2019 Indiana Football Fall Camp Report: August 19th

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Image: Andrew Walker Hoosier Huddle

Image: Andrew Walker Hoosier Huddle

Written by Andrew Walker

On an absolutely scorching day, the Indiana Hoosiers were in Mellencamp Pavilion for practice. Pads and helmets were nowhere in sight for a relatively light day, full of run-throughs, situational drills and special teams playmaking. Energy was high, but relaxed today as there was no contact in drills. There was very little throwing and even less catch-and-run by the receiving corps. Aside from a few full speed route running, it was an all around rest day. 

Observations

  • High energy

  • Defense communicating well

  • 10 seconds or less situational drills were an emphasis

  • Special teams return drills were emphasized as well

Quotes

Tom Allen

Opening Statement

“"I want to comment a little bit about our scrimmage on Saturday. We had a really good scrimmage. Really our last. Preseason Game #2 is what we call it. Preseason Game #3 for us is our mock game, which will be up here this upcoming Saturday. That will be in spiders, which will be helmets only and no shoulder pads. We won't have any hitting at that but a whole game-like situation. We'll put our whole team on one sideline and put all the look team guys on the other sideline and it's all against scouts. And so, it's kind of function from quarter to quarter, all four quarters, halftime, pre-game. All that stuff. So that is the next stuff for us.

Preseason game #2 this past weekend got cut a little short because of the lightning, but we got it all in in terms of the time. We didn't go and split it up and go to the indoor, but we got all the offensive and defensive work that we wanted. We had to cut a couple of special teams out when we got the lightning coming. But it was good, very physical. All of the go routes were live except for we worked on two-minute at the end and that was just tempo. I really liked how our running backs performed. I thought Cole Gest did some good things in both the throw game and running the football, getting him sharpened up. Ronnie Walker was another one that really, as a matter of fact, when we wound it back I thought it was one of the other guys.

So, just really encouraged by his continued progress. I think he does so many great things off the field, in the weight room, the way he handles himself and the way he works. He's a guy I think a lot of and think he is running with confidence. And Sampson continues to do some good things. Stevie got some reps, but I know what he can do so we backed off with him. On the running reps he just did some protection and things like that.

Rested a lot of receivers in the first group. But I thought that Matt Bjorson at tight end made a lot of good plays, did some good things for us. He's playing hard and playing well and I thought that was really positive. I think Cam Wilson keeps doing some good things and Jordan Jakes made some good plays and it was good to see him get some confidence. I thought all three quarterbacks did some good stuff and that's what makes it continue to be a challenge.

We'll get closer to make that final decision. I'm not there yet, but I think it was a positive step in the right direction for all three of those guys as they keep working and continue to develop and compete to run the offense.

Defensively, I thought we had a really good finish in the situations that we did. I think our run fits are getting better and better and that's a big deal for me and how we study those. I am really encouraged by Lance Bryant. He's really had a good camp all the way through and I thought he really shined at times in both the run game and pass pressure. He is blossoming into the guy I thought he could be since he's been here. Redshirted him out of Texas and this is his redshirt sophomore year. James Head continues to be consistent. I want him to continue to elevate his game. I thought Jerome Johnson did some good stuff and Juan (Harris) continued to have a very good camp. We need those guys to continue to come along. James Head and Thomas Allen I thought were really solid. I thought Reakwon, really love where he's at. Leading the defense and playing with confidence, just doing some good things. Pierre is a young guy we don't talk about a lot, but he really flashed to me and is really consistent. It was a really good, it was one of those things you have a scrimmage and see things.

Still too many penalties. We had the officials here so they were calling. We had some holding calls and the defense jumped offsides once at a critical time. You can't do that. We have to get that fixed. The holding was probably the one I wanted them to call so we get a realistic view where we are at moving our feet, keeping our hands inside. I didn't like that. That wasn't good enough for me. I went back and watched and there was a lot of positives. I really like what we're doing on the red zone offense-wise. It creates a lot challenges for the defense and that was encouraging. We go back and rewatch the film, watch special teams, watch everything we did and feel okay. We're making progress. We got two more weeks after that scrimmage to get ready to play. I feel like the team is starting to figure things out and this next week here we got to keep working fundamentally for three more practices and then Ball State prep."

WR Coach/Passing Game Coordinator Grant Heard

On how the wide receivers have progressed during camp…
"I have a bunch of experienced guys who play – (Nick) Westbrook, (Donavan) Hale, (Ty) Fryfogle, Whop (Philyor). It was a big terminology thing they had to learn from the spring until now, but now they are comfortable with it and look really good, making the minor adjustments we need to do on certain things. We're progressing great and looking forward to seeing them play next week."

On having seniors to help the younger receivers…
"It's awesome because they've played a lot of snaps in the Big Ten. Practice is great, but to have that game experience is invaluable. To have them be able to show the younger guys what it really takes to win in the Big Ten, is awesome."

On what the group needs to do to become one of the best in the country…
"Do their job and do it to the best of their availability, every play. There is a bunch of talent in this room. The key is to do it every play and to have every snap be the best. That's my job to get them to do that and, if they do that, we have a chance to be one of the best groups in the country."

WR Donavan Hale

On what's impressed him on the WR group during fall camp…
"We have a lot of depth in our room. Our confidence is at an all-time high. We've been working harder that we've ever worked. We're faster, stronger, pretty much all across the board. We're just better."

WR Nick Westbrook

“On what's impressed him on the WR group during fall camp…
"Everybody is making plays. We have a lot of depth, a lot of playmakers that can just fly around the ball. We can make plays all over the field. I'm really happy about our depth. The last couple years we have struggled to have people stay healthy through camp. Fortunately, so far, knock on wood, everyone has been able to stay healthy going into this first game. So I'm really excited to see what we are going to do this season."