NOTEBOOK: Injuries Can’t Slow Secondary Improvement
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana’s banged-up secondary keeps improving.
How do you explain that?
Let’s take a look.
The Hoosiers’ seven pass breakups in Saturday’s win over Wisconsin (led by Phillip Dunnam’s two) helped them hold the Badgers to a less than 50-percent completion rate.
That follows the two pass breakups and one interception they had the previous week at No. 10 Penn State.
Continuing that trend will be crucial for Saturday’s game at Illinois (4-5). IU (3-6) needs to win its final three games to earn bowl eligibility. Losing husky standout Noah Pierre to season-ending injury adds to the secondary challenge.
The Hoosiers embrace it.
“We’ve seen guys continue to focus on individual improvement,” co-defensive coordinator Matt Guerrieri said. “Collectively, when there’s an injury, guys rally together. We’ve seen that.
“(Safety) Louis Moore is being more vocal. Other guys say, we have to put this on our backs. It’s a next-man-up mentality and taking a lot of pride.
“Guys are rising to the moment. They call themselves to do it. I don’t have to do it. They know there can’t be a letdown.
“Now we’ve got to finish. We’ve challenged the guys that this is the moment of competitive excellence. Be at your best when it counts the most. They are doing that.”
Head coach Tom Allen credits Guerrieri and cornerbacks coach Brandon Shelby for working on defensive concepts to get players in the right positions through a variety of coverages that require different techniques based on coverage, position, and “playing with that kind of discipline and getting their hands on balls,” he said.
IU has blended veterans such as Moore and Josh Sanguinetti with newcomers such as Nic Toomer, JoJo Johnson, and true freshman Jordan Shaw (who tied senior linebacker Aaron Casey for team-high tackle honors with nine against Wisconsin).
“Our coaches have got to continue to help those guys grow in confidence,” Allen said.
“It's a group that has some young guys mixed in there, and a lot of new guys. Their communication is critical. We have to keep working to make sure we’re doing a great job of being in the right position to make it hard on the offense.”
Casey earned his first Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award for his Wisconsin performance. He totaled nine tackles, seven in the fourth quarter when the Badgers were pushing for a comeback.
He had 4.0 tackles for loss, the most by a Hoosier since 2016. All four, which included two sacks, came in the second half, three in the fourth quarter. He also forced a fourth-quarter fumble. The Hoosiers recovered it for their first recovered fumble of the season.
“Aaron Casey was phenomenal,” Allen said. “He played the way I believe and know he can.
“He didn’t love the way he played (against Rutgers two weeks earlier). He took ownership of that. He took it personal to make sure he’s playing his best football. He did a tremendous job in every way.”
Illinois’s 27-26 win over Minnesota last Saturday earned it a pair of Big Ten weekly honors.
Receiver Isaiah Williams won the offensive award after catching 13 passes, the most by any Big Ten player this season. He had 131 receiving yards and two touchdowns. For the season, he has 59 catches for 693 yards and three TDs.
Kaden Feagin, a 6-3, 250-pound running back, earned Freshman of the Week honors after totaling a career-high 148 yards of offense. He rushed for 89 yards, and had a 54-yard TD catch.
Quarterback Luke Altmyer completes 64.8 percent of his passes for 1,883 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 282 yards.
Defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton is a semifinalist for the Lombardi Award, given annually to the nation’s best defensive player. He leads the nation with 31 quarterback pressures.
Illinois has won two of its last three games, including a 27-24 victory at Maryland.
“They’re playing their best football of the season,” Allen said. “They’re a big, physical team. They have the biggest back we’ve played against, a very athletic quarterback, really talented receivers.
“They have a big, physical defense and one of the best defensive lines in the Big Ten.”
Quarterback Brendan Sorsby played perhaps the most complete game of his young career against Wisconsin despite a week of limited practice because of a banged up right shoulder suffered the previous week at Penn State. He completed 19-of-31 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for a touchdown.
For the season, he completes 55.4 percent of his passes for 875 yards, seven touchdowns, and one interception.
“We tried to modify everything to make sure he was 100 percent available (against Wisconsin), mentally and physically,” Allen said. “He did a tremendous job of locking in. It takes maturity to do that. Not everybody can.”
Sorsby and offensive coordinator Rod Carey hit the mental reps hard. He did walk-through reps as well as running-game reps where he didn’t have to throw.
“Each day we threw in a very controlled setting to get him ready,” Allen said.
Injuries have ended receiver Cam Camper’s season. Allen said Camper had a “procedure” done over the weekend. In eight games, he had 17 catches for 285 yards and a touchdown. His 16.8-yards-per-catch average leads the team.
“We’re trying to help him for his long term,” Allen said. “We’re excited to get him 100 percent healthy for the future.”
It helps to get receiver E.J. Williams Jr. back. He missed four games because of injuries. The 6-3, 200-pound transfer from Clemson has caught seven passes for 82 yards.
“He’s the fastest and longest receiver combination we have,” Allen said. “He’s made some big plays for us. He’s big enough to break tackles, and can stretch the field. We need him to continue to elevate and be a guy on the rise.
“We had high hopes for him when we brought him here. Unfortunately, he had an injury in Week One that set him back, but he stayed positive and stayed the course. Each week he gets more confident with (quarterback Brendan Sorsby) and our system. I have big expectations for him in these next few weeks.”
The offensive line struggled against Wisconsin in the second half. Losing veteran right tackle Kahlil Benson didn’t help.
“We lost some one-on-one battles,” Allen said. “When Kahlil went down, that hurt us. He’s one of our better players.
“Joshua Sales Jr. had a chance to play. That’s the most he’s played in a while. We need him to elevate and get better and work through that.”
Some of the struggles, especially in the running game, was due to the quality of Wisconsin’s defense. Illinois also has a strong group of defensive linemen and linebackers.
“(Wisconsin) made some adjustments and did things we’ve got to have an answer for,” Allen said. “They have a good front seven. We knew that going in.
“If they’re overloading the box, we’ve got to throw effectively and put the pressure on them vertically and on the perimeter.
“(The offensive line has) made a lot of progress, but we need them to step up. That will continue to be an area of focus this week. We play another talented front that makes it hard on offenses.”