BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football had a strong argument for having the best defense in the FBS last year.
The Hoosiers had the second-ranked scoring defense (11.7 points allowed per game), second-best run defense (77.2 yards allowed), and finished fourth in total defense (266 yards allowed). They also had the most tackles for losses (129) and second-most sacks (46).
What will IU defensive coordinator Bryant Haines do for an encore?
Haines has the talent to make the Hoosiers a contender once again, but there are still questions on the defensive side of the ball that need to be answered ahead of the team’s season opener on Sept. 5 against North Texas.
Who will replace former Indiana football starter cornerback D’Angelo Ponds?
Outside of Fernando Mendoza, replacing Ponds might be IU’s most difficult task this fall. Jamari Sharpe, one of the heroes in Miami last year, isn’t going anywhere.
A.J. Harris and Ryland Gandy open fall camp in the same spot they were in the spring — competing to be Sharpe’s new running mate.
Harris has the experience advantage — he started 26 games at Penn State — but struggled at times in 2025 and got benched during a game against Northwestern. Gandy, a former starter at Pitt, did a nice job filling in for Ponds against Iowa last year.
Going back to the spring, Cignetti hasn’t said much about the state of the competition, outside of praising the team’s depth.
Does IU football have a playmaker waiting in the wings at linebacker?
There’s no question mark surrounding the talent level of IU’s starting linebackers. It’s not a stretch to say that Rolijah Hardy and Isaiah Jones might be the best tandem in the country, with Hardy even generating buzz as a potential Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
The uncertainty for the Hoosiers at the position comes from the defense lacking a clear candidate to play alongside the starters in a 4-3 alignment.
While defensive coordinator Bryant Haines mixes up looks, he leaned on those three linebacker sets throughout the 2025 season. Indiana has a mix of veterans (Kaiden Turner and former walk-on Jeff Utzinger) competing with youngsters (PJ Nelson and a trio of true freshmen) for playing time.
Can Byron Baldwin Jr. win a starting job for Indiana football at safety?
Baldwin, who ranks among the program’s highest-ranked signees of all-time, started taking first-team reps during fall camp last season as Louis Moore battled for his eligibility in court. The then-true freshman earned high marks from the coaching staff, but an injury derailed his progress.
When healthy late in the year, the Baltimore native flashed his versatility and athleticism in a win back home over Maryland.
Baldwin opens fall camp in the mix at safety, with IU looking to replace multiple starters (Moore and Devan Boykin). The Hoosiers added a pair of transfers — Wisconsin’s Preston Zachman (20 career starts) and Cincinnati’s Quan Sanks (12 starts) — but don’t count Baldwin out. He possesses the playmaking instincts that allow players to thrive in Haines’ system.
Is Tobi Osunsanmi an All-Big Ten caliber pass rusher?
Opposing teams had to account for Mikail Kamara on every snap last season, even if he didn’t end up with the sack numbers he was hoping for.
Kamara had the most quarterback pressures of any defender from 2024-25 (127), and his consistent production opened up lanes for his teammates to get to the quarterback. He was also a workhorse (1,320 snaps) for the Hoosiers during that stretch.
Can Osunsanmi reach those same heights for the Hoosiers? The Kansas State transfer landed in Bloomington as one of the most highly sought-after edge rushers in the portal. He’s got elite speed — he started out at safety and linebacker for the Wildcats — and has put on the muscle to match.
While Osunsanmi won’t have to go it alone, he still needs to show he can be an effective pass-rush specialist over the course of an entire season.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana football fall camp preview: Biggest questions for Hoosiers defense
Reporting by Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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By Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times | USA TODAY Network
