Close Menu
The Daily Hoosier
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • IU AD Dolson on football success: “We are paranoid, don’t want to be one-hit wonder”
    • “We needed a kick in the ___”: Former IU football OL describes changes under Bob Bostad
    • Here’s where the oddsmakers are placing the over/under for IU football’s 2025 win total
    • Two former IU women’s basketball stars waived ahead of start of WNBA season
    • IU basketball recruiting: Hoosiers offer 2026 5-star forward Toni Bryant
    • ‘I feel like it was in my genetics’: How Blake Smythe’s football family led him to Indiana
    • Former IU basketball star Troy Williams joins 2025 Assembly Ball TBT squad
    • Rick Carlisle praises Thomas Bryant as Pacers advance to Eastern Conference Finals
    • Sign Up
    • About/Support
    • Jobs
    • Tickets
      • IUBB Tickets (Stubhub)
      • IUFB Tickets (Stubhub)
    • Shop
      • Official IU Store
      • IU Adidas Store
      • Amazon: Support TDH
      • IU Memorabilia
      • IU Press (Books)
      • The Daily Hoosier T-Shirt
    • Radio/Podcasts
      • East 17th Street
    • Pro IU
      • IUBB NBA
      • IUFB NFL
      • IUBASE MLB
    • Forum
      • Disqus Forum
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    The Daily HoosierThe Daily Hoosier
    Thursday, May 15
    • IU Basketball
      • Latest IU Basketball News
      • Offseason roster activity tracker
      • 2025-26 IU Basketball Roster
      • DeVries’ new staff
      • Scholarship Chart
      • Future Schedules
      • IU Basketball 2024-25 Schedule
      • 2024-25 Big Ten Standings
      • 24-25 IU Basketball Stats
      • Rankings & Bracketology
      • IU Basketball Media Guide
    • IU Football
      • Latest IU Football News
      • Roster updates by position
      • 2025 scholarship tracker
      • Current roster
      • Curt Cignetti’s staff
      • Future opponents through 2032
      • IU Football 2024 Schedule
      • 2024 B1G Standings
      • 2024 IUFB Stats
      • IU Football 2024 Record Book
    • IU Recruiting
      • IU Basketball Recruiting News
      • IU Football Recruiting News
      • IUBB 2026-28 Prospects
      • Recruit Interviews
      • Recruit Highlights
      • IU Football Recruiting Commits
    • IU Women’s Basketball
      • IU Women’s Basketball News
      • 24-25 Schedule
      • Big Ten Standings
    • IU Men’s Soccer
      • 2024 Schedule
      • Indiana Men’s Soccer: Program History
    • More Hoosiers
      • Fan and Business NIL options
      • IU Baseball
        • Baseball Schedule
        • Statistics
        • Big Ten Standings
      • IU Swim & Dive
      • IU Olympic Results
    • Hoosier History
      • March Madness Classics
      • Basketball History
      • Football History
      • IUFB Best Seasons
      • IUFB All-Time Top 10 Players
    The Daily Hoosier

    Indiana football’s defense falls apart in worst statistical performance in eight years

    Patrick FeltsBy Patrick FeltsNovember 12, 2022 IU Football 4 Comments
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — A season-long struggle for Indiana’s defense reached a new low Saturday afternoon at Ohio Stadium, as the Hoosiers fell 56-14 to the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes.

    The performance marked not only Indiana’s worst defensive showing of the season, but also its worst in nearly a decade. Ohio State’s 56 points and 662 yards from scrimmage are the most allowed by the team since a 56-17 loss to Michigan State on Oct. 18, 2014, in which the Hoosiers also allowed exactly 662 yards.

    Head coach Tom Allen was disappointed with the team’s defensive performance against a star-studded Ohio State offense.

    “[Against] a really talented football team, we have to have guys step up,” Allen said following the game. “But I just think we didn’t. Execution to me was too, we had a pretty simple plan to help our guys to get to that get to the football surrounded and get guys on the ground. So just poor performance for sure.”

    One area that Indiana’s struggled with most in Saturday’s defeat was tackling, something that the team made a point of emphasis in practice in the week leading up to the Ohio State game.

    Indiana’s tackling problem came to a head when Ohio State wide receiver Xavier Johnson weaved through the entire Indiana defense on a reverse play, evading a number of Hoosier tackle attempts with relative ease, en route to a 71-yard touchdown run.

    Even in an area that the Hoosiers focused on tightening up all week long, the team still could not do what needed to be done.

    “We’ve gotta be more fundamentally sound when it comes to tackling,” linebacker Aaron Casey said. “All in all, everyone together, just swarming the ball, eleven hats to the ball. We need that every play.”

    Indiana’s special teams did its best to put the defense in a good position throughout the afternoon, although it was not enough. Punter James Evans had 500 yards of punting on 11 punts against the Buckeyes, regularly putting them well into their own territory.

    But that field position rarely lasted for the Buckeyes, however, with explosive plays propelling them down the field like clockwork – an issue Allen noticed with his defense all afternoon long.

    “I’m disappointed in the explosive plays we gave up, especially in the run game,” Allen said. “The pass game is hard, they’ve got guys matched up against you and just there’s not enough hats to the ball, not enough guys making plays and finishing plays at the point of attack.”

    The historically-poor defensive outing for Indiana was not a one-off performance, either. The defense has been in its worst form of the Tom Allen era in recent weeks.

    Over the past eleven quarters and since taking a 14-0 lead against Rutgers in the first quarter of that game, the Hoosiers have been outscored 125-31 by its opposition, and have allowed more than 40 points in back-to-back games for the first time since Oct. 13, 2018.

    The defense is aware of its struggles – now with the season winding to a close and bowl eligibility out of the picture, the Hoosiers are looking to correct course and reverse that disturbing trend.

    For the Hoosiers, the path back to the defensive dominance that defined the team in 2019 and 2020 starts with improving the little things and instilling confidence in the locker room.

    “Really just going back to the basics,” Casey said. “Telling everybody, ‘we can play, we can play with these boys,’ just let them know that they put our pants on the same way we do. So just go in there, play our hardest and play the way we know how to play.”

    IU football vs. Ohio State: Tom Allen post-game, highlights, final stats


    The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

    • Find us on Facebook:  thedailyhoosier
    • You can follow us on Twitter:  @daily_hoosier
    • Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.

    Related

    indiana hoosiers
    Patrick Felts

    Keep Reading

    IU AD Dolson on football success: “We are paranoid, don’t want to be one-hit wonder”

    “We needed a kick in the ___”: Former IU football OL describes changes under Bob Bostad

    Here’s where the oddsmakers are placing the over/under for IU football’s 2025 win total

    Latest Hoosier News
    • IU AD Dolson on football success: “We are paranoid, don’t want to be one-hit wonder”
    • “We needed a kick in the ___”: Former IU football OL describes changes under Bob Bostad
    • Here’s where the oddsmakers are placing the over/under for IU football’s 2025 win total
    • Two former IU women’s basketball stars waived ahead of start of WNBA season
    • IU basketball recruiting: Hoosiers offer 2026 5-star forward Toni Bryant
    • ‘I feel like it was in my genetics’: How Blake Smythe’s football family led him to Indiana
    • Former IU basketball star Troy Williams joins 2025 Assembly Ball TBT squad
    Sign Up



    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    © 2025 The Daily Hoosier, LLC.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Ad Blocker Enabled!
    Ad Blocker Enabled!
    Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please support us by disabling your Ad Blocker.