Opponent Breakdown: Indiana State Defense

Indiana State was able to pitch a shutout last week against Quincy University. They didn’t stop anyone last season, so they have to feel pretty good about how they’ve started the season even if the game was against a lower division opponent. The Sycamores like to stick to their base 4-3 look and they will bring some pressure from the linebacker spot.

The defensive line is led by Inoke Moala at defensive end. He got to the quarterback twice last weekend and really showed nice closing speed once he got through the line. The line and the front seven overall showed a good ability to flow to the football and run down plays. I think this will be a good opportunity for the Louisville offensive line to show the ability to get push in the running game. The ISU defensive line lacks size and should be easy to move.

The linebacker group looked the best to me for this defense. Katrell Moss and Jonas Griffith made a lot of plays inside while Clayton Glasco looked good coming off the edge. They like to keep all three of these guys on the field with Glasco being the guy that usually flexes out to cover a wide receiver. It will be interesting to see how Louisville’s running backs do against these guys when they get to the second level. It’s a solid test to see if the backs can make guys miss and/or shed tacklers.

The secondary didn’t get to show very much last week as Quincy’s passing attack was pretty terrible. I was impressed by their size and how they closed on the football. The effort level alone was impressive for a group that hadn’t had a win in over a year and was playing an overmatched opponent. Indiana State will be the ovrmatched opponent this week, and I’ll be looking to see if they bring that same effort and make things harder than expected for Louisville's passing game.