Hoosier defense prepares for Gardner

When IU’s defense takes the field Saturday, it will face the most prolific player in the Big Ten.

Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner leads the conference in total yards per game, with 286 yards of total offense per contest.

“He’s a dual threat,” junior safety Mark Murphy said. “He’s got the ability to extend plays and make plays when they break down.”

IU (3-3, 1-1) travels to Ann Arbor, Mich., to play Michigan (5-1, 1-1) in a battle of the conference’s top offenses Saturday. The game airs at 3:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

To win, IU defensive coordinator Doug Mallory said they need to improve their tackling. Last week against Michigan State, the team missed 18 tackles.

IU Coach Kevin Wilson agreed with the importance of tackling.

“Defensively, we didn’t recognize anyone,” Wilson said. “I don’t know if anyone necessarily played horrible, but no one played what we consider a championship level
that we need.”

The Hoosiers’ offense is ranked third in the conference, averaging 42 points per game. Right behind in the rankings is the Michigan offense, spearheaded by Gardner,
averaging 39 points per game.

Not only does Gardner lead his team in passing yards per game, but he’s the team’s
top rusher. However, most of his runs don’t come from designed runs, they just occur organically, Wilson said.

“He’s not truly a running quarterback,” Wilson said. “He’s a guy that would just pick his spots. They do some designed quarterback run  but not a lot.”

IU’s quarterback, sophomore Nate Sudfeld, is also one of the conference’s best passers. He averages 267 yards per game, more than Gardner’s 212 yards per game figure.

“We worked with getting out of the pocket and throwing from there,” Heban said. “(Gardner) is going to be scrambling around a lot during the game, so we just have to stay in our coverage.“

Gardner reminds players of another quarterback they’ve played this season: Missouri’s James Franklin.

Franklin lit up the Hoosier defense in week four. He threw for 343 yards and two touchdowns, the most yards the Hoosier defense has given up this season.

“(Gardner is) a little longer, a little taller, but not as big as Franklin,” Murphy said in comparing the two quarterbacks.

Despite being one of the conference’s best quarterbacks, he has thrown 10 interceptions on the year. His touchdown to interception ratio is 1.1 touchdowns per interception. In comparison, Sudfeld’s is 2.2.

“He’s definitely going to take more risks,” Murphy said. “He’s going to try and make more plays than maybe some other quarterbacks. And that comes with some positives and negatives.”