Tiawan Mullen Expands Game with Blitzing Ability
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Tiawan Mullen recorded zero sacks in the 2019 season.
This past Saturday against Rutgers, defensive coordinator Kane Wommack dialed up some blitzes to send Mullen at the quarterback.
Mullen recorded two sacks flying off the edge, both times bringing Rutgers quarterback Noah Vedral down by the ankles.
"To me, he is a guy that is crafty and explosive," Wommack said. "He blitzes about two inches off the ground so he is hard to pick up. That can always be a difficult thing as well when you play low and fast."
Mullen is a 5-foot-10 cornerback coming off an impressive freshman year in which he tied for 11th in the country with 13 pass breakups.
On Saturday, Mullen was all over the field. He finished the game with seven tackles, five of them solo, and those two big sacks for minus-24 yards.
Mullen's ability to rush off the corner is something that he's been working on in practice. Wommack let him loose against the Scarlet Knights, and it paid off.
"I think it was successful because we disguised it well," Mullen said. "I did not show any details that I was coming. When it was time to come, I improvised and got the quarterback down."
Mullen has never shied away from being confident in his own ability.
He thinks that when he is called upon to go make a play, he will be able to do so. It's the type of player he is.
"I was practicing the blitzing throughout the week and kept getting better. I am a much better blitzer than last year," Mullen said. "That was something that I wanted to work on and I showed a bunch of progress. When my name is called to go get the quarterback, I am going to get the job done."
When Mullen is called on a corner blitz, he is usually doing so from the Husky position, but Mullen doesn't like to call it that. He prefers calling Husky the nickel back position.
It's something he grew up calling it. He also believes when someone says Husky, you think of a bulkier player, such as his teammates who play the position in Marcelino Ball and Bryant Fitzgerald.
"But me, I'm just a nickel back, and that's just what I want it to be called," Mullen said smiling.
So Wommack adheres to his wishes and refers to it as the nickel back when he wants to shift the crafty Mullen into that position.
Mullen said sometimes he likes to hide behind the defensive lineman to get the look he wants.
In Mullen's second sack of the game, Matt Alaimo, Rutgers' tight end, was looking right at Mullen, but he still found a way to get around him.
By the time he did, Vedral tried to escape the pocket, but Mullen got him at the ankles.
"I just used my speed to grab him," Mullen said. "He couldn't outrun me."
Indiana's secondary has been playing at an extremely high level to start the season so far. The Hoosiers' secondary has three interceptions this season, accounting for half of the defense's takeaways in two games.
On Saturday, Mullen, Reese Taylor, Jamar Johnson and Devon Matthews were the top four leading tacklers on the team.
Their ability to not just defend the pass game but also put pressure on the quarterback has brought a lot of versatility to the Hoosiers' defense.
With another mobile quarterback like Michigan's Joe Milton coming to town this Saturday, having a guy like Mullen disrupt things in the backfield will be huge.
"You find creative ways to get in the backfield," Wommack said. "With that position for him we can get him more involved in our rush game, so that just allows us to be a little bit more creative with him."
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