Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Media: Indiana vs. FIU
9/2/2016 10:44:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana football team opened the 2016 season with a 34-13 victory over the Florida International Panthers on Thursday night in Miami.
Head coach Kevin Wilson and players met with the media following the game. Below is Wilson's transcript.
Opening statement:
"I think our kids played hard. We still had a lot of errors and left some points on the field offensively, and we didn't convert some third downs. Defensively, we were so much better but we gave up some cheap plays. There's a lot to clean up, but that's what's good about [the first game]. This game at Florida International scared me. We had a new defense, a new quarterback, and a first game on the road. You think you have a good team, but you're not tested yet. I was proud of the way the guys battled, we were very physical and in shape, and we didn't have guys tapping out. Everybody was talking about the Florida heat, but it has been pretty hot in Bloomington so we were rocking and rolling. I'm proud of the effort, I love the toughness, and I think we have so much to improve on that excites me. We'll see if we can make some strides, because we'll have a strong test next Saturday with Ball State."
On the offensive line play tonight:
"Unfortunately, we had an injury with Jordan Fuchs. It's not as bad as it looked, but he dislocated his ankle. He'll come back, and that's going to be a fixable thing, but it might cost him the bulk of the season. He does have a redshirt year, however. When that happened, we slid Brandon Knight back at tight end, so we essentially had six linemen down. Add Danny Friendto that line, who weighs in at 270. We went with big people at times, and Coach McCullough has some backs that run hard. When talking about the offensive line, I always want to mention Danny and the tight end group. That's a big part of what we do."
On using seven different rushers and gaining 246 yards on the ground:
"They were loading up the box a little bit, so that made things difficult. We didn't manage some third downs, and some plays slipped. One time, I called a play backwards, and we ran uphill and lost a third down conversion. We have a lot to clean up, but we can lean on that offensive line. Richard had a very nice first game to build off of. We'll get some guys healthy, moving forward, especially in our skill positions. We'll have Camion Patrick coming back, among others, and we need to get Tyler Natee back into the mix. Jordan Fuchs is a talented guy; we're going to miss him. But we have a lot of skill to work with, and that line gives us a chance every week to be pretty good."
On the defense's performance:
"I think that they didn't get rattled. It was a close game, and I thought we tackled well for the most part. We let them play over the top sometimes, and gave them some check downs at the end. We had a couple of bend-don't-break drives at the end and did a nice job of keeping them out of the end zone. From the start, we knew there would be mistakes, but they were the calmest I've ever seen the team in handling the mistakes. They came over and talked about it and tried to fix it. Coach Allen has great command of that defense, those coaches and players. They made their adjustments, and it was a great effort for the first game. There's so much to build on, but it's a great start and I'm proud of their composure. They're buying into and believing in what they're doing."
On the big plays by the defense and special teams:
"It was a really good team win. We had a punt downed on the 2-yard line, which led to the safety. Our field goal team has to tighten up; we had a couple of blunders there. But overall, it was a great team win and I'm proud of the team in all facets."
Head coach Kevin Wilson and players met with the media following the game. Below is Wilson's transcript.
Opening statement:
"I think our kids played hard. We still had a lot of errors and left some points on the field offensively, and we didn't convert some third downs. Defensively, we were so much better but we gave up some cheap plays. There's a lot to clean up, but that's what's good about [the first game]. This game at Florida International scared me. We had a new defense, a new quarterback, and a first game on the road. You think you have a good team, but you're not tested yet. I was proud of the way the guys battled, we were very physical and in shape, and we didn't have guys tapping out. Everybody was talking about the Florida heat, but it has been pretty hot in Bloomington so we were rocking and rolling. I'm proud of the effort, I love the toughness, and I think we have so much to improve on that excites me. We'll see if we can make some strides, because we'll have a strong test next Saturday with Ball State."
On the offensive line play tonight:
"Unfortunately, we had an injury with Jordan Fuchs. It's not as bad as it looked, but he dislocated his ankle. He'll come back, and that's going to be a fixable thing, but it might cost him the bulk of the season. He does have a redshirt year, however. When that happened, we slid Brandon Knight back at tight end, so we essentially had six linemen down. Add Danny Friendto that line, who weighs in at 270. We went with big people at times, and Coach McCullough has some backs that run hard. When talking about the offensive line, I always want to mention Danny and the tight end group. That's a big part of what we do."
On using seven different rushers and gaining 246 yards on the ground:
"They were loading up the box a little bit, so that made things difficult. We didn't manage some third downs, and some plays slipped. One time, I called a play backwards, and we ran uphill and lost a third down conversion. We have a lot to clean up, but we can lean on that offensive line. Richard had a very nice first game to build off of. We'll get some guys healthy, moving forward, especially in our skill positions. We'll have Camion Patrick coming back, among others, and we need to get Tyler Natee back into the mix. Jordan Fuchs is a talented guy; we're going to miss him. But we have a lot of skill to work with, and that line gives us a chance every week to be pretty good."
On the defense's performance:
"I think that they didn't get rattled. It was a close game, and I thought we tackled well for the most part. We let them play over the top sometimes, and gave them some check downs at the end. We had a couple of bend-don't-break drives at the end and did a nice job of keeping them out of the end zone. From the start, we knew there would be mistakes, but they were the calmest I've ever seen the team in handling the mistakes. They came over and talked about it and tried to fix it. Coach Allen has great command of that defense, those coaches and players. They made their adjustments, and it was a great effort for the first game. There's so much to build on, but it's a great start and I'm proud of their composure. They're buying into and believing in what they're doing."
On the big plays by the defense and special teams:
"It was a really good team win. We had a punt downed on the 2-yard line, which led to the safety. Our field goal team has to tighten up; we had a couple of blunders there. But overall, it was a great team win and I'm proud of the team in all facets."
Players Mentioned
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