Indiana Defense Improves Upon Week One Vulnerabilities

The Indiana defense record nine tackles for loss Saturday Night Image: Sammy Jacobs Hoosier Huddle

Written By Nathan Comp

Coach Tom Allen had a bad feeling about his defense’s performance after the FIU game. After watching the tape, the taste in his mouth grew increasingly sour. The front seven struggled to stop the FIU rushing attack, and when the Golden Panthers turned to the passing game, the defensive backfield was often caught out of position. With the talented rushing duo of Bryce Perkins and Jordan Ellis rolling into Bloomington, Allen knew the defense simply had to be better. And to his delight, they were.

The best way to identify the improvement in defense is to compare Virginia’s first possession of the game to their final eleven.

Indiana started the game on defense and the ball was immediately placed in Bryce Perkins’ hands. Already a run-first quarterback, the tough passing conditions allowed him to focus on what he was best at. Unfortunately, the week one Indiana defense showed that its greatest weakness was its ability to stop a strong rushing attack. Just a couple plays in, Perkins had already burnt the Hoosier defense on a 40+ yard explosive run.

Through the howling rain and wind, you could feel it. The “uh oh, this might get ugly” feeling was in the minds of the fans who roughed the elements and gathered in Memorial Stadium. Perkins capped off the 11-play, 71 -yard opening drive with a touchdown pass to Olamide Zaccheaus and the worry only grew stronger.

But as Coach Corso says, “not so fast, my friend.” Indiana’s defense would not allow the opening possession to decide the rest of the game. After Stevie Scott responded with his first 40-yard rush of the day and a score, Coach Allen made the defensive adjustment to spy Bryce Perkins for the rest of the game. This decision paid dividends. Four Indiana linebackers finished in the top five statistically for Indiana in tackles, behind only Jonathan Crawford. The Virginia offense mustered only one other scoring drive, the only score for either team in the second half. On ten of their twelve possessions, Virginia was held scoreless and produced a total of only 152 yards. The defense finished the game having only allowed 294 total yards and two touchdowns (a blocked PAT returned for the 2-point conversion accounted for UVA’s final two points).

Last week, Coach Allen publicly challenged his defense to perform better.

Week two was a different story. Although both games ended in Indiana wins, week two left Allen high-fiving students, kicking over trash cans, and celebrating in the warm embrace of his son and Indiana linebacker Thomas Allen Jr.

“How about our young defense? They just kept coming, held them under 300 yards of offense, 16 points. Obviously at the end they made the huge stop to win the game,” said Allen.

Last week, Coach Allen was frustrated. “I did not like the way we played defensively.” This week? “I was really proud of the way they competed.”

The defense will hope to continue this upward trend next week against Ball State.