'Standard we want to bring.' Indiana defense dominates with 7 sacks, 10 tackles for loss vs Illinois

BLOOMINGTON — In the early moments of Indiana football’s throttling of Illinois on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium, the Fighting Illini already near midfield and driving, a single play seemed to set the tone a dominant defensive performance wholly uncharacteristic of what the Hoosiers had shown through three games in 2025.

Facing third-and-5 from his team’s own 45-yard-line, Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer found himself flushed out of the pocket, scrambling to the left with linebacker Rolijah Hardy in hot pursuit. The sophomore closed quickly and shoved Altmyer out of bounds, a coverage sack that would spark a barrage of punishing, drive-ending defensive plays that IU coach Curt Cignetti believed a unit that had totaled just eight sacks through three games — against a trio of lesser opponents, no less — was plenty capable of while up against a top-10 team in the country.

Seven times IU’s defensive front got to Altmyer for a season-high in sacks — paced by two each from defensive linemen Mario Landino and Tyrique Tucker — a pivotal component of Cignetti’s gameplan Saturday night he said he recognized was more than possible from watching Illinois’ Week 2 win, 45-19, against Duke.

Cignetti said he expected it.

“That’s what I saw on tape. I thought our defensive line could whip their offensive line, and we did. (We) came out and played with tempo early. If you give (Altmyer) time to throw, he’s going to get the ball where it’s gotta go,” Cignetti said following the Hoosiers’ 63-10 victory. “But I think the sacks were huge.

“And then they couldn’t stop us. They couldn’t match up on the perimeter, and then we broke their will and just pounded them. He’s a good quarterback, but he took a lot of sacks last year, too. Put the Duke game on. The same thing happened. The difference in that game was Duke turned it over five times. They got to them right off the bat at the beginning of the game four or five times, and I thought we could too.”

IU totaled five first-half sacks, including a pair on Illinois’ fourth possession with IU leading 14-7 still in the first quarter and the Fighting Illini desperately trying to keep pace. Facing second-and-7, Altmyer was gobbled up by Tucker for a loss of 4 yards before Isaiah Jones quickly wrapped up the Illinois quarterback on the following play to force a quick three-and-out that helped Indiana continue to hold onto its edge that would eventually blow the game open in the second quarter.

Five of IU’s seven sacks came on third downs and forced punts — a sign of the unit’s confidence to not only bring pressure in those high-energy moments when it had Illinois on the ropes, but the defense’s ability to execute in kind, too.

“We heard a lot of things this week that (Illinois) were a lot more physical than us. That they were going to come in and run the ball and dominate us physically, so that just puts an edge on a team that already has a lot of players with a chip on their shoulder,” IU linebacker Aiden Fisher said. “Nobody’s shocked by that result at all. That’s kind of the standard we want to bring here in a big-time matchup. We want to rise to the occasion, and I think we did a great job with it.”

In particular, the Fighting Illini totaled just two net yards rushing the ball on 20 total carries. Running backs Kaden Feagin (five carries for 18 yards) and Ca’Lil Valentine (six for 11) didn’t manage to reach even 30 yards between themselves — a stat Fisher credited his defensive line for a notably lockdown night.

“(Our defensive line) was phenomenal. They made my job really easy tonight. I didn’t rally get to see the ball a lot because I had the D-line having a day,” Fisher said. “They were just dominant and physical and just elite at the point of attack.

“(Illinois) was a really good football team. They’re physical. They like to get downhill and run the football, but this defense was built on stopping the run, so when it came down to it, we knew if we could get them off schedule and get them behind early, some things would go our way a little more than they expected. (Us) being more physical and playing with the speed we have, I don’t think they were expecting that at all.”

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football defensive line, sacks, tackles for loss vs Illinois