Eye Discipline in the Secondary Will Be Key to Corral Purdue's Passing Game

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

The Hoosiers come into the Old Oaken Bucket Game against Purdue with statistically the worst pass defense in the Big Ten. Being at the bottom of any category is never good, but IU will be facing Purdue who has the second best passing offense in the conference. The matchup will be key for who walks away with the Old Oaken Bucket and Chad Wilt discussed what the root of the Hoosiers problem is on Monday.

“Those guys have to, maybe more than anybody, really trust in train their eyes. And I think that's one of the things for them. And then they're going to trust in the train, their training and their technique.” Indiana defensive coordinator Chad Wilt said about the struggle of the secondary.

The Hoosiers will need that discipline with Jeff Brohm’s propensity to use gadget plays, something Michigan State did on the opening play last week.

“We had a mistake, a mental error on the first play of the game. It was an eye violation.” Wilt said.

The Hoosier secondary was supposed to be the backbone of the defense led by Tiawan Mullen, Jaylin Williams and Devon Matthews, but it just has not materialized. The Hoosiers have seven interceptions and 37 passes broken up this year, but have allowed too many big plays.

Indiana head coach Tom Allen said Purdue has “one of the best quarterbacks in the country. So, when you have that, you've got a chance to be really, really good. I think their defense has gotten better. I think their O line is better. They do run the football way more effectively than they've ran it recently. You've got a receiver who's got 93 catches over a thousand yards. He's impressive. Really good tight end.”

The Hoosiers will have to be ready in the secondary and it begins with the eyes.