Indiana University Athletics
QUOTED: Indiana at Rutgers
9/26/2018 9:01:00 PM | Football
By: Ben Segelbaum
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana football team will travel to Rutgers for a Big Ten matchup on Saturday, Sept. 29, at noon ET. The game will be shown televised by BTN.
Each week we will compile five quotes and storylines recapping the previous game and previewing the upcoming one.
"Rutgers, a team that -- Big Ten Conference game that we know is very important to us and to our program as we get on the road. Road games in the Big Ten are always huge for us, and to be able to focus on improving as a football team, addressing our areas as we have to address them and keep getting better every time we take the field," said head coach Tom Allen.
The most important game is the next game. With the season's first loss behind them, the Hoosiers turn their attention to a road game against Rutgers. Indiana will look for its first Big Ten road opening victory since 2007 and a 4-1 record.
"There's plenty on film to learn from. I think this is a team that is hungry and we are going to learn from the mistakes that we made and use that into next week. I'm confident in this team and our ability to flip the script," said redshirt sophomore quarterback Peyton Ramsey
Against a strong Michigan State, Ramsey was still able to match his career-high in completions (32), and throw for 272 yards and two touchdowns – giving him seven on the year. Against Rutgers, the passing game will need to continue its strong presence.
"Our young defense is growing. Nine tackles for loss and three sacks, four takeaways against that team is the kind of performance that you want in those areas, but have to continue to focus on the little things. You get guys dinged up and new guys are playing, and a young team gets even younger pretty quickly at times when things happen a certain way, so that's part of the growth process of our team," said Allen.
The Hoosiers defense came up with four takeaways, their most since the Foster Farms Bowl against Utah in 2016, against the Spartans. These takeaways provided the offense excellent field position and it took advantage, scoring 18 points off the takeaways to push its season total to 31.
"It was nice to get back there, just executing the play call and things kind of just went my way," said fifth-year senior defensive end Nile Sykes of his sack against MSU.
Sykes missed the whole 2017 season with an injury but came back this season as a leader in Tom Allen's defense. On Saturday, Sykes grabbed his first sack of the season, the sixth of his career and his first since 2016.
"It's very important (to hit the benchmarks Coach Allen sets). We didn't get the win last week, but you never know in the future, those same numbers could help a lot in the next game. We are just going to keep pounding and getting better," said senior safety Jonathan Crawford.
When talking about the Indiana defense, Jonathan Crawford is usually the first name you mention. Once again, Crawford was at the top of the tackle charts with eight, all solos. For an added bonus, Crawford recovered his sixth career fumble and had a hand in his 18th career takeaway.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana football team will travel to Rutgers for a Big Ten matchup on Saturday, Sept. 29, at noon ET. The game will be shown televised by BTN.
Each week we will compile five quotes and storylines recapping the previous game and previewing the upcoming one.
"Rutgers, a team that -- Big Ten Conference game that we know is very important to us and to our program as we get on the road. Road games in the Big Ten are always huge for us, and to be able to focus on improving as a football team, addressing our areas as we have to address them and keep getting better every time we take the field," said head coach Tom Allen.
The most important game is the next game. With the season's first loss behind them, the Hoosiers turn their attention to a road game against Rutgers. Indiana will look for its first Big Ten road opening victory since 2007 and a 4-1 record.
"There's plenty on film to learn from. I think this is a team that is hungry and we are going to learn from the mistakes that we made and use that into next week. I'm confident in this team and our ability to flip the script," said redshirt sophomore quarterback Peyton Ramsey
Against a strong Michigan State, Ramsey was still able to match his career-high in completions (32), and throw for 272 yards and two touchdowns – giving him seven on the year. Against Rutgers, the passing game will need to continue its strong presence.
"Our young defense is growing. Nine tackles for loss and three sacks, four takeaways against that team is the kind of performance that you want in those areas, but have to continue to focus on the little things. You get guys dinged up and new guys are playing, and a young team gets even younger pretty quickly at times when things happen a certain way, so that's part of the growth process of our team," said Allen.
The Hoosiers defense came up with four takeaways, their most since the Foster Farms Bowl against Utah in 2016, against the Spartans. These takeaways provided the offense excellent field position and it took advantage, scoring 18 points off the takeaways to push its season total to 31.
"It was nice to get back there, just executing the play call and things kind of just went my way," said fifth-year senior defensive end Nile Sykes of his sack against MSU.
Sykes missed the whole 2017 season with an injury but came back this season as a leader in Tom Allen's defense. On Saturday, Sykes grabbed his first sack of the season, the sixth of his career and his first since 2016.
"It's very important (to hit the benchmarks Coach Allen sets). We didn't get the win last week, but you never know in the future, those same numbers could help a lot in the next game. We are just going to keep pounding and getting better," said senior safety Jonathan Crawford.
When talking about the Indiana defense, Jonathan Crawford is usually the first name you mention. Once again, Crawford was at the top of the tackle charts with eight, all solos. For an added bonus, Crawford recovered his sixth career fumble and had a hand in his 18th career takeaway.
Players Mentioned
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