Written by: Nate Comp (@NathanComp1)

It was never going to be easy.

It didn’t matter that Purdue entered the game having already been eliminated from bowl eligibility. It didn’t matter that Purdue was completely decimated with injuries. It didn’t even matter that Indiana built itself an 18-point cushion in the 3rd quarter.

No, this was rivalry week. This week means more, and this game means more. It was always going to be a fight for the entire sixty minutes.

Or better yet, sixty minutes and beyond.

What was different about this Old Oaken Bucket showdown, however, was who was leading the charge for the Indiana defense. When you think of a rivalry game, you think of looking to your seniors for their leadership; they’re the ones who have played in these games before. That was not the case today.

All day, the Hoosier defense looked the way of their youth: sophomore Jamar Johnson, sophomore Reese Taylor, true freshman Tiawan Mullen. In the game’s biggest moments, they’re the ones who stepped up.

Ironically, the players with little knowledge of what a Bucket game meant or entailed, happened to be the ones that were crucial in bringing it back to Bloomington.

“Coming in here, the older guys were talking about the Bucket,” said Mullen, who resides in Florida. “Coming in, it didn’t have much meaning, the Bucket. But I knew that it meant a lot to my big brothers. Whatever they fight for and believe in, I’m fighting for with them.”

And just like the youth on Indiana’s defense have done all season long, they went and got what they wanted.

Mullen led the team in tackles with 8, including 2.5 for loss. He tacked on a forced fumble, a recovery, and 4 passes defended while he was at it.

Johnson wasn’t far behind with another 7 tackles, 2 for loss. He knabbed Indiana’s first takeaway of the day on the game’s opening drive when he intercepted Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell in the endzone.

Sophomore wide receiver turned cornerback Reese Taylor continued his dominant performances of late with 3 solo tackles of his own and a critical pass breakup during Purdue’s 4th quarter drive to force a turnover on downs.

And they’re getting it done exactly how Coach Allen imagined when he took over the program and recruited them. They’re doing it with grit, by not allowing one bad play to affect the next.

“You can’t be feeling sorry for yourself, and they didn’t. Yeah, didn’t play their best football, and we have to go back and figure that out, but the bottom line is they stepped up when we needed them,” said Allen postgame.

“We just get down, we compete,” said Mullen. “The close games, we’re able to finish. That’s the definition of grit.”

It’s exactly what we’ve seen from the new wave of recruits Allen has brought onto campus since the day they stepped foot in Bloomington. No goal was too large.

Bowl eligibility, a winning season, a national ranking, a rivalry game victory, it didn’t matter. Coach Allen said “Jump!”, and players like Mullen, Taylor, and Johnson asked, “how high?”

And they’re just getting started.

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Sixty Minutes and Beyond, Youth on Indiana Defense do Just Enough

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