Indiana quarterback Michael Penix out indefinitely

When it comes to injuries, one would be hard-pressed to find someone in college football with worse luck than Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Penix’s first three seasons ended early due to injuries, and now the redshirt junior is sidelined once again with a shoulder injury. 

Penix separated his shoulder in Saturday’s 24-0 loss against Penn State and will remain out indefinitely. He is currently listed as week to week. 

“I don’t know that you can rule that out at this point,” head coach Tom Allen said when asked if the injury would require surgery. “There are some unknowns with the rehab process, surgery is definitely not felt to be necessary at this time. At the same time, we don’t know all those answers at this point.”

So far this season the 6-foot-3, 218-pound veteran has thrown for 939 yards, four touchdowns and seven interceptions with a completion percentage of just 53.7%. Against Power Five competition, that number drops 10 percentage points. His touchdown to interception ratio last season was 14 to 4, and he nearly led a comeback against an Ohio State team that ultimately made the national championship. 2021 looks much different.

This is his second shoulder injury in college; Penix had a sternoclavicular joint injury in 2019 which required season-ending surgery. Last season, Penix suffered a torn ACL in late November, sidelining him for the remainder of the season. He had the same misfortune in 2018, tearing his ACL after appearing in three games.

Dream 2020 season currently appears to be a fluke

After a Cinderella-esque season last year, Indiana is having a hard time replicating success in 2021. The Hoosiers are a couple of points away from being 1-4, as they barely got a 33-31 win over Western Kentucky on Sept. 25. 

The offensive yardage and points, in total, are not drastically different from last season. Indiana averaged 359.5 yards and 28.9 points per game in 2020, and those numbers have dropped slightly to 343.6 and 23.8, respectively. It is Indiana’s offense in two games against Power Five opponents that is giving them tremendous trouble. Prior to scoring zero points against the Nittany Lions, Indiana posted just six against Iowa in their season opener. 

The Indiana defense is the more problematic side of the ball in Bloomington. They allowed 20.3 points per game against an all-Big Ten schedule and a Gator Bowl game against Tennessee last year. The Hoosiers are currently last in that category in the Big Ten this year, giving up 28.2 points per game after just two Power Five contests. 

Indiana still has to play undefeated Michigan and Michigan State, plus a 4-1 Ohio State that looks far better than they did a few weeks ago.