On the first play of the game against Indiana, Oregon drew up a play-action deep shot. But after faking a handoff, Oregon quarterback Dante Moore had little time to look downfield before Indiana defensive lineman Kellan Wyatt attacked him from the right and interior lineman Mario Landino pounced on him from up the gut.
Wyatt and Landino combined for what was just the second sack Moore had taken all season. That play was a sign of what was to come, as the Hoosiers sacked Moore six times and earned a 30-20 win Saturday on the road.
Moore had spent the whole season playing in secure pockets, which is one reason why he entered Saturday with 14 passing touchdowns, just one interception and a 75% completion percentage. But Indiana created traffic in the backfield, and Moore had his worst performance of the season.
“(We) pressured the quarterback, harassed the quarterback, all day long,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said on CBS after the game. “... They couldn’t really get much done at all. It was almost like we had broken their will a little bit on that side of the ball.”
Moore — who entered Saturday’s game as the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman — finished the game 21-of-34 for just 186 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He never quite looked comfortable, and the Hoosiers deserve credit for that.
After Moore threw a 44-yard touchdown to Malik Benson to give the Ducks a 7-3 lead in the first quarter, it looked like Indiana’s secondary — which Cignetti has questioned all season — might be in for a long day. But the Hoosiers regrouped and made sure plays like that didn’t become common, and Moore didn’t complete another pass for over 20 yards and Oregon didn’t score another offensive touchdown.
Even when Oregon drove down the field, Indiana held strong and forced the Ducks to kick three field goals (one of which was missed). This Hoosier defense met the occasion to pull off an upset.
“I think we did a great job of never really being on our heels today,” said Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher, who led the game with 13 total tackles. “Just complete attack and buy-ins from everybody that we were going to be the aggressor.”
Indiana held Oregon to its season low in points (20), total yards (267), passing yards (186) and rushing yards (81). The Hoosiers managed to make a sophisticated offense look rather pedestrian for 60 minutes.
Many doubted if Indiana had the size up front to compete with Oregon. With six sacks and eight tackles for losses — contributing to 73 total lost yards for the Ducks — this Indiana team proved it can hang with the big boys.
“I think there was somebody in the media that said our d-line was a little too small for a team,” Fisher said. “So, you lit a fire under our team, and I think our d-line proved that I don’t think it matters if you’ve got a 330-lb. d-tackle or a 290-lb. d-tackle, it’s who wants it more.”
Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines has this defensive unit playing like one of the best in the country. Haines has used his personnel well, and Indiana’s defenders are prepared week in and week out. Oregon’s 20 points were the most Indiana has allowed this season (although seven of them came off an Oregon pick six).
In Indiana’s two ranked wins, the Hoosiers have combined for 13 sacks. It doesn’t matter how great a quarterback is — anybody who is getting hit and pressured that frequently is going to lose confidence as the game goes on, and that’s what happened to Moore on Saturday. Both of Moore’s interceptions came in the fourth quarter on passes he was trying to deliver early before Indiana’s pass rush could get to him.
There aren’t many defenses in college football that can go into Autzen Stadium and do what Indiana did this weekend. The Hoosiers have a relentless group that is allowing them to contend for a Big Ten and — believe it or not — national championship.