Written by Evan Orris

The Hoosiers defense came out firing aggressively on all cylinders to lead the team to a 56-14 win over the FCS Idaho Vandals.

After a dreadful start last week against the Iowa Hawkeyes where running back Tyler Goodson opened up the game with a 56-yard rushing touchdown, head coach Tom Allen wanted to see some more urgency from the defense. And, they succeeded. Within the first three drives, the defense allowed only -7 yards and forced two punts while also recovering a fumble.

“I thought they had really good intensity in the beginning. Just dominated them up front, and I expected us to, I thought we needed to, I thought we should. I just felt like our guys needed to play that way and they did.” Allen said.

The key for the defense was to get after the quarterback early and often. Defensive coordinator Charlton Warren dialed up several blitzes in the first couple of plays in the first two opening drives. The Hoosiers then executed the game plan to perfection by racking up two sacks—both from blitzing linebackers Micah McFadden and Cam Jones—and five tackles for losses.

“Coach (Paul) Petrino does a tremendous job moving the football. They’ve scored a lot of points, and they’ve done a good job against a lot of good people.” Allen added. “So I thought coach Warren did a great job of a good plan. Very, very sound, and even made some good adjustments.”

The defense went on to allow the Vandals to 261 yards. 65 of those were on the ground as the front seven neutralized the ground game. The secondary, however, allowed 196 passing yards albeit on 39 throws. Despite the somewhat high number of yards, they held the Vandals to a 5-yards per passing attempt and 3-for-14 on third-down conversions.

The only trouble the defense had all night was towards the end of the first half when Idaho quarterback Mike Beaudry started a two-minute drill with a 20-yard rush, which eventually led to a 14-yard touchdown to receiver Terez Traynor.

Then in the opening drive of the second half, the Vandals marched down the field. Beaudry once again connected on a touchdown but to Hayden Hatten. The defense then stood pat for the rest of the game and did not allow another point.

“I think we started out really fast, as you said. were just ready to dominate our opponent,” McFadden said of the team’s mentality. “I think we did good up to those drives, ending the first half and starting the second half, but I think the guys played hard and we showed up ready.”

Next week, the Hoosiers will take on the No. 7 Cincinnati Bearcats. The defense will need to get off to another fast and aggressive start to hold an offense that has scored 91 total points in two games. Coach Warren will also have to create another successful game plan to contain star quarterback Desmond Riddler, who has 538 yards and six touchdowns in the two-game spread.

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