Indiana Defense Continues to Force Takeaways in Win Over Maryland
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — In practice, Stevie Scott has to keep the ball high and tight.
He knows that if he doesn't, Indiana's defense is going to strip that ball away from him.
Scott called the defensive unit "ball hawks," which is exactly what the Hoosiers have been this season, and that continued Saturday against Maryland.
Near the end of the first quarter, the Terrapins were driving into Indiana territory. Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa had a receiver coming over the middle on a crossing route, but he threw it a tad behind him, which is a costly mistake against Indiana.
The ball got tipped up into the air, and Indiana cornerback Tiawan Mullen came away with the interception. It was Mullen's third pick of the season.
"He was a one-read player," Mullen said on Tagovailoa. "Wherever he looked, that's which way he was gonna throw the ball. So, we just did a lot of studying on him in film and came away with a lot of takeaways."
Then again in the second quarter, Maryland was driving into Indiana's red zone until the defense halted all momentum.
Tagovailoa dropped back to pass, he had a lot of time, but by the time he threw it, Jaylin Williams had already sniffed out the route and made the interception.
Unfortunately for Williams, as he was trying to take his interception to the house, he was stripped from behind and Maryland got the ball back. It was very similar to what happened with Jamar Johnson just a week prior against Ohio State.
"It's frustrating we fumbled that one back," Tom Allen said. "I don't know why that's happened twice now, but we'll work more on ball security with our DB's."
The good thing about those two fumbles by Johnson and Williams is that Indiana's defense didn't give up any points after turning it back over to the offense.
Indiana wasn't done picking off Tagovailoa either. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, he tried to float a pass over the middle, but Micah McFadden came swooping in to intercept the ball.
Indiana lead's the nation with 16 interceptions this season.
McFadden's pick resulted in Scott's third touchdown run of the game, which gave Indiana the 27-3 lead. Those were surprisingly the first points the Hoosiers were able to score off the defense's takeaways.
The offense has struggled the last two games to score off takeaways, but the Indiana defense has just continued to stifle opponent's offenses.
The Hoosier defense even got some points of their own on Saturday. After the Indiana offense got stuffed on a 4th-and-2 inside the five, allowing Maryland to take over, linebacker D.K. Bonhomme tackled Tagovailoa in the end zone for a loss of four and a safety.
"That was big time," Cam Jones said on Bonhomme's safety. "We knew what they was finna run, we told him that the play was gonna come and he did his job. I'm happy for him."
Jones felt like Indiana's defense got off to a slow start, giving up some chunk plays to Maryland's offense.
But in the second half, the Hoosiers settled in and made life difficult on the Terrapins.
Maryland had 237 yards of total offense in the first half, but only 63 total yards in the second half.
"We knew we had to step up big time and get their offense off the field," Jones said. "Coach stressed to us that everybody just needed to do their job, stay locked in and just focus on the details."
For those questioning the legitimacy of Indiana's defense, and perhaps saying their Big Ten leading 18 takeaways have been opportunistic, Tom Allen put that to rest right away after the game.
This is a defense that has been feasting on opponents this season, and there's no luck to it.
"Oh it's not by chance. I promise you that," Allen said. "Just watch the film. These takeaways are created... We work extremely hard to create takeaways. Talk to the quarterbacks after they play us, they'll let you know."
Related Stories:
- MICHAEL PENIX INJURED IN WIN: Michael Penix Jr. sustained a lower-leg injury in the third quarter against Maryland and had to exit the game. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA FINDS NEW WAY TO TOP MARYLAND: The Hoosiers offense had some new formations Saturday that worked out really well. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA-MARYLAND LIVE BLOG: For all live in-game updates you may have missed during the game, CLICK HERE
