After its practice Thursday, Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti spoke to the team. In his speech, Cignetti emphasized the importance of being ready to compete against Michigan State and avoiding complacency following the Hoosiers’ historic victory over then-No. 3 Oregon on Oct. 11.
The Indiana offense carried this message into Saturday’s clash against the Spartans, scoring a touchdown on all three drives in the first half. However, the Hoosiers’ defense got out to a slower start.
The Spartans countered the Hoosiers’ aggressive pass rush with screen designs, which allowed Michigan State junior quarterback Aidan Chiles to throw for 178 yards and one touchdown in the first half. The Spartans also tacked on a field goal for a 10-point start.
“Yeah, I mean when you have an aggressive defense that likes to blitz a lot and you know, show them a lot of looks, the answer is to screen them,” senior linebacker Aiden Fisher said postgame. “And we knew that going into this game. They did a great job at disguising it.”
But the Indiana defense settled in after a sluggish start.
The Hoosiers allowed just three points in the second half, notching a 38-13 victory Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
Michigan State controlled the clock during its first two drives. Chiles threw a 20-yard completion on a third and 13 on the opening series. The signal-caller later completed a nine-yard throw on fourth and one to extend the possession, which ended in a 38-yard field goal after nearly seven minutes of game time.
On their next drive, the Spartans chewed over eight minutes of game clock before Chiles found sophomore wide receiver Nick Marsh for a 15-yard touchdown. Across their first two drives, the Spartans converted both of their fourth down attempts and gained a first down on three of their six third down situations.
However, Fisher said the Hoosiers “cleaned it up” in the second half. The Spartans managed just one possession over five minutes after their second quarter touchdown drive and Indiana held Michigan State to just 115 passing yards after the halftime break.
Meanwhile, Indiana’s rushing defense entered Saturday’s contest allowing 86.8 rushing yards per game, which ranked 12th in the nation. Against the Spartans, the Hoosiers continued the trend, giving up 74 rushing yards Saturday evening.
Sixth-year senior defensive back Louis Moore and senior defensive lineman Stephen Daley each delivered strong stat lines Saturday. The duo combined for a clutch interception in the Hoosiers’ victory over the Ducks. Daley tipped a throw into the air in the fourth quarter, before Moore came down with an interception on the same play in Euguene, Oregon.
On Saturday, Moore led the Hoosiers with 11 tackles, while Daley recorded two sacks.
Following its dominant second half against the Spartans, Indiana’s defense has now surrendered just six offensive touchdowns to its opponents through seven games — the third-lowest mark in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
After the win, Cignetti credited the continued dominance to the development of several defensive contributors, including redshirt junior linebacker Isaiah Jones, sophomore linebacker Rolijah Hardy and redshirt junior defensive back Jamari Sharpe.
While improvement is evident, Cignetti remains focused on continuing to develop his defense after a sluggish start against the Spartans.
“I'm sure the defense will put the tape on tomorrow and they’ll be displeased with some things early in the game,” Cignetti said.
The Hoosiers’ next challenge arrives Oct. 25 when they host UCLA. The Bruins scored 42 points against Penn State on Oct. 4 and 38 points against Michigan State on Oct. 11. Heading into a potential high-scoring matchup, the Hoosier defense still has room to grow following their performance against the Spartans.
“There's a lot of pride there, and you know, we've got to get better from this last game because the challenges are going to get tougher down the road,” Cignetti said.
Follow reporters Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
