Aiden Fisher sat inside the Don Croftcheck Team Room inside Memorial Stadium four days before Indiana football earned its first road top 10 victory.
He said playing in big games and expecting great outcomes is “why you come to Indiana.”
The Hoosiers proved him right, notching a 30-20 win over then-No. 3 Oregon on Oct. 11 at Autzen Stadium in Eugune, Oregon.
Fisher put together a dominant performance in the Hoosiers’ biggest game of the season thus far, earning him Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, according to the conference’s release Monday.
Fisher had 13 total tackles against the Ducks, making four of those by himself. He also racked up 1.5 sacks in the Hoosiers’ 10-point victory.
“We’re primed for games like this,” Fisher said postgame. “This is why we play this game. It's why you come to Indiana. You want to play in top-ranked matchups. You want to win top-ranked matchups.”
In total, the Hoosiers’ linebackers — comprised of Fisher, sophomore Rolijah Hardy and redshirt junior Isaiah Jones — notched 34 total tackles, 3.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss against the Ducks.
Indiana’s defense allowed Oregon’s high-powered offense, led by redshirt sophomore quarterback Dante Moore, to notch just 267 total yards. The Ducks’ offense scored one touchdown, which came because of junior safety Amare Ferrell’s blown coverage.
“Defensively, we were tremendous, most of the time,” Cignetti said during his press conference Monday. “You know, TFLs, sacks. Second half, gave up three points, had two interceptions, gave up 41 total yards, not counting the last drive — we were in prevent defense.”
Fisher now has 37 total tackles and 2.5 sacks through the Hoosiers’ six games this season.
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.
