Week Eight Matchup to Watch: Indiana’s Defense vs. Rutgers QB Gavin Wimsatt

Image: Rick Osentoski

Written by Ethan Roberts

The 2023 iteration of the Indiana Hoosiers have been defined by a fired offensive coordinator and their 118th ranked total offense. With a struggling offense, head coach Tom Allen and staff will likely look to their defense to step up this weekend against Rutgers.

Rutgers is 2-2 in conference play and one win away from bowl eligibility. The Hoosiers are 0-3 in conference play and are looking to right the ship.

Gavin Wimsatt, Rutgers dual-threat quarterback, has 219 rushing yards along with 4 touchdowns on the season. Allen noted the extra difficulties defending mobile quarterbacks.

“Probably the hardest, you know, not necessarily a design quarterback run, a guy that’s really elusive, and when he drops back to pass and then makes the guy miss, and then he’s out the gate,” Allen said. “So that’s really what, you know, we’ve had some of that and that’s given us some issues in containing him in that.”

The most notable example of the difficulty of preventing big scramble plays came against Akron quarterback DJ Irons. Irons had 18 carries for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns. Holding Gavin Wimsatt and the Scarlet Knight offense to under 4 yards per carry is critical to the final score in Bloomington.

Can Phillip Dunnam force a key turnover? Can Aaron Casey, Andre Carter and the rest of the front seven cause enough disruption in backfield? How many points do the Hoosiers allow to the Scarlet Knights?

The Hoosiers are currently a 5.5-point underdog according to FanDuel Sportsbook in a must-win game to keep bowl game aspirations alive.