What the Hoosier Defense Needs to do to Slow Down Penn State

Image: Indiana University Athletics

Written by Amanda Pavelka (@amandapavelka3)

In a season of strange circumstances, the Indiana Hoosiers will enter a Memorial Stadium with empty stands on Saturday to face off the No. 8 football team in the nation, the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Hoosiers have a legitimate chance to beat Penn State for what would be the second time in the history of the program, but only if they are successful in these keys on defense.

Keep the football from Freiermuth

Penn State’s largest offensive threat lies in the hot hands of All-American tight end Pat Freiermuth. With a stunning 43 catches for 507 yards (11.8 avg) and 7 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2019, he announced he’d forgo a probable 1st round NFL draft pick, and return to Penn State for the shortened 2020 season. 

The Hoosiers will look to 6’0” 208 pound Bryant Fitzgerald, who replaces injured senior Marcelino Ball, as the starter at the husky position and linebacker group led by Cam Jones and Micah McFadden to keep the football out of the hands of the 6’5” 258-pound monster called Freiermuth.

Don’t sleep on running back corps without Journey Brown

Despite the recent announcement of star running back Journey Brown’s medical condition that will put him out against IU, the Nittany Lions come to Bloomington with a talented running back corps led by Noah Cain and Devyn Ford. In 10 games last season, Cain had 84 carries for 448 yards and eight touchdowns. Ford followed with 52 rushes for 297 yards in 12 games in 2019. 

In other words, just because their star running back is out, doesn’t mean they can’t run all over IU defense if it doesn’t show up Saturday afternoon.

Come Prepared to Tackle

Speaking of IU’s defense letting up to be trounced upon, they did just that with 25 missed tackles in last season’s opener against Ball State. The Hoosiers came out of Lucas Oil with a win, but they won’t if they don’t come out with poise and purpose on Saturday. With their first game being a nationally-ranked team like Penn State, every single down counts. 

Nix Silly Penalties

Not to revisit the past, but the Hoosiers had some penalties in that first game against Ball State last season that cost them a satisfying margin of victory. It was 65 yards to be exact, and the Hoosier defense was mostly to blame. 

It’s a 22-1 record that Penn State football has on IU, and 9 of their 22 losses have been down to one score. If we lose Saturday, let the cause not be traced to a penalty.