Indiana Coach Curt Cignetti on Mikail Kamara: 'Production Numbers Speak for Themselves'

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana football edge defender Mikail Kamara entered this season targeting 20 sacks, with a fallback option — the floor — being the program's sack record at 16.

While he set an incredibly high bar, it didn't seem unreachable. Kamara registered 15 tackles for loss and 10 sacks last season while leading the nation with 73 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. With another year of natural evolution, building on such a campaign was a justified thought.

But through eight games, Kamara has fallen well short of the mark.

The 6-foot-1, 262-pound Kamara has only one sack this season, coming in a 56-9 victory over Kennesaw State in Week 2. He's tallied just three quarterback hits: One against Kennesaw State and one apiece in Big Ten matchups with Iowa and Oregon.

Kamara has three tackles for loss, with two against Kennesaw State and one-half apiece versus Michigan State and UCLA.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, who preaches accountability and holding players to his standard, didn't mince words regarding Kamara's productivity this season.

"I think production numbers speak for themselves," Cignetti said Monday in his press conference. "I think he's got another level he can play at, and I'm waiting to see it."

Though the sack numbers don't reflect it, Kamara has been Indiana's most disruptive edge defender. He has 28 total pressures and 22 quarterback hurries, both of which lead the team, according to Pro Football Focus. His 80.3 pass rush grade is the best mark among the Hoosiers' defensive linemen.

Kamara has recorded at least one pressure in each game, and he's been impactful in Big Ten play. He generated six pressures apiece in wins over Oregon and UCLA, and he tallied five pressures against Iowa.

But Kamara hasn't turned pressure into production. Consequently, he's found himself in the position he wanted to avoid when speaking in July at Big Ten Media Day.

"I just feel like the pressures stat is — they might give you pressure for one play, and not give you for another, even though it's like the same play. So, I don't really listen to it," Kamara said. "It's cool to have ... but at the end of the day, the thing that makes you money is sacks.

"So it doesn't matter — if I had 67 pressures and zero sacks, no one would talk about it, right? So, it's really about the sack number, and that's all that's really important."

Now three months removed from his time at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Kamara is living the situation he negatively spoke into existence.

But there is, in fact, talk — just not the kind he, or preseason All-American voters, expected as November nears.