Any time a defense keeps a team under 20 points in today's college football, that's pretty solid. Indiana's D did just that against North Texas on Saturday afternoon but head coach Curt Cignetti still saw a lot of areas for improvement . Several players looked good for IU and a few new guys had to step up due to injuries.
Using a tool like Pro Football Focus allows us to see what happened on a player-by-player basis and gives some insight as to how the game really went. It's not gospel, but there are some things that just don't show up in the box score that can tell another part of the story.
The 6-2, 250-pound Edge was a big get for Curt Cignetti and Co. out of the transfer portal and he did not disappoint in his first game as a Hoosier. The former Kansas State Wildcat only played 38 of 71 snaps, but he was impactful while he was out there. His final grade was 80.8 and he really shined as a run defender per Pro Football Focus.
On paper he didn't exactly light it up with four tackles, but two of them were for loss and overall he was solid and did what he was supposed to do.
Another transfer player making an impact, Hjelle earned a 76.8 overall grade from PFF and was very stout against the run and as a tackler. He only recorded three tackles, but the big DT did have a key stop on third down to get his defense off the field.
The former Tulsa lineman checks in at 6-3, 305 pounds and he used that build and size to do his job in the middle of the D-line.
The 6-2, 205-pound defensive back, who has spent his entire collegiate career at Indiana , racked up five tackles and earned an overall defensive grade of 70.4 from Pro Football Focus. Not surprisingly, Ferrell graded out best as a cover man but was also solid against the run. He did miss a tackle, but overall he was dependable on a day that IU's secondary was bit by the injury bug.
Ferrell led all Hoosiers with 67 of 71 snaps, which makes his performance even more impressive. Being on the field that much in the opener and playing at a high level is great to build on. Throw in the fact that both starting cornerbacks left the game injured in the first quarter and Indiana needed Ferrell to step up.
Speaking of those injured corners, the backs up played a ton of snaps because of when the injuries happened. Ryland Gandy played the second-most snaps on the team and didn't start. Jaylen Bell was only eight snaps behind him, and didn't start either. That is a great example of next man up.
It's never good when your two starting cornerbacks play just 23 snaps combined. That's what happened with AJ Harris , who went out after just seven plays, and Jamari Sharpe , who hit the showers just nine plays later.
