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Indiana starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. will miss the remainder of the season after suffering an ACL tear in Saturday’s victory over Maryland.
Coach Tom Allen confirmed the injury on Monday, which is to the same ligament Penix tore as a real freshman in 2018. He ended up doing a red shirt the season. Penix suffered the injury while scrambling out of bounds at the Maryland 5-yard line with 4:36 left in the third quarter. The 12th Hoosiers won the game 27-11.
Jack Tuttle, a transfer from Utah, replaced Penix against Maryland and will start this week when Indiana travels to 16th Wisconsin. Tuttle completed his five passing attempts for 31 yards against Maryland and drew praise from Allen for staying prepared.
Penix has 1,645 passing yards and 14 touchdowns with four interceptions this season and has also rushed for two touchdowns. His 2-point conversion saw Indiana beat Penn State in overtime in the season opener, and he posted a career-high 491 yards and five touchdowns on Nov. 21 in the 42-35 loss. of Indiana against No. 4 of Ohio State. Injuries cut Penix’s three seasons at Indiana short as he suffered a collarbone injury last November that required surgery.
“It’s a tough situation for all of us, hearts are breaking for Michael,” Allen said. “It’s just hard, it’s hard. Really feel for him and everything he worked on to come back and the way he played.”
Allen spent time with Penix before learning the injury diagnosis and tried to prepare the quarterback for what might follow.
“It attacks the core of who you are,” Allen said, “and how you are surely going to react to things that happen that don’t seem right, and when there isn’t really a right answer as to why. Basically you fall back on what you believe in, you fall back on your faith, you fall back on everyone who cares about you the most. And you fight. You fight. You don’t back down.
“Michael has big long term goals, and it will take a lot of courage to fight that.”
Indiana is second in the Big Ten East division behind the state of Ohio. But if the state of Ohio called off another game, it wouldn’t qualify for the Big Ten Championship game unless the average number of games played drops below six. Indiana has already reached the six-game threshold required to play in the title game.
“For me, it’s just about every group that raises 1%, every position group, every phase of the game,” Allen said. “Our defense has played phenomenally this year. It needs to be enhanced.”
Tuttle, a native of San Marcos, Calif., Was a decorated rookie for Utah, where he had not seen the pitch in 2018 before being transferred.
“I know he didn’t play a lot here on game day, but he has a big arm and he has an amazing football instinct and football IQ, and he’s extremely brilliant,” Allen said. “But I think his greatest quality is his work ethic.”
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