Shut Down Defense Starts with Disguise
10/13/2022 10:00:00 AM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - It starts with Taulia Tagovailoa. It has to. Slow Maryland's big-play-making quarterback, contain him, pressure him and you put the Terrapins' potent offense in jeopardy, and give yourself a chance.
Don't and life gets complicated fast.
Indiana doesn't need complications. Victories top the priority list.
Devon Matthews knows this. The Hoosiers' standout senior safety has seen the film and studied the numbers entering Saturday's game at Memorial Stadium. But he also knows something else.
"We know they're a great team, but when they hop on the field, they have to play us."
In this rugged Big Ten football world, if you're not confident and dialed in, you have no chance.
And when your nickname is "Monster," as Matthews' is, confidence is part of the game plan.
"Everyone knows what he has to do," he says. "If we do our jobs, we'll be fine."
The Hoosiers seek to regain their mojo, and once again, the challenge is formidable. For the second straight week, they face a quarterback with elite accuracy.
Last Saturday, it was Michigan's J.J. McCarthy, who led the nation with 78-percent accuracy. Now, it's Tagovailoa, who completes 74.1 percent of his passes for 1,731 yards, 11 touchdowns, and five interceptions. He's also rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns.
He burned IU for a career-high 419 yards in Maryland's 38-35 victory over the Hoosiers last season.
How do you slow him down?
"The key to defending their quarterback is disguising," Matthews says. "We have to disguise our coverages very well. Keep him in the pocket. Don't let him move around too much."
Maryland, which averages 34.0 points a game, has more than Tagovailoa for IU to worry about. There's tailbacks Ramon Hemby (395 rushing yards, three touchdowns) and Antwain Littleton II (238, five) and eight receivers with at least 100 receiving yards, led by Corey Dyches (22 catches, 322 yards).
"They have a good quarterback, good tight ends, good skill on the perimeter," linebacker Bradley Jennings Jr. says. "They're a good team. We have to execute and ball hard."
Doing that comes amid continued depth building. On defense, you're seeing more of young players such as Christopher Keys, Phillip Dunnam, and Louis Moore. They were among 23 defensive players used against Michigan.
"We have a lot of guys who can play," Matthews says. "That's definitely showing up. As long as they know what they're doing, they'll get a chance. You've got to trust them to do what the coaches want. If they do that, they'll play. It's as simple as that.
"Phillip for sure has looked good. He's young and still developing, but he's doing a great job. Louis Moore and Chris Keys have been stepping up, as well."
Depth building paid off against Michigan. With standout linebacker Cam Jones sidelined with an injury, Jennings started and led the Hoosiers with 13 tackles. Specifically, Aaron Casey switched to Jones' spot and Jennings moved up to take Casey's position.
"We're all quarterbacks of the defense," Jennings says. "We should know both (linebacker) spots. It was easy to step in and make plays."
More plays are needed, especially in the second half. IU held a potent Michigan offense to 10 first-half points and 17 after three quarters before wearing down in the fourth quarter.
"It's executing better," Jennings says. "That will help us out a lot. Focus on certain techniques. Everybody doing his job.
"Sometimes we're not executing on the same page. I don't think we're physically tired, but we have to keep up the mental side. Push through no matter how long we're on the field at the end of a game."
The key to doing that, Jennings adds, starts in practice. It's "running to the ball the whole practice, make sure you're on point, communicating, executing the calls. Do it the whole practice, full speed, so when it's game time, you do it in the game."
Maryland will spread the field and try to get their fast players in space, which demands good tackling. Matthews says tackling drills remain a big part of practice.
"We have lots of drills. The key is leverage. As long as we have that, as long as everybody is flying to the ball, 11 guys on the ball, we'll be fine."
Offensively, could a new offensive line coach (Rod Carey took over the job last Sunday) help boost the productivity, especially in the second half? Quarterback Connor Bazelak is optimistic.
"We'll still do what we do, still do the things we do well," he says. "We'll go fast. We won't huddle every play. (Offensive coordinator Walt Bell) will call the plays we run well.
"We're still waiting as an offense to play our best game. We're due. We're putting in the work."
Don't and life gets complicated fast.
Indiana doesn't need complications. Victories top the priority list.
Devon Matthews knows this. The Hoosiers' standout senior safety has seen the film and studied the numbers entering Saturday's game at Memorial Stadium. But he also knows something else.
"We know they're a great team, but when they hop on the field, they have to play us."
In this rugged Big Ten football world, if you're not confident and dialed in, you have no chance.
And when your nickname is "Monster," as Matthews' is, confidence is part of the game plan.
"Everyone knows what he has to do," he says. "If we do our jobs, we'll be fine."
The Hoosiers seek to regain their mojo, and once again, the challenge is formidable. For the second straight week, they face a quarterback with elite accuracy.
Last Saturday, it was Michigan's J.J. McCarthy, who led the nation with 78-percent accuracy. Now, it's Tagovailoa, who completes 74.1 percent of his passes for 1,731 yards, 11 touchdowns, and five interceptions. He's also rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns.
He burned IU for a career-high 419 yards in Maryland's 38-35 victory over the Hoosiers last season.
How do you slow him down?
"The key to defending their quarterback is disguising," Matthews says. "We have to disguise our coverages very well. Keep him in the pocket. Don't let him move around too much."
Maryland, which averages 34.0 points a game, has more than Tagovailoa for IU to worry about. There's tailbacks Ramon Hemby (395 rushing yards, three touchdowns) and Antwain Littleton II (238, five) and eight receivers with at least 100 receiving yards, led by Corey Dyches (22 catches, 322 yards).
"They have a good quarterback, good tight ends, good skill on the perimeter," linebacker Bradley Jennings Jr. says. "They're a good team. We have to execute and ball hard."
Doing that comes amid continued depth building. On defense, you're seeing more of young players such as Christopher Keys, Phillip Dunnam, and Louis Moore. They were among 23 defensive players used against Michigan.
"We have a lot of guys who can play," Matthews says. "That's definitely showing up. As long as they know what they're doing, they'll get a chance. You've got to trust them to do what the coaches want. If they do that, they'll play. It's as simple as that.
"Phillip for sure has looked good. He's young and still developing, but he's doing a great job. Louis Moore and Chris Keys have been stepping up, as well."
Depth building paid off against Michigan. With standout linebacker Cam Jones sidelined with an injury, Jennings started and led the Hoosiers with 13 tackles. Specifically, Aaron Casey switched to Jones' spot and Jennings moved up to take Casey's position.
"We're all quarterbacks of the defense," Jennings says. "We should know both (linebacker) spots. It was easy to step in and make plays."
More plays are needed, especially in the second half. IU held a potent Michigan offense to 10 first-half points and 17 after three quarters before wearing down in the fourth quarter.
"It's executing better," Jennings says. "That will help us out a lot. Focus on certain techniques. Everybody doing his job.
"Sometimes we're not executing on the same page. I don't think we're physically tired, but we have to keep up the mental side. Push through no matter how long we're on the field at the end of a game."
The key to doing that, Jennings adds, starts in practice. It's "running to the ball the whole practice, make sure you're on point, communicating, executing the calls. Do it the whole practice, full speed, so when it's game time, you do it in the game."
Maryland will spread the field and try to get their fast players in space, which demands good tackling. Matthews says tackling drills remain a big part of practice.
"We have lots of drills. The key is leverage. As long as we have that, as long as everybody is flying to the ball, 11 guys on the ball, we'll be fine."
Offensively, could a new offensive line coach (Rod Carey took over the job last Sunday) help boost the productivity, especially in the second half? Quarterback Connor Bazelak is optimistic.
"We'll still do what we do, still do the things we do well," he says. "We'll go fast. We won't huddle every play. (Offensive coordinator Walt Bell) will call the plays we run well.
"We're still waiting as an offense to play our best game. We're due. We're putting in the work."
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