BLOOMINGTON – Indiana started the 2023 season with a deflating 23-3 loss to Ohio State. With so many questions revolving around the team's 50-plus new players, this game was going to be the first real test for this newly assembled team.
The offense struggled for the entire game but on the other end, the defense put on a strong performance against a threatening Ohio State offense. Indiana has a lot to be happy about when it comes to the defensive performance and now has a bit of momentum to build off of heading into the second week.
Between both sides of the football, the defense was by far the better unit of the day. Many people were curious to see how this offense would function with the whole starting quarterback situation but the attention quickly faded due to Indiana's lackluster ability to move the ball the entire game. The offense struggled, there’s no way around it, but the guys on defense gave fans something to cheer about.
Ohio State’s offense was held in place multiple times throughout the game as Indiana’s defensive line played a physical game. A lot of that success came from the highly touted transfer, Andre Carter.
Carter had a really good game to start his Indiana career recording four total tackles with two tackles for loss. He made sure to make his presence felt as he pulled attention multiple times from the Ohio State lineman. His performance just adds more hype around his name and should be a big piece of this defense moving forward. It is a much-needed change from last year as the Hoosiers at times lacked defensive pressure and although Indiana was unable to record a sack, the impact was prevalent from the front seven.
The best performance of the day was arguably the defensive backs. Coming into Saturday afternoon, this group was asked to face a tall task as Ohio State is coming into the season with one of the best-receiving cores in all of college football. Led by Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, their wide receiving group is were Ohio State gets a good portion of their offensive production.
Although the Buckeyes finished with 237 total receiving yards, Indiana held the damage to be somewhat conceivable as they held their own for the majority of the game.
This group entered the season holding a lot of youth but played at a promising level. Kobe Minor and Louis Moore established themselves early on as they recorded six tackles each, and Phillip Dunnam started his day with an interception in the second quarter.
The matchup was going to be difficult but at the end of the day, head coach Tom Allen felt good about their performance to start the season.
"I was really concerned about that matchup, without question," Allen said Saturday evening. "It is, we know -- I know for a fact those receivers are special. And the one is probably the best we've ever gone against since I've been coaching, in my entire career. So to believe able to keep those guys in check was very critical.
"It was a combination of some pressure up front, as well as the guys coming around the back end and just trying to do a good job of disguising things. You saw how we're going to play. That's the system. That's who we are. That's what we want to be able to do. Mix things up. Confuse people. Got some length in the back end. Got some playmakers.
"I thought -- we dropped two picks. It would have been tough catches. We dropped two picks that they ended up getting six points off of two field goals that we got to make plays on. But I was very encouraged by our secondary."
Commanding the middle of the field was Aaron Casey, and he put on a really good performance in game number one. The senior linebacker was given a leadership role last year and is fully expected to be one of the leaders again this year. Casey showed out as he tallied 11 total tackles with one of those resulting in a couple of lost yards for Ohio State. Casey was scattered all over the field making his presence felt which is something the Hoosiers are going to need consistently moving forward.
Indiana has gone the last couple of seasons with multiple leaders lurking in the middle of their defense and Casey proved why he is one of Indiana’s most important players this season.
"We're excited about those two guys [Casey & Jacob Mangum-Farrar]," Allen said. "Two big, physical guys that can both run and make plays. So we showed some signs up front, too, to be able to do some things that are going to be very important moving forward.
"So just got to keep getting better. And I like the look in our guys' eyes. There was no doubt a lot of disappointment in that locker room, but at the same time we got to be able to look ourselves in the eye, make corrections, and get ready for a short week."
Overall, the defense put on a performance that gave a lot of hopeful signs. The secondary paired up well against multiple dangerous receivers while other individuals for Indiana made sure to make a loud statement. It's still the early part of the season but this defense showed that it could be Indiana's strength moving forward.
You're not going to be at your full form to start the season and Indiana is far form that. But when you lay down a solid foundation to work with, you give yourself a chance to improve week by week.
It's still early but this week one performance has a lot more good than bad.
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