ANN ARBOR, Mich. – At each of Curt Cignetti’s head coaching stops, he has had Bryant Haines by his side.
From IUP to Elon to James Madison and now the play-caller for No. 6 Indiana’s defense, Haines has followed Cignetti every step of the way.
On Saturday, Haines showed why he earns $3 million annually. His defense held Michigan out of the end zone through regulation and overtime, and the Hoosiers defeated the Wolverines 13-6 at Michigan Stadium to improve to 7-1 on the season.
“The offense wasn’t getting enough, so defense’s backs were against the wall…we found a way,” Cignetti said postgame on IU’s defense. “I think our defense was outstanding.”
Michigan finished with just 224 total yards of offense, went 6-for-20 on third down, and could not find the end zone once.
Across all three levels, the defense put on a masterclass, recording 10 tackles for loss, four sacks, four pass breakups and two takeaways.
“Coach Haines does a great job of putting us in position to make plays,” defensive back Amare Ferrell said postgame. “At the end of day, it’s just doing your job…and good things will happen.”
Ferrell had an interception off Michigan quarterback Tommy Carr in the second quarter. The safety now has three picks across his last two games.
When Indiana’s offense couldn’t get anything going until overtime, the defense was there to pick them up every single time. Both of IU’s scoring drives in the first half were off of takeaways that set the Hoosiers up in Michigan territory.
In the final minute, clinging onto a 6-3 lead, Haines’ unit was tasked with keeping the Wolverines out of the end zone to preserve the lead. In a goal-to-go situation, the defense stood strong, forcing a field goal that sent the game to overtime.
In overtime, the Hoosiers held strong one final time, forcing a turnover on downs to clinch the victory.
“We talk about being a bend, don’t break kind of unit,” linebacker Rolijah Hardy added. “Coach Haines always tells us, as long as we got one inch of green grass to defend, we’re going to fight until the end.”
One example of defending every inch was a third-and-goal from the 1-yard line midway through the third quarter. Off play action, Carr dropped back and rolled out to the right, where Tobi Osunsanmi met him for a game-changing sack. Kicker Trey Butkowski proceeded to miss a 32-yard field goal.
“Tobi probably had the play of the day…the one down there by the goal line,” Cignetti added. “Every time they got down there, they couldn’t get in the end zone.”
With more than 111,000 screaming spectators in attendance for Saturday’s contest, life was certainly not easing for Haines in terms of communicating play calls to his unit. However, veteran linebacker Isaiah Jones noted his leadership as an integral part of Indiana’s defensive success.
“It gets loud down there because their fans are starting to get into the game,” Jones added. “Coach Haines and I have a really good relationship. We go through a lot of these plays during the week…so when he starts making a call, I know why he’s making the call…just trying to be on the same page as him.”
It wasn’t always pretty, but largely thanks to the defensive effort for 60 minutes plus an overtime drive, Indiana bounced back from last week’s loss to Ohio State. Week after week, Haines continues to show why he is invaluable to the success of IU football.
The Hoosiers will be back at Memorial Stadium to host Minnesota next Saturday, Oct. 31. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Eastern and the game will be televised on CBS.
For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- You can follow us on X: @daily_hoosier and find us on Facebook and Instagram
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
