BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines began rattling off the characteristics he saw from his unit — and, more specifically, his defensive line — in the Hoosiers’ season-opening 27-14 win over Old Dominion on Aug. 30.
Too controlled. Not dynamic. Not aggressive.
“Not our style,” Haines said Thursday night on the Inside Indiana radio show with Don Fischer.
The Hoosiers’ tallied just one sack and three quarterback hits against Old Dominion.
The lone sack came on a blitz from inside linebacker Isaiah Jones. Defensive tackle Hosea Wheeler hit Old Dominion quarterback Colton Joseph once — the only time an Indiana defensive lineman registered a quarterback hit.. Linebacker Aiden Fisher and rover Devan Boykin hit Joseph on blitzes.
Pro Football Focus credited Indiana with eight hurries: Two apiece from defensive linemen Mario Landino and Mikail Kamara, and one from Wheeler, Fisher, defensive tackle Dominique Ratcliff and linebacker Rolijah Hardy.
Speaking broadly, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said Thursday night that “statistics are for losers.” But Haines and defensive line coaches Pat Kuntz and Buddha Williams still wanted more of an impact.
“(We) felt like we didn't produce the way that we're used to,” Haines said. “So part of it's the scheme that we were going against and how we called the game, and part of that's, you want more from those guys up front.”
Haines said Indiana has confidence in its defensive line. The Hoosiers have a considerable void to fill from last season, as starters C.J. West — a fourth-round NFL draft pick by the San Francisco 49ers — and James Carpenter — an All-Big Ten honorable mention who spent the summer with the Jacksonville Jaguars — exhausted their eligibility.
Wheeler, who transferred from Western Kentucky to Indiana in the winter, has impressed Haines with his power. A pair of returners in Landino and Tyrique Tucker also drew praise from Haines, Landino for his versatility and Tucker for his flashes. Multiple teammates praised Ratcliff for his quickness and athleticism during fall camp.
The collection of traits, however, didn’t translate to the box score as Haines hoped.
“Look, at the end of the day, you got to get on the stat sheet,” Haines said. “You got to make plays in their backfield. And there wasn't enough of that.”
Haines credited Old Dominion’s offense for its part in limiting Indiana’s defensive line. The Monarchs use a fast-paced, spread-out brand that forced Haines to move away from his traditional play-calling methods.
“They take their receivers, and they're aligned almost out of bounds,” Haines said. “It's like part of the defense has to remove themselves from the field, so then they play within their small world. And there's only so many ways you can attack it. The more aggressive I get, the more the ball just hits the perimeter.
“And I don't want the defensive backs to get all the fun. So I'm willing to empty the box out and say, ‘Go ahead and try to run the ball.’ And if everything fits up the way that it should, they shouldn't be able to run the ball. And they just did (with) too much success in Game 1.”
Indiana’s run defense earned a 73.5 grade from PFF after allowing 218 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 23 attempts. The Hoosiers missed a pair of assignments that led to 75- and 78-yard rushing touchdowns from Joseph, but otherwise held Old Dominion to just 3.1 yards per carry on its other 21 tries.
Cignetti felt that apart from Old Dominion’s bookend rushing touchdowns, Indiana shut down the Monarchs’ offense. He expects a significant step forward Saturday, as does Haines, who’s the orchestrator of a defense trying to establish a new identity.
“In today's game, every single defense that we're going to have is going to look different,” Haines said. “The transfer portal is going to be active every year. There's going to be incoming guys. There's going to be guys that graduate and move on to the NFL, hopefully.
“So actually, change is part of the norm nowadays. So, figure out what pieces we have and play to their strengths. That's always the goal.”
The Hoosiers lost key pieces of all three levels of their defense. Linebacker Jailin Walker, who finished second on the team in tackles (82) and third in tackles for loss (10), graduated, as did secondary members Terry Jones Jr. and Shawn Asbury II. Toss in the loss of West and Carpenter on the defensive line, and Indiana has several new faces in important places.
Senior linebacker Aiden Fisher remains the glue that holds the unit together. Haines touted Fisher’s leadership and communication skills while noting players are receptive to his style. Indiana’s defense, collectively, has a handful of quality communicators, Haines said.
The Hoosiers’ leadership and talent on defense inspires confidence they can replicate the success of last season’s suffocating unit, which ranked second in total defense and sixth in points allowed per game across the FBS.
Indiana isn’t there yet, and Haines said there’s “a lot of work to do.” But the foundation, he said, has been set.
“There's still a lot of molding that needs to be done,” Haines said, “as you saw last Saturday with some of the big plays and some of the errors and miscommunication. So, more molding needs to be done. We're building it. It's just one play at a time. Like Coach Cignetti says, one play at a time, one game at a time. Just more work to be done.”
Haines expects the work to reflect a defense more rooted in his values — one that’s ranked among the nation’s best the past several seasons and, perhaps more pertinent to Indiana’s struggles Saturday, created headaches for opposing quarterbacks.
“Usually it's our versatility,” Haines said about the calling card to Indiana’s defense. “It's our ability to mix pictures up, be aggressive, change angles, change the look of the coverage for a quarterback, so hopefully we add moments to his clock and then have a chance to hit him.
“Again, we didn't get a chance to do that as much as I wanted to on Saturday. I was proud of the guys. I thought the guys played hard, but we're a lot more aggressive than we were able to show last weekend.”
Aggression figures to lead Indiana’s defense toward better pressure rates and stingier run defense. The Hoosiers’ secondary nabbed three interceptions against Old Dominion, and Cignetti touted the group’s experience and ball skills. Indiana has the ingredients at all three levels to be potent defensively once more.
Cignetti and his staff preach three-word phrases about their identity, be it “fast, physical, relentless,” or “smart, disciplined, poised.”
The key for Indiana’s defense? A combination of both phrases, but a greater emphasis on an additional one: Aggressive, dynamic and playing in cream-and-crimson style.