BLOOMINGTON – Indiana apparently emerged from its first preseason scrimmage with greater clarity at quarterback.
Whether it was needed is debatable, but Curt Cignetti’s pronouncement that Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke “separated himself pretty significantly” over the weekend provided on Monday the kind of water-cooler fodder that trades as good as gold this time of year.
It was not the most important thing Cignetti said. Perhaps not even close.
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Firstly, quarterback has never really been a position in doubt for Indiana this offseason. Cignetti clearly seems pleased with redshirt sophomore Tayven Jackson’s progress, and he’s got two freshmen who look intriguing each in his own way. But you don’t land a player like Rourke in the modern-day NIL/portal landscape — an accomplished MAC quarterback with nothing left to prove anywhere except here — to sit him.
Rourke took every first-team snap during the spring game in April. Nothing since suggests he’d regressed in his coach’s eyes, Cignetti’s confirmation Monday only the latest evidence of what’s been clear for some time now: Rourke, when healthy, will start at quarterback for IU this fall.
No, the most important bit of Cignetti’s news conference came elsewhere in his recap. Specifically, on the other side of the line of scrimmage.
“Our defense,” he said, “is a handful when it comes to protecting the passer.”
That should be nothing new for Cignetti, thanks to his current staff.
While four of the six assistants Cignetti brought with him from James Madison to Bloomington work on the offensive side of the ball, the pair accompanying him on defense are arguably more intriguing.
Bryant Haines, the highest-paid coordinator in program history and the first million-dollar DC IU has ever employed, was a Broyles Award semifinalist in the same job last season. Pat Kuntz, a Roncalli and Notre Dame graduate, coaches tackles at Indiana but managed the entire defensive line in Harrisonburg.
Interestingly, both men have backgrounds as graduate assistants at IU, Haines for Kevin Wilson and Kuntz for both Wilson and Tom Allen. Together at JMU, they built the most disruptive pass rush in the Sun Belt Conference.
“Schematically,” Cignetti said, “Haines knows how to get to the quarterback. He challenges those guys up front.”
Across two seasons at the FBS level, the Dukes posted 83 sacks, second in the Sun Belt only to Troy’s 88. James Madison tallied 210 tackles for loss across those two seasons, including a league-best 114 in 2023. All of which contributed to 43 total turnovers gained in the same time period.
James Madison finished last season among the best teams not just in its conference but in the country in havoc rate, a statistic combining tackles for loss, passes defensed (interceptions and breakups), and forced fumbles, all divided by total plays.
Cignetti was quick to point out Monday the Hoosiers only “thudded” during Saturday’s scrimmage, meaning they did not run full tackle. He still came away encouraged by a defense that, to hear him describe it, sounded a lot like what he saw the past two seasons in Harrisonburg.
“Any time you thud the scrimmage, it’s really kind of hard to run the football,” Cignetti said, “because you can’t take into account broken tackles or perimeter tackles. But, good pressure on the quarterback, pretty solid for the most part against the run.”
Cignetti cited better pocket containment as a point of improvement, and he said he’d like to see his defense limit explosive plays more consistently. So would every coach in America.
Still, after he and his staff spent much of the winter winning key recruiting battles on offense, especially in the portal, Cignetti acknowledged through spring his team would be a work in progress on the other side of the ball. The Hoosiers added a pair of potentially key transfers after their spring season, cornerback D’Angelo Ponds (James Madison) and defensive tackle CJ West (Kent State), but they’re still likely to need some luck with injuries in order to maintain needed depth through the fall.
More: IU’s defensive depth takes a hit in first fall scrimmage
More than that, they’re going to need to be opportunistic, against a schedule that presents a few.
The Hoosiers don’t face Michigan or Ohio State until November. They don’t play USC, Oregon or Penn State at all. They have eight home games, an offense that looks on paper like it might be able to move the ball pretty effectively and a coach perpetually in win-now mode.
They don’t necessarily need a stifling defense. A disruptive one will do. Create trouble, force mistakes, capitalize with havoc plays (negative plays, sacks, turnovers, etc.). Let the offense go to work.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IU football defense should look a lot like JMU’s havoc from last year
