Postgame Quotes: Indiana at Rutgers
11/5/2016 7:43:00 PM | Football
Indiana Head Coach Kevin Wilson
On getting the plays they needed: "The sky kicks didn't hurt us. It would have been nice to take advantage of them. The defense did a great job. The field goal team was not very good going into the wind. We bogged down a couple times, but we played trying to get it back. Defense got it back. We kept it at a close enough game. The one drive where we hit the swing route to Devine (Redding) was huge to break it open a little. We didn't run it very well. We didn't block very well. We thought their strength was their line of scrimmage. Their D-line did very well against ours. I think both D-line's seemed to play well. I think their D-line did better compared to ours in the running game. I think our D-line did a good job. We did run it 44 times. We were off schedule and didn't run well which meant we had to play uphill making it harder for us. The turn overs were bad. We had four. You are lucky to win on the road with that. With the kicking errors we had in the PAT and field goal team, we are very fortunate to win. The kids played hard. The defense was awesome with the three and outs and stops. Our defense played really well. I was proud of those guys."
On winning despite turnovers: "There were some one-on-one plays. Ricky Jones recovering the fumble may be the biggest one-on-one play of that day. I don't know how he got it because it was their ball, I thought. He just outfought a guy because of his will to win. Which is sometimes what you need, a spirit and a will to win. I think today we didn't play smart all the time. We didn't play horrible. There was some good football. There was also some negative football. I think our will to win especially defensively and couple of those kids making those one-on-one plays. I think that was the difference."
On the kicking game: "Protection broke down. We have an issue with the holder and kicker. The confidence issue. We started the game with our other kicker and he didn't kick well, although he's done well in practice. Those guys are good but they are a little psycho right now. Down the stretch we are going to need to kick well in the three weeks coming. This time of year with weather, wind and the opponents you're playing, we are going to need to kick it better. They have the talent to. Those guys can do it. Sometimes those mental demons and psychologic barriers are more cumbersome then the physical barriers. We have to get those guys cleaned up. The kicker can't hide. He either makes it or doesn't. Everyone knows. If the hold or protection is off a little bit it affects him. Both of those kickers are good. Griffin (Oakes) has been awesome and he made some great kicks down the stretch and we are going to need him to kick well moving forward. We just have to fight through it."
On Dan Feeney playing at Right Tackle: "He is in our best five. Delroy (Baker) is going to play. We can get DaVondre Love playing as well. (Jacob) Bailey is a good player. Even if Dan was injured, when your back up is a five year veteran with many starts it's hard not having him in your best five. We want to play Delroy. We do think Jacob Bailey is good, maybe not playing the whole game. We have a lot of confidence in those guys."
On the defense putting the offense in a good position: "They (Rutgers) go early and have the one big play and then Zander (Diamont) fumbles and they scoop and score. Then we fumble on a kick off. That is three touchdowns on a 20-yard drive. Rutgers came in early running the ball very well. I think our ability to stop the run and making them throw more than they would have wanted too, it made it a little easier. We ran a lot. I think our defensive line did good defeating blocks. They came in as a decent running team and I think our ability to keep them one dimensional helped us. We were able to make some great one-on-one plays and we did run it enough that they couldn't tee off on the quarterback and that helped."
On the seniors at halftime: "They didn't say a whole lot at halftime. They were talking to themselves on the sideline as a group. They say a lot to our team during the week with how they approach practice and how they are living and doing their business. When we do our captains work on Thursdays we talk about the mental side of the game and getting yourself right. Dan Feeney and Mitchell Paige and Rickey (Jones) stand in front of our team. Rickey's challenge every week is someone play harder than me. He looks at Feeney and says I'm going to outplay you today. Those guys having that senior fun, of not walking down memory lane but enjoying every second playing as hard as you can. I love those guys. They've played great for us."
On Camion Patrick's touchdown: "He can make plays. I think psychologically, like our kicker, I think he wants to be a little father then he is coming off the injury. We've seen that early in practice prior to the injury. Post injury it's been a little up and down. It has been inconsistent. There is a little frustration, he wants to be playing more. Sometimes his practice habits are okay, not as a great as they can be. He's still on the climb. He's not back yet."
WR Camion Patrick
If he feels like he's fully recovered from the injury:
"I feel like I'm back but there's always stuff to work on. Just some minor stuff here and there but I feel like I'm back."
On how he manages to stay engaged and what has helped him come back so fast:
"Just being around my brothers every single day. They picked me up when I was down so being around them really helped me get back."
On being called the best player on the team and if he feels pressured
"No, not really. I just go out there with my teammates and compete as a team. I try to contribute, do what I can do, and just go out there and work together. I don't see myself as the best player, but I do see us as the best team."
WR Mitchell Paige
On the adjustments they had to make in the second half:
"We honestly didn't make that many adjustments. We were trusting our plan, played a lot of man-to-man coverage and made some plays on the outside. They did a good job loading the box and played some great defensive schemes. They played tough on defense but we just trusted our plan and made some competitive plays."
LB Marcus Oliver
On his confidence once he got on a roll:
"Once we get settled in we're as good as anybody. We all know that we have confidence in one another and we came out and trusted one another and just played team defense."
On what their defense coach said to them after their first fumble:
"We're competitors on defense and he hates when people score. Even though they got the ball there, it was our responsibility to not let them in the endzone."
On their plan to contain Rutgers' running game:
"After last week there were a lot of things that we did that needed to be fixed. We just prepare for a lot. We do what we do best and play the best defense that we can."
On if the team is developing a sense of resiliency:
"I think a lot of the older guys who played last year and before have that maturity now. They know that when something is going bad that it's not always going to be bad and that when something is going good that it's not always going to be good. Just keep going out there and play the next play."
On Dawson Fletcher:
"It was Dawson's best week as far as practice. He's a guy that can be really good, he's really athletic. Just him building up his confidence and hopefully by the end of the year he's playing more."
WR Ricky Jones
On the fumble in which he got the ball:
"I saw the ball pop up and just jumped on it. A million things go through your mind when you see the ball on the ground and I knew I had to make that play. I'm at the bottom of the pile and everyone is yelling 'I got it!' and I know that I'm the one that has it. It's a good feeling."
On how they managed to stay even keeled during their struggles in the second quarter:
"That stuff that we work on in-season. Never get too high, never get too low. Just make big time plays. The game wasn't going our way and we knew that we had to win the game and stay confident regardless of what was going on in the game."
On if they had to make any adjustments against the Rutgers offense:
"That's all coach [Associate Head Coach] Allen. I'm so happy to have him on our team. He's changed the culture of our defense and me being here five years I've seen our defenses struggle. I'm so happy and proud to have coach Allen doing his thing on the side."
On Camion's touchdown:
"Man, you guys have no idea. The type of talent Camion has is an incredible talent. The dude could jump out the roof, he has the strongest hands. He's an unbelievable player, one of the best I've ever seen. To see him back on the field and make a play like that makes me really proud and happy for him."
DL Robert McCray III
On adjustments during the second half:
"We really didn't make any adjustments. It was a matter of buying into the defensive calls and executing everything how we're supposed to. Just staying disciplined and things like that."
On resiliency of the defense:
"I feel like we just have to believe in each other and the coaches. Coach Allen brings a lot of energy to the team. Just buy into and trust each other that we're all going to do our job. We never get down on anything we just move past it because we know that we're stronger than that and that we're better than that and we want to get better."
On how they managed to pressure Rutgers' QB:
"I wouldn't say there was anything we did different. We just tried to trick the offensive line but it really was us just going hard and 100% every play. We had to trust our secondary and they had to trust us. The quarterback tried to use his feet and we were there to get him."
On getting the plays they needed: "The sky kicks didn't hurt us. It would have been nice to take advantage of them. The defense did a great job. The field goal team was not very good going into the wind. We bogged down a couple times, but we played trying to get it back. Defense got it back. We kept it at a close enough game. The one drive where we hit the swing route to Devine (Redding) was huge to break it open a little. We didn't run it very well. We didn't block very well. We thought their strength was their line of scrimmage. Their D-line did very well against ours. I think both D-line's seemed to play well. I think their D-line did better compared to ours in the running game. I think our D-line did a good job. We did run it 44 times. We were off schedule and didn't run well which meant we had to play uphill making it harder for us. The turn overs were bad. We had four. You are lucky to win on the road with that. With the kicking errors we had in the PAT and field goal team, we are very fortunate to win. The kids played hard. The defense was awesome with the three and outs and stops. Our defense played really well. I was proud of those guys."
On winning despite turnovers: "There were some one-on-one plays. Ricky Jones recovering the fumble may be the biggest one-on-one play of that day. I don't know how he got it because it was their ball, I thought. He just outfought a guy because of his will to win. Which is sometimes what you need, a spirit and a will to win. I think today we didn't play smart all the time. We didn't play horrible. There was some good football. There was also some negative football. I think our will to win especially defensively and couple of those kids making those one-on-one plays. I think that was the difference."
On the kicking game: "Protection broke down. We have an issue with the holder and kicker. The confidence issue. We started the game with our other kicker and he didn't kick well, although he's done well in practice. Those guys are good but they are a little psycho right now. Down the stretch we are going to need to kick well in the three weeks coming. This time of year with weather, wind and the opponents you're playing, we are going to need to kick it better. They have the talent to. Those guys can do it. Sometimes those mental demons and psychologic barriers are more cumbersome then the physical barriers. We have to get those guys cleaned up. The kicker can't hide. He either makes it or doesn't. Everyone knows. If the hold or protection is off a little bit it affects him. Both of those kickers are good. Griffin (Oakes) has been awesome and he made some great kicks down the stretch and we are going to need him to kick well moving forward. We just have to fight through it."
On Dan Feeney playing at Right Tackle: "He is in our best five. Delroy (Baker) is going to play. We can get DaVondre Love playing as well. (Jacob) Bailey is a good player. Even if Dan was injured, when your back up is a five year veteran with many starts it's hard not having him in your best five. We want to play Delroy. We do think Jacob Bailey is good, maybe not playing the whole game. We have a lot of confidence in those guys."
On the defense putting the offense in a good position: "They (Rutgers) go early and have the one big play and then Zander (Diamont) fumbles and they scoop and score. Then we fumble on a kick off. That is three touchdowns on a 20-yard drive. Rutgers came in early running the ball very well. I think our ability to stop the run and making them throw more than they would have wanted too, it made it a little easier. We ran a lot. I think our defensive line did good defeating blocks. They came in as a decent running team and I think our ability to keep them one dimensional helped us. We were able to make some great one-on-one plays and we did run it enough that they couldn't tee off on the quarterback and that helped."
On the seniors at halftime: "They didn't say a whole lot at halftime. They were talking to themselves on the sideline as a group. They say a lot to our team during the week with how they approach practice and how they are living and doing their business. When we do our captains work on Thursdays we talk about the mental side of the game and getting yourself right. Dan Feeney and Mitchell Paige and Rickey (Jones) stand in front of our team. Rickey's challenge every week is someone play harder than me. He looks at Feeney and says I'm going to outplay you today. Those guys having that senior fun, of not walking down memory lane but enjoying every second playing as hard as you can. I love those guys. They've played great for us."
On Camion Patrick's touchdown: "He can make plays. I think psychologically, like our kicker, I think he wants to be a little father then he is coming off the injury. We've seen that early in practice prior to the injury. Post injury it's been a little up and down. It has been inconsistent. There is a little frustration, he wants to be playing more. Sometimes his practice habits are okay, not as a great as they can be. He's still on the climb. He's not back yet."
WR Camion Patrick
If he feels like he's fully recovered from the injury:
"I feel like I'm back but there's always stuff to work on. Just some minor stuff here and there but I feel like I'm back."
On how he manages to stay engaged and what has helped him come back so fast:
"Just being around my brothers every single day. They picked me up when I was down so being around them really helped me get back."
On being called the best player on the team and if he feels pressured
"No, not really. I just go out there with my teammates and compete as a team. I try to contribute, do what I can do, and just go out there and work together. I don't see myself as the best player, but I do see us as the best team."
WR Mitchell Paige
On the adjustments they had to make in the second half:
"We honestly didn't make that many adjustments. We were trusting our plan, played a lot of man-to-man coverage and made some plays on the outside. They did a good job loading the box and played some great defensive schemes. They played tough on defense but we just trusted our plan and made some competitive plays."
LB Marcus Oliver
On his confidence once he got on a roll:
"Once we get settled in we're as good as anybody. We all know that we have confidence in one another and we came out and trusted one another and just played team defense."
On what their defense coach said to them after their first fumble:
"We're competitors on defense and he hates when people score. Even though they got the ball there, it was our responsibility to not let them in the endzone."
On their plan to contain Rutgers' running game:
"After last week there were a lot of things that we did that needed to be fixed. We just prepare for a lot. We do what we do best and play the best defense that we can."
On if the team is developing a sense of resiliency:
"I think a lot of the older guys who played last year and before have that maturity now. They know that when something is going bad that it's not always going to be bad and that when something is going good that it's not always going to be good. Just keep going out there and play the next play."
On Dawson Fletcher:
"It was Dawson's best week as far as practice. He's a guy that can be really good, he's really athletic. Just him building up his confidence and hopefully by the end of the year he's playing more."
WR Ricky Jones
On the fumble in which he got the ball:
"I saw the ball pop up and just jumped on it. A million things go through your mind when you see the ball on the ground and I knew I had to make that play. I'm at the bottom of the pile and everyone is yelling 'I got it!' and I know that I'm the one that has it. It's a good feeling."
On how they managed to stay even keeled during their struggles in the second quarter:
"That stuff that we work on in-season. Never get too high, never get too low. Just make big time plays. The game wasn't going our way and we knew that we had to win the game and stay confident regardless of what was going on in the game."
On if they had to make any adjustments against the Rutgers offense:
"That's all coach [Associate Head Coach] Allen. I'm so happy to have him on our team. He's changed the culture of our defense and me being here five years I've seen our defenses struggle. I'm so happy and proud to have coach Allen doing his thing on the side."
On Camion's touchdown:
"Man, you guys have no idea. The type of talent Camion has is an incredible talent. The dude could jump out the roof, he has the strongest hands. He's an unbelievable player, one of the best I've ever seen. To see him back on the field and make a play like that makes me really proud and happy for him."
DL Robert McCray III
On adjustments during the second half:
"We really didn't make any adjustments. It was a matter of buying into the defensive calls and executing everything how we're supposed to. Just staying disciplined and things like that."
On resiliency of the defense:
"I feel like we just have to believe in each other and the coaches. Coach Allen brings a lot of energy to the team. Just buy into and trust each other that we're all going to do our job. We never get down on anything we just move past it because we know that we're stronger than that and that we're better than that and we want to get better."
On how they managed to pressure Rutgers' QB:
"I wouldn't say there was anything we did different. We just tried to trick the offensive line but it really was us just going hard and 100% every play. We had to trust our secondary and they had to trust us. The quarterback tried to use his feet and we were there to get him."
Players Mentioned
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