Indiana Football: In loss, Whop Philyor continues to show his worth

The Indiana football junior has continued his breakout season and looks to continue to make his case for an All-Big Ten selection come seasons’ end.

It was one of the biggest talking points of the offseason, how effective the new look Indiana football offense would be, and thus far Kalen DeBoer and his system have been terrific. It has been a long time since Indiana has had the skill players they currently have and DeBoer is taking full advantage of that.

Whether it be the skilled wide receivers, the young and talented running backs or the newest face of the Indiana program Michael Penix, the offense has shown it is one of the most talented in the conference.

One of those players who has made a tremendous impact this season is Whop Philyor. The junior wideout is DeBoer’s newest secret weapon and Indiana is using him nearly in every possible way.

Not only has Philyor been Indiana’s most consistent offensive option, he has done it all over the field and been an extremely difficult matchup for every opponent. The 5-foot-11 speedster can not only be the possession receiver every team needs, as shown by his 14 catch game against Michigan State on Saturday, but can also beat you downfield, or with yards after the catch.

When it comes to the Big Ten, Philyor is one of just two players (Darrell Stewart – MSU) to have 30+ receptions on the year and ranks fifth in the conference with 371 yards, leading the Hoosiers.

His agility, speed, and strength are a combination you normally don’t get at the college level, and because of that, IU is doing everything it can to get him the ball. Almost half of his catches against the Spartans came within three yards of the line of scrimmage, with at least four of them coming at the line of scrimmage. Despite that, he still was able to make the most of the play, averaging over 10 yards per catch.

Becoming the go-to option for Michael Penix, Philyor collected seven of Penix’s IU record 20 straight completions on Saturday and did it in a multitude of ways.

With six options to catch the ball, with over 10 receptions this season, Penix has a lot of different options, so the fact that Philyor has had at least three catches in every game this season, and a minimum of 40 yards in each game, shows you just how valuable and effective he is.

Something tells me this double-digit receiving game isn’t going to be the only one for Philyor this year and the more times he touches the ball will continue to mean good things for Indiana.