Many Different Hoosiers Stepped up for Chad Wilt’s Defense.

Photo By Andrew Mascharka/Indiana Athletics

Written by Matt Smith

On Saturday night in the pouring rain, the Hoosier defense stepped up in multiple ways. They were able to create turnovers and have big stops when the Hoosier offense was stagnant. They only allowed 10 points during the first three quarters and kept the Hoosiers in the game.

One of the biggest pieces on the defense is JH Tevis, who came over from University of California to play defensive line for Tom Allen and Chad Wilt.

“He’ll tell you that he needs to work on some stuff, but he’s been a real joy to be around, just the mentality, the approach, the work ethic, and he likes working,” Wilt said during his Monday morning press conference. 

Wilt said that is what he wants from all of his players, to enjoy the work, and enjoy the grind in order to improve the team as well as the individual players.

Another player who impressed a lot Saturday was true freshman Dasan McCullough. He totaled two sacks and had a bunch of big tackles throughout the game.

“He has a raw skill set that a lot of people don’t have. He’s got a great mind for the work, and a humility about him that knows he needs to work,” Wilt said. “There’s very few that I’ve been around at that young of an age that you can see those flashes and those glimpse of what they can become. He can become as special as he wants to be.”

From a true freshman, to a graduated senior, Aaron Casey has been a true leader for the Hoosier defense and was honored to wear number 44 this season in honor of George Taliaferro.

“Aaron’s a great kid,” Wilt said. “Who he is as a young man, as a person, he’s fun to coach.”

Wilt said that Casey’s confidence is rising with the Hoosiers this season, and this may be because Wilt has simplified the system for a lot of players to allow them to gain more confidence in their play. 

Casey also hasn’t had a lot of playing time in the Hoosiers system because he was behind Micah McFadden throughout his career, which isn’t a knock on him.

“As far as Taliaferro, I introduced Aaron to my father, and my dad picked up on it,” Wilt said. “He’s just got something about him, an hora, a charisma, personality that you can sense right away.”

Now the Hoosiers turn their sights to Western Kentucky, who have one of the more prolific offenses in the country. 

“You see from what they did last year, not a lot of people even slowed them down,” Wilt said. “They’re explosive, they’re dynamic, they can spread the ball around.”

Wilt said that their quarterback Austin Reed, has a lot of confidence and moxy to him. Reed won the national championship last season at the division two level. He also has a strong arm and can make a lot of throws.

In addition, the wide receiver core are big guys with a big catch radius that can bring in a lot of balls. 

“How you prepare is usually how you play,” Wilt said. “Keeping three things, edge hungry focus.”

The Hoosiers will need to keep those three things in mind as they try to improve and be more consistent as they host Western Kentucky this saturday.