New Coordinator, Players Find Place in New Defense

Written by Ethan Roberts

The Hoosiers trotted out nine new starters last weekend in their 23-3 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes. The defense managed to hold last year’s second-ranked scoring offense in the country to 10 points at the half and 23 for the game, thanks in part to big plays from new faces.

Defensive coordinator Matt Guerrieri talked about some of the plays in the red zone that sparked reason for optimism.

“To me it’s purely mentality, Ohio State’s an explosive offense,” Guerrieri said. "They made yards at time, but our guys were able to blow up the redzone. You’d obviously prefer them not to get there, and we had some opportunities on possession downs to stop them before that. But our mentality is to put the ball down and give us an inch with the offense.”

A big reason for the Buckeyes lack of points heading into half was a pass breakup from linebacker Jacob Mangum-Farrar on third down in the redzone. Guerrieri noted how he settled into his first game with the Hoosiers.

“He did a good job, you know,” Guerrieri said. “We’re pleased with his progress throughout, again, you have a new face. He’s learning a new system. You know, anytime it’s the first live bullets, you don’t know how players are going to respond and react. I thought we put a lot on his plate, but yeah, pleased with his progress and that’s expected every week.”

Another big play in the first half came on a Buckeyes’ fourth-and-short situation, where defensive back Phillip Dunnam intercepted the ball. Guerrieri noted his performance in practice.

“That play that he made, I could show you fifty times already on the practice field,” Guerrieri said. “So, I tell guys all the time, if you do it in practice, you’re going to earn the opportunity to play meaningful snaps and whatever you do in practice will show up in the game, but he’s become more consistent. He’s matured, he’s bought in, and he’s done a great job.”

Andre Carter is another new face that stepped up in the run defense, as he tallied 2 tackles for losses in the loss to the Buckeyes. Coach noted his experience as a helpful tool to their success.

“Something that we talked about a lot going into the game was, you know, we have a lot of new faces and some of those guys have played, and some haven’t played,” Guerrieri said. “So, that’s one of my big things in the box, does anybody have big eyes down there, what’s the look on their face? Andre is definitely a guy that is battle tested, and I think that it shows.”

The new faces on defenses managed to underscore the potential that the new defensive coordinator can bring. Their test this week? The Indiana State Sycamores will roll into Memorial Stadium, who just came off a shutout loss to Eastern Illinois.