Heading into the 2019 season, Indiana’s defensive line was an area of concern after struggling the year prior. With the team’s two biggest games out of the way, the young pieces of the defensive front are beginning to settle in. The team will need more production from them moving forward.
Indiana has allowed for numerous players to contribute to the defense this season. Five games into the season, and fresh off a bye week, many of the rotational players are taking charge of their roles.
“Really thought we had some very productive meetings as a defensive staff,” Allen said “I rewatched the Michigan State game three different times and took three different sets of notes and then meshed them and just tried to go through and find ways to keep getting us better, because we're not where I want to be yet defensively.”
Allen took the time to watch Big Ten conference opponents play over the weekend, including Rutgers and Maryland — Indiana’s next two opponents. He got a different perspective watching from the comfort of his home rather than on the field during game day.
Indiana’s head coach noticed what much of the country has already seen thus far in 2019, the Big Ten creates pressure on the quarterback.
“I saw several games [Saturday] where there was a whole bunch of sacks in this conference, I mean a lot of them,” Allen said. “These defenses are aggressive and there's a lot of great athletes on the D line, and they're bringing pressure, and they're disguising stuff and trying to confuse you. Takes a lot of work.”
Referencing this statement, Allen said defensively it's about affecting the quarterback, and area that the Hoosiers can certainly improve on as the season moves forward.
Among the key contributors for Indiana this season has been junior college transfer Demarcus Elliott. Last year, he posted 19 tackles, 4.5 for loss, and one sack in 10 games for Garden City Community College.
Coming to a Division I college has provided a new set of challenges, despite his level of talent.
“The biggest transition has to be, probably preparation for each game,” Elliott said. “It’s way different from JUCO. In JUCO we just practice three days, go on the bus and get ready. Here, it’s so many meetings and so many things we have to do to prepare. Adjusting hasn’t been the easiest thing, but I think now I’ve got the hang of it.”
In five games this season, Elliott is on pace to eclipse his statistical highs at Garden City Community College. He’s accounted for 15 total tackles, two for loss and two sacks before the bye week.
Indiana has already put games against both Ohio State in the rearview mirror. Elliott said he had jitters before those games after seeing both Ohio State and Michigan State get talked about on television. It was a stage he wasn’t yet used to, but now he’s learned from them.
The upcoming schedule provides the team an opportunity to display its improvement this season. Players are healthier and sharper than they were just two weeks ago.
“Not getting to ease into it and having to play those teams later in the season, being able to play them right off the bat really sets the bar high for us and what we need to do,” Elliott said.
The defense under defensive coordinator Kane Wommack has seen the emergence of multiple underclassmen. Elliott, for example, is only a sophomore, and true freshman Sio Nofoagatoto’a has appeared in two games.
Nofoagatoto’a has been getting reps while redshirt sophomore Juan Harris recovered from an injury over the past few weeks. Allen said Harris’ status is up in the air for the team’s game against Rutgers, while Nofoagatoto’a will not be among the players redshirting this season.
“The nice thing about a young group is if they're locked in to what they’re doing and we’re doing our job as coaches, they make a mistake out there on the field and they fix it moving forward in the season,” Wommack said. “That’s how a young defense gets better as the season goes on.”
Indiana will welcome Rutgers for its 2019 homecoming game. The team has failed to earn a victory on homecoming since 2010, when it defeated Arkansas State. The Hoosiers will look to end that trend against the Scarlet Knights on Saturday.
“I just feel like nothing can stop me now, Elliott said. “I just have to keep growing because we have a lot of games left to play.”
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