Justin Fields Thinks Indiana Has One of the Best Defenses He'll See All Year

Here are my biggest takeaways from Justin Fields' Wednesday meeting with reporters.

Justin Fields met with the media on Wednesday ahead of the Buckeyes game against Indiana. Here are my biggest takeaways from his comments:

Fields spoke highly of the Hoosiers defense, noting that they have a number of great athletes and that "they bring so many different blitzes." He's been impressed with Indiana's secondary, which leads the country with 10 interceptions over four games (2.5 per game is best in the nation, but a few schools have more total interceptions during more games played). He noted that Indiana may have one of the best defenses he'll see this season.

On the contrary, no Power 5 quarterback has a better touchdown-to-interception ratio over the last two seasons and Fields has made it a huge point of emphasis to protect the ball. He said he thinks a good chunk of the 10 interceptions Indiana has recorded came when the quarterback panicked while under pressure.

When I asked him about how he would evaluate his play so far this season, regardless of what the stats show, Fields said, "I think I can improve in all aspects of the game ... but I think I've done a good job taking what the defense gives me, and keeping our offense on schedule.”

He also said that he's learned to adapt the whatever is thrown his way. “Throughout this whole process, the one thing I've learned is that you're gonna get surprises.” He talked about controlling your reaction to those surprises appropriately, like when the team was in the middle of practicing last week for Maryland and the game was cancelled.

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