Media Monday: Notes and Quotes From Tom Allen's Bucket Week Press Conference

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Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Indiana head coach Tom Allen took to the podium on Monday to update the media on IU’s loss to Minnesota, some injury news and preview the Old Oaken Bucket Game against Purdue.

NOTES:

Injuries:

  • “ Trying to get Tiawan Mullen back. He worked out over the weekend. Will be practicing tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. We'll know more after that. Same with Stephen Carr, James Miller, trying to get those guys back. Obviously quarterbacks as well. Obviously it our last week. It's now or never in that regard. Still working with those guys to see where they're at. 

    Also Josh Sanguinetti, another one we've been working to get back.”

Players of the Week:

  • Offensive Scout Team: Zack Merrill and James Bomba

  • Defensive Scout Team: Andrew Turvy

  • Special Teams Scout Team: Sam Daugstrup

Transfer Portal:

  • WR Jacolby Hewitt has entered the transfer portal

Tom Allen Quotes

Allen opened as always with an opening statement:

“Just want to start by saying we are excited about this week, the Old Oaken Bucket week for our program and a huge game for all of our players, our fans, our university and for our state. That is going to be the focus of everything that we do this week and getting our guys ready, guys that have been out, trying to get as many of those guys back as we can, allow us to be able to be our very best in West Lafayette on Saturday. 

Do want to say this from the game. Do appreciate our young guys continuing to work their tails off in practice. Just doing a great job for us. Defensive scout team player of the week was Andrew Turvy, offensive scout team player of the week Zack Merrill and James Bomba, special teams scout was Sam Daugstrup. 

Guys continue to work hard. Really proud of our guys coming back yesterday and attacking the day. Obviously hurting and down, frustrated, but at the same time staying together. Just talked to our strength staff, the way they attacked the weight room, everything we're trying to do. 

Just want to finish strong. Got one more week together for the 2021 season. Been very challenging obviously, all the things out there. At the same time special group of guys, appreciate them, love them. Want to finish strong with these guys and do evening we can to keep the bucket.”

Allen gave a detailed injury update as the Hoosiers try and get some players back:

“Yeah, trying to get Tiawan Mullen back. He worked out over the weekend. Will be practicing tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. We'll know more after that. Same with Stephen Carr, James Miller, trying to get those guys back. Obviously quarterbacks as well. Obviously it our last week. It's now or never in that regard. Still working with those guys to see where they're at. 

Also Josh Sanguinetti, another one we've been working to get back. Those guys I mentioned have all been critical parts of our team in the past, need to get them if we can at all possible. They're working hard to do that with our training staff, strength staff, everybody involved. 

Other than that, any specific guys you can feel free to a ask. Basically everybody that's been out, trying to get them back. Some guys have continued to work. It doesn't look promising. Others it does. Each individual guy is attacking it the best they can, trying to get out there first team. “

Allen answered questions about the conversations he’ll have with players and if they are coming back or not:

“First of all, open and honest. From our guys on our team, like I said, it's a very unique dynamic more so than ever because a lot of guys getting to the end, they've graduated, may have more years left. Those discussions, some have begun, some later after this weekend. Just to be able to have an honest conversation about where they stand with us, what they're thinking as well. 

I think the biggest key is open and honest dialogue between both sides. To me it's about making sure that we have the guys that are all in here and want to be a part of this, want to help us fight through the adversity we've experienced, help us to get back to where we want to be. 

Obviously this has not been anywhere close to a season we expected or wanted, but here we are. We can't sit here and make excuses or talk about this or that. It's about what are we doing to build for the future. That's all about the players that we attract to come here and those that choose to either graduate and move on or just move on or however it works for them. 

Like I said, my biggest thing is I want the guys that want to be here. That's the primary focus. That's about finding guys that fit with us that we would add to the team both either from high school from a transfer situation, finally guys that want to help us continue to build towards our goal of winning the Big Ten championship. “

Allen talked about the drop off on defense from the start of the season until now:

“Very proud of the guys that are still battling every single day, that are still healthy to be able to be out there, fighting to stay out there. The depth has become a huge issue. I'm going to call it what it is, playing way too many snaps, which has led to even later in the game more fatigue, more mistakes. Just kind of wearing down physically and mentally. 

That to me has been frustrating because I know how hard the guys are playing, how hard they work each week. It's been an unfortunate set of circumstances. You look at our roster, where we're at right now, based on how we started. 

No doubt, football is a numbers game, always has been, always will be. That's why they have classes in high school sports, things working the way they are divisionally. When you have more guys that are bigger, faster, stronger that can make plays, that's what you want. 

Unfortunately as this has gotten to the end here, we've gotten decimated in spots, it's taken its toll. Unfortunately that's where we are. Got to fight through it, find ways to execute better in critical times. I thought there were some things even in the game this last week where third downs did not get off the field, third-and-longs, we really needed to. Breakdowns in guys that are, once again, playing that aren't quite ready to go play yet. But they have to be out there because of situation we're in. 

So that is it. That is what we got to do. We have to find ways to get those guys ready so they can execute. It is not for lack of effort or lack of preparation with our guys working hard. We're just trying to keep it as simple as we can so those younger guys can still execute and make plays and try to get some of those older guys off the field a little bit early in the game, not have them play every single snap. 

That's where we are. It has been frustrating because I know it's a special group of guys that I think have got a lot of good players in there. I know that they're frustrated as well. 

But the key is they're going to battle this week, working really hard, try to find a way to get some of these guys back, even a guy or two would help, it would be huge to help us in that area, especially in the secondary, then some depth at linebacker. 

Just trying to continue to do everything we can to fight through everything we're going through and help our guys have one more shot to play together and do something special.”

Allen had a chance to reevaluate the offense from Saturday here is what he saw:

“I think a lot of those to me were just quarterback making a decision to run it rather than throw it. Whether or not that was the right decision or not, this is how we would say the next time we do this, this is the decision we think you should make. A lot of times they were decisions to tuck it and run it. 

I think that's where we got to grow in that confidence to throw the football. You got to throw the football. Yes, there's no doubt you want to put the defense in conflict, make them have to give us the proper read. When you give the player the chance to make that read, you just can't come down and say, Hey. You have to give him that freedom to make that read, right? 

We got to make some better reads. We got to be able to know when to throw it, when not to throw, when to run it. Just a growth process we go through. I know we all know we got to throw the football. That's to me a big part of this. We got to be able to get better at this this week, work hard on that. 

We've been doing a lot of good things in practice on that, but it has to transfer to the game. Didn't do it on Saturday. At least with Donovan since he's been playing. We have to improve in that. That is just every day is valuable for him, every meeting, every rep, every practice rep, every mental rep, everything we do to get him to develop as a quarterback in this program. 

That's the ultimate goal, is to be able to every time he does what he does, every season he's in, whether it's the spring season, the off-season, during the season, that it's growth, continual growth. I know it's not always like this, it's never like that. But you got to be able to have that trajectory moving in the right direction. 

To me it's teaching from that, film. I sat in those meetings with him going over the decision making things that happen in the game to try to make better ones next week. That's the whole goal. 

He's young. We got to find a way as a staff to make it as simple as possible to help him be successful on game day.”