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The Indiana Daily Student

sports football

Hoosier defense ready for 1st test

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When new defensive coordinator Brian Knorr first began working with his IU team, he found something was missing on his defense — confidence.

IU’s defense took the bulk of the blame for keeping the Hoosiers from reaching a bowl last season.

The Hoosier defense ranked third worst in the nation and was the worst in the Big Ten for the third consecutive year, giving up 38.8 points per game.

IU senior linebacker David Cooper said his defense is looking to play with “swagger.”

He said his defense has been waiting all summer for the noon game Saturday against Indiana State at Memorial Stadium for a chance to prove itself.

Saturday will be the Hoosiers’ first true test of just how much — if any — improvement the defense has made. Knorr said he wants his players to feel confident in themselves and in his 3-4 scheme.

And above all else, his Hoosier defense wants to make a statement.

“It will be important for us to have success early,” Knorr said. “I think with that success, they will have more confidence. They’ll play faster, and I think that will allow us to continue, as the season goes on, to implement more of our defense.”

IU Coach Kevin Wilson joked on Monday that Knorr has only had time to teach “53.4 percent” of his defensive playbook.

Knorr smirked as he conceded that number was fairly accurate. He’s only taught just over half of his available plays but said he didn’t want to overload his players with too much information.

He’s more focused on establishing fundamentals.

Knorr’s 3-4 scheme is based on trying to become the attacker, not the attacked. He wants his defense moving around and confusing opposing quarterbacks.

He wants the chaos of 11 defenders flying around the field and creating turnovers.

Saturday will be the first time Knorr will get a chance to see if his defense matches his vision.

The Hoosiers handily defeated the Sycamores 73-35 last season at a game in which the Hoosiers built a 35-point lead just four minutes into the second quarter.

Wilson wants to see his team playing out of instinct. He tells his players that when they are thinking, they are playing slow.

Like his offense, Wilson wants his defense playing fast.

“Like I tell the guys all the time, ‘If you’re thinking, you don’t know,’” Wilson said. “You know the call, you know the job, do the job ... So I like to see these guys playing fast. That means they gotta know what they’re doing. So that will be interesting for Coach Knorr (to decide) how much he wants to do.”

IU senior defensive tackle Bobby Richardson expects to face a slightly new-look Indiana State team, which is once again led by senior quarterback Mike Perish.

He said the team is preparing to face power run games and a high-tempo offense, somewhat similar to what IU runs.

Indiana State averaged 20.7 points per game en route to a 1-11 record last season. When a 70-point outbreak against Quincy is taken out of the equation, the team averaged only 16.2 points per game.

Against IU, however, the Sycamores scored 35 points — the team’s third-best offensive performance of the season.

Cooper said his defense hasn’t forgotten about the 35 points. He doesn’t want any team putting up that type of number.

And with a team looking to build confidence, a commanding win to start the season might be just what the Hoosiers need.

“We’re looking to make a statement,” Cooper said. “We’ve got to start fast on both sides of the ball. We’re looking and practicing to be able to dominate this game. We can’t let up on nobody, but we’re just looking to dominate this and show everybody who we really are.”

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