Indiana football received some bad news on the heels of the Big Ten Football Championship game win when Curt Cignetti announced that the team would be without Stephen Daley for the remainder of the season after he suffered an injury after said game.
Alongside Mikail Kamara, Daley was the only edge rusher to appear in all 13 games, though there are number of options behind those two who have seen decent action so far this year. Daley finished the year with five and a half sacks, two forced fumbles,
and the Big Ten lead in tackles for losses with 19. Daniel Ndukwe has appeared in seven games, while Andrew Turvy and Andrew DePaepe have seen action in four games.
While their snap counts have been even more limited, it’s worth noting that both DePaepe and Turvy grade higher than Ndukwe as pass rushers. Alabama is a pass-heavy offense, so the ability to get to Ty Simpson will likely be the priority in considering how to fill Daley’s snaps.
I would expect Bryant Haines to also try to replace Daley’s production by committee. As mentioned before, pass-rushing will be an important component of this game, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see DePaepe get a few snaps over the course of the game.
Depending on how Daley’s replacement(s) are doing at creating the havoc up front that Haines’ defense relies on, he may try to compensate for the edge’s absence with his scheme.
Alabama’s front five are all above average in pass protection, so it could be a good opportunity to ramp up the pressure with blitzes from Rolijah Hardy and Isaiah Jones, are first and second on the team in sacks, respectively.
The good news is that Indiana has a stable full of studs across the defensive line, with Kamara, Tyrique Tucker, and Mario Landino all healthy and available for the Rose Bowl. Daley was certainly a standout on the line, but it’s a strong unit as a whole for Haines with talent and depth that Indiana lacks at other positions.
