Defenders Drew, Forisse Hardin strengthen defense; offensive struggles keep IU from a victory

Prior to his first collegiate start Saturday, redshirt freshman safety Drew Hardin had an idea of what to expect from the Penn State offense.

“They turn over the ball a lot in the red zone,” Hardin said. “That’s when the defense comes together, and we play harder.”

The Nittany Lions lived up to Hardin’s expectations, turning the ball over twice in the red zone and having to settle for three field goals in five trips inside IU’s 20-yard line. Even though Penn State eventually defeated IU 16-10, sophomore cornerback Lawrence Barnett said the defense fought to the end.

“Our coaches have instilled it in us all year, whenever we get our backs against the wall, to fight,” Barnett said.

Hardin’s younger brother, Forisse Hardin, a true freshman safety, intercepted a Rob Bolden pass near IU’s goal line to end Penn State’s first drive. Senior defensive end Darius Johnson recovered a fumble inside IU’s five-yard line later. The 16 points were the fewest IU has given up since Oct. 17, 2009, when the Hoosiers held Illinois to 14 points.

The Hardin brothers’ performance at safety helped fill the void left by senior safety Jarrell Drane, who sat out with a sprained ankle. The Hardins and true freshman defensive end Bobby Richardson helped bolster the defense. The three combined for 22 total tackles and an interception.

Unfortunately for IU’s defense, the offense took a long time to get into a rhythm. The offense ended only five drives in Penn State territory, punted from inside its own 25-yard line three times and turned the ball over twice inside its own 25.

“We can’t put our defense consistently in those positions (and) expect them to hang in there, because they battled for us today,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said. “We need the offense — and I’m an offensive guy — to hold the rope and pull their end of the bargain here.”

Nine times the IU offense failed to get a first down and was forced to punt after only three plays. Barnett and the rest of the defense spent 37:27 of the game on the field.

“When they go three and out, we know we’re back on the field, and we’ve just got to play hard so we can get another three and out for them,” Barnett said.

Senior linebacker Jeff Thomas, who had five tackles and a sack, said the team is in good physical shape, but the amount of time the defense spent on the field took a toll on the players.

“Mentally, you make mistakes, and you forget about plays and forget about your coverage,” Thomas said. “We had a couple of those breakdowns.”

The most costly mistake in coverage resulted in a 74-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Matt McGloin to senior wide receiver Derek Moye to put Penn State ahead 13-3 in the third quarter.

Part of IU’s game plan was to play well on first and second downs to force Penn State into third-and-long situations, Wilson said last week. When the Hoosiers forced a long third down attempt, McGloin and Bolden (who split time at quarterback for Penn State) found ways to reach the sticks.

“We had a couple of third and longs where we let them off,” Wilson said. “A couple times, (we had) chances to get to the quarterback and didn’t quite get there for some reason. But at the same time, they have good players, and they’re going to work you.”

Pass rush was an issue for the defense, but the overall performance against a Big Ten opponent signaled progress for the team.

“We were close,” Wilson said. “We played a pretty good defensive game, had a chance to even play better than we played. We’ll use that as a building block and keep those guys moving forward because they need to play better as we go into next week.”