Peyton Hendershot's Presence Pays Off in Red Zone
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Peyton Hendershot felt like he was letting his team down.
The junior tight end dropped a big pass in Indiana's season-opener against Penn State. With that in the back of his mind, he dropped another on Saturday when No. 17 Indiana traveled to Rutgers.
Hendershot wasn't the only culprit of watching one of Michael Penix Jr.'s bullet throws whistle through his hands. But after a 2019 season in which Hendershot set an Indiana single-season tight end record with 52 receptions, he expected better of himself.
"I came over to the side lines and I was upset with myself because I only had one or two drops all last year and I already have two drops," Hendershot said Saturday. "I am just letting the team down."
Hendershot trotted back to the sideline with his head down, but his coaches told him, "You are going to make plays." So, Hendershot tried not to think about it, and he moved on.
He caught an 8-yard pass in the middle of the first quarter. On the first play of the second quarter, Penix found Hendershot for 14 yards and an Indiana first down.
He was starting to get his mojo back. In the third quarter, he caught an 11-yard pass for a first down. A couple plays later, with Indiana at the two, Hendershot leaked out toward the corner and Penix found him for a touchdown.
Indiana Hoosiers tight end Peyton Hendershot (86) celebrates his touchdown with tight end Matt Bjorson (89) during the second half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at SHI Stadium.
Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports
"I just got lost in the game. I was not thinking about it anymore," Hendershot said. "When the ball was coming, I was thinking about it anymore. It was not instinct. I felt lost in the game and I just got going. The catches just started coming and making it easier."
Early in the fourth quarter, with the Hoosiers at the Rutgers' 1-yard line, Penix found Hendershot for another touchdown on a similar play to his first one.
That touchdown ended up being the dagger as Indiana went on to win 37-21 to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Hendershot finished the game with six catches for 34 yards and was the recipient of two of Penix's three TD passes.
The Hoosiers' offense caught fire in the second half with a steady diet of Hendershot and Whop Philyor, who had a monster game with five catches for 137 yards.
"It was just the play calling and it set them up for success today," Penix said on Hendershot and Philyor. "I went through my reads to find the open receiver and those two guys found a way to get open. They made some spectacular catches and they were consistent. Just great execution in the play calling."
Hendershot's ability to be effective in the red zone was a big takeaway for Tom Allen after the game. Indiana went 6-6 in the red zone with touchdowns, which Allen said is a recipe for winning football games.
As for the offense, Hendershot believes they improved from last week to this week, and he thinks they are only going to keep getting better.
"I think it was big this week that we came back with a focus of just getting better every day," Hendershot said. "From last week to this week, we had way better offense and showed that. That is probably just taking it one play at a time."
"I think we were all just trying to force things. We have a bunch of starters coming back and are trying to just take too many plays and need to let the game come to us. I think we did a good job of that."
Related Stories:
- WHEN MICHAEL PENIX GETS HOT, THE OFFENSE TAKES OFF: Tom Brew's two cents on how electrifying Indiana's offense can be when Michael Penix Jr. catches fire. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA'S DEFENSE CONTINUES TO CREATE TAKEWAYS: For the second straight game, Indiana's defense forced three takeaways. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA TOPS RUTGERS: For the instant recap of Indiana's victory over Rutgers, CLICK HERE
- LIVE BLOG: To catch update on the live in-game updates throughout the Indiana and Rutgers game, CLICK HERE
