Notes and Quotes From Tom Allen's Weekly Media Session: No. 10 Michigan State
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Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
Indiana head coach Tom Allen took to the podium on Monday to recap Indiana’s bye week and preview Indiana’s homecoming matchup against the Michigan State Spartans
NOTES:
Injuries:
Michael Penix: Week-to-week with a shoulder injury
David Ellis: Out for the season for ankle surgery
Tom Allen Quotes
Allen opened Monday’s media session with a statement giving updates on injuries and other news.
A little update in regard to our bye week. We had a really good time out recruiting with our staff and going across the country, doing a lot of good work of seeing players and evaluating them, being in [high] schools and watching games really for the first time as a collective group. That was awesome.
It was a chance to benefit from getting some guys healthier during the bye week and getting some good practice work in, as well as getting our guys a chance to get some mental break and physical break there at the end of the week, get a little time away and allow them to come back and we had a really good practice yesterday. I thought the guys came back really focused and worked in the weight room, in meetings and then on the field, in the stadium, for a little over an hour. I thought that was really productive and really liked the mindset and the way our guys approached that.
Really excited about this week and a great opportunity for us playing the No. 10-ranked team in the country in Michigan State, it being homecoming and excited about our crowd. The last two home games have been great crowds and the noise, and the energy has been awesome. We are looking forward to that.
I am really impressed with [Michigan State's] football team. Coach [Mel] Tucker has done a great job building that. I know last year was a unique situation, coming in there and having a full year to implement everything. They are playing hard, and undefeated at this point, on both sides of the ball and special teams. [They are] very physically sound and don't turn the ball over on offense, and they create takeaways on defense, and just physical.
They do a lot of good things. They have one of the best running backs in the country [Kenneth Walker III] and he is No. 1 in the Big Ten [in rushing yards] right now. They are a really impressive football team, and we are going to have to play our best.
An update physically, David Ellis had season-ending surgery on his ankle over the break. We tried to rehab him and get him back, but that wasn't working the right way, so for his long-term prognosis, they did [surgery]. He should have a full recovery and we will get him squared away for his future, because he has a bright one. I truly believe that. He has struggled with some ankle injuries since he has been.
One of the Bigger Stories Heading into the week is the starting quarterback position. Allen addressed that Monday:
[Jack Tuttle] was with us all spring as the top guy because of Mike's [Penix Jr.] rehab. Mike is rehabbing now, and as we have said before, it is week-to-week and that hasn't changed.
Jack, as always, will be ready to go. One of his strengths is the ability to be locked in and focused and prepare at a high level, no matter what the role he is being asked to perform. He will be ready, as always.
Allen also spoke about the confidence he has in Jack Tuttle:
First of all, his preparation sticks out to me. That is No. 1. His attention to detail, work ethic, film study, practice habits, just doing the little things in walk throughs, always being ready. That carries over from when he was the starter last year, and even when he was the backup [this season]. I think his arm talent; he is a guy that gets the ball out fast, and he has a strong arm, an accurate arm. Also, his ability to extend plays with his legs. That is a positive thing, without question, and obviously we saw that even last year.
So bottom line is that he's started for us in one Big Ten game on the road, which was huge last year and has played many minutes beyond that.
I just think that his experience as well as his leadership [can help us win]. I think he's a strong leader on our team and more verbal in that role and does a great job bringing great energy and keeping the guys [engaged]. His work ethic is tremendous in the weight room and conditioning workouts and everything that we do.
So, all those things, to me, all are very positive things to help us win football games.
After a 2-3 start Allen spoke about what has surprised him as well as where his team’s mindset is:
Well, losing [games] is probably, you know, that's the number one thing. Then you go back, and you evaluate why and how. Yeah, it's frustrating in some ways and you've just got to learn from it. We go through, we do a five-game analysis, first five games going through and break everything down in all three phases and looking at the production and different things.
So just the ability for us [to fix those things]. The things that stick out for me offensively are not being consistent, having to run the ball consistently, having to score touchdowns offensively. Those are obvious things. Execution hasn't been what it is expected to be. And the play of our quarterbacks to me hasn't been to the standard of what we know and what we have to have to win those kinds of games.
You play those caliber teams, whether you play them early or play them late, you have to be able to score points when you get down to the red zone and you have to be able to execute, throw and run the football and protect it.
Turning the ball over stuck out in a major way as a negative for us. Can't do that. When you do, you lose football games. To me what really frustrates me a lot is the turnovers on offense, and then the lack of creating takeaways on defense. It's frustrating. We know it goes in cycles. We know sometimes that's part of it.
We've created some [turnovers] but not near enough. We've played good defense a lot of the time but not good enough, in my opinion. Still have to get better. We have to continue to improve in the red zone and keep them out of the end zone and create more takeaways and better field positions for the offense. Those are things that stick out for me.
Special teams have been solid. I think the one long kickoff return was just back-breaking in that Cincinnati game.
So, to me, it's consistent execution in all three phases that hasn't been there. It has to be. You play teams of that caliber, and they'll make you pay for those mistakes. If you play maybe lesser teams, they don't show up as much, not cost you as much, but that's not been the case. We've had the opportunity to play some really good football teams, and therefore we had to be at our best right away out of the gate.
Definitely it's been frustrating and disappointing, but at the same time, like I say, you hit reset. You learn from those mistakes. We've got a football team that has a lot of character to it and toughness to it and a lot of fight. I expect that to be the case this weekend.
I think that watching our guys, even watching them practice yesterday, and just the visual, the eye contact, the buy-in of their behavior and their attitude, how hard they practice, I've been encouraged by that. I thought yesterday the energy was excellent. It's what it's got to be. I think there was no question that the time away helped them get some energy back and refreshed.
But there's no doubt you have to continue to talk to them through the rough start. It is what it is, and you are where you are and you have to address those things. It does affect your confidence in some ways. I don't think it's as extreme as it could have been if you had a younger team, but at the same time it definitely affects you. You don't feel the same way as if you were in a different situation. At the same time, we have a lot of strong leaders on our team.
You have to be able to flush that and [see it as] 0-0 out of the break. It's a new fresh start for our guys. That's the way we have to look at it. That's the way we're going to look at it and be able to approach it in a way that we can't change the past, we can learn from the past.
We don't like where we are. But we'll tackle where we are. That to me is the focus and that to me is the mindset we have. Like I said, we have a lot of strong leaders on this team. And they need to rise up to and I expect them to. There's a toughness and fight to this group that you have to have to be able to persevere through tough times.
Right now, we're going through some disappointing tough times. That's part of life. If you can't respond to it or handle it, then things won't change. But if you can, then you can create change for yourself on a daily basis, consistent basis. That's what I would expect this team to do.
The offense has been a point of contention all season, Allen addressed what the offensive staff focused on during the bye week
A lot of film and meetings. A lot of sit downs, one-on-ones, a chance to go with me and the staff watching things and watching plays and talking things through, figuring things out, making adjustments so there's no question to try to do everything we can possibly do to create change on that side of the football. Tried to create more consistency in our education, to try and create more points at the end of the day. That's what it's about. It's about scoring points on offense and being able to protect the football and making good decisions with our offense and putting our guys in position.
When they get put in that position, they've got to make plays. That's really what it's going to come down to. There's no question, because everything: run game, throw game, the schematic and timing of it, tempo of it, all to continue to get better and we have to. When you back's against the wall, you have to come out swinging.