IU's defensive effort falls by wayside in 20-17 loss

The IU football team had not kept a Big Ten foe below 35 points and scored at least 35 points in each of its wins this season.

But in the Hoosiers’ 20-17 loss against Northwestern on Saturday, they had a chance to win a game behind their defense.

This is the same defense that came into Saturday allowing 30.7 points per game. This is the same defense that previously tallied eight sacks through seven games. This was the same defense that was last in the Big Ten in tackles for loss.

The unit did all it could to change those statistics.

For the first time this season, the IU defense forced a three-and-out on the game’s first drive.

“I think we were all excited that we were on defense first,” sophomore defensive tackle Mick Mentzer said. “We were just ready to come after them, and we got our shot first, so the momentum took our side.”

After a 23-yard field goal by IU redshirt freshman kicker Mitch Ewald, the Wildcats went to work from their own 20-yard line.

Three-and-out.

The Wildcats were scoreless at the end of the first quarter. Not only was it the first time this season that Northwestern went without any points in the opening period, but it was also the first time since the opener against Towson that the Hoosiers shut out their opponent in the first quarter.

But the Wildcats would not waste much time to get on the board in the second quarter.

Northwestern junior quarterback Dan Persa took the Wildcats into the Hoosier red zone for the first time of the day to begin the period. On third-and-8 from the IU 11-yard line, junior defensive end Darius Johnson and sophomore defensive tackle Larry Black Jr. appeared to be on the verge of sacking Persa in the backfield.

Persa then cut back and ran along the 25-yard line and found junior receiver Jeremy Ebert for a touchdown.

Persa’s mobility proved effective all day.

“He’s very elusive,” Mentzer said. “All day we were getting after him, but he just slips out of everything.”

Persa again showed off his versatility with the clock winding down in the half.

On a passing play that the IU defense had covered, Persa was flushed out of the pocket and managed to complete a 23-yard pass to sophomore receiver Demetrius Fields to get to the IU 6-yard line with one second remaining in the half.

It was a play during which IU coach Bill Lynch believed the defense did everything it could do to contain Persa.

“Really it was kind of a broken play,” Lynch said. “We were in coverage, and then we got out of coverage because he was running around so long.”

A 23-yard field goal by Northwestern senior kicker Stefan Demos tied the score at 10 going into the half. The 10 points were the lowest first-half point total by an opponent since Sept. 18 at Western Kentucky.

The Wildcats came out of the break living up to their ranking as the second-best pass offense in the Big Ten. Persa went over the top of IU’s secondary and completed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Ebert to give the Wildcats a 17-10 lead.

But that would be the last time that the IU defense allowed a touchdown.

IU redshirt freshman cornerback Greg Heban repeatedly got in front of Northwestern receivers and swatted passes away. Junior linebacker Jeff Thomas harassed the ball carrier. Johnson routinely was getting through the line and stopping plays in the backfield.  

The Hoosiers got help from every line of defense all over the field.

“Coaches and players have been stressing every day that we need to swarm to the ball, and that’s what we’ve been doing,” Johnson said. “If we swarm to the ball, even a missed tackle won’t go for a touchdown.”

But they were not getting help from the offense.

Similar to Northwestern, the IU offense was also shut out for most of the second half. A 39-yard touchdown pass by senior quarterback Ben Chappell to redshirt freshman receiver Duwyce Wilson in the final moments of the game was all the scoring the offense could muster in the half.

In a game where the Hoosiers recorded a season-high nine tackles for loss, seven pass breakups and six quarterback hurries, the defensive efforts still could not prevent a ninth consecutive loss in Big Ten play.

“It’s really frustrating,” junior receiver Damarlo Belcher said. “(The defense) is making the changes they need to make, and they’re doing better each week.

“We need to come out and put up points because that’s what killed us. The defense does good, and the offense can’t put up any points.”