Indiana's Defensive Line Focused on Winning Line of Scrimmage Saturday
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana knew what it needed during the offseason, and the Hoosiers went out and got it.
In addition to C.J. Person, Sio Nofoagatoto’a and Demarcus Elliott, Indiana looked to add more depth to its defensive line heading into the 2021 season.
The Hoosiers added Ryder Anderson from Ole Miss, Jaren Handy from Auburn and Weston Kramer from Northern Illinois.
The new additions, mixed with the returnees, had defensive line coach Kevin Peoples excited about his group on Wednesday.
"You can tell there's a different level of intensity this week," Peoples said. "We know what this game means for the program. We know what happened the last time these two teams met, so we feel like we have something to prove."
Guys Elliott, Nofoagatoto’a, and Person have played a lot of games for the Hoosiers.
"I like what we have there," Peoples said. "We know we have a big challenge ahead."
Then there's Anderson and Handy, who have each played in a lot of big games in Power 5 conferences.
"Ryder has played a lot of games. He's a true professional. Brings a calmness to the huddle," Peoples said. "Stone (Handy) is a dynamic pass rusher, dynamic athlete and we're excited to see what he can do when he's lined up one-on-one."
Even though Kramer isn't coming from a Power 5 school, he has stood out throughout fall camp to the coaching staff and players. Peoples said that Kramer is showing toughness and he plays hard with an edge.
His teammates have noticed that, too.
"He can go 100 percent for about 50 plays," Elliott said. "Really strong dude. You know you can count on him because you know he will give it his all on that play."
Kramer said his mindset was just to give it everything he has on every single play because he knew that's how he would find a rotation spot at Indiana.
The D-line's big focus during fall camp the past couple of weeks have been hand placement. They believe that's a big key to winning their battles against an experienced and physical Iowa offensive line.
"Our big emphasis at camp was our hands," Elliott said. "If we have inside hands, we'll most likely win the battle."
Even though the sack numbers may not always pop, Peoples believes Indiana can disrupt a lot of things in the passing game by virtue of the length on the D-line.
Creating pressure, staying in their gaps, getting theirs arms up and deflecting balls are all things Indiana hopes to do come Saturday.
"I feel like that's one of the things I do best," Elliott said. "Get my hands up in the passing lanes. Leverage helps with that."
Indiana knows Iowa is a ground-and-pound team. The Hawkeyes have a solid running back in sophomore Tyler Goodson.
Quarterback Spencer Petras is solid, too, but with a dominant offensive line, Iowa is going to try to establish the run early.
"They're a really solid offense. They're going to try to run the ball," Anderson said. "We're gonna try to stop them on first and second down and force them into hard positions on third down."
"I say we come out, hit them in the mouth, knock them back, they gain one yard or something like that, I feel like if we keep doing that, it'll be a long night for them," Handy said.
With just three days until kickoff, the defensive linemen said the vibe in Indiana's locker room right now is "crazy."
Everyone is amped up to get back on the field, and everyone is focused on the task at hand.
Despite Indiana being the higher ranked team this Saturday, Iowa is a 3.5-point favorite according to FanDuel.com.
"We're excited. We're prepared. We're ready to go and we're ready to hit some other people," Kramer said. "We're excited and we know what we have to get done. We are all focused."
"Got to win the line of scrimmage," Anderson said. "Got to win the game there. That's where it starts. I'm confident that's what we're gonna do."
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