Media Monday: Notes and Quotes from Tom Allen's Press Conference (Penn State Week)

Written by: Zach Greene (@zachegreene)

Media Monday Notebook

Tom Allen addressed the media following the program’s bye week, injuries, QB position, and the upcoming game against Penn State

Injuries:

Cam Camper suffered a torn ACL and is out for the remainder of the season: “From an injury update from the game, unfortunately, Cam Camper has torn his ACL and will be out for the rest of the season. Will be having surgery in the near future. Did that in the first half against Rutgers. Obviously feel terrible for him. He's part of our team. He'll be in that long road to recovery. Our staff will do a great job of getting him back and having him ready for the fall.”

 Cam Jones is week to week: “Cam Jones is still week to week.”

Quotes:

Tom Allen:

Opening Statement:

“Good afternoon. Just update on our team. Came out of our bye week, really thought that the guys did a really good job. Had a couple days of practice. Focused on fundamentals, just blocking and tackling, major emphasis. Technically getting better, getting some guys healthy, getting them rested, refreshed. Gave the guys Thursday, Friday, Saturday off, then back on Sunday. I thought that was good. Coaches went out, did a lot of recruiting. Very, very important part of what we do. Got to see a lot of players practice and play. Very productive. Good bye week for us. Much needed in a lot of different ways for our guys.”

Allen on Who Hoosiers Fans Can Get Excited For on Defense:

“I think a guy like Phillip Dunnam comes to mind. Really see him get a lot of reps this past week, during the bye week. Expect him to continue to grow and develop. I think that's a huge opportunity for him.

Brylan Lanier, same thing, young guy in our program defensively.

Kaiden Turner, another guy that got a lot of reps that is continuing to elevate his preparation. Opportunity for him to be able to keep growing as a player.

I just think also our offensive line, even though those guys are playing with us now. Josh Sales and Khalil Benson, just continue to rep those guys, grow them, bring them along, allow them to develop. Our skill guys that are younger as well, continue to bring them to the point where we just keep getting better every week.

A lot of guys got a lot of good reps. Did a younger guys scrimmage on Wednesday. Some live reps, had some fun with that. Had the GAs calling the offense and defense. A chance to be able to do some positive things.”

QB Situation:

“I'm just saying that you'll have to wait till Saturday to see who our starting quarterback is going to be, so…”

Evaluations During the Bye-Week

“Yeah, we're definitely going to be able to do that. Already done that. We will move forward with that position. I guess we'll have to see how that plays itself out when it comes to game day.”

“At the same time every position, as I said, is up for evaluation. That was the case. We're just trying to find the best combination to be able to give us a spark on offense and allow our guys to be able to move the football and score points.”

“Didn't do that in the second half. Not done that well in the second half in several different games here recently. Definitely need to get some different product, different output of our offense in the second half for sure.”

“Everybody is up for evaluation, yes.”

Who Stood out During Wednesday’s Scrimmage:

“I think Omar Cooper. We've made the decision with him, as you've noticed, he played in four games. Do not want to use that extra snap to cause him to lose a whole year of eligibility. He was a definite guy that jumped out.”

“I think Kamryn Perry is another receiver that really shows unbelievable upside and promise. He has elite burst and ball skills at a really high level. We see him every day on the offensive scout team. He has been one that on a daily basis has stuck out, but even in that setting there as well.”

“I think Kaiden Turner is another one. Every time we go live, he always seems to just make plays. Physical guy that is growing in his understanding of what we're doing schematically. I think that's very, very important.”

“Brendan Sorsby is a really talented football player that didn't get here until the summer. Really just learned our offense, got a chance to be our scout team quarterback every day. Seeing him throw, he's just a really, really, really talented football player.”

“Very excited about those three guys for our future. Got a lot of really good freshmen on that roster that need to be developed and need to continue to get opportunities in practice and just keep growing and getting better.”

Finishing the Last Quarter of the Season Strong

“Yeah, I think step one is to be able to consistently execute our fundamentals and our techniques. That includes schematic execution, the consistency there. Continuing to see the growth of our younger players that we're playing, to our older guys that are still having to make plays for us. That consistency is never going to cease to be a priority for us. It was last week. It's got to be this week.”

“I think to me it's about coming out of the second half and finishing. I think that's something that we didn't do in our last couple games that we had opportunities to do. Even though our conference games have come down to the fourth quarter, we haven't found enough ways to make plays to finish those games the way we want to.”

“Just want to see that fight, that finish, the execution at those critical times. That's never going to cease to be a priority.”

“Continue to make changes. We have to make change, whatever we've got to do schematically, personal-wise, to get ourselves in that position.”

“Just want to see younger guys develop as well. Some guys will get opportunities because of some guys being dinged up. Already have had those. I want to see them rise up and have a great finish to the 2022 season.”

What the Program and Allen did over the Bye:

“Get some rest. That was for me, I tried to actually get some sleep. Then once the day started, I watched Penn State film, then watched them play. Chose to watch one of our future opponents play later that night.”

“In between that, I had my laptop, spent a lot of time watching cut-ups and getting ready for Penn State.”

“Our guys need a change of scenery. I did that from my home instead of from my office. I think that is good. I want all our guys to do something of that nature, change things up a little bit. You need a chance to unplug.”

“For us as coaches, we were out recruiting once we left practice each day, then we went out and recruited. Spent a lot of time getting ready in that regard. That's really important. Was up late Friday night watching games. That's really awesome. I really enjoy that part.”

“Saturday to me is a chance to watch college football, which is enjoyable for all of us to do. To be able to do it from a little different setting, it was good. I think both coaches and players came back refreshed and ready to attack this week.”