8/11/2019 football Edit

Indiana Defensive Line Aims To Be A Larger Presence This Season

DJ Fezler

Staff

Since the start of his tenure at Indiana, Tom Allen has built a culture around an aggressive defensive mentality. A year ago, Indiana’s defensive line did not fit that mold, but is expecting to improve this season.

In 2018, Indiana’s defensive front generated just 22 sacks during the season. The unit’s lack of production has led to a chip on the shoulders of those players, feeling personally accountable for some of the team’s close losses.

“We came off a season last year that we weren’t happy with,” fifth-year senior defensive end Gavin Everett said at Media Day. “We didn’t get the sacks, the [tackles for loss], the pressure on the quarterback that we wanted. We didn’t do our job last year. We think a lot of that last season results fall on us.”

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The team finished 5-7 a year ago, with three of those losses ending in one-score deficits. Indiana even had an opportunity to potentially upset Penn State at home, but fell short in a five-point loss.

“I think the frustrating thing last year was that we had opportunities to make more plays and we didn’t,” defensive line coach Mark Hagen added. “We have to finish plays better.”

Before the start of fall camp, Hagen challenged his players to start fast and build off of the excitement that comes with the football season. He also expects the group to continue having high-intensity practices even as practice gets less exciting.

“We talked as a group and it’s easy when you start fall camp, everybody is excited, everybody is ready to get rolling,” Hagen said. “Then you get into a week and a half and camp starts to drag a little bit.”

Hagen’s group entered fall practices with more depth up front, despite losses due to graduation. The players that are now a year older under the roof of Tom Allen’s -- and now Kane Wommack’s -- defense and have closed the gap between themselves and the starters.

Everett believes some players will put significant time on the second team that have the talent to start for this program. With depth at every position along the defensive line, Hagen can utilize a strong rotation to keep players fresh during games.

“I think a step we’ve taken from last year is our depth from our first to second to third-string has really shrunk, Everett said. “Those lines have been blurred a little bit which is a good thing, that’s what we’ve been missing in the past. There’s no step back when we go to our second or third-string guys.”

With a strong rotation and the drive to change the outcome of football games, this group seems to be well on its way to taking a step forward this season. Indiana’s defensive line, along with the rest of the defense, have invested into the mindset that this year is going to be something special.

“We really held ourselves responsible,” Everett said. “We’ve been doing extra as a defensive line to make sure we’re the reason that we win this upcoming season.”