Column: Defense proves itself against Bowling Green

Tim Bennett felt disrespected.

David Cooper wanted to prove what he knew his defense was capable of doing.

So the junior corner and junior linebacker responded. And they shut people up.

Now, there’s no reason for people to make fun of the IU defense.

After allowing only three points in IU’s 42-10 victory against Bowling Green Saturday, no one was doubting IU’s defense.

It’s a completely different story than what it was just seven days ago.

Last week, players like Bennett, Cooper and senior safety Greg Heban had to answer questions about why the defense allowed 444 rushing yards to Navy.

“Last week, we played like we were the worst defense that’s ever played in the history of the universe,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson joked.

This week, it played like one of the best IU defenses.

It’s the first time since 2008 IU hasn’t allowed an opponent to score an offensive touchdown.

And this wasn’t Indiana State. This was an undefeated Bowling Green team that had hung 34 and 41 points in its first two victories to start the season. The Falcons scored more points than the Hoosiers last week.

Not this week.

No, the Hoosier defense would not be embarrassed again. It would prove itself again and again and again.

The test came early.

Leading 10-7 with 9:57 to go in the first quarter, Bowling Green went for it on fourth-and-1.

The week before, Navy had converted on the same down and distance to seal the game and beat the Hoosiers.

The Falcons knew this, and figured, after seeing the way the Midshipmen ran over the Hoosiers, they could do the same.

Freshman linebacker T.J. Simmons had other thoughts.

Simmons burst through the middle, blowing up the play for a 5-yard loss.

“Not to go back to Navy, but I remember they had fourth-and-1 or third-and-1 with a minute left, and we didn’t fight hard,” Cooper said. “They fought harder than we did. We won’t let that happen again. We didn’t let that happen again.”

After that play, the IU offense would go on to outscore Bowling Green 35-0.

The defense wouldn’t allow a single point.

“The teams that come in here, some of them just don’t respect our secondary or our defense that much,” Bennett said. “We just have to come out swinging, every day come out swinging. From last week, getting punched in the gut like that, it hurt us. We had to come out more physical.”

Five of Bowling Green’s next seven drives following the first stop on fourth-and-1 would end in either a turnover or a turnover on downs.

“We had to go out and prove ourselves that we’re a real good defense,” Cooper said. “Just tired of hearing about the defense is this and that and not ready. We just wanted to go out there and prove it. And we did.”

After a punt and interception sandwiched a Bowling Green missed field goal, the Falcons decided to test the Hoosiers’ defense once again on fourth-and-1.

Again, Cooper took it as a sign of disrespect.

After a week in which IU only recorded three tackles for loss against Navy, the Hoosiers pushed back the Falcons on fourth-and-1 again, this time a result of a storm up the middle from Cooper and junior defensive end Bobby Richardson.

“People were talking about us,” sophomore defensive end Nick Mangieri said. “We just had a chip on our shoulder, and went after ‘em this week.”

Heban said Wilson asked the defense how it was going to respond after the game it had against Navy.

How did it respond?

When IU gets a turnover or a stop on third down, the scoreboard calls it a “tap-out.”
IU responded with more than just a tap-out Saturday. It responded with a knockout.

­— robhowar@indiana.edu Follow columnist Robby Howard on Twitter @robbyhoward1.