In its second game of the season, Indiana football’s defense gave up fewer total yards, rushing yards, yards per play and points than it did in the season opener.
The Hoosiers’ offense converted in the red zone and scored 29 more points than they did in the season opener as the Hoosiers drubbed Kennesaw State University 56-9 on Sept. 6 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington
But the Hoosiers’ performance was “far from clean.”
“Still a lot of areas of improvement,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said in a press conference Monday. “Must improve. You always have to improve. But I don't think the players want to look at the score and feel like, yeah, okay, we're there, because we're definitely not.”
Leading into Indiana’s matchup with Kennesaw State, defensive coordinator Bryant Haines said his unit didn’t play to its style against Old Dominion University on Aug. 30. He specifically said the Hoosiers’ defensive line was too controlled, not dynamic and not aggressive enough.
And while Indiana notched two sacks and 14 tackles for loss against the Owls, it gave up far more chunk plays.
Against Old Dominion, the Hoosiers gave up five plays of at least 15 yards, headlined by Monarchs redshirt sophomore quarterback Colton Joseph’s two 75-plus-yard rushing touchdowns. Indiana allowed Kennesaw State to notch eight 15-plus yard plays — five passing and three rushing.
The Owls finished the second quarter with 63 and 64-yard drives that were both capped with field goals. They also notched a field goal on their 44-yard drive to open the third quarter.
“They had drives of 63, 64, 44 and 50 consecutively,” Cignetti said, “and we had a number of missed assignments, poor alignments, the fast balls, particularly in the middle of the field where they're going fast, were not aligned correctly.”
While the Hoosiers’ defense struggled to prevent explosive plays, the play of the game, Cignetti said, came as his squad surrendered a 34-yard gain.
The Owls lined up three receivers on one side of the offensive line and two on the others. But with the Hoosiers setting their strength to the wrong side, Cignetti said, the visitors motioned a receiver to have four on one side and one on the other.
With the Hoosiers struggling to adjust, they had “guys all over the place,” allowing Kennesaw State junior receiver Lyndon Ravare to break toward the middle of the field and beat Indiana redshirt junior cornerback Jamari Sharpe.
But Sharpe recovered, chasing Ravare down, stripping the ball away and recovering to give the Hoosiers’ offense another possession.
On the next play, redshirt junior wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. took a reverse 75 yards for a touchdown. The Owls were seemingly on their way to pulling within 12 of the Hoosiers. Instead, Indiana led by 26.
Although Indiana eventually went on to hold Kennesaw State scoreless for the rest of the contest, the Owls “had an opportunity for more chunk plays that they didn’t execute,” according to Cignetti.
“But we missed tackles at linebacker more,” Cignetti said. “We had some misfits. Safeties were out of position quite a few times.”
The second-year Hoosiers head coach singled out the safeties — sixth-year seniors Louis Moore and Devan Boykin and junior Amare Ferrell — as a group that needs to improve.
Moore’s eligibility hangs in the balance of his court case as he’s suing the NCAA for an additional season of eligibility. His temporary restraining order, which allowed him to play against Old Dominion and Kennesaw State, is slated to expire Wednesday.
If an injunction is granted during his hearing Wednesday, then Moore would be eligible for the entire season.
Still, even with a pair of experienced players at the position, the Hoosiers need more from them.
“We've got to get better at safety,” Cignetti said. “We play three of them. We play a rover, a free safety and a strong safety... they're not playing bad, but they're capable of playing better.”
Not only does the group need to refine its play, Cignetti said, but there are also preparation and pre-snap aspects that they need to improve.
“Got to get lined up quicker,” Cignetti said. “Communication has got to be cleaner. There needs to be a little bit more attention to detail in our preparation in the back end.”
Overall, despite taking a step forward, the Hoosiers still have work to do. Their next opportunity comes against Indiana State University at 6:30 p.m. Friday inside Memorial Stadium.
“I'm sure they're (Indiana State) going to come in excited to play,” Cignetti said. “I want to see us play a clean game.”
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
