Call it what you like, a curse, whatever, but IU has seemed to always have a problem fielding a decent defense.
Many have come to try and change the perception, and many have failed to get that side of the ball turned around.
My question, what can IU do to field a top 50 defense? Certainly recruiting can help, but what is missing to finally get that monkey off of IU's back?
Here are the stats for the past 12 seasons and where IU ranked in Total Defense:
Year Yards Rank Coach
2004 - 4985 - 107th - Dinardo
2005 - 4588 - 95th - Hep
2006 - 4828 - 108th - Hep
2007 - 4731 - 65th (Insight Bowl) - Lynch
2008 - 5186 - 105th - Lynch
2009 - 4812 - 75th - Lynch
2010 - 4922 - 75th - Lynch
2011 - 5504 - 99th - Wilson
2012 - 5562 - 97th - Wilson
2013 - 6335 - 124th - Wilson
2014 - 5205 - 92nd - Wilson
2015 - 6623 - 120th (Pinstripe Bowl) - Wilson
2015 was statistically our worst season for Total Defense, with opponents averaging a nasty 509.5 yards per game.
2005 was our best season, averaging 382.3 yards per contest.
Lynch has our best overall defensive rankings, but you see how first Mallory and now Knorr have struggled, each not posting better than 97th or 92nd in their years. Can Tom Allen have any success?
Or is he destined to join the other coordinators who could not solve the IU puzzle?
At what point can we finally put the "D" in Indiana??
Many have come to try and change the perception, and many have failed to get that side of the ball turned around.
My question, what can IU do to field a top 50 defense? Certainly recruiting can help, but what is missing to finally get that monkey off of IU's back?
Here are the stats for the past 12 seasons and where IU ranked in Total Defense:
Year Yards Rank Coach
2004 - 4985 - 107th - Dinardo
2005 - 4588 - 95th - Hep
2006 - 4828 - 108th - Hep
2007 - 4731 - 65th (Insight Bowl) - Lynch
2008 - 5186 - 105th - Lynch
2009 - 4812 - 75th - Lynch
2010 - 4922 - 75th - Lynch
2011 - 5504 - 99th - Wilson
2012 - 5562 - 97th - Wilson
2013 - 6335 - 124th - Wilson
2014 - 5205 - 92nd - Wilson
2015 - 6623 - 120th (Pinstripe Bowl) - Wilson
2015 was statistically our worst season for Total Defense, with opponents averaging a nasty 509.5 yards per game.
2005 was our best season, averaging 382.3 yards per contest.
Lynch has our best overall defensive rankings, but you see how first Mallory and now Knorr have struggled, each not posting better than 97th or 92nd in their years. Can Tom Allen have any success?
Or is he destined to join the other coordinators who could not solve the IU puzzle?
At what point can we finally put the "D" in Indiana??
