What should Oregon Ducks expect from Indiana defense in rematch?

5 days ago 1

It's been almost three months since the Oregon Ducks dropped their only game of the season, a 30-20 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers in Autzen Stadium early in October. Since that day, Oregon fans have largely shared the same sentiment: let us play Indiana again.

Well, they finally have their chance. The Ducks and Hoosiers will meet for a highly anticipated rematch on Friday night, this time in the College Football Playoff semifinals with a trip to the national championship on the line. The game will be played at the Peach Bowl down in Atlanta, and it will offer an opportunity for Dan Lanning and his team to avenge their only loss of the year and get to the game that they've had circled all season long.

After dominating the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Orange Bowl last week, 23-0, Oregon is riding high, feeling like one of the best teams in the nation. However, they have seen first-hand how good the Hoosiers are, and know that winning another game is not going to be easy.

Both Indiana's offense and defense are among the best in the nation, and they are one of the best-coached teams left standing.

So what can we expect to see from this Texas Tech team, and in particular, what type of challenges will they present? Let's dive in.

What do the Indiana Hoosiers do well on defense?

One of the things that makes Indiana such a good team is that the defense is just as good as the offense, if not better. They are among the best in the nation at stopping the run (No. 3) and have given up just the second-least points in the country this year (11.1 per game). Led by a front seven that will keep any offensive line coaches up at night, plus a duo at linebacker — Aiden Fisher and Rolijah Hardy — that stands as one of the best in the nation, the Hoosiers are the real deal on this side of the ball. While they aren't as solid against the pass as they are against the run, they get after the passer as much as almost anyone in the nation, ranking 6th this year with 42 total sacks. That's one thing that hurt Oregon so severely in the first matchup — Dante Moore was sacked six times, and immediately got out of his rhythm once he started to feel pressure up the middle.

One difference from last matchup, though, is that Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt — two of the Hoosiers' best defensive linemen — are out for the season. While Indiana still has elite players to replace them, and showed the ability to adapt schemes against Alabama to cover for their absence, it is notable for the Ducks.

Who are the top players to know about?

LB Aidan Fisher

Fisher is the quarterback of the defense; the entire unit looks to him for his leadership and knowledge. Though he hasn't necessarily impressed on the stat sheet this season, largely due to the strong personnel around him, Fisher is a tackling machine, recording 108 and 118 tackles in 2023 and 2024, respectively. He's widely considered one of the top linebackers in the Big Ten.

CB D'Angelo Ponds

While Ponds may not be the Hoosiers' most productive defensive back — that would be Louis Moore, who leads the team with six interceptions — his is among the most talented. So far this year, Ponds has 50 tackles, 3.5 TFL, and one interception, and is typically matched up with the opposing team's best receiver. He had four tackles in the game earlier this year vs. the Ducks.

LB Rolijah Hardy

Much like Fisher, Hardy has turned into a game-breaker at the linebacker position. He leads the team with 8.0 sacks this year, to go along with 92 total tackles and 14 TFL, both of which are tops on the team as well. Hardy is also very solid in pass coverage, logging 4 PBUs on the season thus far.

Are the Oregon Ducks built to score on Indiana?

This is, to me, the biggest question of the game, and the one that will likely determine the outcome. Oregon has one of the best offenses in the nation, and all year long, we've talked about how the Ducks should be capable of scoring on anyone. However, against Indiana earlier this year, they managed just 13 offensive points, and last week against Texas Tech's vaunted defense, they had 23 points, which included a drive that started on the 6-yard line, and a garbage-time TD late in the fourth quarter.

Less than stellar, if we're being honest.

I still think that the Ducks have the firepower to put up points on Indiana, but it's going to start with the line of scrimmage and the running game. In October, Oregon did a great job of running the ball, with both Jordon Davison and Noah Whittington amassing 7.4 and 5.4 yards per carry. However, the Ducks abandoned the run in the second half and tried to lean too heavily on the pass. They can't do that if they want to win this game, regardless of the fact that Davison is expected to miss the contest with a broken collarbone.

The offensive line — and Dante Moore — are also going to need to be better at recognizing blitzes and picking up simulated pressures. In October, Indiana had a lot of success getting after Moore, which in turn made him uncomfortable, lower his eyes, and miss a handful of open targets downfield. If that can change this time around, and the Ducks can better identify pressures, then Moore can get into a rhythm and better execute the offense.

What should we expect on Friday?

I expect a great game, for starters. I think that Oregon is a much better team now than they were a couple of months ago, and I think they better know their identity on offense. In October, the Ducks were still rotating through four running backs, and we had yet to see the emergence of Jamari Johnson and Jeremiah McClellan. On top of that, Dante Moore was not as polished and had not seen some of the close-game experiences that he had in the month of November. I think that matters. I expect the Ducks to run the ball early and often, trying hard to stay ahead of the chains, and then allow Moore to try and find holes in Indiana's zone defense, all while the line hopefully better dissects what the front-seven is trying to do.

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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: What the Oregon Ducks should expect of Indiana Hoosiers' defense

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