Indiana’s defense has turned into the engine of Curt Cignetti’s team, and after Saturday’s 13-6 overtime win at Michigan, the head coach wasn’t shy about saying so.
The Hoosiers left Ann Arbor with a gritty bounce-back victory after the loss to Ohio State, and Cignetti spent much of his Monday remarks applauding a unit that kept Michigan out of the end zone and finished the job with a fourth-down stop in overtime.
"Great bounceback win last week up at the Big House," Cignetti said. "Tough, gritty, hard-fought game.
Tremendous job by our defense. Came up time and time again with key plays at the right time.
Just can't say enough about them."
That kind of performance has been showing up for a while now. Indiana has held opponents to just three touchdowns in the last 11 red-zone trips, a stretch that has allowed the Hoosiers to stay afloat even when the offense has gone quiet.
Cignetti pointed to the basics behind that run: discipline, execution and a front that has made running the ball a chore.
"Timely plays and getting 11 guys to do their job," Cignetti said. "We got good players.
We are good up front. Our front seven, eight, we're hard to run against."
A big part of that surge has been defensive end Tobi Osunsanmi, who has piled up nine sacks through eight games after recording 8.5 over three seasons at Kansas State. Cignetti praised his growth under defensive coordinator Bryant Haines and the rest of the staff, noting his explosiveness, technique and leadership.
Linebacker Rolijah Hardy has also carved out a bigger role with his intelligence and versatility, while defensive back Amari Ferrell has picked off three passes in the last two games.
Still, Indiana knows the other side of the ball has work to do. Against Michigan, the Hoosiers had trouble separating at receiver and didn’t throw the ball with much frequency or success, something Cignetti tied directly to how the game unfolded.
"We didn't separate at receiver in this game, and, you know, we obviously didn't throw the ball very well or very often," Cignetti said. "And a lot of that was because of type of game it became."
He also said the sluggish passing game wasn’t a total surprise based on what happened in practice the previous week.
"And quite frankly, in practice last week the pass game wasn't very good. I expect it to be better this week," he said.
The next test comes against Minnesota, which arrives at 5-2 and has already knocked off three teams that were ranked when it played them. Cignetti said quarterback Josh Hoover is expected to be healthier this week, but Indiana’s offense will need more than that to get moving.
For now, the defense is carrying the load. The bigger question is whether the offense can start pulling its weight, too.
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