Michael Penix Jr. Answers All the Tough Questions During Podcast

Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. threw three interceptions for the first time in his career in the 34-6 loss to Iowa, and he talked about what went wrong during Tuesday night's Mike & Micah podcast live from Yogi's Bar & Grill in Bloomington.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – When new NCAA name, image and likeness legislation came into play this year and Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. agreed to do a year-long live 30-minute podcast every week, he knew he had to show up and be entertaining, no matter the good, the bad or the ugly.

So Tuesday night at Yogi's Bar & Grill in Bloomington, there he was, sitting down with HoosiersNow. com publisher Tom Brew for the second installment of the Mike & Micah podcast. The conversation was mostly about Indiana's stunning 34-6 defeat at the hands of the Iowa Hawkeyes last Saturday, so there was a lot of bad, and a lot of ugly.

Good was optional.

But Penix sat up tall in his chair and answered every question, about the disappointment in the loss, his role in it and where things went wrong for the Hoosiers. 

And Penix, who had thrown only eight interceptions in 414 attempts during his first 15 games at Indiana – where he had a 12-3 record, the best ever for an Indiana quarterback who had played at least 15 games – even took the time to explain what went wrong on the plays that led to three interceptions Saturday, the first three-pick game of his career, two of them that were returned for pick-sixes.

The honesty was refreshing. Here are the highlights of the show: 

Michael Penix Jr. on taking responsibility

Penix took full responsibility for his role in Indiana's loss, and he understands that it's the quarterback who has to shoulder most of the blame when a team loses. He gets that. That pressure, it's part of what attracted him to the position in the first place.

"No, I'm not going to say I was surprised (by the poor play), we just didn't execute at a high level. That part, I was disappointed at, especially with myself,'' Penix said. "That starts with me. Being the quarterback on this team, I need to find a way to make plays, and find ways to get the team rallied back up so we can play at a high level and have fun.

"That didn't happen this past weekend, but like I say, we just have to move forward and continue to stay focused and locked in. We're definitely going to learn from our mistakes and make sure we'll go back and make the corrections we need to make so we can play better football.''

He understands the complaints. He works hard, and that's never going to stop. He's got the drive to be successful, and the work ethic, too. He'll get things fixed. 

"It comes with the territory and I understand. That's what I signed up for,'' Penix said. "I knew I was coming here to play quarterback at a high level and we were going to play good teams that are tough to beat, so we need to make sure we come out and compete at a high level.

"We didn't do that this past weekend, and that just comes with the quarterback position. I need to take it on the chin and just continue to keep pressing forward.''

Michael Penix Jr. on his three interceptions

During the podcast, Penix was asked about all three interceptions and what went wrong. Two of them were returned for touchdowns, which put Indiana in a huge hole. One was a fluke play, the other a bad read on the defender and the third a poor out-of-pocked decision.

"The first one, D.J. (Matthews) slipped, but we didn't really focus too much on that. He came up to me on the sideline and apologized, but I told him not to worry about. I trust, and I can throw it to him any time I want.

"The second one, we were just running a hitch route and the corner was about nine yards off maybe. I looked back at the film and how he played it, and he didn't really back pedal.

"The third one, I was just trying to make a play. It was closing up pretty quick and it was a bad out-of-pocket decision. I need to know when the journey is over and I need to throw it away and move on to the next play. I will run more ... when I need to.'' 

Watch the entire podcast

Here is the full video file of the podcast.

The Mike & Micah podcast takes place live from Yogi's Bar & Grill in Bloomington every Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ET. The public is welcome to attend and watch the show while eating.

The show is also broadcast live on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Related stories on Indiana football

• HOOSIERS OUT OF TOP 25: Indiana was ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press preseason poll but fell out of the rankings quickly after a 34-6 loss to Iowa. Here are this week's top-25 rankings. CLICK HERE
• BIG TEN POWER RANKINGS: Ohio State remains No. 1 in the Big Ten power rankings, but there was a lot of shuffling right behind them after several interesting and impressive crossover victories. CLICK HERE
• TOM BREW COLUMN: The most disturbing thing about No. 17 Indiana's ugly 34-6 loss against No. 18 Iowa was a simple lack of execution in all three phases of the game. That was a clear issue, but it's also something that can be fixed, and this loss is just that – just one loss. CLICK HERE
• REPORT CARD: It was hard to find any positives while grading Indiana's performance against Iowa on Saturday. Here are their grades, with a lot of failing marks. CLICK HERE