BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – When Noah Pierre was carted off the field during Saturday's loss to Rutgers, Indiana's defense lost more than just their starting husky. Indiana, as a whole, lost a sixth-year vocal leader.
Perhaps one of the best embodiments of what the Hoosiers' program can represent, Pierre has risen through the ranks of Tom Allen's teams to a position of respect. The relationships he's built, through vindication of his own teammates and coaches, throughout his time places him in rare air for consistent players throughout the entirety of Allen's tenure.
His future in the program, however, now seems uncertain after Saturday's incident and an unraveling season having the Hoosiers in a position where they would need to win four of their final five contests to play a 13th game.
As his teammates huddled around him before a cart took him into the southwest tunnel of Memorial Stadium, Pierre may have taken his last snaps as a Hoosier.
"Noah will be out for an extended period of time," Allen said during his weekly press conference on Monday when asked about Pierre's status. "He's been such a great player for us, great leader for us."
Among those relationships Pierre has constructed is with first-year co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri, who Pierre said meshed well with him from day one due to their matching high-octane approaches to every day.
"He's super energetic," Pierre said of Guerrieri back in the spring. Guerrieri has become one of the most vocal coaches on the staff, like a clone of Pierre that only stays on the sidelines.
Now, with Pierre's injury sidelining him for the foreseeable future, they'll spend gamedays back by each other's side.
"My heart breaks for him," Guerrieri said on Monday. “Obviously, he's a guy who has been a leader here in his sixth year. I hate that for him.
"My first thing is checking on his wellbeing, making sure he's okay. If he wants food, to give me a call and I'll pick it up for him. That was the first thing that I said to him, and whatever he needs, I'm there for him and that's more important than anything."
While his injury may keep him out of action for the remainder of the season, his role could be similar to Cam Jones' last season – a veteran voice who missed time at the end of the season. Jones traveled with Indiana on road trips last season despite not being active for games and became a coach-like presence on the sidelines.
He still led by example without his playing presence on Saturdays, and Pierre has the same opportunity this season.
"I did grab him a second time after the dust settled after a day and let him know how important he is as a leader to our team," Guerrieri continued. "Just because he's not at the health that he was before doesn't mean his impact goes away.
"He's a guy that's the heart and soul of what we do, and that'll continue."
In his place, Indiana will need to rely on youth and depth in the defensive backfield to find Pierre's production in the aggregate. Among the candidates to do so is Amare Ferrell, who played 58 snaps at the husky position on Saturday, according to PFF. Ferrell also had the third-best defensive grade of any Indiana player against the Scarlet Knights.
The opportunity didn't come to him in the fashion he'd have ever liked. But his opportunity is here, and he's not going to let it pass him by.
"I'm really just going to play for him," Ferrell said on Monday, "because he helped me a lot and I just want to come in and take care of what he does."
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