Indiana’s Defense Owns the Spotlight

Indiana just took Alabama to the woodshed in the Rose Bowl, 38 to 3, and if we’re being honest, it wasn’t even that close. Some folks were shocked. We weren’t. We’ve been telling you all season: that Hoosier defense is different.

On New Year’s Day, they threw the Tide into a blender and hit purée. For 60 straight minutes, Bama’s offense couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t think.

This isn’t a fluke. It’s a fast, physical, disciplined unit that plays mistake-free football. They rally to the ball, they tackle in space, and they flat-out hunt. This defense isn’t Alabama from a decade ago. It’s better. And it’s 2026. The Hoosiers are the ones setting the tone now.

Stopping the Run

Against Alabama’s 11 and 12 personnel sets, Indiana played a heavy dose of bear front, and it paid off. The nose and defensive tackles controlled the backside A and B gaps along with the front side A. That freed up the linebackers to flow clean over the top. With the play side defensive tackle demanding the guard and center, the tackle was left to handle both linebackers. We know how that ends. Indiana’s defensive line played at a high level and moved Alabama’s front off the ball.

Once again, the Indiana defensive line demanded double teams, giving the interior linebackers clean reads to stack, track, and fall back. The overhang added to it by flying downhill and forcing the issue. The receiver tried to crack him, but wasn’t about that life. Tackle made. Minimal gain.

This is a textbook rep of leverage, extension, and finishing. Number 46 gets hands on, controls the tight end, then sheds and keeps leverage to make the tackle. Pad level stays low, eyes stay up. And there are eight defenders in the frame when the play ends. That’s how you swarm. That’s a great defensive rep.

Indiana also mixed in well-timed stunts up front. On this play, they run a nose-tackle stunt. The nose sets the pick and then gets vertical, freeing up the tackle to loop over the top and make the play. This kind of movement is especially effective against zone schemes, which is exactly what Alabama runs here. The stunt hits clean, the tackle finishes, and once again, not a single Alabama lineman touches the second level.

Here’s the flip side of the last stunt. This time, the tackle sets the pick for the nose. But because the tackle is working toward the zone side, he’s able to slip through untouched for another tackle for loss. Two clean examples of how well-designed and well-executed stunts should look.