IU defense steps up against Illinois

Despite Illinois’ accumulation of more than one-third of a mile of total offense, IU’s defense came through in the clutch to give the Hoosiers a 52-35 victory at home Saturday. 

The Fighting Illini (3-6, 0-5) recorded a season-high 612 total yards against the Hoosiers (4-5, 2-3), but they were held scoreless for the final 12 minutes and 41 seconds of the game.

“As long as the offense is scoring and putting up points, as long as we come out with Ws, the yards are something that we don’t worry about as much,” redshirt senior safety Greg Heban said.

Heban said in recent weeks the Hoosiers have emphasized playing well at the end of games.

“That’s something that we didn’t do as well last year, finishing the games, finishing up the season,” he said.

On Saturday night the Hoosiers stonewalled Illinois’ offense when it mattered the most — in the fourth quarter.

IU’s defense ended the game with two stops on fourth-and-10 and an interception in the end zone.

Each of the Hoosiers’ scoring drives in the fourth quarter was followed by a stop on defense.

“We just kept feeding off each other’s energy,” freshman defensive tackle Darius Latham said. “Offense would score, we know we gotta try to put the game up.”

IU Coach Kevin Wilson said the defense and the offense need to feed off each other more often instead of there being “one side hot and one side cold,” something that took the Hoosiers three quarters to accomplish.

“We had a few busted coverages and some missed tackles that led to easy Illinois scores,” Wilson said. “We just haven’t been consistent in our execution or fundamentals to play really good all the time.”

The Hoosiers’ defense allowed 206 yards in the first quarter.

Illinois redshirt senior Steve Hull, a former safety who made the switch to wide receiver this season, had nine receptions for 224 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns, all of which were career highs.

Part of IU’s defensive struggles was a result of the Hoosiers’ sideline doubling as an infirmary on Saturday.
 
Junior Forisse “Flo” Hardin, starting weakside linebacker, was out for the game with a rib injury.

At one point three of IU’s starters in its secondary — Heban, junior cornerback Tim Bennett and junior safety Mark Murphy — were sidelined due to injuries.

Freshman Clyde Newton made his first career start in place of the injured Hardin, and he recorded a game-high 11 tackles.

“He’s been improving a lot throughout the year, and it was just good to see him come out and play the way he played,” Heban said. “We have a lot of faith in him, and he stepped up in Flo’s spot.”

Freshman safety Antonio Allen suffered a season-ending knee injury in his first career start against Michigan, which meant redshirt juniors Brandon Grubbe, an IU walk-on who played running back for Butler in 2011, and Jake Zupancic, had to fill in for the Hoosiers at both safety positions.

“They just came in and did a really good job,” Heban said. “It was just a great team win. It shows that even our backups are coming together, and it’s a good sign of a good team.”

Follow reporter Andy Wittry on Twitter @AndyWittryIDS.