Hoosier Huddle's Postseason Review: Defensive Backs Continued to Regress

Written by T.J. Inman

After getting a chance to digest the season and go back and review some games, Hoosier Huddle is doing a full post-season evaluation of the Indiana Football program. Today, we look at the defensive back position and how the group performed in 2022.

The defensive back group includes both cornerbacks and safeties and it would be difficult to categorize that unit as anything other than disappointing in the 2022 campaign. A group that was judged during the preseason to be as talented as any other unit on the squad and was filled with returning veterans ultimately allowed 3290 passing yards and an opponent’s passer rating of 152.42 (compared to IU’s 104.97). IU’s opponents had 30 total passing touchdowns and only seven interceptions all season. Those numbers continued the trend from 2021 when the Hoosiers allowed 2828 yards through the air and 24 passing touchdowns to only five interceptions. The lack of a consistent pass rush contributed to the poor numbers but the secondary was a problem in nearly every contest in 2022.

The Veterans

Indiana was expected to be able to lean on the veteran cornerback duo of Tiawan Mullen and Jaylin Williams plus safeties Bryant Fitzgerald, Devon Matthews and Jonathan Haynes. The season just did not play out that way. Bryant Fitzgerald was quite good as he was asked to play safety, Husky and eventually linebacker. He was second on the team in tackles with 74 and one interception. Noah Pierre was another bright spot with 39 tackles and a number of good plays against the run and the pass. The versatile senior was reliable and consistent, something that could not be said about most others in this group. Before diving into the individual performances from some key members of the IU secondary, let’s review some of the game-by-game performances: Indiana allowed at least 200 yards passing in all but one game (113 versus Rutgers in a 17-24 loss). The Hoosiers surrendered 270 passing yards or more in nine of 12 games and gave up at least 60% passing in eight of nine games. Even exceedingly mediocre quarterbacks like Nebraska’s Casey Thompson and Cincinnati’s Ben Bryant had really good outings against the IU pass defense. There were way too many blown coverages that gifted opponents big plays and poorly timed penalties that hindered IU’s cause.

Tiawan Mullen was a major difference maker earlier in his career but he was dogged by injuries and was never able to reach the heights of his earlier play. Mullen did manage to lead the team in interceptions with two and he was fourth on the team in tackles with 58. Jaylin Williams was expected to be a very good number two cornerback but he had an extremely rough season. Williams was beaten on a number of times and opponents began to single him out and attack him. Devon Matthews had 65 tackles, good for third on the team, but he really struggled with poor penalties, only had three tackles for loss all season and was beaten in coverage often. Jonathan Haynes and Josh Sanguinetti both had one interception apiece and were okay in rotational duty.

The Young Backups

With so many veteran players returning and expected to shoulder the load for IU in the secondary, the Hoosiers were not expected to use a lot of young players at cornerback or safety. A few guys were able to breakthrough and showed glimpses of positive play. Christopher Keys emerged as the third cornerback for Indiana. The sophomore had 15 tackles on the season and looked good in coverage. Unfortunately, Keys entered the transfer portal after the season and IU lost an expected starter for 2023. Bryson Bonds, Brylan Lanier, Jordan Grier and Phillip Dunnam played some snaps and each showed positive signs they could be contributors. In particular, Dunnam looks like a future difference-maker at the safety position. If the 2023 season started soon, Lanier would undoubtedly be one of the starters at cornerback. Bonds and Grier are two other young players that gave Indiana some snaps at safety with no real notable positive or negative things standing out.

Final Analysis

The Indiana Hoosiers were expected to have one of the better secondaries in the Big Ten thanks to a number of returning contributors and a belief that the 2021 season was an anomaly for that position group. Unfortunately, the regression that was seen in 2021 continued in 2022 and the Hoosiers were one of the worst pass defenses in the league. They allowed opponents to complete 67.5% of passes on first down and surrendered an opponent passer rating of 172.27 in the first quarter of games. That shows you the defense was on the back foot right away all season. Many familiar faces from the past few seasons: Bryant Fitzgerald, Tiawan Mullen, Jaylin Williams, Devonte Matthews and Josh Sanguinetti, are all moving on and will not be back with Indiana for the 2023 season. An expected starter (Chris Keys) is also gone. The Hoosiers will be basically starting over in the secondary and they’ll have to improve across the board to get back to a competitive level in the Big Ten East.