Indiana beat Northwestern to improve to 4-0, but it was closer than the experts expected and the defense gave up a little more than the coaching staff would've liked.
Any time the Indiana Hoosiers are favored by three touchdowns, it's natural to think that the defense will really shut the opponent down. That was the case heading into Friday's matchup against Northwestern, but it didn't play out like that. Once again, the offense was solid and the normal cast of characters did what they were supposed to do, but on defense a couple of guys returned and the Wildcats did better than most believed they would.
Using a tool like Pro Football Focus allows us to see what happened on a player-by-player basis and gives some insight as to how the game really went. It's not gospel, but there are some things that just don't show up in the box score that can tell another part of the story.
Top Three Defensive Performers (25 snap minimum)
1. Edge Stephen Daley - 92.5
Daley, who was back in action after missing Week 3, was absolutely lights out from his edge position. He posted the highest grade on the entire team at 92.4 across 32 snaps. Driven by an 86.2 run defense grade and an 82.6 pass rush grade, he generated four total pressures on 21 pass-rush snaps.
2. CB Jaylen Bell - 72.2
It was tough for Bell to make plays because Northwestern almost completely avoided him. He logged 42 coverage snaps and was targeted zero times. His shutdown presence on the boundary earned him a 72.2 overall grade, the highest mark among all defensive backs.
3. NT Tyrique Tucker - 68.5
Tucker started in the middle of Indiana's defensive front and the big fella logged 46 total snaps. His workload leaned heavily toward getting after the quarterback with 28 pass-rush snaps, compared to 17 run-defense snaps. The run defense was the highest-graded area for IU's defense, and Tucker proved highly effective at anchoring the the interior of the defensive line. Tucker was perfectly reliable when wrapping up ball carriers, logging one tackle and two assists with zero missed tackles.
Interesting Notes
The defense accumulated 19 total pressures, but they came overwhelmingly via hurries rather than getting hits on Northwestern quarterback Aidan Chiles. The IU defense logged 17 hurries, no hits on throws and just two sacks. Chiles is athletic, and that made the Hoosier defense work.
Safety Preston Zachman is known more for his physicality, and that sort of played out on Friday night. He was targeted six times and allowed catches on all six for 77 yards, a long of 41 yards and a touchdown. This dragged his overall defensive grade down to 53.9.
