Indiana football: Battle for starting spots coming down to the wire

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana's football team got back to work Thursday after a much-needed day off, the first of the fall. A day of rest and relaxation at Lake Monroe on Wednesday was the perfect elixir for breaking up the dog days of fall camp.

"I was really pleased with today. We had an off day (Wednesday) and the guys came back with good focus and good energy,'' Indiana coach Tom Allen said. "There was no sluggishness in them from the time away. They came back with a good mindset to get some good work in today, went full pads and had a lot of good live-go's, especially on the goal line. A lot of good teamwork. I thought it was a positive day, and we just have to keep building, stacking one on top of the other.''

Fall camp gets hard to go through a couple of weeks in, doing the same stuff over and over, and battling with your own teammates across the line. It's especially tough on the young guys, because they've never been through anything like this before.

"This is the week where you hit a wall, especially the freshmen going through this for the first time,'' Allen said. "You can kind of see it, all the install kind of builds and it gets confusing. Everyone is still barking at them and then they are getting tired, mentally and physically.

"That's why we positioned the lake day yesterday at this time of the camp so you can get them a chance not only with a physical break, but also get them out of their dorm rooms, out of their apartments that they are in every night, and get them in a hotel there at Lake Monroe and just have a nice, relaxing day hanging out, chilling with each other. I also like the fact they are together, they get all the meals they need to get, they get the hydration they need to get. Our strength staff is with them the whole time. That part is good. I think that helps, to push us through.''

The Hoosiers will practice again on Friday and then have their final scrimmage of fall camp behind closed doors on Saturday. That's the last time they'll go full bore in pads, and after that there are a lot of decisions to be made, most notably at the quarterback position.

Here's a few of the biggest things to be determined before the week is out:

Quarterbacks in one final showdown

As expected, the most talked about position battle of the fall has been at quarterback, where Peyton Ramsey, Michael Penix Jr,, and Jack Tuttle have been battling for the job. There hasn't been much separation during the first couple of weeks, so Saturday's scrimmage will be huge in determining a winner.

Ramsey is the incumbent, but Penix is nipping at his heels. Someone will need to grab the spot, preferably on Saturday. The season opener — against Ball State at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis — is just two weeks away.

"It's going to be our last one. We call it 'Preseasons Game No. 2'. And then 'Preseason Game No. 3' (next week) will be a mock game without hitting, and it's all situational emphasis,'' Allen said. "So this will be the last time to really go live. It will be the last time in game-setting situations.

"It's going to be one of the final evaluation pieces (of the quarterbacks) for sure. It may not be the final one but it is going to be big.''

Battle along the lines

Whatever success Indiana has this season will be determined in large part by the play of the offensive and defensive lines. They battle every day in drills and the offensive line, which has many more veterans, has had the edge most days.

"I'd give the edge to the offense right now, but I've really seen a lot of improvement, especially from practice 3 and 4 when we had pads on to practice 12 today,'' Allen said. "I think the D-line has really improved a lot."

While the offensive line has four starters returning, things seem to be more wide open on the defensive line. There are veterans there too, but they are being pushed by several talented freshmen. The battle for playing time will remain intense.

"There's a lot of competition. Those young guys want to play,'' Allen said. "They know that playing time is at a premium. I think that it helps. It helps motivate them. Whoever's in, they have to know there is someone behind them trying to take their reps and get their spot, so I think that helps motivate. We have really, highly motivated freshmen that want to play, won't be able to play them all as much as they want, but we will rotate several.''

Antione Whitner finally eligible

Freshman Antoine Whitner was finally cleared to play, and made his first appearance at practice on Thursday. The 6-foot-5, 305-pound defensive lineman had some eligibility issues to clear up, and a took a while longer than expected.

"Antoine Whitner is officially here, cleared and good to go,'' Allen said. "Obviously was a long journey and process, but really proud of him and his perseverance. He's with us now, so that's our final piece of that class. Everybody is on campus together.''

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