Indiana football used ‘swarming’ defense in opening win, showing glimpse of what to expect moving forward

The Indiana football offense demanded most of the offseason attention leading up to Saturday’s season-opener. But, it was the defense that came out of the 31-7 win over Florida International as the unit that was most impactful. It started strong, remained consistent and got more dominant as the game went on.

Indiana held FIU to just 182 total yards and 3.1 yards per play and it was in large part due to the pass rush and front seven that dominated the line of scrimmage.

That was part of the defense that had the biggest question marks coming into the spring after injuries and new faces headlined the group throughout spring and summer sessions. But, on Saturday it was the backbone of the defense that looks to be a real threat for the remainder of the season.

“We were swarming the football,” Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti said postgame. “Doing a nice job of — in the pass game for the most part, putting pressure on the quarterback, created a turnover or two.”

Indiana gave up just 23 yards in the first quarter which helped lead to a 21-0 advantage. Then, there was a bit of a lull on both sides of the ball after the first quarter which led to FIU’s only touchdown of the game and the most yards by quarter, with 79 yards.

It was one drive that spanned 4:05 — a 12-play and 75-yard drive before halftime.

“The end of the second quarter did not go the way that we expected,” Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher said. “We did a lot of sloppy and messy things, missed tackles, bad angles, and that is not what our defense is about. It is the first game, so we will have to assess those things. Coming out in the second half, being able to shut them out, I think that we played solid. There are a lot of things to grow and learn from.”

Fisher, who led Indiana with 12 tackles and two tackles for loss, set the tone for the Indiana defense all afternoon. He had one sack and two tackles for loss in the first possession, alone. Jailin Walker added eight tackles. Shawn Asbury II had six tackles and D’Angelo Ponds had six tackles and a pass breakup.

After the poor end of the first half, Indiana really put the clamps on.

FIU had just five total yards in the third quarter and went 0-of-7 on third downs for the entire second half. Indiana held the Panthers to just 2.4 yards per play for the final two quarters.

“Defense’s credit,” Cignetti said. “We shut them out in the second half, held them under 200 yards, thought that was good, teams were solid.”

“That’s what I’m used to seeing,” Cignetti added on Monday. “We like to pride ourselves on playing defense. We pride ourselves on being fast and physical and disruptive up front and creating a lot of different looks for the defense and being really good against the run. I think we gave up 53 yards rushing, less than 200 total yards.”

In total, Indiana finished with four sacks and eight tackles for loss. Nine different players shared at least one tackle for loss. The Hoosiers also added an interception and one forced fumble.

“We did tackle well,” Cignetti added. “We swarmed and had multiple hats.”

Indiana’s defensive line was a major reason for the success at getting to the quarterback and limited any rushing attack, as well. Tyrique Tucker had four tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss, Marcus Burris and James Carpenter had three tackles each and combined for 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack. CJ West added another tackle for loss.

“They made my job pretty easy,” Fisher said of the defensive line. “We have four guys who go out there and dominate every play. I’m just playing behind them and making plays based off of what they do. Allowing them to play fast allows me to play fast and make those explosive plays.”

This type of performance wasn’t new for Cignetti, however. He has stressed that type of disruption and Saturday’s showing was just a glimpse into what the rest of the season could look like.

“Those TFLs and sacks are great,” Cignetti added. “I didn’t know the numbers. But we’ve always been high in TFLs and sacks, and we have guys that have the ability to do that, too. So I think it’s something to build on.”

SEE ALSO: Despite a season opening win, Curt Cignetti wants Indiana football to ‘learn to play with a lead’ going forward

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