‘Showing Up’ – Moore Thrives in Second IU Chance
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
LOS ANGELES - Louis Moore laughs. How could he not, when when reflecting on how far he’s come and the college football history Indiana continues to make?
“It still hasn’t hit me for real, what we’re doing,” the veteran safety says from a Sheraton Grand ballroom. “It’s history. It’s one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history. Nobody saw Indiana doing this.”
He pauses.
“We’re here now. We’ve got to live in it and take advantage of it.”
Advantage comes as the top-seeded Hoosiers (13-0) prepare to face ninth-seeded Alabama (11-3) in a Jan. 1 Rose Bowl quarterfinal showdown. The winner advances to the Jan. 9 semifinals in Atlanta. The loser goes home.
That the Hoosiers, who began the season as the losingest program in major college football history, are in this position continues to amaze.
“It’s the truth,” Moore says with a smile. “When you’re in the season, it’s too busy. You go from this game to this game to this game. But now that we’ve had these three weeks (since beating Ohio State in the Big Ten title game), you have time to think about it. I was talking to my teammates. I was saying, ‘We beat Ohio State, bro.’ My first game against them, they blew us out (56-14 in 2022), and we beat them. I’m so appreciative of this.”
So are long-suffering Indiana fans, who enthusiastically thank the players when meeting them. Moore says those interactions are special.
“It goes a long way. We aren’t superheroes. Coming from Dallas, I never thought I would be in the Rose Bowl with Indiana. To see how much the team means to the fans, it’s something they’ll remember the rest of their lives. We’ll remember it, too.
“I have a teacher I go out with. They were watching the Ohio State game crying, celebrating because it means so much to them and to us.”
Moore has emerged as a superstar in his sixth season. The All-American’s six interceptions rank second nationally. His 76 tackles are second on the team.
Moore nearly didn’t get this final college chance.
Citing its five-year player-eligibility rule, the NCAA denied him a sixth year. Moore, who played at Navarro Community College in 2020 and ’21, sued the NCAA to gain a sixth year as a junior college transfer. After a series of hearings, Moore was finally granted an injunction allowing him to play.
While Moore didn’t miss a game, and his performance wasn’t negatively affected, he says the drama weighed heavily on him.
“I trusted in my faith that it wasn’t nothing God wouldn’t bring me through. Every day, beside Saturdays and the games, it was on the back of my mind. Would this be my last game? During the game, I was locked in. After it was over, it was like, ‘Now I’m back to reality. It’s something I have to deal with.’”
He smiles.
“I’m glad it’s over.”
So is head coach Curt Cignetti.
“I'm really happy for Louis. He had to overcome some obstacles to get where he is today. He had that NCAA thing hanging over his head during fall camp and the first three or four games of the season. I'm sure that was a distraction. Once he got that behind him, boy, he really came on.
“He's got great ball skills and football instincts. He's been a huge part of our defensive success.”
Moore played two years at IU, but spent last season at Ole Miss, leaving just as Cignetti was taking over the Hoosier program. After a sub-par season, Moore rejoined the Hoosiers, who had gone 11-2 and reached the playoffs for the first time in program history
“He saw what we were doing here and returned,” Cignetti says.
Moore called coming back a “no brainer.”
“Even when I left last year, Coach Cig was good about it,” Moore says. “I wanted to take a chance on myself in another conference. It wasn’t anything Coach Cig did. When I had the opportunity to come back, I had other offers and visits lined up, but when Coach Cig offered, I didn’t have to make any visits. I was coming back.”
The lesson, Moore says, starts with not taking anything for granted.
“The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. I found that to be true. Be where your heart is. Trust your gut when you make decisions.”
That trust has paid off.
“Getting here to showcase my talents again, because I didn’t have a very good year last year, is special,” Moore says. “I feel that of any (junior college player) who got a year back, I needed it the most. I’m glad for the year I’m having.”
For good reason. Moore had totaled three interceptions in his first two seasons as a Hoosier, and none at Ole Miss. He’s doubled that total this year. The secret, he says, starts with film study.
“When you know certain formations by watching film, you get the gist of what’s coming,” he says. “Then instinct and behavior come into play. We’re all on scholarship. We play some great quarterbacks who make decisions. We make decisions. You have to read your keys.
“After film study, you have to let your athletic ability come through. When the ball is in the air, the receiver is going for it, too. You have to go up and get it.”
It sounds easy. It’s not.
“Depending on what the play is,” Moore says, “everybody has a key. You have to read your key. Once the play develops, and it happens quick, you have to put two and two together. You’ve got to know what you’re going to see pre-snap, and then it’s like, ‘Ok, what’s my next move?’ But it happens in a snap.”
Improvisation has no place in defensive coordinator Bryant Haines’ attacking system, which ranks among the nation’s best by holding opponents to 10.8 points.
“You have to do your job,” Moore says. “Everybody has a job to do. Somebody has to make a play. Somebody has to get the running back to the ground or bat the ball down or intercept the ball.”
Moore credits working with Haines and safeties coach Ola Adams for his improvement.
“It’s my mental approach more than anything,” he says. “It’s noticing formations. It’s understanding why people are lined up in this way, what they like to do from that. Seeing the pre-snap scans do a lot for me.
“Coach Adams is hard on me. He’s hard on all of us. He’s a strict coach, but that’s what we need. There isnt’ complacency here.”
Alabama’s passing attack thrives behind quarterback Ty Simpson and standout receivers such as Germie Bernard and Ryan Williams.
“They are an elite team,” Moore says. “They’ve always been elite in my lifetime. Ty is an elite quarterback. They’re all good.”
So are the Hoosiers, and Moore reflects on the improbability of it all.
“This is what you come to Indiana for now.” He pauses to smile, recognizing how saying that would once have been absurd. “I know, but now you come to Indiana to play in games like this.
“We’re here, now. We have to show up.”