’m proud of him for that. I really am.”
(09/05/21 12:47am)
From the opening kickoff at Kinnick Stadium, there was little question that Iowa was, by far, the better team on the field on Saturday afternoon. The result was an emphatic 34-6 win for the Hawkeyes. On the flip side, it was a game that couldn't have gone much worse for the Hoosiers.
With the embarrassing loss behind them, the more pressing concern for Indiana is what exactly comes next.
After Indiana broke through onto the national stage last season, there have been unprecedented expectations for the Hoosiers this year, including an optimism that they could win a Big Ten Title. Indiana’s ability to successfully deal with that pressure has been a pertinent storyline. This season has become a viable chance for Indiana to prove they can sustain national relevancy.
And Saturday was an opportunity for Indiana to make a resounding statement, playing in a daunting environment against a No. 18 Hawkeyes team. A win certainly would’ve validated all of the momentum Allen has built the last few seasons.
Instead, it was an uninspiring performance. Broadening the scope to the rest of the season, there are more questions than answers for Indiana after Saturday’s result. A majority of Indiana’s concerns entering the season still remain and are potentially even more pressing.
“Just got behind early and momentum got away from us,” Allen said. “Just making mistakes, we can’t do that. We talked about that so many times with this team. They (Iowa) don’t make very many (mistakes) and we knew we couldn’t make very many. We did and they didn’t.”
Indiana’s potential success this season largely revolves around the play of quarterback Michael Penix Jr, who is coming off a torn ACL last season and a third consecutive season-ending injury. There has been uncertainty as to whether Penix Jr. will ever reach his full potential after flashing it at times last season, but not on a consistent basis.
On Saturday, Penix Jr. never looked like he was comfortable. On Indiana’s first drive, he tossed a pick six. He then threw two more interceptions before halftime, including another that Iowa’s defense took back for a touchdown. He finished the game throwing 14-for-29 for just 156 yards and was never consistently on the same page with his receivers.
There was also considerable apprehension regarding Penix Jr.’s mobility after returning from his injury. On two occasions in the first half, Penix misfired badly as he rolled out of the pocket. Also, in a questionable play call, Penix Jr. kept the ball on a read option but, upon realizing he had nowhere to go, slid down for a loss.
“Nothing felt off, I just feel like we didn’t execute like we needed to,” Penix Jr. said. “Obviously, the turnovers killed us.”
It has also been a point of emphasis for Indiana to have a more dynamic running attack after ranking 12th in Big Ten in yards per game last season. Allen and the coaching staff have spoken highly of USC transfer Stephen Carr, who has the potential to bolster the run game along with sophomore Tim Baldwin Jr. and take some pressure off Penix Jr.
But on Saturday, Indiana’s ground game was underwhelming. Carr ran for 57 yards on 19 carries. Baldwin Jr., who lost some playing time to reserves Chris Childers and Davion Ervin-Poindexter, had 12 yards on six carries.
It was also a product of Indiana’s offensive line, who was largely dominated at point of attack. After having mixed results last season and losing two starters, Indiana’s ability to both protect Penix Jr. and open up holes for its running backs has been a necessary improvement, but one that wasn’t evident Saturday. Plus, offensive lineman Caleb Jones committed a couple of untimely penalties in the first half, including two false starts.
“I thought they didn’t play as well as I expected them to,” Allen of the offensive line. “They’re better to me than they showed. I know they are. I’ve seen it. I expect it. Not good enough.”
Indiana has the talent around Penix Jr. to be successful, but it’s a matter of when, or if, they can all put it together. Can Ty Fryfogle be relied upon as the featured receiver? Can Miles Marshall, who has all the measurables, take a step up and be a trusted target? Can Florida State wide receiver transfer D.J. Matthews be the spark plug to replace Whop Philyor? Can tight end Peyton Hendershot bounce back after underwhelming production last season?
On Saturday, the answer was largely no. Fryfogle had five catches for 84 yards. Hendershot, Matthews and Marshall combined for six catches. There was also a lack of creativity in the game planning.
“We were sloppy,” Fryfogle said. “We could have gotten more open. There’s a lot of things that we could’ve done differently.”
(08/31/21 6:53pm)
Last fall, there was a certain symmetry between the careers of D.J. Matthews and Camron Buckley. Both were once heralded wide receiver recruits, whose careers hadn’t panned out exactly how many expected. Both didn’t play last season. At Florida State, Matthews, a lightning quick wide receiver, decided to opt out of the 2020 season. At Texas A&M, Buckley tore his ACL before the season began.
Over the course of the past year, Matthews and Buckley both transferred to Indiana as graduates in hopes of revitalizing their careers. It was the kind of journey that, from Matthews’ perspective, was about finding “peace.”
And now, with a significant perspective on life, Matthews and Buckley both have a chance to play major roles for the Hoosiers this season. Matthews is listed as the starter at slot receiver ahead of the season opener against Iowa on Saturday. Buckley, on the other hand, is lower on the depth chart, but still figures to find a niche.
“I think the urgency about where they’re at in their careers,” IU offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan said. “They recognize that they don’t have as much time as when they were freshmen. There’s certainly a sense of urgency to play well, they want that for themselves and we want that for them.”
Out of high school, Matthews and Buckley, both members of the 2017 class, were largely regarded as four-star recruits with high expectations for their careers. Matthews was a U.S. Army All-American and Buckley was an Under Armour All-American. They both moved on to big time programs.
At Florida State, Matthews showed flashes of incredible athleticism. As a sophomore, he zipped through the defense for a 74-yard punt return touchdown against Miami. Those moments, however, weren’t consistent. He combined for 737 total receiving yards in sophomore and junior season, but wasn’t able to breakout as a star.
Some of that was likely due to the program’s overall instability. Jimbo Fisher, who recruited Matthews, left Florida State after Matthews’ freshman season. Then Willie Taggart took over for two seasons, before Mike Norvell took the reins in 2020. Last September, a few weeks after tweeting that he caught COVID-19, Matthews entered the transfer portal before committing to IU a few months later.
“Everything is not going to go as planned,” Matthews said. “You can walk into great situations and a lot of things happen, a lot of adversity happened. It just allowed me to just trust the process.”
On the other side of the country, Buckley had made significant strides from his freshman to sophomore seasons, increasing his total receptions from 17 to 34. His junior season, however, there was a sharp decline, catching just 11 passes for 121 yards.
In August 2020, Buckley tore his ACL and lateral meniscus, sidelining him for the entirety of the season. For the first month after surgery, Buckley wasn’t able to walk. Still, he attended class, every team meeting, practices and all but a few road games. He went to the weight room and, with his non-injured leg, did exercises like leg press, leg extension and leg curls. Eventually, he was able to start walking, then jogging, working all the way up to sprinting.
In June, Buckley decided to leave the state of Texas, where he’d also played his high school ball, announcing his transfer to Indiana.
“Time flies… that’s something that I didn’t understand fully (before),” Buckley said. “Now I understand that a lot. I’m glad that time has brought me here. I’m ready to do something special here.”
For Matthews, much of that perspective came from the birth of his daughter Seyvnn Matthews, who is now one year old. Matthews decided to dedicate time to Seyvnn, rather than play in the 2020 season. When she was big enough, they went fishing and canoeing. One time, Matthews let her sit on his lap in the driver’s seat of a parked car and, as she pretended to move the wheel, he made engine noises.
“When I was able to spend time with her, I was just relaxed,” Matthews said. “All the anxiety was gone. It was just a different feeling, something that I’ve been searching for since even out of high school.”
(08/30/21 6:18pm)
For the past two seasons, there have been expectations, although somewhat cautious, for Indiana football to win. It’s a product of this: 14 wins over the past two seasons, and a magnetic culture led by head coach Tom Allen, who has taken a historically poor program to new heights.
(08/26/21 12:06pm)
Marty Freeman waited and waited, but nobody came, so he waited some more.
It was March of 1985 and Freeman had just wrapped up a workout at New Castle High School, but nobody came to pick him up. When he had no way to get home, New Castle football coach Tom Allen Sr. provided a ride, bringing Freeman back to the Allen household, where they served him dinner.
Later that night, Freeman learned that his grandfather, the most important figure in his life, was in the hospital. The next day, he passed away.
From then on, the Allen family took Freeman in as one of their own, providing him with the family structure that he needed coming from a single-parent household and after losing his grandfather.
Freeman also became best friends with the family’s third child out of four, Tom Allen, also known as Tommy. Tom and Freeman went bowling and golfing. They attended Bible club. They reviewed film from football. The Allen family introduced him to putting peanut butter on pancakes, which he still does to this day.
“It’s sort of ironic that we’re such close friends because growing up I was from a single-parent household and if you looked at the two of us I don’t think people would’ve put us together,” Freeman said. “Much less a friendship that has lasted decades.”
Tom was raised on foundational values passed down from his parents: treating people with respect, honesty and integrity. It was during Tom’s childhood in Lafayette and New Castle that guiding elements of his life — family, faith and football — were instilled.
“That’s how the lord made us,” Tom Sr. says.
The Allen family was open to helping everyone, and that’s what Tom saw growing up. One time, the well at the church broke, so the Allens went to fix it. They hosted big meals for the teams that Tom Sr. coached, where they cooked chicken, slaw and corn on the cob. They became a second family to others in the New Castle area, including Jeff Estes, who accompanied them to church every week. Years later, Estes became a pastor, a path he wouldn’t have taken had it not been for the Allens.
“Love each other, but we didn’t call it L.E.O. (yet),” Tom’s mother Janet said. “He grew up doing that.”
Three decades later, it’s what has allowed him to build unprecedented success as the head football coach at Indiana, where the Hoosiers will kick off this season on Sept. 4 against Iowa. In a world sometimes filled with hate, the driving force of the program is a simple acronym: L.E.O. — Love Each Other.
Tom has become somewhat of a transcendent figure because of his undeniable charisma. He frequently acts with a child-like jubilation, even crowd surfing on his players after last season’s historic win against Penn State. His philosophies are being taught in some Indiana elementary school classrooms.
“It’s bigger than football to me,” Tom said. “...I don’t want to be known as a guy that coaches the ball. I want to be known as a guy that impacts lives and makes a difference.”
All of who Tom is, started a half century ago.
“He hasn’t changed a bit,” Freeman said.
***
Tom Allen was sprinting down the sideline at Memorial Stadium.
Last November, with just under six minutes remaining in the game, safety Devon Matthews picked off a Michigan pass. The Hoosiers were up by 17 with the ball. They were about to beat Michigan for the first time since 1987. And Tom could feel it.
So here came the 51-year-old galloping down the sideline. Tom leapt up into Matthews, his bare cheekbone crashing with helmet. Matthews was knocked on his back. Tom fell on top. After the win, there was a bloody gash on Tom’s cheek.
“I don’t think he broke it, but it doesn’t feel very good right now,” Tom said after the game. “ But bottom line is I don’t really care. I just love this team.”
Even as an infant, Tom had boundless energy. A few days after he was born outside of Lafayette, Tom’s blood wasn’t clotting properly, so the doctors gave him medication and tied down his feet to ensure he was stable. But Tom didn’t like it. He kicked and kicked until his heels rubbed raw. By the time he came home, there were red spots the size of a coin on his heels.
As a youngster, Tom’s parents described him as a “busy little boy.” Once, before Tom was even in grade school, Tom Sr. peered out the back window of the house and saw a neighbor looking toward the Allen house, chuckling to himself. When Tom Sr. went outside to see what the commotion was, there was Tom and his older brother Nathan climbing up and down a ladder to the roof and tossing a garden tool onto the yard.
Sometimes Tom’s energy worried his parents. He often played hide and seek, where he’d disappear around the house, hoping others would come look for him. One time, Tom was gone for so long that Janet was ready to send a search party out to the cornfields, thinking that he’d gotten lost in a nearby farm. But before she went out, Janet checked the closet, Tom’s favorite hiding spot, one last time. Sure enough, there he was, smiling from ear to ear.
Much of this exuberance was also invested in sports. Kids around the neighborhood met in the Allens’ backyard to play football. They played everything — tag, basketball, baseball — and it gave Tom the social interaction he craved. Everyone wanted to be on his team. Everyone wanted to be his friend. Tom Sr. gave his son the nickname “Pied Piper” because of how others followed his lead.
Inside the house, Tom Sr. put down tape in the shape of a box on the living room floor. Tom and Nathan suited up in pads and helmets and tried to knock each other out of the square. They also did a drill where they started on opposite sides of the doorframe and tried to push each other through the opening.
“They were always playing something,” Janet said.
***
Tom Sr. wanted to make sure his kids knew about hard work. And not just being told about it, but living it.
When they were old enough, Tom Sr. took Tom and Nathan to football practices. They did all the work of a team manager: dragging out tackling dummies, riding on the bus to games, helping players with anything they needed. What people noticed most about Tom was his demeanor. He’d look you in the eyes when talking. He always had a smile on his face.
“It’s still that way today,” Tom’s high school wrestling coach Rex Peckinpaugh said. “You hardly ever saw him frown.”
Tom Sr. also worked as a carpenter and, when Tom and Nathan were in high school, he brought them to work over the summer, so they could save up money for college. They built garages and painted houses. They fixed roofs. They laid bricks and poured cement. After working in the scorching hot Indiana summer, they put their feet in cold water to alleviate the pain of their blisters.
This work ethic carried over to Tom’s athletic career. He played football and wrestled at New Castle. Regardless of his busy practice and game schedule, he was at the top of his class academically. Tom would study until 12:30 a.m. and then be at the school by 6 a.m. to run two or three miles.
At wrestling workouts, Peckinpaugh’s goal was to leave his wrestlers “in a state where they had a hard time walking.” But after practice, Tom and Nathan would go to get another lifting session in. It was the same over the summer, where, after fixing roofs and pouring concrete all day, Tom would make it to almost every wrestling and football workout at night.
During his senior wrestling season, Tom was beaten decisively by a rival. The headline in the paper the next day implied it was almost solely Tom's fault the team lost. In the following weeks, Tom studied more film. He was more focused during practice. Later in the season, Tom faced the same rival and pinned him. He went on to place third in the state meet.
“I’d hate to be the person that beats Tom Allen,” Peckinpaugh said.
Tom led the team by example. During sprints at wrestling practice, despite weighing more than 50 pounds more than some of his teammates, Tom was always one of the first to finish. He was also vocal, frequently yelling encouragement. If someone needed help after practice, he was willing to stay. He learned those guiding principles from from his parents and his faith.
“Even back then, he practiced that idea of L.E.O.,” Peckinpaugh said. “He was loved by everybody and he loved the people on his team.”
“Tommy just makes you feel loved.”
***
With the same conviction that he used to fix roofs and pour cement, Tom ascended up the coaching ranks. First, it was high schools: Temple Heights and Armood in Florida, then Ben Davis in Indiana. He eventually earned a job at Wabash College, then made stops at a handful of other schools, including Ole Miss and South Florida. He was brought on staff at Indiana in 2016 and, later that year, was named the head coach.
Ever since, Tom has taken a historically underwhelming program to unparalleled heights, despite being frequently doubted. It started off with consecutive 5-7 seasons but quickly grew into historic success last season, rising up the rankings and creating a certain bravado for the program.
Regardless of his success and clout, Tom is still connected to those from his childhood, even if it’s no longer through sports. In Tom’s early coaching years, Estes, the childhood friend turned pastor, needed financial support to start a church. Despite how little they had, Tom and his wife Tracy made a “significant” donation, an exact amount Estes wasn’t willing to reveal. The church has now been around for 19 years and has a community of more than 250 people.
“Nobody else knows that,” Estes said about the donation. “Nobody else would know what they do and that type of sacrifice. They don’t tell anybody that stuff. I’m the only one that knows what they did for us.”
Last winter, Estes was in a life-threatening car accident. He fractured his pelvis, broke his ribs, had serious internal bleeding and his spleen removed. He couldn’t walk. But through it, Tom was there. They talked on the phone, and Tom wrote notes. They laughed together, cried together.
“You’ve got to have the lord and you’ve got to have grit,” Estes recalls Tom’s message.
Estes has recently started walking again and made significant strides in his recovery.
“I know that when you go through really hard times, God uses people,” Estes said. “Tommy and Tracy have been some of those significant people to help us.”
With magnified expectations entering his fifth season at Indiana, who Tom is, and what he believes in, hasn’t wavered. He recruits and coaches with the same determination as his high school self, the one who had blisters on his feet from fixing roofs and the one who woke up at 6 a.m. to run after studying until midnight. He treats his players as family, just as he did with Estes and Freeman years before. He chest bumps his players after big plays and crowd surfs after wins with an unquestionable joy, almost as if he’s still a kid, tossing garden tools off the roof and playing football with full pads inside of the living room.
“If he’s any different than he was back years ago, I’m not seeing it,” Peckinpaugh said. “He’s just Tom Allen.”
“He’s just Tommy Allen.”
(08/24/21 12:02pm)
For a majority of the past three weeks, Indiana head coach Tom Allen and his staff have been carefully evaluating players during fall camp.
And midway through August, Allen and his staff outlined a few questions they wanted to be answered by the end of fall training camp. The overarching thread was that Allen was trying to understand Indiana's identity. He wants to know what they can trust schematically. He wants to know who they can rely on to execute those schemes.
Fall camp is now complete. Two scrimmages are in the books. Although the depth chart and decisions for the season-opener against Iowa in 12 days have not yet been revealed, Allen is beginning to gain more clarity on where his team stands.
“I think you’re getting a good feel for where we hang our hat,” Allen said Monday afternoon. “I’m not going to give away too much for obvious reasons, but, at the same time, I feel like both sides of the ball have had the chance to really elevate themselves in those game-like situations… There’s just a toughness that you have to develop and that’s part of our identity.”
Throughout fall camp, new faces and expected impact players have impressed the staff.
For Indiana, much of its success starts with its defense, like last season. After Indiana’s offense prevailed in the first scrimmage, the defense bounced back last Saturday, with Allen saying that they won the day. As expected, Indiana’s secondary, which lost only Jamar Johnson from last season, led the group on Saturday.
A concern for Indiana’s defense, however, is the line. Most of the unit’s production last season was from Jerome Johnson, who has since gone on to play professionally. Returnees Sio Nofoagatoto’a, CJ Person and DeMarcus Elliot are expected play a major role this season. But three transfers, including two from the SEC, could also potentially fill that production, among others.
First, there’s Jaren Handy, a transfer from Auburn, who’s expected to play the Bull position, a linebacker/defensive line hybrid. Handy, a physically developed 6-foot-6, 255-pound sophomore, spent just one season with the Tigers, appearing in seven games, before coming to IU.
“He’s really flashed (talent) this last week in practice, having multiple sacks on multiple days,” Allen said. “And on Saturday, the same thing.”
Then there’s Ryder Anderson, a 6-foot-6, 266-pound defensive end, who transferred from Ole Miss and was IU’s defensive MVP during spring practice. Anderson also boasts valuable experience, having played in 37 games over his four seasons at Ole Miss.
“Just a big strong, steady, tough, dependable guy,” Allen said of Anderson.
Finally, there’s Weston Kramer, a Northern Illinois transfer, who has emerged as a potential cog in the defensive line. Similar to Anderson, Kramer adds a veteran presence to the group, having played 45 games over four seasons, including a second-team All-MAC nomination last year.
“I think Weston’s really brought something to our team from a work ethic perspective, how hard he plays,” Allen said. “There’s times where I’m like, ‘this kid plays harder than anyone else out there.’”
On the offensive side of the ball, the return of All-American Ty Fryfogle has certainly not been overlooked, but Allen made a point to express his pleasure with the senior receiver. After a breakout campaign last season, it would’ve been easy for Fryfogle to pursue a professional career, but he instead returned to Indiana to take care of unfulfilled goals.
“Some guys, when they get to this point, they’re kind of worried about this, worried about that. He just goes all out. He’s tough. He’ll say anything. He just plays football,” Allen said. “I appreciate his attitude, his leadership.”
Allen was also pleased with how the tight ends have been performing. The headliner is Peyton Hendershot, who, after setting Indiana’s single-season tight end reception record in 2019, saw a steep decline in his production last season. If Hendershot can recapture his former success, quarterback Michael Penix Jr. will have yet another option at his disposal. Matt Bjorson and AJ Barner also have the potential to contribute.
There have also been questions about who will be lining up in the backfield next to Penix Jr., but it was made clear after the first scrimmage that USC transfer Stephen Carr had begun to separate himself. Allen echoed the point again on Monday, saying Carr “continues to pop to me.”
Although there is still much work left, it appears as though some of the pieces are starting to come together for Indiana as the season opener quickly approaches.
“I just feel like we’re getting closer for sure,” Allen said. “We’re not in game week prep yet, we’re close, but tomorrow’s practice is going to be important to continue to build some of these things.”
(08/23/21 6:00pm)
The menu at James Jones’ restaurant “His Place Eatery” in Indianapolis is filled with Southern favorites: fried chicken, smokehouse grilled cheese, peach cobbler chicken & waffles and candied yams. It’s the type of greasy meal that, as James’ son and IU football offensive lineman Caleb puts it, is “good food, just not great for you.”
And Jones’ favorite on the menu?
“I absolutely love ribs and my dad has a great dry rub,” he said with a smile Friday afternoon.
This sentiment was confirmed by Indiana head coach Tom Allen, who ate at the restaurant when recruiting Jones out of high school.
“The food,” Allen said, “is amazing."
(08/20/21 7:49pm)
During most practices, IU kicker Charles Campbell doesn’t know when, or if, he’s going to be called onto the field. It’s in an effort to create a game-like atmosphere, where Campbell has to be ready on the sideline at all moments of, for example, a 20-minute period.
This is the situation that Campbell found himself in on Thursday, at the end of a more than two-hour practice. The offense and defense were going at it, but Campbell, mostly alone, was on the strip of turf in between the two practice fields, blasting balls into a net.
Being a kicker can be lonely. Despite not being on the field for most of the game, the outcome is often in their hands. They’re hailed if they do their job. They’re heavily criticized if they don’t.
Campbell knows this as well as anybody else, as he enters his redshirt junior season as a key piece to IU’s special teams unit. Part of the job is constantly balancing on a mental tightrope. In moments like these, waiting on the sideline during Thursday's practice, not knowing when he’ll be called, it’s just him and his thoughts. He visualizes himself making kicks on the field. He thinks about the wind direction and what hash he may be lining up on. He tries to make himself feel anxious.
“You can hit pretty much every kick that you’re put out there to hit,” Campbell said. “The only thing that changes, it’s not you physically, it’s your mind.”
On one of the last snaps of practice, the field goal unit is called onto the field. Campbell makes his way onto the field and lines up a 35-plus yard kick. After the snap and hold, Campbell swings his leg, sending the ball end-over-end. The distance is there, but not the accuracy. It misses to the right.
Later, after practice, reflecting on the kick, the second team All-Big Ten kicker sounded like someone with perspective, someone who understands the mental aspect of kicking.
“It’s just a little human error,” Campbell said in a syrupy southern accent. “...No big deal.”
Maybe this is a telling example of how Campbell has evolved since he arrived in Bloomington four years ago. Even if he misses a kick like on Thursday, he has trust in himself to make the next one while under pressure. He enjoys working on his mindset, which is often the key to becoming a great kicker.
“It’s more being confident in yourself than comfortable,” Campbell said. “It’s more of going out there and knowing you can kick the kick because you’ve kicked the kick so many times.”
As a freshman at IU, Campbell had all of the physical makings of a great kicker. He was a finalist for 2017 Tennessee Mr. Football (kicker) and was invited to the 2018 U.S. Army All-American bowl. But in his first season, he redshirted after being beaten out for the starting spot by Logan Justus. The following year, Justus was again ahead of Campbell on the depth chart.
“The first year I came in, I was a little hesitant about college football,” Campbell said. “...I really feel like it was my mental more than my physical.”
Last season, after Justus graduated, Campbell finally got his opportunity, and took advantage of it. He led the Big Ten in field goal percentage, making 10 of 11 kicks while also knocking in all 25 of his extra-point attempts. In the bowl game against Ole Miss, he became the second Hoosier in program history to make two 50-plus yarders. He was a second team All-Big Ten selection as a result.
The difference between last season and earlier in his career?
“Just trusting yourself,” Campbell said.
He also added: “I’ve really been focusing on having consistent thoughts because I believe that consistent thoughts create consistent actions.”
Beyond the mental side, Campbell has also been concentrating on the physical aspects of kicking this offseason. In order to develop his strength, he treats workouts as if he were a position player. He lifts heavy. He takes team runs, explosive lifts and jumping drills seriously.
“I kind of view myself as lifting like a running back because I’m trying to be so explosive in a short amount of time,” Campbell said.
There are heightened expectations for Campbell this season, who has goals of playing at the professional level. He may also take on another obligation on special teams as Indiana’s kickoff man this season. Plus, he’s working with a new holder, Chase Wyatt, which adds another varying element to repeating his production from last season and striving to be a first team All-Big Ten performer.
“He’s a confident kid, but he’s very level-headed. He’s not arrogant.” IU special teams coordinator Kasey Teegardin said of Campbell. “He goes about his business and does his job. But for him, it’s just a constant reminder that this is a new season.”
For all the thinking that Campbell does on the sideline, his strategy is strikingly different when he gets onto the field. He doesn’t think about getting his hip through the ball or kicking it vertically. His mind, as he puts it, goes “blank.”
“I’m just trying to simple it up,” Campbell said. “And I think the most simple thing that you can do is not think. Just going out there and letting it rip.”
(08/19/21 8:38pm)
The video clip is short, maybe six seconds at the most, but the duration doesn’t make it any less impressive.
It’s from Indiana’s first fall scrimmage last Saturday in Memorial Stadium. The video, which starts mid-play, centers on USC transfer running back Stephen Carr, who was approaching the 10-yard line at full speed. But Carr’s momentum slowed significantly, he lowered his helmet into a defender and his head plunged toward the turf.
Instead of going down, Carr somehow kept his balance, corkscrewing his body and redirecting the momentum in the opposite way that he was hit. He briefly used his arm to catch himself, allowing him to keep his knees from touching the ground as he jolted forward. He finished the sequence by dragging another defender into the endzone for a touchdown.
(08/10/21 11:22pm)
Most of the storylines concerning IU quarterbacks this offseason revolved around one name: Michael Penix Jr. And for good reason. Penix Jr. played an integral part of Indiana’s success last season—from the iconic reach against Penn State to beating Michigan for the first time since 1987.
So much of the focus this offseason has been on Penix Jr., largely because Indiana’s expectations — and potential success — is reliant on his ability to stay healthy.
But on Monday afternoon, Indiana head coach Tom Allen mentioned a different, lesser-known name in the quarterbacks room: freshman Donaven McCulley.
“I’ve really been encouraged by his growth,” Allen said. “I feel that even some things today we were able to isolate certain parts of what we do and you could just see the talent, it’s shown up from the beginning.”
McCulley, who attended Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, committed to Indiana last summer rated as the No. 2 player in the state, according to 247Sports. Given that he picked Indiana over Purdue, Iowa, Ole Miss and Missouri further signified how Allen has changed the overall perception and trajectory of the program.
As a senior last season at Lawrence North, he helped lead the team to its first winning season since 2005, throwing for 2,576 yards and rushing for another 506. He was also a two-year letter winner on Lawrence North’s basketball team, playing alongside Indiana basketball commit CJ Gunn.
Since arriving at IU, Allen was quickly struck by McCulley’s 6-foot-5-inch frame. In high school, McCulley was listed at 195 pounds. Allen said on Monday that McCulley is already up to 215. The fact that McCulley is already physically developed will certainly bode well for him in a smashmouth league like the Big Ten.
“You walk out there and you notice him,” Allen said. “Pure in the way he moves.”
Most of the emphasis for McCulley so far during fall camp has been learning the offensive system. But when his reads are simplified, Allen has seen McCulley make exceptional throws.
“When you kind of minimize the reads and aren’t trying to see everything, I think for a young guy they obviously see too much and it makes it hard,” Allen said. “But he’s a gifted player, very talented.”
But what Allen has been most impressed with is McCulley’s attitude. He’s absorbed information from coaches. He is always respectful. He’s a great listener.
“He just has a great demeanor about him, about wanting to learn and grow and get better,” Allen said. “I think that’s a good sign for mental development.”
It’s uncertain whether McCulley will see any meaningful game action this season, but the fact that Allen has already spoken so highly of him is a promising sign given how Indiana’s quarterback room currently stands.
Throughout the summer, Allen has continuously lamented that Penix Jr. will be ready for the opener against Iowa on Sept. 4. But there’s still the uncertainty of whether he can stay healthy. His first three years at Indiana all ended with season-ending injuries: a torn ACL as a freshman, right shoulder surgery as a sophomore and another torn ACL as a junior.
Behind Penix Jr. is Jack Tuttle who, despite being a highly-touted recruit out of high school that certainly possesses talent, hasn’t proven himself at the collegiate level. In Tuttle’s two starts last season, Indiana went 1-1. In his lone win as a starter against Wisconsin, the Hoosiers only scored 14 points.
Entering fall camp, Indiana’s quarterback room was already relatively depleted after Dexter Williams tore his ACL last spring. So McCulley becomes all the more important and, if anything, he provides a viable safety net should things go awry. But this is just the beginning of McCulley’s young career, one in which he could eventually develop into the centerpiece of Indiana’s offense after Penix Jr. moves on.
“He’s going to keep getting better and better,” Allen said. “He’s going to be special.”
(08/09/21 10:32pm)
On Monday morning, Tom Allen didn’t let grey skies and rain slow down Indiana’s second week of fall camp. In fact, Allen welcomed the slick conditions.
The former special teams coordinator at Wabash College and Ole Miss knows the importance of being able to stay composed during varying weather patterns.
So Allen took advantage of the rain. He put his team through wet ball conditions on offense and defense. And what he emphasized the most was special teams, where his players got repetitions punting and kicking field goals through the rain.
“I had a chance to be out in the rain,” Allen said Monday afternoon, “which is invaluable.”
The first few days of fall camp have mostly consisted of implementing Indiana’s schemes on both sides of the ball. Even with new players getting acclimated to Indiana’s system, Allen said they’ve been able to go three deep in drills, a testament to the experience of the team.
“It’s obvious that the depth has been different in the past,” Allen said.
The Hoosiers' returning talent is especially evident on the defensive side, where nine starters are back from last season. Allen has already seen significant growth from a variety of those returnees, who were part of the top red zone defense in the nation last season and figure to play a large part of Indiana’s potential success again this season.
The backbone of Indiana’s defense is the linebacker corps, which is largely regarded as one of the best in the Big Ten and whose depth as a position group is arguably the best on the roster.
“They’ve got to run that side of the football,” Allen said. “I’m talking making calls, I’m talking about in the locker room, in the film room and when he have meetings. Walkthroughs, they set the tone.”
The group is highlighted by seniors Micah McFadden and Cam Jones, both of whom were captains last season. McFadden is coming off a second team All-American season, where he recorded 58 tackles and six sacks. Jones was All-Big Ten honorable mention. Allen has seen them both make strides this summer.
“Cam Jones has gotten thicker and looks really good physically,” Allen said. “I think that Micah has just continued to keep getting better physically.”
Indiana is also returning a bevy of rotational pieces at linebacker, including juniors Aaron Casey and James Miller, who appeared in all eight games last season. The Hoosiers are also getting back Thomas Allen, who suffered a season-ending hip injury against Michigan State. Tom Allen also named Cam Williams, Ty Wise and Matt Hohlt as players who have impressed.
“I’ve always said that you’re only as good as your linebackers defensively,” Allen said. “They’re not just great players, they’re great people. They’re great leaders. They’re not afraid to speak and there’s a bunch of them.”