Hoosier State of Mind
Fansided

Indiana Football: 3 takeaways from win vs UConn

By Alec Lasley

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA - SEPTEMBER 21: Whop Philyor #1 and Donavan Hale #6 of the Indiana Hoosiers celebrate after a touchdown during the first quarter in the game against the Connecticut Huskies at Memorial Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA - SEPTEMBER 21: Whop Philyor #1 and Donavan Hale #6 of the Indiana Hoosiers celebrate after a touchdown during the first quarter in the game against the Connecticut Huskies at Memorial Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA – SEPTEMBER 21: Jack Zergiotis #11 of the Connecticut Huskies looks to pass while being chased by Allen Stallings IV #99 of the Indiana Hoosiers during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA – SEPTEMBER 21: Jack Zergiotis #11 of the Connecticut Huskies looks to pass while being chased by Allen Stallings IV #99 of the Indiana Hoosiers during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

The Defense Responded

The defensive play has been disappointing to say the least in 2019, and with all of the talk around Tom Allen giving up his play calling duties heading into this season coming back up this week, the defense played a much better game than prior weeks.

Though UConn is no Ohio State, if you look beyond some of the stats, the Hoosiers’ defense did a lot of good things on Saturday.

It all starts with creating havoc in the backfield and forcing turnovers, neither of which they were doing through three weeks. On Saturday, Indiana had five tackles for loss, including four extra QB hurries. Usually that would be enough to create some turnovers, which they did with a pick-six, but the Indiana defense also finished with two sacks on the afternoon as well.

Jerome Johnson continues to be a valuable piece in the middle of the defensive line as he added another half sack to bring his total to two on the year, tied for the team lead. Along with Johnson, Michael Ziemba has been a pleasant surprise on the line as he has continues to disrupt plays in the backfield. He added two more tackles for loss on Saturday to bring his total 3.5 on the year.

Another name that has continued to play above expectations this season is freshman cornerback Tiawan Mullen. He has increased his snap count in almost every game and continues to make plays on the defensive end. Though his ‘numbers’ aren’t jumping off the screen, he made some nice plays against the Huskies and came away with a couple of pass deflections on the afternoon.

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If the defense can be this effective moving forward, it’ll be the defense that fans and coaches thought they would be getting at the start of the season.

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