Indiana Football: Can Hoosiers find way to get to bowl in 2019?

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BLOOMINGTON, IN – NOVEMBER 24: Cole Herdman #88 of the Purdue Boilermakers is tackled by T.D. Roof #45 and Devon Matthews #27 of the Indiana Hoosiers during the game at Memorial Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

Defense must avoid another letdown season

What let the Hoosiers down in many of those close games was the defense.

In the Ohio State game, for example, they gave up four second-half touchdowns while the game was still close. The Hoosier defense gave up two crucial touchdowns against Penn State in the second half of another close loss.

The Hoosiers gave up over 30 points seven times last year including giving up 40 points twice. However, they were only out of one game (against Iowa). They were near the bottom of the conference in yards per game and scoring defense. The primary issue was they couldn’t stop any explosive plays downfield, or get their opponent off the field on third downs. They were one of only four teams in the Big Ten that allowed opponents to convert third downs over 40 percent of the time.

Indiana is going to need someone to rush the passer better than last year. The Hoosiers’ leading pass rusher had a meager 3.5 sacks last year. If you can’t get to the quarterback, it doesn’t matter how good the coverage is — someone is going to get open eventually.

If any of they can make just a few more stops on defense they might be able to win one or two of those close games.

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