Notes and Quotes: October 23rd (Indiana vs. Maryland)
/
By David Sugarman (@David_Sugarman2)
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
Offense: Ricky Brookins
Defense: Chase Dutra
Special Teams: Griffin Oakes
Offensive Scout: Nick Tronti, Tyler Natee
Defensive Scout: Omari Stringer, Derrian Meminger
INJURY NEWS:
Tom Allen said he was hopeful Ian Thomas and Simon Stepaniak would play this week.
Allen wasn’t sure if Donavan Hale would play the rest of the season and he may receive a redshirt.
Allen said they will be continually evaluating Marcelino Ball, A’Shon Riggins and Coy Cronk through out the week
NOTES:
Lisa Byington and J Leman will have the call of this week’s game for the Big Ten Network.
Issac James will move to safety/husky the rest of the season
QUOTES:
TOM ALLEN:
Allen mentioned how the red zone struggles have continued to plague IU.
“Offensively, finishing in the red zone was something that came back to haunt us, not getting a touchdown there for sure the second time in that position and have to do that in order to win on the road.”
Allen touched on the frustration and how he and the players deal with of being so close time and time again.
“Yeah, you know, I think that's a fair question. We had a good discussion as a team yesterday. Kind of get a chance for them to talk a little bit and asked them about how they felt personally. Yeah, it's very natural to be -- to get discouraged. Disappointed for sure, and frustrated.
But what I did was I shared -- there is a few head coaches in this conference that reached out to me regarding the way our team is playing. I didn't ask them. They just chose to do that. They were so complimentary of how hard we play, how well we've played, how physical we are, how tough our kids are. Just the way we've just battled and fought against really good football teams. They're impressed.
So I told our guys, I said, You can choose to feel sorry for yourself or you can realize you gust played arguably the toughest schedule in the country to start the season and you're right there. So you can get disappointed and hang your head and mope, or you can draw confidence from the way you performed.”
Allen feels despite the offensive struggles he is still confident in that unit.
“We believe in what we're doing, and definitely want to -- you have calls you have back, you want to change. Gosh, I got a call I wish I could have changed on one of our situations. Just like I tell our team, There are two days that you don't need to focus on: that's yesterday and tomorrow. You focus on today. You learn from yesterday. You don't be anxious about tomorrow. You dwell on today.
So we're learning from our past mistakes and things we want to do and improve on and get better at, and we focus on what we're going to do today to be able to be at our best tomorrow.
Obviously we've played some really good, talented teams. I know a lot of teams have tough schedules, so that's part of it. We knew that going in. Now we've got to be able to allow ourselves to learn from those and execute in those key situations.
That's what it comes down, even on that third and long. You got to execute the call.”
Allen touched on the similarities Indiana and Maryland have had from an injury standpoint.
“Yeah. I think we have had several positions where backups are playing and guys are just mixing and matching. They have had the same thing. It's part of the game. It's part of life.
As I tell our team, very rarely do you -- once the season starts are you going to have all those same guys at their same positions at this point in the season. So I think they're an example of that. So are other teams.
I know even talking to Coach Dantonio they had a rash of injuries a year ago, and all anybody wanted to focus on with them was the fact that they were just losing game after game after game.
Well, they were really beat up in a lot of key areas, and it took its toll on them and their season. You can't dwell on that and you don't, but is it a variable? Sure, it can be a variable. They're on their third quarterback, and so that definitely has an impact on the team.
The young man that is playing there now is getting better and better every week and they're building it around what he can do. He's a tough, hard-nosed kid that's making plays. Led them to a tough road win at Minnesota. So he's doing what he's supposed to do, which is step up and do his job. That's what our guys have to do on our team in those positions, those situations.
I promise you, nobody else outside of here is feeling sorry for anybody. You just got to roll your sleeves up and go to work. That's what we've done here and that's what we're going to do this week.”
Allen was asked if he felt they could move Peyton Ramsey around and roll him out of the pocket more.
“He's a guy that can do that for sure. You have to be able to move both directions as a quarterback, even though as a right-handed guy he's going to feel more natural going to his right, but has to have the ability to move his left whether it's scrambling around or designed roll outs.
I think you have to look at that, and especially per who you're playing and how good they are up front. To me, that helps give you an advantage of not being as predictable.
But I know Coach will do great job of that, and just trying to help him being successful for sure.”
Allen had high praise for Griffin Oakes and his strong bounce back season so far.
“Yeah, he's locked in; he's doing his job. He feels good about where he is, and the mechanics are in rhythm. He's just got to continue.
Yeah, he's kicked well. Really proud of him. He had had a history of going to this place, Michigan State meaning, and not kicking well. So really -- well, we never talked about it, okay, intentionally, but he would bring it up I guess I just didn't want to make that a topic.
I just said, It's about your mindset. As a man thinketh, so is he. I think that that's why I focused on his mindset all off-season. Just very proud of him. Just got to continue, and I believe it will.”
With Issac James moving to the safety/husky position full-time, Allen talked about what led to that move.
“Yeah, just got some guys injured and felt like that was the best chance for us to get him on the field. He's a really good athlete and a great kid. We felt like, Hey, this is where he could really help our team. Really have kind of played him both at rover and husky based on injuries. So need him this week. Need his speed and his ability to make plays in space.
So he's going to be important in our preparation, because it's a different style of offense that we play compared to the last couple weeks. More of a true spread.
So, yeah, it's been a good opportunity for him for sure. He's right there in the mix.”
MIKE DEBORD:
DeBord commented that the poor QB runs don’t fall just on Ramsey and that the offensive line needs to improve too.