Indiana football’s defense is still championship-level, as shown by the Ohio State game

Indiana’s heavyweight bout with Ohio State this past weekend taught us a few things about this team. One of the most important lessons came from the defense, which looked like a another championship unit despite the loss to the Buckeyes at home.

Bryant Haines is the best assistant coach in college football and he has the hardware to prove it as last season’s Broyles Award winner. As long as he’s with the program, the Hoosiers will have a strong defense. He’s done more great work with this group.

Indiana had to replace cornerstones like Aiden Fisher, Mikail Kamara, D’Angelo Ponds and Louis Moore, among others, in building out this group.

This new unit leans on Isaiah Jones and Rolijah Hardy at linebacker with freshman Jacob Savage showing he can play right away alongside them. Jamari Sharpe slid up as Indiana’s No. 1 cornerback with Penn State transfer AJ Harris taking over at No. 2. Wisconsin transfer Preston Zachman took over at safety while Byron Baldwin slid up at rover. Amare Ferrell stayed put and remains as vital as ever.

Indiana’s defensive interior of Tyrique Tucker and Mario Landino remains as good as ever with Tulsa transfer Joe Hjelle and freshman Blake Smythe proving impactful as well. The additions of Tobi Osunsanmi and Chiddi Obiazor along with the late retentions of Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt have proven stout as well.

Indiana had a lot to replace. It did so about as well as it could’ve.

The secondary took some heat early on this season with some warning signs in non-conference play and against Northwestern but that group, as its predecessors did in 2025, has tightened up and played better in recent weeks, especially as Harris has returned to the lineup.

The result of all this was holding Ohio State to its lowest scoring output of the season up to this point. The Hoosiers managed four sacks, six and a half tackles for loss and a pair of interceptions out of the Buckeyes in keeping the game close as the offense worked to figure out its own issues with Ohio State’s defense.

Indiana even managed to largely contain Jeremiah Smith’s impact of the game. Between exploiting Julian Sayin’s reliance on Smith to going after the quarterback, the Hoosiers limited the star wide receiver to four receptions and 68 yards. Outside of a lone blown coverage in the endzone (a huge deal! yes! but!), Indiana kept Smith from doing too much damage.

If Indiana can do that to Ohio State, it can do so to just about anyone. The Hoosier defense kept that 2025 team in games against Iowa, Oregon, Penn State and Ohio State itself while the offense figured out what it needed to do to win.

This year’s offense needs to do this year’s defense that same courtesy. This group is simply too good to let its effort be in vain.