Junior defensive end Darius Johnson and junior linebacker Jeff Thomas were named the captains for Saturday's game against Northwestern.
If you have watched IU football games this season, you have noticed how much Johnson and Thomas have been pleasant surprises on the IU defense. Both did not come in as big name guys like a Jammie Kirlew or a Matt Mayberry, but they have really earned their keep this season.
Bill Lynch brought up recently that Thomas was playing somewhere in California at this time last year. Thomas has gone from playing community college football to being a sure-tackle guy on the IU defense.
Against Illinois last weekend, Thomas had a career high 13 tackles. For a while it seemed like every time an Illinois ball carrier went down, it was at the hands of Thomas. Yes, it came in a blowout loss but Thomas is proving more and more why Lynch thought this guy was a steal in last year's recruiting class.
Thomas' development is one of the key reasons for why this defense has shown significant improvement in the last two weeks.
Like Thomas, Johnson is hitting his stride. Johnson suffered season ending shoulder surgery last year and only played three games for the Hoosiers. Lynch has repeatedly said how good Johnson was going to be once he was fully healthy, which it appears he is.
He seems a bit undersized for a Big Ten defensive end at 252 lbs. but whatever he lacks in size, he makes up for in speed. Johnson has been presenting a difficult matchup these past two weeks. He only has one sack this season but he has contained really well on misdirection plays, which the Hoosiers have seen a lot of this year. Johnson has also been the main force hurrying the opposing quarterback, which he''ll need to do Saturday.
It is easy to get caught up in the talent that the Hoosiers have on offense. While Saturday figures to be another shootout, these two guys will need to continue their high-motor style of the Hoosiers are going to contain quarterback Dan Persa and the rest of the high-powered Northwestern offense.
