IU head coach Tom Allen, co-defensive coordinator Matt Guerrieri, and select players met with local media on Monday to look back on the Louisville game and start looking ahead to Akron and beyond.
Here are a few key things discussed.
Note: Offensive coordinator Walt Bell is also usually at IU’s weekly press conferences, but he was absent Monday as he and his wife welcomed their third child.
Defensive breakdowns
Indiana’s defense had a rocky first half against Louisville, with some big plays allowed in the secondary proving to be the difference in the game. Young defensive backs Jamari Sharpe and Phillip Dunnam had some coverage breakdowns that led to those crucial plays.
The unit recovered in the second half and kept the Cardinals’ offense quieter. But of IU’s first three games, this was the worst defensive performance of the three. Louisville put up 422 yards of total offense against the Hoosiers, more than either Ohio State or Indiana State.
Guerrieri said he and his staff made good adjustments throughout the game, but the defense needed to start the game better. After the game, linebacker Aaron Casey praised, in particular, the changes they made in playing run gaps and in the pass rush.
One of the bigger areas of emphasis going forward for IU’s defense is avoiding the sorts of breakdowns that led to the massive plays that crushed the Hoosiers on Saturday.
“We’re operating like a machine. If you have one individual breakdown, then you have a breakdown for the total unit. The plays that you saw, an explosive play, it’s a breakdown of one piece of that at times,” Guerrieri said. “You can’t play great defense like that. So everybody has to be able to do their job. The effort was there, the execution has to be at a higher level. So we were very blunt with that. I own every mistake that happens on game day, from a defensive standpoint. By that time, the guys have to be ready for the show. I let those guys know that so they can go play fast, but those have to be corrected. But yeah, it’s not wholesale structural issues, it’s a player here or there.”
Late-game troubles
Although the Hoosiers defense was better in the second half, they couldn’t get a stop when they needed it the most.
After the offense couldn’t score from the goal line, Louisville took over with 4:38 to go. IU had just one timeout — which was problematic for other reasons. But even with that, if the defense could make a stop, the offense could’ve had one more chance — with likely good field position — with at least two minutes remaining, if not more.
But the first play of the drive set the tone for the rest of the game. Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer faked a handoff, and nobody was home for Indiana. Plummer scrambled for 13 yards, giving the Cardinals breathing room and a first down.
Louisville ran it on eight straight plays and IU couldn’t get a stop, as the Cardinals ran out the clock. The biggest letdown of that sequence came on a third down and nine with 2:19 left. That was IU’s best chance at getting off the field. But Plummer scrambled for a 20-yard gain.
Allen, after reviewing the film, was frustrated with the way that final drive played out.
“There was so much emphasis about this phrase: ‘Do your job.’ And I felt like that kind of broke down. Those last few plays were kind of a microcosm of the whole game, especially the first half, for our defense. Because to me, we had a chance,” Allen said. “Just got to stop the run. We didn’t stop the run effectively enough and several of those were quarterback scrambles, which has got to be eliminated. Just got to tighter on our run fits and do some things better, and it’s really about execution for to me.”
Running woes
Indiana’s talented running backs made a real impact on the Louisville game, but the actual ground game left something to be desired.
Jaylin Lucas had a stellar performance in the passing attack, with 10 receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown. Josh Henderson had two catches for 30 yards.
But IU, as a team, averaged just 2.1 yards per carry. Lucas led the team with 29 rushing yards. IU had just two rushing plays that went for 10 yards or more.
“We’ve got to run the football better,” Allen said. “We always go through and compare the two, each team, and we did not do a good enough job. There’s no question that schematically, they are loading the box trying to take it away, and we threw for a lot of yards. That’s what you’ve got to do but at the end of the day you’ve got to be able to score points. You have to score more than 14 points.”
The offensive line had trouble in the run game; lanes weren’t readily available for the backs to explode through. Game situations in the third quarter dictated a heavier dose of passing — and that was when IU’s offense was at its best.
The line, for the most part, has done a pretty good job in pass protection so far this season, and that continued against Louisville. But Allen knows the group needs to continue developing and improving.
“The offensive line wasn’t consistent enough in our execution and so we are going to continue to focus on that without question. We’re making progress, but it’s got to continue to elevate each week,” Allen said. “Starts up front and we are making progress, but it’s got to continue, no question about it. I think just for us as a staff, to be able to continue to stay with the fundamentals and the techniques that we are working through and getting better at it, and our guys are continuing to grow and develop as a unit. Definitely not good enough at this point, but progress is being made.”
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