Tom Allen's Media Monday Notes and Quotes: Michigan State Week

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Media Monday Notebook

Indiana Head Coach Tom Allen addressed the media to wrap up the win against Connecticut and preview this week’s matchup against the Michigan State Spartans.

Notes:

- Players of the Week:

Offense: Whop Philyor

Defense: Cam Jones

Special Teams: Tiawan Mullen

Scout Team: Connor Thomas, DK Bonnehomme, CJ Person, McCall Ray

Injury Report:

Coy Cronk: “he'll be having surgery this week and he'll be out for the season.”

Michael Penix: “Michael's been rehabbing and that's continued to go well and we'll find out more here throughout the week and then make a decision for that position on game day.”

Tom Allen Quotes: 

On Coy Cronk Redshirting and Who Replaces Him:

“First of all, really no discussion whatsoever regarding Coy's future. Obviously a lot of different things out there as possibilities. But right now the number one focus is getting him, get surgery, get through that, support him a hundred percent, and we'll make, we'll have those discussions with him and his family when it's appropriate and make the best decision possible for him.
So then regarding the position, as you saw, we can move Caleb to left tackle, which we did in the game right away, and then DaVondre Love is in the mix there to play. Matthew Bedford, played him there in the fourth quarter and he'll be in the mix to play. Haydon Rafferty is a guy that's got to step up. So those three guys are really the three tackles that will be in position to prepare to do that. And we'll -- to me, Caleb's going to have to be able to do both. We got to keep him ready to play both sides. A guy like Matt Bedford we will just focus him on left tackle because he's so young. And same with Aidan, but just trying to get those guys ready to roll, so -- but that's what you have to do. That's why you recruit and that's why you develop your guys and I just think it's a great opportunity for somebody to step up and take advantage of it. But that's how we're going to approach it right now and so we'll approach this week, obviously we had the bye the following week so it gives us some more chance to continue to get important reps. But all the focus right now is getting those guys ready to play against Michigan State.”

On Penix Being Able to Participate in Practice:

“Yes, I do expect that, yes. So we'll see how that goes. That's the expectation, he'll be practicing this week and getting himself ready and we'll see how his body responds to that. So that will be the case tomorrow and on Wednesday and then Thursday we should have a pretty good idea where we're at and then announce it at kickoff.”

On the Specifics of Penix’s Injury:

“All I know is he's getting better. So I can say that with confidence that he is progressing and I'm trusting in our medical staff for their analysis and evaluation. They do a tremendous job, so I believe in them and trust them. So, yeah, we're making progress, so we just got to keep doing what we're doing and we'll see how, see when he'll be ready to come back. But definitely making progress.”

On Whether or not There is a Temptation to Hold Penix Out with an Open Week Coming up:

“Only if he's not ready. To me, I'm not going to put him out there if he's not ready. And so because of having the bye afterwards there's no doubt that would give you an extended period of time. But my approach will be if he's ready to go then he's going to go.
If he's not, then I would feel really confident that he would be ready after the bye week. But those are things that I don't know for sure, so I don't want to speculate, but -- and we got two really good quarterbacks that play at a high level and I believe in both of them so that excites me too.”

On the Concern About Michigan State’s Offensive Line:

“Well that's a tall task against that type of an opponent. But that's the position you find yourself in. So you can look at it one of two ways, you can say does that concern you or does that excite you. And to me it excites me about the opportunity that it's going to present for somebody to step up and grow because you really find out a lot about somebody during these opportunities and I've coached a long, long time and so seen so many guys take advantage of things like this when somebody goes down and can no longer play that somebody else gets an opportunity to step up and create that for themselves and for our team.
So that's the approach I have. So I, as much as I hurt for Coy, we're just -- and he's the same way -- he understands, he gets it, somebody else has to rise up and take his place. So we'll see.
But whoever does will have a great opportunity to be able to be tested against a tough environment, against a very really high level defense. So got to go.”

On Playing Matthew Bedford at Tackle:

“I think the wise approach is regardless of how it plays out I think that multiple guys are going to have to play. I don't know that a guy like that for a true freshman to come in there, or even a red shirt freshman, to play the entire game in that setting against that type of opponent for that many snaps. So I would fully expect us to be able to get multiple guys ready and be able to have multiple options at that spot. So that to me is really the probably the approach you want to take and so you can, yeah, you don't have the luxury of easing him into it like maybe you thought you could before this happened, but at the same time I do see us -- those guys are going to play, DaVondre is going to play a bunch and Matt should play a bunch and we'll just kind of mix and match the combinations and then Aidan is obviously the next guy after that. So that to me is kind of where we're at but now, no, it definitely has fast forwarded the sequence for sure.”

On the Play of Michael Ziemba:

“Well first of all he's playing really well right now and his confidence has grown with each passing season that he's been here. As you mentioned he did not play the position in high school, so it was a learning curve that he had to go through to get that confidence level. But the thing that's never ever been not the case is he's always played hard and he plays hard right now and just, he's a joy to put the film on and just watch him fly around and chase down people and just play with fanatical effort. And as we tell our team all the time, it's the one variable you completely control. So that a choice he makes, every time he takes the field he's going to play that way. He's had to learn how to play and just taking on big old tight end, and tackles at times and using your hands and defeating blocks and reading blocks on the run, that has taken some time to get him to that point. And so -- but you saw he can be to disruptive because of his speed and athleticism. And you can't ever have enough big guys that can run and he's one of those body types for us. So really happy for him and how well he's playing and how hard he plays is his choice that he brings every day and he's that way in practice all the time. And so really a lot of respect for that, for him and appreciate all he gives our program. So, yeah, we just, he probably has surprised us he played as early as he did, but you just got to keep getting better and better and he has.”