‘If They’re Not in the End Zone, We Still Have a Chance’: Indiana’s Red Zone Defense Shuts Down the Trojans

Southern California crossed the 50-yard line seven times against Indiana. They only had 13 points to show for it. Indiana’s defense held them to 3-for-5 in red-zone scoring, with only one touchdown, in the Hoosiers 27-13 victory over the Trojans.

Indiana’s defense has been keeping their season afloat all year long. In this game, they gave up 409 yards of offense, the most they had given up all year. With that said, they still held USC to 13 points, the same score that Minnesota had as well.

“You just got to keep swinging. If they’re not in the end zone, we still have a chance,” Indiana safety Preston Zachman said postgame.

Zachman has been making big plays for Indiana’s defense ever since the second half of the Nebraska game, and this one was no different. He came up with Indiana’s first of three interceptions by jumping a route that USC quarterback Jayden Maiava was throwing.

“We were in man coverage, and I’m playing kind of like a whole position, just playing off the quarterback,” Zachman said. “And we had some tips pre-snap of their formation that they were in. Kind of knew what route they were running, and I was able to jump in front of it there”.

Zachman’s interception would lead to three points for the Indiana offense and set the tone for the rest of the night that Maiava would have.

Maiava ended the game with 311 yards, but he also had three picks. He had one touchdown late in the first half, but in the second half, Indiana corrected that mistake.

USC’s first drive in the second half ended in the red zone as they settled for a field goal that tied the game at 13-13.

On the second drive, USC also drove down the field and got into the red zone. On a third-and-seven, AJ Harris was in coverage and grabbed the USC receiver. A flag was thrown as the ref was about to call defensive pass interference. The ref, however, picked the flag up after discussing the play and realizing that Indiana true freshman linebacker Jacob Savage had tipped the pass, saving Indiana from a costly penalty. USC would settle for a field goal attempt, where USC kicker Caden Chittenden missed the 27-yard kick.

“I was just reading the quarterback’s vision, then saw that he was working to that, and I just rose up on the ball,” Savage said postgame. “I kinda thought I was going to get a pick on it, but he threw it a little higher than I can jump, but I was able to get a hand on it. I saw the flag, and I knew I tipped it, so luckily they went back and called no-PI.”

Savage had a team-high 13 tackles on the day. Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti had praise for him postgame.

“He’s a mature guy. He had like 150 tackles, as you see, maybe even more,” Cignetti said.

Obviously Cignetti was being hyperbolic, but the bottom line is that Savage was brilliant in his role, filling in for the injured Rolijah Hardy.

“I always try and prepare myself… the same way, and nothing really changes,” Savage said when asked if he prepared differently knowing he might have a larger workload this game.

Savage jumped off the screen today, but so did his fellow linebacker, team captain Isaiah Jones, who made the play of the day.

“From my angle, you don’t get to see everything, but that was the huge play of the night,” Cignetti said when talking about Isaiah Jones’ red zone interception.

Jones read Maiava’s eyes, and lurked him into an interception that gave Indiana a major momentum boost already up seven points.

“It’s a cover two, and I’m a hook player,” Jones said postgame. “So three on one. If the back goes out, it’s going to be a quick pass. The back goes out; they’re trying to drain your flat player, throwing a slant or some type of concept behind. So the back goes out; my vision’s on him. So I’m immediately going to start cutting to the slant and get my eyes back to the QB, and he throws it. So I just got to make the catch at that point.”

Jones read that play because of all of his playing experience at Indiana. He excels in these moments.

This red zone stand bottled USC down and gave a huge momentum swing to Indiana.

I mean, any time you can get a turnover on downs, you know, that kills their momentum,” Jones said. “They were driving the field; they’re about to score and tie the game up, so yeah, that’s a big momentum change.”

That was the final red zone stand the Hoosiers had to participate in, as they never allowed the Trojans to get that far again. Indiana would bottle up USC one more time, as Jamari Sharpe got a key interception that sealed the deal. Indiana went on to win by 14, their first two-score victory since Rutgers on Oct. 4.