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Dasan McCullough had a lot of attention surrounding him coming into this season for Indiana. A four-star prospect coming out of Bloomington South High School, McCullough's decision to stay home and play for IU made him the program's highest ranked defensive recruit in Indiana history.

His athleticism jumps out of the TV screen. He's quick, agile, and aggressive in his play-style. Seemingly, you can't keep him away from the football.

After just his second game, McCullough is showing that his recruitment was worth the time and effort that was needed to acquire his talents to play for the cream & crimson.

In Indiana's victory over Idaho Saturday night, McCullough accumulated five tackles and two TFLs, which were both sacks. He also added a QB hurry on the night, forcing Vandal QB, Gevani McCoy, to overthrow a defender on a fourth down conversion attempt during a monstrous third quarter for the Indiana defense.

However, his impact reached far beyond what's shown on the stat sheet. To put it simply, it felt like there were three Dasan McCullough's buzzing around and making plays on Saturday night. He was everywhere.

"That's the goal. You balance that with his youth," Indiana head coach Tom Allen said early Sunday morning of McCullough's versatility. "Obviously, it's only his second college game, so you don't want to put too much on him, but you also see the skillset that he has and the different things he can do. He's a talented football player; we have to continue to utilize him. I'm really proud of him."

Overall, Allen was clearly frustrated with the performance of his football team on Saturday night, squandering chances and playing down to Idaho's level before eventually avoiding the disaster of a loss. Allen says he warned his guys of the possibility of the Vandals taking advantage of the lapse of intensity throughout practice all last week, something Allen says McCullough never takes off.

"This is the thing I love about Dasan," Allen proclaimed. "He's got talent, he's 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, he can run, but he is a really good practice player. He's very locked in, he's very mature for his age as a freshman. He understands how to study film, he cares a lot, he works really hard, he's really good during walkthroughs, which usually is an area that freshmen struggle with.

"He's making plays, and he came up big for us tonight, so that's going to have to continue."

Redshirt-senior linebacker Aaron Casey is one of the defensive leaders on this year's team. Nicknamed "Ace" by his teammates and coaches, and the team's first bearer of the honor to wear George Taliaferro's No.44 on the field, Casey is generally one of the vocal leaders on defense who many of his teammates turn to in times of need.

So when Casey himself notices the growth of McCullough, it's hard not to take interest.

"He's been growing ever since fall camp," Casey said after Saturday's contest. "Getting reps with him since back then, you can tell his game is elevating. He's young, so he's still got a lot of time to improve and everything, but he's doing great. He's doing a great job."

For a defense that has seen vast improvement already after just two performances out, McCullough's already-sizable role and share of playing time figures to be a good recipe for him moving forward. As Indiana continues to find roles to utilize him in on defense, whether it's in pass rush, coverage, or run stop, McCullough continues to make him a more attractive option to find himself on the field.

If he keeps making plays to the caliber and frequency that he has so far, though, IU may not have any other option.

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