Playoff Ready -- Fisher, Hoosiers Have More to Prove
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Playing under the radar works if you let it, if you thrive from it, if you grow from it, if you, like Aiden Fisher, work to make somebody pay because of it.
An All-Big Ten linebacker in his first Indiana football season, Fisher has proven he rates among the nation’s best; he leads a nationally ranked defense full of guys who have proven they, too, belong at the highest level despite being unwanted by traditional powerhouse programs as high school recruits and college transfers.
It burned them then, it burns them now, and if they have their way, it will burn Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff hopes into ashes come Dec. 20 at Notre Dame Stadium when the Hoosiers (11-1) play the Irish (11-1) in prime-time first-round action.
“A lot of guys who are here now aren't supposed to be here,” Fisher says. “They aren't big enough. They aren't fast enough. We carry that with us from the Monday walk-through to the Saturday kickoff.”
Fisher was once a recruiting afterthought despite a standout Virginia high school career in which he earned accolades as a linebacker, a running back, and a quarterback.
Curt Cignetti saw the potential and recruited him to James Madison, then brought Fisher with him to Indiana. The result is a team-leading 108 tackles, including 14 against Michigan. He also had 108 tackles last year at James Madison while earning All-Sun Belt Conference recognition.
“Every week I want to prove myself,” Fisher says. “That’s going back to high school, going back to when I was in the transfer portal. None of these (playoff) schools called me, none of these schools wanted me to play for them. I carry that every (game). This (game) is no different. That will be with me.”
This will be a game rich in intriguing matchups. As a linebacker, Fisher will be in the middle of perhaps the biggest of all given IU leads the nation in rushing defense, allowing 70.8 yards per game, while Notre Dame ranks 10th nationally in rushing at 225 yards a game. Something has to give.
“They’re really good on the ground,” Fisher says. “They always look to establish the run game. That’s been their identity.”
That identity starts with dual-threat quarterback Riley Leonard. He’s Notre Dame’s second-leading rusher with 721 yards and 14 touchdowns. He averages 10 carries a game and 5.8 yards per carry. He’s also thrown for 2,092 yards and 16 touchdowns against just five interceptions. He completes 66.2 percent of his passes.
Tailbacks Jeremiyah Love (948 yards, 15 touchdowns) and Jadarian Price (651, 7) are also formidable. Two other Irish have rushed for at least 116 yards.
“They have a really good O-line and really good backs,” Fisher says. “The quarterback is really good; the receivers are solid; the tight ends are really good, too.
“We definitely have got a challenge, but when you look back at the teams we've played, we've seen a lot of pocket passers, we've seen those mobile guys, as well. We've got to be ready for option plays, designed quarterback run, just making sure we're not falling asleep if he pulls the ball.”
Why has IU been so dominant against the run?
“I would just say the angles that we play with, the pursuit to the ball, that edge that we play with,” Fisher says. “It's playing together, playing off each other extremely well, doing our assignments and playing fast.”
Overall, the Hoosiers rank second in the Big Ten in points allowed (14.7) and in total yards allowed (244.8) under defensive coordinator Bryant Haines, who is in the running for the Broyles Award, which goes to the nation’s best assistant coach.
“It’s the edge we play with,” Fisher says. “We had a lot of new faces in the off-season, and we gelled really well. If you look at the continuity we’ve built, we’re all meshing well and playing good football at a time when it’s good to get rolling.”
The Hoosiers, Fisher says, have learned their crowd-noise lesson from last month’s 38-15 loss at Ohio State. They are better for the struggles caused by the roaring Ohio Stadium crowd of 106,000. A sell-out Notre Dame Stadium crowd of more than 77,000 will bring similar noise challenges.
“The biggest thing we learned is just to keep the main thing the main thing,” Fisher says. “No fan has an impact between the white lines. When you're in a hostile environment, you've got to block it out. It gets loud. It gets hostile. You're hearing a lot of different things. The biggest thing is just blocking it out.”
There’s nothing better, Fisher adds, than shutting up a loud crowd with a big play.
“I love it. You go into a stadium, and you quiet their fans, it's a really good feeling.”
The Hoosiers hope to have a very good feeling after a game generating so much national attention and in-state interest, tickets reportedly cost more than $1,000 each, far more than any other first-round matchup.
“This is a win-or-go-home setup,” quarterback Kurtis Rourke says, “so we have to make sure we come with our best effort, know it’s going to be a hostile environment and know how to handle it.”
Handling it includes extensive film work. That’s crucial for every game, more so in the playoffs when a season might come down to one play. Fisher maximizes his preparation opportunity, which resumed moments after playoff pairings came out Sunday afternoon.
“Once they placed us with Notre Dame,” he says, “I got my headphones, got my book bag, and came (to Memorial Stadium) to watch a little film and get ahead of it.
“Film is huge for me. Anything that can set me apart and get me ahead in my prep, I want to make sure I'm doing it. Film is that for me.”
During the season, Fisher says he studies film from five or six opponent games. With basically two weeks to prepare for Notre Dame, he says he might bump that up to eight games, “Just to make sure I’m getting everything.”
“If you look back through a season,” he adds, “there are some things, trick plays, little things, that they ran in Week 1 or Week 2, and maybe they think it's a good look for our defense.
“I want to make sure I'm prepared in everything I do. Film is a great way to do that.”
And if leads to a win over Notre Dame and then three more victories after that to claim a first-ever Hoosier football national championship, all the better.