Insider: IU's defense is better; but is it good enough?

• Michigan State at IU, 8 p.m., Saturday, BTN
• Spartans have won seven straight over the Hoosiers

BLOOMINGTON — Is Indiana’s defense for real?

For the past three weeks, the answer to that question – perhaps the most important of the season – has been encouraging. Offseason talk of instilled confidence and increased trust have given way to performances that backed up nearly everything the Hoosiers said.

“As a defense, we’re coming a lot closer, playing a lot harder together, trusting each other, doing our own job,” said sophomore defensive lineman Jacob Robinson. “It’s not caring who gets the credit. As long as you’re doing your job, you’re doing it right.”

Following the lead of new coordinator Tom Allen, Indiana filled its offseason with these kinds of platitudes. Through three games, those words have been backed by results.

The Hoosiers sit eighth in the Big Ten in points per game allowed (22), and that number goes down to 17.3 if you remove opponents’ defensive and special teams touchdowns.

Indiana is sixth in the conference in yards per game allowed; opponents are averaging just 127.7 rushing yards per game.

Granted, all of this comes during what could be the weakest three-game stretch on IU’s schedule. But for a defense that allowed a Football Championship Subdivision team to score 47 points in its opener last season and eventually finished 117th nationally in points per game allowed, this is undoubtedly progress.

“We held two teams to 13 points. We held (Wake Forest) to 26, 27. But we still made a lot of mistakes and still are busting," redshirt junior cornerback Rashard Fant said. "If we get those things corrected, we can play even better, be one of the best defenses in the Big Ten.”

So consider, perhaps, a better question: How has Indiana’s defense improved, and is that improvement sustainable, with a nine-game Big Ten schedule about to begin?

Stopping the run is a start. But the real strength in Allen’s 4-2-5 defense is the flexibility that has seen corners tally sacks and linemen drop into pass coverage, and Indiana capable of attacking from all angles.

“It goes with guys buying in and understanding our playbook and what we’re about,” Robinson said. “Really, it’s not that complex. It’s pretty straightforward.”

Allen spent the offseason insisting the same, that his defense wasn’t altogether difficult, that the introduction of a fifth defensive back (in place of a third linebacker) wouldn’t overcomplicate things.

Still, consider two plays, one from each of the past two weeks:

>> Facing third-and-8 from his own 21-yard line, Ball State quarterback Riley Neal drops back to pass. His pocket is strong, his protection good, except it doesn’t account for freshman cornerback A’Shon Riggins, who has blitzed all the way from the boundary. Riggins flies into Neal, forcing a fumble Neal recovers, and Ball State punts.

>> A week later, Wake Forest quarterback John Wolford leads his team to the line of scrimmage facing third-and-2 from his own 23. Reserve linebacker Omari Stringer lines up at defensive end. Wolford drops back and looks right to tight end Cam Serigne on a quick out route. But Stringer, who has dropped into pass coverage from his end spot, sits on the route and nearly pulls in an interception. Wake Forest also punts.

Neither play was particularly complex, but in both cases, Indiana forced a punt – and nearly a turnover – simply by sending a player where he wouldn’t normally be.

“It is very unpredictable,” Fant said. “You don’t know who’s dropping, who’s coming where.”

Some of those plays are designed, and some are called on the fly.

Flexibility built into Allen’s defense requires middle linebackers and safeties to make pre-snap reads and adjust accordingly. Much of the time that is standard fare – getting proper alignments, communicating coverages, etc. But every once in a while, it means dialing up something unexpected.

“We get in the same look every play, but the offense doesn’t know what we’re doing,” junior safety Tony Fields said. “We can make a simple check here and there, and it totally changes the complexion of what we’re doing.”

Through three games, that versatility has helped Indiana’s defense back up its offseason talk.

It wasn’t enough to prevent last weekend’s 33-28 defeat to Wake Forest. And Allen will still harp on a defensive line Robinson admits isn’t getting as much quarterback pressure as it needs to, or on a defense that managed zero turnovers against Wake Forest, after six in the first two weeks.

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“That’s part of what we do. We will not waiver on that,” Allen said Monday, referring specifically to forcing turnovers. “Our guys understand it. The first thing we did today was takeaway circuit. That will continue to be culturally part of what we do. That will never change.”

But for a defense routinely maligned for the past decade – spanning multiple coaching regimes – the first quarter of the season has offered tangible progress.

The question isn’t whether Indiana’s defense is improved. It’s difficult to argue it isn’t. The more appropriate curiosity is how much further the Hoosiers grow from here.

“Guys are just buying in,” Robinson said. “I think guys are buying into the scheme, we’re comfortable with the scheme and the way we get to play. We get to just play free.”

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

Hoosiers hope Richard Lagow learns from first hiccup, gets offense clicking

No. 17 MICHIGAN STATE (2-1, 0-1) AT INDIANA (2-1, 0-0)

Kickoff: 8 p.m. Saturday, Memorial Stadium, Bloomington.

TV, radio: Big Ten Network, WFNI-AM (1070) -FM (93.5).

Line: Michigan State (-6.5).

THREE STORYLINES

• Michigan State has been one of the country's most effective teams in creating turnovers in recent seasons. Until losing five interceptions to Wake Forest, Indiana had established its own reputation for being careful with the ball. Can the Hoosiers avoid costly giveaways Saturday?

• Richard Lagow threw no interceptions through his first two games, before those five against Wake Forest. He has also already broken 1,000 yards through the air. Can Lagow clean up his mistakes and stay aggressive in an important Big Ten opener?

• The Spartans come to Bloomington reeling from a 30-6 home loss to Wisconsin last weekend. Will Indiana's improved defense be able to clamp down on Michigan State the way the Badgers did?

Key statistics: Lagow's 496 passing yards against Wake Forest were a single-game IU record. ... Devine Redding was unable to break 100 yards rushing against the Demon Deacons, snapping a five-game streak of such performances. ... Both sides will worry over injuries in the build-up to Saturday's game. IU has two offensive linemen, right guard Dan Feeney (concussion) and right tackle Dimitric Camiel (back) questionable, while Michigan State linebacker Riley Bullough is day to day (undisclosed). Spartans linebacker Jon Reschke is out (ankle). ... Indiana has not won the Old Brass Spittoon, the trophy handed to the winner in this series, since 2006. Michigan State has won seven straight over IU.