Indiana defense starts fast, holds on late against Northwestern

Indiana’s defense looked dominant in the first half Friday night.

The Hoosiers opened the game with a safety, held Northwestern scoreless through two quarters and limited the Wildcats to just 51 total yards and -5 rushing yards at halftime. Aidan Chiles was constantly under pressure, and Indiana’s defensive front looked like it was going to make it a long night for Northwestern.

But the second half was a much different story.

Chiles started finding ways out of the pocket, extending plays with his legs and making Indiana pay down the field. The Northwestern quarterback finished 22 for 29 with 293 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, while also adding a rushing touchdown, as the Wildcats made Indiana work for a 29-23 win Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

“We couldn’t tackle the quarterback,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said. “Plain and simple.”

Indiana had plenty of pressure on Chiles throughout the game. The Hoosiers finished with four sacks and seven tackles for loss, while Stephen Daley, Tobi Osunsanmi, Byron Baldwin Jr. and Mario Landino all recorded sacks.

The real problem was finishing the play.

Chiles consistently avoided the first defender and got outside of the pocket, giving himself more time to find open receivers downfield. Northwestern’s run game never really got going, finishing with just 32 yards on 27 attempts, but Chiles ability to scramble made up for it.

Tobi Osunsanmi said the Hoosiers allowed their technique to slip after a strong start.

“I know a lot of sacks were missed just by not getting to the high shoulder of the quarterback,” Osunsanmi said. “I know I missed a couple just by not wrapping them up all the way.”

Northwestern started the second half with a three and out but eventually found its rhythm. The Wildcats drove 75 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter, then opened the fourth quarter with another touchdown drive to cut the score to 15-13.

After Indiana responded with a 75-yard touchdown drive capped by Lee Beebe Jr.’s 4-yard rushing score, Chiles led Northwestern right back down the field. He connected on a 41-yard pass to Luke Dehnicke and a 17-yard completion to Griffin Wilde before scoring on a 7-yard scramble to cut Indiana’s lead to 22-20.

That was the difference between Northwestern’s first and second halves. In the first half, Chiles was forced into long situations and often had to throw the ball away. In the second half, he was able to get outside and make plays when Indiana’s rush broke down.

“You have to keep him contained in the pocket,” linebacker Isaiah Jones said. “If you’re not in coverage, you have to get down and become a quick second contain.”

Jones said stopping a quarterback like Chiles takes every level of the defense doing its job. Once Chiles got out of the pocket with room to work, he became much more dangerous.

“He gets out in the pocket and has the field to work,” Jones said. “He’s a dangerous runner. So, it’s just all the little things that stack up, starting up front, going all the way to the back end.”

Indiana still came up with a few big defensive plays when it needed them. Osunsanmi dropped Chiles for a 7-yard loss in the red zone on Northwestern’s first touchdown drive, and Amare Ferrell stopped Chiles on the two-point try after the Wildcats second touchdown.

The Hoosiers also got help from their offense. Beebe ran for 203 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries, including a 70-yard run in the fourth quarter that set up Josh Hoover’s 1-yard rushing touchdown with 1:56 left. That gave Indiana enough room to survive Northwestern’s late field goal and recover the onside kick to end the game.

Indiana’s defense was far from perfect, especially after halftime. But the Hoosiers found a way to win a close game in their Big Ten opener, something Cignetti believes can matter later in the season.

“It’s a good win,” Cignetti said. “You can lose those games very, very easily.”

The Hoosiers will have plenty to clean up before next week’s road trip to Rutgers. But after holding Northwestern scoreless for a half and then surviving Chiles’ second-half push, Indiana left Memorial Stadium with a win, and a much clearer picture of what it needs to improve.