Indiana’s passing attack has been the story for most of the 2024 season. But in game eight the Hoosiers turned to all the other phases — running the ball, defense and special teams — to pull out a hard-earned win over Washington.
Below we took a look at Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades, notes and snap counts from the contest.
Through eight games, Indiana’s overall PFF grade is No. 1 in the nation. Their overall offense is second, and their overall defense is fourth.
Next up for Indiana (8-0) is PFF No. 100 Michigan State (4-4) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, Peacock). The Spartans have lost four of five and are coming off a loss at Michigan. But they do own Big Ten wins over Iowa and Maryland.
OFFENSE
The top overall offensive grade went to running back Justice Ellison. There were very few easy runs for Ellison, who had to be evasive and grind out a lot of hard runs. PFF says 87 of his 123 yards came after contact. Ellison also had a good pass blocking grade.
Drew Evans, Bray Lynch and Trey Wedig all received very good pass blocking grades, and all five offensive linemen earned good marks in that regard. Evans, a former Wisconsin walk-on, earned the top line grade in both pass blocking and run blocking. Beyond Evans, the offensive line received average run blocking grades. PFF graders particularly did not like tight end Zach Horton‘s day in that regard.
In his first start, Tayven Jackson received respectable but not great grades as a passer and runner. He only dropped back to pass 19 times on 72 snaps while attempting eight runs.
Although he had a drop, Myles Price received the top receiving grade. No one from that group earned high-end marks.
Snap counts (72 total) —
- Drew Evans, OG (72)
- Carter Smith, OT (72)
- Trey Wedig, OT (72)
- Mike Katic, C (72)
- Bray Lynch, G (72)
- Tayven Jackson, QB (72)
- Elijah Sarratt, WR (63)
- Zach Horton, TE (57)
- Miles Cross, WR (55)
- Justice Ellison, RB (44)
- Omar Cooper, Jr., WR (42)
- Ty Son Lawton, RB (25)
- Myles Price, WR (21)
- Ke’Shawn Williams, WR (18)
- James Bomba, TE (17)
- Kaelon Black, RB (7)
- Tyler Stephens, TE/OT (6)
- Andison Coby, WR (5)
DEFENSE
The top overall defensive grade went to cornerback D’Angelo Ponds. Among defensive players with at least 40 snaps, he was graded the fourth-best player in the country for week 9. He completely changed the game with a first quarter interception he returned for a touchdown, and then made an incredible, acrobatic interception in the second quarter. In addition to those two plays, PFF says he was targeted just four times the entire game, and that resulted in just one completion for four yards. It should come as no surprise he also had the best coverage grade on the team.
The top overall run defense grade went to C.J. West. He only had two tackles, but in his role it’s all about taking up space and plugging gaps. He lined up in the A and B gaps throughout the game. He occupied multiple blockers and was able to generate pressure.
The top tackling grade went to cornerback Jamier Johnson, with Ponds right behind him. Against Washington’s big bruising back there were plenty of missed tackles. Shawn Asbury, Amare Ferrell, James Carpenter and Lanell Carr were all dinged with two missed tackles apiece, and IU had 13 on the game.
The top pass rush grade went to Jacob Mangum-Farrar in 20 snaps. Mikail Kamara is among the national leaders in pressures and he had four more (3 QB hits and a hurry) on Saturday.
Both Kamara and Ponds are top-25 nationally on the season for overall defensive grade among players with at least 300 snaps.
Snap counts (58 total) —
- Amare Ferrell, S (58)
- D’Angelo Ponds, CB (58)
- Jailin Walker, LB (58)
- Aiden Fisher, LB (57)
- Jamier Johnson, CB (56)
- Shawn Asbury, S (56)
- Terry Jones, CB (43)
- Mikail Kamara, DE (42)
- James Carpenter, DT (42)
- Lanell Carr, OLB (38)
- CJ West, DT (33)
- Tyrique Tucker, DT (23)
- Marcus Burris, DE (20)
- Jacob Mangum-Farrar, DE (20)
- Mario Landino, DT (16)
- Isaiah Jones, LB (14)
- Bryson Bonds, S (2)
- Rolijah Hardy, LB (2)
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 Twitter: @daily_hoosier
- Find us on Facebook and Instagram
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
