Kevin Wilson: Wake Forest Preview

On preparation emphasize for Wake Forest…

Again, coming through the preseason, the first couple of games, the open day was early. We used it for recruiting and to get our team a little fresh. But we need a lot of fundamental work, so we came in on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Friday was a very hard practice because we did not play a game. We got a little more done on Monday than normal. We have still had some early season practices. Later in the year you start tapering off, so we are trying to build still.

Wake Forest is coming in playing really good defense. They are running the ball well, they are kicking the ball well, so we will need to be better in all three phases. We have had kicking blunders. Our defense has shown improvements, but still not what it needs to be. Our offense has been out of sync. We are pushing every position, every coach and every player to keep playing harder. This school deserves a good team, and it is our job to keep playing. It will be a good test this weekend, and then the great conference games come right on top of it. I like the opportunity. I like the way we have practiced. We are enjoying the work of it.

On the offensive line preparing for Wake's pass rush…

It is not just because of how good they are, but also because we have not been very good at it. We have tried to emphasize being good at that, and we have been good at that in the past. We are not as good as we need to be. That has been an emphasis since before the last game and immediately after the last game. It will continue to be an emphasis regardless of the opponent as we continue against the defense of our league. We will have to take care of the quarterback. There are certain things that are fundamentally always critical to the game. Our ability to get after the quarterback and our ability to protect are critical. Our opponent is thinking the same thing.

They do a great job with the rush. They had a great win over Duke. We saw Duke last year. We know the job that Coach (David) Cutcliffe has done. Historically, if you look at Coach Clausen's teams they have always gotten better and better. It is a great program. He and his staff have done a great job. They are playing well and we will have to play our best game to date to have the result we want.

On extra motivation for closing out the non-conference undefeated…

The real deal is just winning the next one. You want to go 1-0. We want to make this venue awesome. In our last 16 games we are 9-7. We have two overtime losses, lost on the last play against Ohio State, last play loss against Rutgers and an eight-point loss to Iowa. So 14 of our last 16 games we are either winning or playing great football. We are getting ready to play six great home games. You want the team to play well, the coaches to coach well and we want the fan engagement because a lot of these games are going to go down the stretch. This Wake Forest game, we are going to have to play well, we are going to have to play four quarters just like we had to last year. After that here comes one of the premier teams in the conference followed by more premier teams in the conference. Our deal is, it is the next opportunity. Our team has made strides. It is going to be a tough challenge, and we want the challenge to be embraced by everyone: the coaches, the players, the band, the fans and the cheerleaders. We want great energy each and every Saturday to keep bringing this program to the next level.

Indiana University Athletics

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