Hoosiers DC Charlton Warren not Looking at Penn State Offense from 2020

Written by Matt Smith

Indiana will begin their Big Ten conference play this weekend as the Hoosiers travel to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions. The Hoosiers are coming off of a game against Western Kentucky where they gave up 458 yards of offense.

One of the things that defensive coordinator Charlton Warren said the defense can do better is set the edge and play tighter on the wide receivers. This way the Hoosiers can have a better chance to not give up big plays or big chunk yardage plays to the opposing offense.

One of the highlights from the game on Saturday was the play of Tiawan Mullen.

“I make a big deal about challenging routes and defending the grass,” Warren said. “[Mullen] made a bunch of plays on the ball from zero to 16. If you want to be an elite player at that position, you have to make plays from zero to 16 and come back to the ball, and he did that four times during the game.”

Warren also said that this was Mullen’s best game of the season so far.

The Hoosiers also may not have Jaylin Williams against Penn State this weekend as he is in concussion protocol. Warren said that there are many players who can fill that role including Noah Pierre and Reese Taylor.

Throughout spring and fall camp, they plugged in many different players on the defense in order to get players ready if the injury bug were to occur.

As far as Penn State, Warren hasn’t shown the team last year’s game film, instead he wants to focus on what the Nittany Lions are doing well this season.

“They are a lot different between tempo and formations, they are a different tree of offense,” Warren said. “Really been focused on their sample from this year which is their four games to see what they have done.”

Devon Matthews made his return to the Hoosiers last week after he went down during the game against Iowa. Matthews was second on the team in tackles against the Hilltoppers.

“He’s a guy that's going to make a bunch of tackles for us,” Warren said. “His leadership on the sidelines, his leadership during the game is huge for us, and he gives you an older presence when things start to go haywire to calm guys down.”