Indiana’s 52-16 win over North Texas came with a clear message attached: the defense has plenty to clean up.
For a unit built around a loaded front seven, Saturday night in Bloomington looked a lot less like the dominant Indiana defenses of the last two seasons and more like the groups that came before Curt Cignetti arrived in late November 2023. Tackling was shaky, coverage broke down at the wrong times, and North Texas found enough room to pile up 367 yards against a defense that usually does not give that kind of ground.
Cignetti didn’t sugarcoat it afterward.
“I didn’t think we played real well on defense,” Cignetti said after the game. “They had us off-balance.
Whether it was poor tackling out on the perimeter … when you play a first game, especially a new staff, and you’re not exactly sure what you’re gonna see offensively, you see some looks that you haven’t practiced, you gotta make some adjustments. That was the case.”
North Texas entered the opener as a tough team to pin down. The Mean Green have a new coaching staff and one of the lowest returning-production totals in FBS, which may explain some of Indiana’s issues. But the problems weren’t limited to unfamiliar looks.
The Hoosiers were not nearly as disruptive as they’ve been under Cignetti and defensive coordinator Bryant Haines. Indiana finished with just one sack, a first-quarter takedown by defensive tackle Tyrique Tucker on former IU quarterback Tayven Jackson.
Mario Landino and Jeff Utzinger, along with Rolijah Hardy and Josh Burnham, combined for two QB hurries. Indiana did notch seven tackles for loss, but two of those came in the final two minutes with both teams essentially running out the clock.
Quan Sanks added an interception, though that too came in garbage time.
Linebacker Isaiah Jones said the group knew it left too much on the field.
“The defense left the field unsatisfied in how we played,” Jones said. “We beat ourselves on some plays and we got to get off the field quicker.”
The numbers backed that up. North Texas’ 367 yards were more than Indiana allowed in all but one of its 16 games in 2025, when Oregon did it in the Peach Bowl.
Michigan State also reached 367 yards in Bloomington last October. In 2024, only Maryland and Notre Dame topped that mark against the Hoosiers.
Jones pointed to the basics - and the standard - as the issue.
“You just want to see better tackling. You want to see more explosive plays, more explosive defense, TFLs, sacks.
If they get the ball at the perimeter, it’s a TFL, it’s a gain of one,” Jones said. “Violent, vice tackles, that’s what we preach, hustling for the ball, and we have to correct that.”
Even so, this was only the opener. Indiana has needed time to settle in before, including both the 2024 squad and the 2025 champions, and Jones said the staff will make sure the mistakes are addressed quickly.
“When you have a coach like coach Haines, coach Cignetti, and all those defensive coaches on the staff, they’re not going to let that go lightly when we get to practice on Monday and meetings,” Jones said. “And when you have guys that have played on defense before and are leaders, those leaders are going to step up and we’re going to make sure that we’re flying to the ball and we’re going to vice (tackle) and hit ball carriers.”
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