Indiana's Defensive Backs Have to Make it About Them Against Ohio State's Elite Receivers

Written by Ethan Roberts

College football is back. The time has come for magazine talk and fall camp to end. With that, players will no longer be obliged to only see their teammates on the other side of the ball. On Saturday, IU defensive backs will be greeted with a surplus of former five-star receivers, including the 2023 Biletnikoff front-runner Marvin Harrison Jr.

Monday, Head coach Tom Allen and defensive coordinator Matt Guerrieri spoke with members of the media about how they felt about the defensive back position group heading into their conference opener Saturday against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Allen began by giving his respects to the Buckeyes’ wide receiver room.

“All you’ve got to do is put the film in and watch for a little bit,” Allen said. “They’ve added some new talented receivers to that group that was already very, very talented.”

One thing that Coach Allen has harped on the last few months is having guys committed to the system. He once again echoed it.

“It’s like anything else. We have to play extremely well within our system,” Allen said. “We have to do what we do well, and they’re going to have some catches and get some yards. You’ve got to be able to do a great job of preventing those explosive plays. I think we all know that. But saying that and doing that is not as simple as it might sound. But at the same time, you’ve got to play your system.”

C.J. Stroud left for the NFL after leading the Buckeyes to the CFP Semifinals, where they lost to Georgia. His leaving has left a hole in the Buckeyes’ scheme and the two quarterbacks, Devin Brown (Sophomore) and Kyle McCord (Junior), have reportedly not made much separation. While McCord has been deemed the day one starter, both are expected to play this weekend. Allen noted how the system can leverage this situation.

“We’ve got to do a great job of—like always do within our scheme—disguising things,” Allen said. "If they know what you’re in, it’s not usually good for the defense. They’ve got such talented players. They’re going to have a new quarterback, whoever it might be, and I’m sure we’re expecting to see them both. To be able to adapt to that—but once again, it goes back to what I said with the quarterbacks. It’s preparation. It’s confidence. It’s playing at a high level of, you know what, they make a play, we’ve got to flush it and play the next play. We make a play ourselves; we’ve got to flush it and play the next play. So having some maturity. Some of these guys have played football quite a bit. They may be new to us, but not new to the game and not new to college football. But we do have some young guys who are going to play more than they have played in the past in the secondary. Yeah, they’ll be tested without question. They’ll be put in a situation where they’re going to have to play really, really well, and they’re going to have a really bad memory.”

Defensive coordinator Matt Guerrieri talked about his view of the defensive backs, citing their new faces.

“Our guys first off on our end, we do have a number of new faces,” Guerrieri said. “It’s about making sure those guys have a great understanding of what we’re trying to do and be able to go and play fast if enough. If not, you’re not going to be able to do anything at the level that you want. It’s also knowing your personnel. Knowing here’s some very explosive wide receivers and then our job as a defensive staff to put them in position to be able to execute and then it’s a competitive mindset from that standpoint especially when you have young player. It’s how you compete. It’s how you finish. No matter who you’re playing it’s about us. It’s the model we’ve been teaching all camp.”

Will the unit be able to limit the explosive Buckeye receiving core this Saturday? Last fall, the Hoosiers allowed 322 yards passing in a 56-14 defeat. Coach Allen will hope that with the lack of quarterbacking experience from the Buckeyes and a sound system that aims to limit explosive plays will lead to a competitive bout this Saturday.