D'Angelo Ponds Stepped Up and Showed Out in Indiana's Win Over Washington

Written By Nick Gonzales (@nrgonzales_)

Indiana is now 8-0 after defeating the Washington Huskies and have continued to dominate on the scoreboard. However, there were a lot of worries about how the offense would fare without their star quarterback Kurtis Rourke. With Rourke out and Tayven Jackson in, some people didn’t think the Hoosiers would be able to perform like they used to, but the defense really stood up today and shouldered the weight of the team, especially the sophomore transfer from JMU, D’Angelo Ponds.

“You know, he's (D’Angelo Ponds) got good talent, but he's got competitive character. He's a competitor, and he wants to be great. He's got day in, day out consistency. He does the things that help him improve on a daily basis, and that's his goal. He wants to be the best football player he can be, and he loves the process and everything that goes into that, and he's intelligent.

He comes from an area down there in Miami where those guys growing up, high school, a lot of pride down there in South Florida about being a baller, and he's a baller.” Curt Cignetti stated about Ponds in his Saturday postgame press conference.

Cignetti found something special in the 5’9” cornerback. Ponds was constantly making plays against the Huskies. His biggest play of the day that set the tone for the Hoosiers early on in the game was his outstanding pick-6 to put the first points on the board in the game.

“I was blitzing and somebody tipped the ball, and it came right to me. That is just a testament of trusting the process and being where you have to be and the ball will come to you.” D’Angelo Ponds explained with regard to his pick-six during his postgame interview.

Ponds played outstanding today and made another incredible interception early in the second quarter. “Ponds had a crazy game today,” defensive lineman Mikail Kamara said during his postgame interview. A lot of people underestimated Indiana’s transfer class due to the amount of group of five and FCS transfers that came to Bloomington, but those who have doubted Indiana were seriously mistaken. Ponds finished the game recording 5 tackles and 2 interceptions with one of those going for a 65-yard touchdown!

“The offense has been saving us for the past couple games, so it’s only right we had their back this game. It felt big on me to just make a play.” Ponds stated about the defense’s unbelievable performance.

Ponds and the rest of the Hoosiers on defense set the tone early on and were the difference maker in today’s game. Indiana moves to 8-0 on the season and is still the only team to not allow a single point scored in the first quarter. Next week, the Hoosiers will travel to East Lansing to play against the Michigan State Spartans. With Rourke’s status still unknown for the game next Saturday, the defense is most likely going to have to have another stellar performance as they have done in the last two games. With Ponds in the defensive secondary, it shouldn’t be too difficult for Indiana to make some big plays on defense and control yet another game.