Weekly 'Game-Time Decision' QB Dance Continues

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The comment was short and sweet, and that was the end of it.

"Michael (Penix Jr.) did practice this week, so he'll be a game-time decision,'' Indiana coach Tom Allen said Thursday in his final media availability of the week. He had no further comments on either Penix, the redshirt freshman starter, or Peyton Ramsey, the junior who has played great in Penix's absence.

Penix hasn't played since very early in the second quarter of the Maryland game on Oct. 19. He came up wobbly after a big hit, and eventually went to the medical tent and then the locker room, but didn't return to action.

He was a "game-time decision'' last week too at Nebraska, and Penix did warm up prior to the game, but did not play. Ramsey was sensational, passing for 351 yards and two touchdowns, and running for another.

His performance earned him the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week honor, beating out Kansas State's Skylar Thompson and six others for the Week 9 honor. It was Ramsey's first national honor.

Indiana's players have full faith in Ramsey, so they don't get concerned with who starts at quarterback. Even though Penix won the competition in fall camp, he's only play 15 quarters all season. Ramsey has come off the bench after a shoulder injury to Penix in Week 2 and again now.

He's made 19 starts in his career, so he knows what he's doing out there. Ramsey was 27-for-40 passing in a hostile environment at Nebraska, and his 351 yards were a career-high. It was his fourth 300-yard game.

At 6-2, the Hoosiers are bowl eligible before Halloween for only the fifth time in school history. They are catching a struggling Northwestern team Saturday night (Kickoff 7 p.m.; TV: FoxSports1), one that's really struggling offensively. Indiana is a 12-point favorite.

This start is Indiana's best since 1993, as is the three-game winning streak. Indiana won four in a row in 1993.

Saturday night's game is the first November night game in Memorial Stadium history.

Add us as a preferred source on Google