Previously: Offense, Last Year

Resources: My charting, IU game notes, IU roster, CFBstats

The film: Still Penn State because way back when they played Ohio State they were still trying to shake things out.

Personnel: My diagram:

PDF Version, full-size version (or click on the image)

They're still trying to shake things out; of the starters only Johnson, Head, McFadden, Mullen, and Bryant got significantly more play than their nominal backups. They did replace those two walk-on defensive ends; I'll discuss new starters SDE James Head and WDE Michael Ziemba further down. Former WDE starter Alan Stallings (+1/-1.5) still gets some snaps; former SDE starter Gavin Everett does not, with RS soph Alfred Bryant (+5.5/-2) a solid backup.

As for the tackles, there's a decent one I was close to giving a star, and very large freshman just over the border for what I consider a cyan. No, not Juan Harris you people—that's like so last October. The not-quite star is returning starter Jerome Johnson (+6.5/-4.5), who's not much of a pass rusher but will do this to runs once a drive. NT Demarcus Elliott (+3.5/-11.5) gets no pass rush and is too moveable by doubles. Backup NT Sio Nofoagatoto'a (+1/-2) is a pluggier version of Elliott. Backup DT Jonathan King (+0/-2) is on loan from the SDE depth chart and it shows.

Sophomore MLB Micah McFadden (+11.5/-6 and a neg in pass pro), is a Don Brown-style (read: vast acceleration) backer coming into his McGrone. WLB Reakwon Jones (+3/-6), a former backup at the hybrid role, is probably still 15-20 pounds lighter than his listed 233, and still plays like a quasi-safety. Jones splits time with WLB Cam Jones (+0/-3), a more recent convert from HUSKY, whose career has been chronicled by IU fans disappointed Jones grew out of the roster's trouble spot. That doesn't make him a linebacker though. McFadden's backup, RS freshman MLB James Miller (+2/-4) looks like he can play…next year.

It took me a minute to find HUSKY Marcelino Ball (+3/-1), thanks to a number change; he doesn't jump off the film anymore either. Ball has reclaimed his hybrid role full-time—no more moonlighting at safety when Cam Jones is in—and like Khaleke the physique says linebacker. Except he's now splitting time with the new kid, Jamar Johnson (+2/-2).

[After THE JUMP: I bet I can find a way to say Whop Philyor again]

You can see why his coaches might be tempted to play Ball deep anyway. FS Juwan Burgess (+1/-11 against the run but +2/-4 in coverage) dominated a Speedy Eaglet cross on the first play from scrimmage and was atrocious beyond that, a MAJOR run liability because he won't come down. Burgess remains an "OR" with FS Devon Matthews (+0/-2, +0/-4), who comes in every once in awhile to bust something so his coaches will believe they're stuck with Burgess. The starting SS Khalil Bryant (+4/-5 run) isn't as lost as he looked last year on most downs, yet he was at fault for the worst bust of them all. He's yet to totally replace former starter SS Bryant Fitzgerald (+0/-6, +1/0), an able coverage safety who's unsafe the second the play becomes a run.

Weirdly none of the laundry list of guys who started opposite Rashad Fant are starting. Boundary CB A'Shon Riggins retired mid-season, replaced by able true sophomore Jaylin Williams (+2/-2 in coverage), while runaway beanpole Raheem Layne (+0/-4 run, +2/-0 coverage) is relegated to backup snaps. Former Fant heir Andre Brown (+1/-3 in run and coverage) is around but has been pipped by a freshmen or two, the true, CB Tiawan Mullen (+2/+2, +5/-3), a budding star who can stick with Speedy Eaglet, and soon the redshirt, former Mr. Indiana/CB Reese Taylor, who looked good in limited snaps late, and handled kick returns in Whop Philyor's absence.

----------------------------------

Base Set: They're a year ahead of Michigan in converting their Man 1 defense into a base two-high.

The WLB does tend to start inside more, but he plays outside; like Michigan the heavyset DEs are more likely to push inside and play to spill. Often the safeties are pushed back to start then walk up at the snap to cover RPO zones. The counter to this is the safeties stay high while a linebacker and cornerback blitzes, which can catch your offense looking for the bomb and get sacked, can catch your zone read game with an extra scraper, or give up an easy 10-yard catch the safeties will then convert to 15 or many.

Their pass set is interesting in that it uses the same personnel but the DBs are all set up deep, the LBs are in the slots, and the WDE becomes a rush linebacker who stalks behind the line of scrimmage until you snap it and he goes to whatever gap it is this time:

I called it "Thirty" because three DL, one of them in a zero-tech. "Eagle" is a wide set where both sets of DTs and DEs are over the guards' and tackles' shoulders and the middle linebacker is set up a yard off the nose.

2019 Indiana vs PSU	D Shift					Safeties			Rushers
Situation	Under	Over	Thirty	Eagle		1-high	2-high		3	4	5	6+
Normal Downs (43)	60%	36%	2%	2%		5%	95%		-	40%	40%	20%
Passing Downs (25)	16%	52%	24%	8%		8%	92%		8%	46%	29%	17%
Total (68)	29	28	7	3		4%	63		2	28	24	12

They're almost always in two-high then walk down a safety after the play begin if it's single coverage—if they're in 1-high at the snap it's only because they got caught anticipating it.

What Shall We Call the Hybrid Today? HUSKY. Told you it'd get good later in the season.

Man or zone coverage: An even mix because they blitz so much. They show you a lot of Quarters before the snap but they're going to convert to Cover 1 a lot and Cover Zero a lot too, or a form of Doubles coverage except only on one receiver.

Pressure: GERG or DR BLITZ: Dude, didn't I say this reminds me exactly of Michigan State last week? I did, but I think I said it to a psychedelic stuffed bear that found its way into my office. Well the bear can corroborate with bar graphs: it feels exactly like how MSU blitzes:

Which is a lot. Doc.

Dangerman:

Again, the defensive ends are overview material because they're the key to the changes in Tom Allen's fourth year. But we should recognize James Head (+9/-1.5) from this game because his emergence has completely changed the dynamic on his side of the line, whether he's shooting inside to stuff a run Kwity-style:

Or forklifting offensive tackles into the quarterback for a strip-sack like Mike Danna:

Opposite Head is a good counterfactual if Michigan were to play Uche every down, or perhaps just a good example of what Pierre Woods would be if he played at Michigan today, named Michael Ziemba (+12/-7). Again, I think the roster data lie: he's probably 240-something, tall, lengthy, wiry, and dangerous as hell on a straight edge rush because of his acceleration and long blond hair:

When asked to play inside gaps or hold up to T/TE doubles he gets tossed five yards downfield, hence the demi-cyan.

Unhelpfully, Ziemba isn't the only tall, white, blond-hair-streaking-in-the-wind Hoosier with a number ending in seven accelerating into the backfield too quickly for a quarterback to decide what to do about it. Micah McFadden is a Don Brown linebacker (though he'd fit in fine on Wisconsin behind a Ryan Connelly), a bit thin for taking on blocks, sure, but so quick in a straight line that who's going to block him? IU likes to have him blitz in a spy technique, count some apples or Mississippis, then flash:

It works every damn time. I also really liked his answer for what to do when the opponent is running Counter Trey, and you get to the hole first, but there's no way in Columbus, Ohio that you're going to stay there once the pulling guard has something to do about it:

Good answer.

Also in good answers: what's Indiana to do at cornerback for the next four years now that the talented recruited by Kevin Wilson is gone and Allen's stuck using what you can convince to go to Indiana to cover the KJ Hills and KJ Hamlers and KJ Ronnie Bells of the world? Probably play Tiawan Mullen the next four years:

Yep: Mullen.

OVERVIEW:

Tom Allen's sideline posture passed the "highly annoying line" on the Izzo Scale last November, but I still really like his defensive philosophies, and how he adjusts. It's clear, even if you're not downloading their last five classes to a spreadsheet to Vlookup their 24/7 rankings, that Indiana isn't exactly dealing with the pick of the Big Ten litter:

Most of these guys aren't elite athletes. Most of them have one trait they're trying to emphasize and one they're trying to hide, for example McFadden's speed and acceleration are a major part of their defense, but every once in awhile he has to change directions and that can go badly. The 38-yard TD run in this game by Sean Clifford started a linebacker hitting the wrong gap too hard and the refs missing an egregious hold on the DT, but really went to hell when McFadden just fell down.

Nothing open down the field vs. man-to-man? That's OK - @PennStateFball's Sean Clifford's got this. pic.twitter.com/xSv7UrLxR8

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 16, 2019

Their size issues are less apparent with the press kit lies, but no amount of telling people you're 234 is going to make it so when the Freiermuth comes a-knockin'.

So Allen has become adept at papering. For example, Indiana's major problem on defense last year was they were playing two undersized walk-on defensive ends who couldn't get any pass rush. Their problem going into this year was those guys were back and their best (only) safety wasn't.

The response has been to go with a lot more under alignments, playing the strongside end as a quasi-DT, and treating the weakside end like something of a 3-4's weakside OLB. Remember his famous blitz "America" which was just the HUSKY blitzing while a safety rolled over on top of the tight end? Look at America now:

They're dropping that backside DE into coverage and slanting the line to the frontside, creating difficult reads for zone read running games and surprise coverage from the WDE. Head is just a good player, but Ziemba (and to a lesser degree, the old walk-on starter Alan Stallings, who's a little ball of hate and therefore still useful in this role) is a player you access by playing him off the line of scrimmage more often. It's the simplest of adjustments, but it's solved the main issue for everything except when they have to flip the formation and Ziemba/Stallings end up with a TE again.

The other major issue Allen's dealing with are those safeties. So he's turned the blitz knob up to "Angry Dantonio." He'll run America with corner blitzes from the boundary, and run Cover Zero to get six guys blitzing and a seventh in range to threaten to, and pray to Almighty Randle-El that the rush hits home before a safety goes wandering.

The picture I get here, like the offense, is of a well-coached but undermanned squad. The defense doesn't have as lofty of a ranking as the offense because offenses get to pick what to emphasize. In Michigan's case, I think this would be a good game to emphasize the tight ends, or just run the slot receivers downfield and between the safeties. Flip a TE across the formation to put Ziemba in his non-comfort zone and they'll have to slant to make up for it, and that means bringing down Ball on the backside, which opens up all kinds of possibilities. And then there's the way they shoot WLB Reakwon Jones at gaps, which solved some of his long-term hesitancy issues, but is a particularly bad method of trying to stop an offense Jim Harbaugh's got anything to do with. I don't think Indiana's a bad team, but I do think there a lot of ways that Michigan is just a terrible matchup for them.