Media Monday: Notes and Quotes from Tom Allen's 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 Maryland and how the Hoosiers mentality is heading into the Michigan game.
NOTES:
Injuries:
Michael Penix: Week-to-week with a shoulder injury
Jack Tuttle: Week-to-week with a foot injury
Players of the Week:
Offensive Scout Team: Vinny Fiacable and Brady Feeney
Defensive Scout Team: Joseph Daniels
Special Teams Scout Team: Jaquez Smith
Tom Allen Quotes:
As usual Allen opened up with a statement about last week’s game and a look ahead to Michigan
“Just wanted to recap a few things here as we get started. Just continue to be disappointed in our outcome from Saturday's game. The guys took it hard. And a lot of emotion in that locker room afterwards. And the fight was there, just got to execute better.
Disappointed in our defense. Didn't rise up when we needed them in the third quarter especially after we took the lead. Not playing complementary football, which means when we score to take the lead, we've got to go out and get three and out, get the takeaway. Keep that memorandum going. Block a point, you've got to go get points. Didn't get any points after that. Got to be complementary of each other.
And then when we do make a play and get ourselves -- we do a fake punt and execute that and get about 25-plus yards on that and then need to good in and score a touchdown. So continue to work together.
But encouraged by some progress on offense. Thought our offensive line played better. Stephen Carr ran hard, did some good things. Donaven obviously played well. Played better in the fourth quarter than he did in the first quarter. He got better as the game wore on, more comfortable. Obviously set a record for yards for a true freshman quarterback in a game. And really proud of him, his preparation and his ability to rise up in a road game, which is always hard for a young guy. But encouraged by that. And not surprised though. I do think -- I've said all along I thought he's a really talented player that has a big upside. And his best football is ahead of him.
And Peyton Hendershot continues to play at a high level. Just gritty, tough, catching the football, blocking hard, playing hard on special teams. Matt Bjorson same thing. Playing his tail off. Tight end room has been a bright spot for our team offensively for sure.
And I want to recognize the players of the week doing a tremendous job working hard for us in practice. Jaquez Smith, special teams scout of the week. Offensive scout of the week Vinny Fiacable and Brady Feeney, two offensive linemen. And then defensive scout is Joseph Daniels, just continues to be selfless and work hard and do a tremendous job helping us get ready each and every week.
Got a great opportunity this week to head to Ann Arbor, take on the Wolverines. That's going to be a tough test for us as we progress through our season and continue to seek after getting a very important win.”
IU hasn’t played a complete game in 2021 and Allen addressed that frustration Monday:
“The syncing the performances part is frustrating. I thought as we went through and evaluated Saturday's game defensively, really went through and evaluated whether they were scheme issues versus technique issues. And it really was technique.
There was a few scheme issues as far as just not executing the right scheme on those calls. But most of them were just within that scheme just executing the call and playing with proper technique. And I do know just being -- you know, third down stuck out to me as -- third and longs especially where we've got to be dominant defensively and have been in the past and were not Saturday.
And I think that -- you might have mentioned it, I think it is very true, you go back and look and you see just the number of guys playing lots of snaps, you know. Had two safeties play in 90s, you know. Our depth in the secondary with injuries has hurt us. It's made it challenging. And Jaylin Williams is playing too many snaps. And got to get those guys back to help us there. Josh Sanguinetti was out. He tried to warm up, tried to go, couldn't go. Hurt us in our depth there. Just I think got to play more guys there even though there's going to be young guys just to be able to keep our guys fresher so they don't make those mistakes in critical times.
And so just a lot of those things come into play. But at the same time, just did some good things. You know, had a very dominant second quarter defensively, which was good, and we needed that after a tough start. And then kind of got everything calmed down and had a chance to take the game momentum-wise in the third quarter after we scored and did not do it.
But, yeah, I just think it's -- you go through, and there's the execution piece and there's the technique part of it. And this goes into just trying to continue to find a winning formula to be able to put it all together.
We knew we had to support our offense with a new quarterback and his opportunities there and the challenges that was going to create. I thought our special teams did that in terms of getting the -- the blocked punt was huge and then getting the fake punt, which was a big boost to our offense. But got to capitalize on that.
Even in both of those situations, it was a three-point game. And if any one of those you score a touchdown over that one field goal or you don't miss a field goal, then you have a different outcome. So frustrating. But at the same time, you just identify them and you don't make excuses. You just try to fix them and keep getting better.”
IU’s two-year bowl streak is in jeopardy on Saturday. He talked about that as well:
They understand. They know. We don't have to talk about it a lot. The captains mentioned it when I met with them. And they understand what's at stake.
And so -- but this is just trying to find a way to compete at a high level and play at a high level and win Big 10 football games. So to me that's the whole goal. We've got to play our best football all three phases working together, complementing one another, playing our best on Saturday.
Allen addressed the quarterback situation and what would happen should Penix and Tuttle get healthy:
“I think -- and they both continue to be, as I stated after the game, week to week. And we'll see how they progress this week. A little unknown as far as with Jack's injury. See how quickly he'll bounce back from that. I know Michael's throwing and moving around and doing things at maybe a better rate than we thought.
But at the same time, Donaven is the healthiest right now. And he is the guy that we're getting ready to play. And to me obviously showed a lot of positive signs of things that I expected him to be able to do. I know not everybody saw that against Ohio State. So that was kind of frustrating because I knew he was a different quarterback than he showed. But it was what it was, and that's how he played. So you have to just grow from there. But he did, and he responded. Yeah, to me right now Donaven's the guy and got to keep getting him ready to play better every week.”
IU ran for over 200 yards and the OLine looked a bit improved. Allen talked about that Monday:
“I think you continue to look at all those different things as you go through. And I think a couple individuals maybe didn't play as well earlier as they needed to for whatever reason. You know, different variables go into that for sure.
And wasn't bashful for myself to say that I was frustrated and disappointed in their performance and calling it what it was. You can see -- people can watch the game. You can watch the film and see you're not executing at a high enough level. But there is -- as I've always said, there's a chemistry to that group playing next to somebody. And the communication with that has to be repped out at a high level and over and over again, especially with the defense that we face up front and the talented defensive lines that we play against.
So I think as you just continue to allow yourself to get more reps and get better and try and find ways to help your guys be more successful and the play of the quarterback, his ability to get the ball out and make reads. And there's no question -- I think I've said this as well, quarterback play is pretty paramount. You know, I don't care what level you're at, you want to be able to be an elite offense, you've got to have an elite quarterback. And he has to play at an elite level and has to play at a high level of execution and getting the ball out and getting the reads. And I think that creates a lot of confidence with the guys around him too.
So I think there's multiple variables with it. Definitely a group that hasn't as the whole season looked at itself played as well as you would have liked. But we've just got to find a way to get better every week.
Saw progress last week. Got to build off of that. Going to face a better defense this week. So that growth needs to continue as they continue to give the quarterback time to throw and our running backs time to run.”