Indiana football report card for Week 1 win over Ball State

INDIANAPOLIS — As far as season openers go, the good outweighed the bad Saturday for the Indiana Hoosiers, who went to Indianapolis and beat Ball State, 34-24. It was the college debut of redshirt freshman quarterback Michael Penix, Jr., as well as the first game as Hoosiers for new coordinators Kalen DeBoer and Kane Wommack.

Here’s how the Hoosiers graded out in my first Report Card of the season:

Rushing offense: C-minus

Ball State made a conscious effort to shut down Indiana’s running game, and they had success. Running back Stevie Scott, who had more than 1,100 yards last year, could never get going. He had only 48 yards on 19 carries, but did score two nice touchdowns on hard runs around the goal line. I was a little surprised that we didn’t see more of the backup running backs, because they all looked good in camp. Cole Gest, Ronnie Walker Jr., and Sampson James all only had one carry each.

The grade would have been even lower had it not been for quarterback Michael Penix Jr., using his legs from the second quarter on. Penix actually led the team in rushing with 67 yards on 7 carries, with several runs coming on third down to keep drives alive.

Passing offense: B

Michael Penix was 24 of 40 for 326 yards, and he had a beautiful 75-yard touchdown bomb to senior wide receiver Nick Westbrook that was absolutely perfect, catching him right in stride after he had outrun the safety. Only Antwaan Randle-El in 1998 had more yards in a freshman debut for IU. Penix seemed very comfortable and did a lot of nice things. He had another perfect throw on a deep ball to Westbrook, but it was dropped.

The grade got bumped down one, though, because he threw two interceptions. The first one was all on him. He tried to throw and out-route to a covered receiver when he should have taken off running. The second one, a receiver slipped out of cut on a bad route and Penix threw behind him. Those are freshman mistakes that will surely get corrected quickly.

Rush defense: B

There had been some question about how well the IU defensive line would hold up this season, and they acquitted themselves pretty well on Saturday. Ball State had 100 yards rushing, but that was on 40 carries, and I think the Hoosiers would be thrilled with 2.5 yards per carry any time.

It could have been even better. There were several missed tackles on runs, which is something the Hoosiers will have to clean up. We saw that all over college football in Week 1 — and Week 0 — so we’ll write that off as a first-game thing. Overall, this group was a pleasant surprise.

Pass defense: B-minus

I expected a bit more out of the IU secondary, to be honest. Ball State quarterback Drew Plitt threw for 298 yards and 2 touchdowns and the Hoosiers’ coverage seemed a little loose at times. Tackling was an issue there, too, something IU coach Tom Allen was not happy with but vows to fix because “that’s not who we are,’’ he said.

Jaylin Willams had a late interception to close out the game, which kept Indiana’s streak alive of creating a turnover in 19 straight games. That’s the longest streak in the nation. The Hoosiers did have three sacks, but I wouldn’t mind seeing more pressure on opposing quarterbacks going forward.

Special teams: A-minus

Were it not for two kickoffs by Nathaniel Snyder that went out of bounds, this grade would have been an A-plus. The reason for that is kicker Logan Justus, who nailed all four field goal attempts, including three by 48 yards or more that were all career highs. That’s a big day for the IU kicker who definitely has ice in his veins. They were some big kicks too, because they kept adding to IU’s lead.

Punter Hayden Whitehead was good, too, averaging 51.3 yards on his three kicks. And the punt and kick return units on both sides were above average, as well. A very solid performance by the special teams units.

Coaching: B

It was interesting to see how Indiana’s two new coordinators would impact the game. Kalen DeBoer is a massive upgrade for IU as the offensive coordinator, and there were a lot of great designs to the passing game. Penix seemed to have a good grasp on what he wanted, and there were plenty of big plays. The running game never got going, though it was a touch better in the second half. I would have liked to see a few other wrinkles in the run game, and maybe some personnel juggliing, too. I was disappointed that Gest, Walker and James only got one carry each.

IU’s “Swarm Defense’’ was mostly good, but they played a little too conservatively at times in laying off receivers. It was a first-game thing for the coaches, too. All in all, it wasn't a bad effort at all.

Intangibles: B

Any time you get a win on opening day, it’s a good thing. Outside of Marcelino Ball’s two stupid personal foul penalties, the Hoosiers really played a clean game, with only three other penalties. That’s great for a first game.

There were a lot of good things accomplished, but I still didn’t like how they let Ball State hang around for so long. This was a game where IU should have turned their 10-point leads into 20, and they never did that.

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