Indiana Football: 11 Hoosiers earn All-Big Ten honors

The Indiana football program got good news when 11 Hoosiers received All-Big Ten honors following the 2019 season.

2019 was a season full of broken records, new records, and lots of excitement, and this week the Indiana football program received good news about 11 of its players collecting All-Big Ten honors.

It was first announced on Tuesday night that five Indiana players earned honors for defense and special teams, headlined by Hoosiers kicker Logan Justus who was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team. Justus, who has been one of the best kickers in the country for the majority of his career, had made 14-of-14 kicks this season before an extremely uncharacteristically bad outing against Purdue in which he missed three kicks, and was benched towards the end of the game. This is the second straight season in which Justus was a Second Team selection. The fifth-year senior heads into Indiana’s bowl game 76-of-78 on extra points, and 29-of-35 on field goals for his career.

The remaining players on defense and special teams were fifth-year punter Haydon Whitehead, sophomore defensive tackle Demarcus Elliott, sophomore linebacker Micah McFadden, and true freshman cornerback Tiawan Mullen, all of whom were All-Big Ten Honorable Mention.

When the offensive awards were announced on Wednesday afternoon, it was sophomore running back Stevie Scott, and junior wide receiver Whop Philyor who were part of the All-Big Ten Second Team. Scott has rushed the ball 178 times (5th in Big Ten) for 845 yards (5th in the Big Ten) and 10 rushing touchdowns (T-4th). After missing the last game of the season, his first, his regular season average ranks fourth in the Big Ten at 76.8 rushing yards per game.

Adding 211 yards on receptions, Scott’s 96.0 all-purpose yards per game rank 10th in the Big Ten, as his 11 total touchdowns are third in the conference.

Philyor, who had a breakout season, was halted a bit over the past couple of weeks as he dealt with a concussion. Overall, he finished with 1,001 yards (tied for 24th in NCAA), on 69 catches (T-31) and five touchdowns. His 91.0 yards per game sit 21st nationally as well.

Other Hoosiers who received honors on the offensive side of the ball were fifth-year senior right guard Simon Stepaniak and redshirt sophomore tight end Peyton Hendershot, who were named All-Big Ten Third Team, while redshirt junior quarterback Peyton Ramsey and redshirt sophomore tackle Caleb Jones received honorable-mention recognition.

Hendershot and Ramsey were two of the most valuable Hoosiers all year long as Hendershot caught 46 balls for 555 yards and four touchdowns on the season. Under Kaleb DeBoer’s direction, someone who loves to use tight ends in his offense, Hendershot had eight games of at least four grabs, and seven games with at least 50 yards receiving. For Ramsey, the clear MVP of the team stepped in for Michael Penix and finished with 13 touchdowns to just four interceptions with 2,227 yards on 69.2 percent passing.

With no game this week, the Hoosiers have one game left to play in the 2019 season as they patiently await the announcement of their bowl game matchup.