Aiden Fisher is "Blocking Out The Noise" Ahead of Matchup With Northwestern

Written By: Ben Gillard (@benjgillard)

Aiden Fisher has been balling this season. The James Madison transfer has totaled 50 tackles this season, the seventh most in all of FBS. To many in the media, Fisher is one of the best linebackers in all college football. However, if you ask him, he is not paying attention to any of it. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Fisher said, “The biggest thing is to realize that the opinions outside of this building don't make any decisions inside the building. We don't let those opinions sink into us.”

Fisher expanded on this, saying, “I block out all social media. There's no point in reading anything. You can read something good, or you can read something bad. It has zero effect on you and how you play. I keep everything in-house. Listening to my coaches and teammates and seeing what I need to improve on, instead of hearing other opinions on how good or bad I am on Twitter, Instagram, stuff like that.” 

Even with all the success Fisher and the defense have had, he still sees ways he can improve. When asked what can be improved for next week, Fisher said, “We left a lot of explosive opportunities on the field. Me myself, I know there have been a couple. In the UCLA game, I think there was a sack and an interception that were left on the field. If you go to each position group, everybody will tell you firsthand that there's been opportunities that they've missed and that they wish they could get back. That's all part of football.”

Fisher and the Hoosiers will have the opportunity to make these adjustments this Saturday when they take on the Northwestern Wildcats. When asked what he has seen from the Northwestern offense, Fisher said, “They're a good team. They're physical. They like to get downhill in the run-game. They have a good running back and a good O-line. They are figuring it out on offense, so it's a game that we're expecting to be physical.”

The Wildcats are definitely still figuring things out on offense, especially at the quarterback position. Northwestern has had two quarterbacks, Mike Wright and Jack Lausch, get starts under center this season. When asked about how the defense is preparing for both quarterbacks, Fisher said, “Both quarterbacks are good players at the end of the day. They are both settling in and figuring out their roles in the offense, so they are not to be taken lightly, even though their numbers might not be there. They're not getting a lot of the talk around the country, but it doesn't matter. They are still great players, so we have to prepare for them like they're the best quarterbacks in the country.” Whoever gets the start under center, one thing is for sure: Aiden Fisher will make their life very difficult on Saturday.