Peyton Ramsey's Path to the Big Ten Championship Game with Northwestern

After transferring from Indiana to Northwestern, Peyton Ramsey is now leading the Wildcats to a Big Ten title game on Saturday.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Tom Allen texted Peyton Ramsey earlier this season after both Allen's Hoosiers and Ramsey's Wildcats were off to successful starts.

The text was simple: Allen told Ramsey he hopes they get to play each other in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Unfortunately for Indiana, a 7-point road loss to Ohio State ultimately denied its chances to represent the Big Ten East in the title game.

But the former Hoosier quarterback, who helped lead Indiana to the Gator Bowl last season, will be the undeniable starter for Northwestern this Saturday against Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Those who know Ramsey well aren't surprised at what he's accomplished, and those who cheered Ramsey on last year will likely be cheering him on in a different uniform this weekend.

His journey to this Saturday is one of disappointment, opportunity and success.

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Doug Ramsey is the head football coach at Elder High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

He remembers a number of games when his son, Peyton, would quarterback Elder to victory.

Peyton finished his Elder career with with 6,708 yards on 570-of-900 passing (63.3 percent) with 49 touchdowns. He holds the Elder career records in passing yardage, total touchdowns, completions and attempts.

But as much success as Peyton had on the field, his father remembers the intangibles that his son brought to the table.

Referees would come up to Doug Ramsey after games and tell him how impressed they were with how good of a leader Peyton was to his teammates.

"It’s amazing how he handles things on the field," Doug said. "It’s just something he was born with."

Peyton's qualities as a player and a person landed him a scholarship to play for Indiana.

He redshirted his first year in Bloomington, then in 2017, he was able to find some playing time on the field. Peyton appeared in nine games during that season, and he made four starts, juggling the QB position with senior Richard Lagow.

But heading into the 2018 season, Peyton won the starting job outright.

He started all 12 games for the Hoosiers that year, and the team came up just one loss short of qualifying for a bowl game, losing its final game to Purdue by seven points.

"To come up short is hard," Peyton said after that loss. "Our expectations are higher than that."

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Peyton Ramsey felt like he did everything he was supposed to.

He wouldn't make it known, but it was difficult to process that at the start of the 2019 season, Indiana named Michael Penix Jr. as the starting quarterback.

"He was fazed by it," Doug Ramsey said. "He felt like he did everything he was supposed to to be the guy. He was disappointed."

But Peyton didn't whine about it or pout about it. He kept working, and he stayed the course with Indiana throughout the rest of the season.

Penix was off to a hot start in the first couple of games, but it just so happened that in the game against Northwestern, Penix suffered a season-ending injury in his right sternoclavicular joint.

Peyton's opportunity came, and he finished out the game, throwing 7-for-10 for 108 yards and one touchdown as Indiana took down Northwestern 34-3.

With Penix out, Peyton was the starter for the rest of the season, and he made the most of it.

He completed 204-of-300 passes for 2,454 yards with 13 touchdowns and five interceptions. His completion percentage (68.0 percent) ranked second in program history, second in the conference and ninth nationally.

Indiana finished 8-4, its best record in more than three decades, and also went to a bowl game for the first time since 2016.

"He got an opportunity and took advantage of it," Doug Ramsey said. "It was cool. It was, as a parent, a pride in what he was able to do and how he handled everything. I think he did a lot for the Indiana program."

Indiana quarterback Peyton Ramsey (12) is chased by Tennessee defensive back Jaylen McCollough (22) during the Gator Bowl game between Tennessee and Indiana at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla :: Calvin Mattheis/USA TODAY Sports

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It was clear, though, that despite Peyton's success in 2019, Penix was the quarterback of the future for Indiana.

Peyton got his degree from Indiana in May, entered the transfer portal and took his talents to Northwestern.

"I think this is the happiest I’ve seen Peyton," Dough Ramsey said. "He feels very comfortable there. He feels confident.”

He doesn't have to throw the ball as much with Northwestern as he did with Indiana. The Wildcats like to pound the ball on the ground and rely on their defense to create takeaways.

Peyton isn't lighting up the stat sheet, but he's led a Northwestern team that went 3-9 in 2019 to a Big Ten Championship appearance this season.

"When he got here, I didn’t know much about him personally. He’s from Ohio, obviously," senior receiver Riley Lees said Monday. "But when he came in, he brought an aspect of a leader that we needed, and he’s obviously had a big impact on our offense, and a lot of trust going both ways, from him to us, as the receivers, and us back to him."

Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald said Sunday that Peyton is like having another coach on the field.

He brought up an instance in Northwestern's last game against Illinois where he called a timeout, and Peyton was unhappy with the decision and made sure Fitzgerald knew why.

"He’s just really consistent," Fitzgerald said. "Haven’t seen him too high or too low."

Northwestern Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald celebrates with quarterback Peyton Ramsey (12) after a Wildcats touchdown against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the second quarter at Kinnick Stadium :: Jeffrey Becker/USA TODAY Sports

If this 2020 season showed anything, it was how impressive the quarterback room was in Indiana in 2019. 

Penix exploded on the scene this year before getting injured against Maryland, where Jack Tuttle came in and led Indiana to a victory on the road at Wisconsin. Then, there's Peyton, with a spot in the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis.

It was a QB room that Peyton thought was special.

“I knew that, one, Mike’s a really good player, obviously. The nation saw that this year,” Peyton said Monday. “But I knew Jack was a really good player, too. Whenever he got his number called, I knew he was going to go out and compete, because he prepares and works so hard for it.

“So it was a special room to be a part of, for sure. I learned so much from those guys back in Indiana, and I still talk to them and communicate with them. Great opportunity to be a part of that room. I’ll cherish that and take that with me for a long time because I learned a lot from those two guys.”

Ohio State is an opponent Peyton is very familiar with. He played against the Buckeyes five times when he was with Indiana but never quite got over the hump.

The Buckeyes are going to be the favorite to win on Saturday, but Peyton said his team isn't just happy to be in the game, they want to win it.

“It’s been fun to go out and compete against the big boys and show them what we’re all about,” he said. “We’re really excited, teammates are really excited, family is really excited, to go out and compete and have fun.”

Each player got six tickets to give out to family members to attend on Saturday, so Doug Ramsey said the whole crew is heading to Indianapolis to see the game.

One fan of Peyton's won't be in attendance on Saturday, but he made it known he will be rooting for his former player that helped his program grow.

"Man, I’m going to be rooting for him," Tom Allen said Tuesday. "And what it says about him is he’s a really good football player, he’s a tough, tough kid, he’s a highly competitive young man, and he’s a winner." 

“He’s one of those guys, he’s going to be great in this life, no matter what he does."