Missed Tackles Equals Missed Opportunities for the Hoosiers

Written By Nick Gonzales (@nrgonzales_)

The Hoosiers are heading back to Bloomington after finishing their last game of the season. Indiana suffered a disappointing loss to the Fighting Irish Friday night and couldn’t get things going all game long. One of the biggest things on defense was their inability for the first man to make the tackle.

“Us having Riley Leonard in our grasp and him still being able to complete the throw with the receiver making a nice catches that I can recall – low, here, there,” Curt Cignetti replied when asked about the defense unable to get off the field.

Riley Leonard played a lot better than the stats might show. He was able to avoid sacks, escape the pocket, and make a pass for big yardage or run it himself. He kept IU’s defense on the field longer than they should have which wore them out. Plus, without any sign of life with the offense, the defense was the Hoosiers only chance to win the game.

“There was a point in the game it appeared we were starting to put some pressure on Riley Leonard, near the end of the first half, we were getting closer and closer. But, again, I give him a lot of credit. He's a really good athlete with a quick release that played a lot of football,” Curt Cignetti said about the defense and Leonard in his postgame press conference.

It wasn’t just Leonard who was making it tough on the defense. On the 98-yard touchdown run by Jeremiyah Love, no one seemed to be able to tackle him and then he took off. It seemed as if all the Notre Dame players had grease on them because it happened many times throughout the game. The Notre Dame players’ athleticism made it so they were able to make the first man miss and sometimes the second and third man, so it’s very difficult to minimize yards when the first few guys in on a tackle can’t make the tackle.

“I thought that quarterback played really well. I thought he would make a few errors here and there. But he didn't seem to. He seemed composed. And, like you said, we weren't able to rattle him. We didn't get home -- we came close to getting home. Especially against a good athlete, getting close to getting home just wasn't enough. He wasn't affected and stood in the pocket, delivered the throws he needed to throw and took what we gave him. He was very composed and had a great game.” Bryant Haines stated during the postgame press conference Friday night.

This hasn’t really been a problem for the Hoosiers all season as they excelled in tackling. They were the #1 rush defense in the country, allowing 76.2 yards per game. The most rushing yards they allowed in a game prior was during their win against Charlotte (137 yards, 4.2 yds/car) and the other teams they allowed over 100 rushing yards was against Maryland, Washington, and Ohio State. However, the Fighting Irish nearly made it there by the second quarter. Indiana allowed 193 rush yards averaging 5.5 yards per carry.

“One of our main focuses going into this game was to limit him on the ground. When the play breaks down we know he can get out. He's super athletic and super fast. It's a big part of his game. We didn't do a good enough job of that tonight. You really have to be sound when it comes to that. It's (indiscernible) the front four, just good lanes, good pass rush lanes, stuff like that. And we just didn't do a good enough job of that tonight,” James Carpenter responded about their inability to get off the field on third down.

The defense seemed as if they were the only ones who were trying for a majority of the game, but they still had too many mistakes that cost them. However, after Notre Dame scored its second touchdown in the first three minutes of the second quarter, the Hoosiers held them to just 6 points until the final five minutes of the game. Not only were the missed tackles hurting the defense, but on a play during the third quarter, James Carpenter had a late hit against Leonard on third down which would’ve given the Hoosiers defense a chance off the field.

James Carpenter said during an interview last week that it was a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to be where they are now and besides the late hit, he played his heart out recording 7 total tackles (6 solo, 1 assist), 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 pass deflection that was intercepted by D’Angelo Ponds, and a blocked field goal.

“Coming into this year, no one thought we'd be here. A lot of doubters, a lot of haters. For us to kind of make this run, get to this point, it's been surreal. It's been unbelievable. Something I'll remember for the rest of my life. These guys up here, the rest of the guys on the team, hopefully they'll be at my wedding, brothers for life. That's the kind of bond we have,” James Carpenter said in the postgame press conference.

As the Hoosiers final game of the season was not a relatively thrilling one to watch, the loss shouldn’t taint the amazing season they had. Cignetti and his crew made a name for a program that has had very little success when it comes to Football. With the Hoosiers season ending, Cignetti is already onto the next business which is recruitment and transfers. He has set a foundation in place, and this was only a taste of what he can accomplish.