Bloomington Leader

NOTEBOOK: No Prevent – IU Favors Aggressive Defense

 Tom Allen will attack.

You know that, right?

Allen coaches with aggression, and now that he's back to calling the defense as well as handling his other Indiana head coaching duties, he's not about to back off.

In other words, you won't see a prevent defense.

So what's his approach when the Hoosiers have the lead and the defense needs to make a final stop?

Get aggressive.

Be smart.

That was the case during Friday night's 23-20 win over Illinois and, if needed, it will be again Saturday night when IU (1-0) hosts Idaho (0-1 after losing 24-17 at Washington State).

The Illini had the ball on their own 25-yard line with 23 seconds left. They drove 21 yards before fumbling on the game's final play.

The No. 1 defensive factor, Allen says, is what does the opposing team need? In IU's case, Illinois needed a field goal.

On Sunday night, trailing by seven points against Florida State, LSU drove 99 yards in the final minute for a touchdown, but lost by a point when it missed the extra point.

"You have to know what they need," Allen says. "(Illinois) just needed a field goal, so without giving away what we're going to do in those situations, I would definitely choose to be aggressive.

"Now, if they have to have a touchdown, and not a field goal, that changes things. You're going to be willing to give up the underneath -- because what you're trying to do at that point is get an in-bounds tackle.

"(What do they need) is the driving force. Then you get your scheme, but the big thing is execute. Play with technique. Don't try to freelance and do your own thing. Finish the game and get off the field."

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A torn ACL during the Illinois game has ended veteran right tackle's Matthew Bedford's season.

"It's a tough blow for Matt," Allen says. "I feel for him. He is an amazing young man. But he has got an unbelievable attitude about it. And in talking with him, he's going to have a great recovery and come back and play his final season a year from now.

"But reality is that it's part of this game. You hate it for him and for our team. But next man up. And that's what happens."

The next man up in this case is junior college transfer Parker Hanna. He played 44 snaps against Illinois in his first major college action.

"I would say it's his spot," Allen says.

Bedford got his first starting opportunity as a true freshman when a veteran offensive lineman tore his ACL.

"As much of a gut shot as it was when I found out," Allen says, "I think back to 2019.

"We lost a really, really good player that I said going into the season it's like the one guy we can't afford to lose, and that's when Matt got his first opportunity. And I promise you, we really didn't think he was remotely ready.

"(Hanna) did a lot of positive things. He's very smart. He's played a lot of football. Not at this level. But the good news is he got a chance to play 44 snaps against a really good defensive line and a good scheme, so that makes you feel better."

IU will shuffle the line rotation with true freshman Bray Lynch out of Westlake High School in Texas, redshirt freshman Joshua Sales Jr. and redshirt sophomore Kahlil Bensongetting their shots.

"We've got some good young players," Allen says. "It's amazing how sometimes guys when they're forced to rise up, they do. And that's why you recruit guys.

"A guy like Josh Sales. This is a challenge to him. He's got to step up and be ready to go.

"I think of Bray Lynch. He played two straight seasons of undefeated football in the best program in America in a very college style offense. He was their starting left tackle for two years in a row and played every single snap those two years and played football at a very high level. So those guys are going to have to be thrust into opportunities.

"And even a guy like Kahlil Benson, who can play inside and outside. Those opportunities are going to be there.

"It's just a matter of our guys coming together and stepping up, getting better.

"This is why Parker came here. It was for this opportunity to be able to get on the field and play in the Big Ten and prove to everybody that he can."

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Receiver Cam Camper and quarterback Connor Bazelak delivered memorable performances in their Big Ten debuts against Illinois.

Camper, a junior college transfer, caught 11 passes for 156 yards. It's the most receiving yards ever by a Hoosier in his first IU game.

"I talked a lot about Cam through the spring and fall camp," Allen says. "He didn't disappoint."

Bazelak, a Missouri transfer, was 28-for-52 for 330 yards, one touchdown and one interception. It's the most passing yards by a Hoosier in his debut since Antwaan Randle El threw for 385 yards against Western Michigan in 1998.

Bazelak led IU to the game-winning touchdown, marching the Hoosiers 75 yards in two minutes without a timeout.

"The things that showed up on Friday night, those things were probably big factors (in picking Bazelak over Jack Tuttle as the starting quarterback)," Allen says. "The poise that he shows in that moment when you have to just kind of have ice in your veins and just go make plays.

"Things are happening. They (the Illini) are throwing stuff (at him). You don't even know what they're going to run all the time. And you're trying to adjust and anticipate.

"It's early in the season, so you don't have a whole database of what they're going to give you schematically other than based off of one game from this year and last year's work. So he has to make quick decisions, get the ball to receivers accurately, throw down field with accuracy.

"He has a really good command of what we're doing.

"Even though it was a tough decision, and we've got two really good quarterbacks, he came up big for us. I wasn't surprised."

*****

Linebacker Cam Jones is a three-time team co-captain. Only two other Hoosiers have earned that achievement.

The other co-captains this season are tight end AJ Barner, Tuttle, cornerback Tiawan Mullen and safety Devon Matthews.

"They are just five high-quality young men who represent our program in a first-class way," Allen says.

Jones overcame an injury early in the Illinois game to finish with a team-leading 12 tackles.

"I don't know if you can put a price tag on his leadership," Allen says. "And I texted him. It was probably about 3:00 in the morning (on Saturday after the Illinois win).

"I said, 'Man, I tell you what, I couldn't be more proud of a young man.  "You willed this team to victory during that game.'"

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IU's 1967 co-Big Ten championship team that played in the Rose Bowl (losing to OJ Simpson-led USC squad) will be recognized Saturday.

"It's the 55th anniversary of that team," Allen says. "That team is loaded with high-quality people that have really shaped our tradition of our past.

"Excited to have those guys with us this weekend. So you got the guys from the past coming and we got the guys here on the current team that are creating our own history of ourselves and being able to do great things together.

*****

The running numbers suggest trouble.

But the story behind them requires a deeper look.

IU rushed 26 times for 32 yards against Illinois. Its longest run was for 7 yards.

The result -- Bazelak threw those 52 times. Offensive coordinator Walt Bell says it's the most passes he's ever called in a game.

This wasn't a surprise. Bell knew, based on Illinois' defense, that "We'd have to throw to win."

The Illini loaded the box to stop the run.

"When we had five offensive linemen, they had six up front," Bell says. "If we had six, they'd have seven. If we had seven, they'd have eight. If you have six and they have seven, it will not be a good day."

"When we'd run, it was to poke the bear and let him know we were there."

So Bazelak threw and the offensive line blocked with purpose, even when Bedford was knocked out of the game with a knee injury and Hanna replaced him.

"What we asked our offensive to do," Bell says, "they did a fantastic job. They only gave up one sack.

"Do we have to run better? Absolutely, but what we asked them to do they did a fantastic job."

As for Hanna and the rest of the offensive line, Bell says, "Parker had to play a Big Ten game for the first time in his life. It was the first time for a couple of those guys. I know those kids prepare and care."

Because they do, when the Hoosiers needed a yard for a touchdown and a victory, tailback Shaun Shivers blasted it in behind left tackle Luke Haggard's block.

"It was a great block," Bell says.

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Against Illinois, IU gave up 216 rushing yards, 232 passing yards, and 448 overall. But, it only allowed 20 points.

Don't suggest to defensive coordinator Chad Wilt this is a bend-don't-break defense.

"That's not our mentality," he says "We are aggressive.

"We have to do a better job of tackling and how we tackle, in our approaches and how we finish."

IU also had a key goal-line stand, held the Illini to a field goal after a costly Hoosier fumble and stopped their final desperate bid to force overtime.

"We got it done when we needed to."

Allen was unhappy about the 23 missed tackles, although much of that had to do with the quality of Illinois tailback Chase Brown, who rushed for 199 yards.

"That was really disappointing," Allen says. "We've got to work on that. We've got to do a better job of gang tackling an athlete like that."

*****

Allen took over the defensive play calling because he wanted a return to defense-forced takeaways. With three fumble recoveries and an interception, the Hoosiers are off to a great start.

"As I've always said, it's hard to limit yards in today's game. But it's the takeaway piece. It's key stops at critical times. It's the sacks. It's the pressures.

"Now we did give up three quarterback scrambles. It really still ticks me off. We can't let that happen, and we'll get that fixed. But just being able to get off the field on third downs, the goal-line stand, the score-zone, which is between the 12-yard line and the goal line. That's where we've got to be great.

"If you're great there and you force field goals or you force stops when they're critical for us, that's what I want to get back to. I want those things to continue -- the takeaways, the pressures, the stops in the run game."

IU did all that, but Allen wants more.

"I'm frustrated, but also I realize it's all very fixable. We've got some new faces and some guys have got to fit some things better. But overall it was I would say a good start to getting us back to where I know we need to be defensively. Because if you play great defense, you create takeaways, you give yourself a chance every week."

Original source can be found here.