Defensive Transfers Shine in Week Two Win

Written by Ben Gillard

Coming into the 2024 season, the biggest question mark on the IU defense was the defensive line. Losing guys like Andre Carter and Philip Blidi in the offseason, it was unclear if the Hoosiers could continue to get after the quarterback consistently. To fix this, IU hit the portal hard, bringing in a host of veteran players, many of them following Coach Cignetti over from James Madison, including Mikail Kamara, James Carpenter, and Tyrique Tucker, in addition to 317 lb Kent State transfer CJ West. This beefed up D-Line entered the season ready to do battle in the Big 10 trenches.

While these transfers came up big in the season opener vs. FIU, they had their first statement game on Friday vs Western Illinois. From the very first defensive series, it was clear that it was going to be a long day for the Leatherneck offense. The Hoosiers were getting a great push off of the line and seemed to live in the WIU backfield. The Leathernecks struggled to move the ball, only converting their first first down with 1:51 left in the first half. While a ton of different players found success on defense during the game (78 different Hoosiers saw the field on Friday), it was two of the JMU transfers, Mikail Kamara and Tyrique Tucker, that took over.

Kamara made his presence felt late in the first quarter, sacking WIU QB Nathan Lamb for a loss of three yards. Kamara followed this up with a sack in the third quarter for a loss of 11 yards, ending the game with 4 tackles (2 solo) and 2 sacks. When asked about how he felt about the defense following the game, Kamara said, “I don’t know what you guys think about our defense right now, but I expect us to blow all that out of the water. I expect us to really show everyone what this defense is about.”

One of the things that the defensive line showed on Friday was just how deep they are. Tyrique Tucker, one of the leaders of the Hoosiers second unit, shone when he got the nod in the second quarter. Tucker teamed up with Lanell Carr Jr. for a sack before notching a solo sack two minutes later. Tucker ended the game with 4 tackles (2 solo) and 1.5 sacks. When Mikail Kamara was asked about Tucker, he said, “Ty, he’s been balling; me and him worked out all summer, so I already knew what he’s capable of; it’s really just to show everybody else what he’s capable of.” Head Coach Curt Cignetti echoed this sentiment in his postgame press conference, saying, “Really proud of him …Tyrique has really improved every year. He’s overcome a lot in his life and really does great in the classroom; he’s a great teammate, and he’s really improven every single year as a player. So really proud of him and happy for his success.”  

With Tucker and Kamara playing on the line, one thing is for sure: the future is bright for the Hoosiers pass rush.