Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Indiana at Rutgers
9/29/2018 4:49:00 PM | Football
Indiana at Rutgers
Postgame Quotes
Indiana Head Coach Tom Allen
On the game: "Every win is a tough win on the road. I'm thankful to get this win and proud of our guys. I thought we played a great first half, coming in here and starting fast. Defensively we had a bad penalty early on that touchdown drive but after that I thought the boys played great. Offensively, we never punted in the first half and scored every time we had the ball. Good job at the end to get a field goal. Great job by Logan Justus who continues to excel as the field goal kicker. We really challenged our guys at halftime to finish and we did not. I think that's something we have to learn from and grow from. We let them hang around and hang around. Then we made it interesting at the end. I want to see us play a full sixty minutes. That's where the growth has to come next. It's good to be able to learn from those situations when you get a win."
On the approach in the second half: "We were trying to establish the run game more and we didn't execute. We have to score points. If you have a chance to go up 31-7, that changes the complexion of everything. We knew that and had several chances to do that and just couldn't do it. Obviously you're trying to utilize the clock as much as you can and be smart with that. At the same time, you have to go play ball and win the game. That's got to be fixed.
On going for fourth down and not attempting a field goal in the fourth quarter: "We've done this study for the past two years. We have a whole scientific approach to how you manage the game. The study shows us, based on history of games, that the difference between going up 13 points and being up 10 points doesn't change anything. You say, we'll all they have to do is kick a field goal and they'll tie you? Well, when teams know that all they have to do is get six points and that a touchdown will beat you, the 13 doesn't help you. The 14 does. We wanted to go up by two full scores. To me, the rationale was, whether you are up by 10 or 13, it's a wash. And so we went for it. At the end of the day, it worked out for us. But I'd do it again every time.
On establishing the run and getting the ball down the field: "We got the ball down the field at times. We took some shots. I still want to continue to grow that. We didn't run the ball like I wanted us to. We'll still keep working at that. You have to establish that. But at the same time, we're taking what they're giving us. They load the box, you spit the ball out on the perimeter and make them pay. We tried to establish the run in the second half but it just didn't work.
On the decision to go for fourth down late in the game: "That was my call. I said we came to win the game. I didn't come here to fiddle around at the end. I believe in our offensive line. I did not call a freeze call. They jumped, and therefore Peyton Hendershot did what he's been coached to do. We were going to run the ball and give him the ability to read it and get the first down. Because we knew that if we got the first down, the game was over. I knew that once the clock got under 2:50, they couldn't stop the clock. So yea it was a gamble, but we came here to win the game."
Indiana Linebacker Reakwon Jones
On the win: "Every win you get is a good win. I'm extremely happy that we got this win. I'm not satisfied with how the game ended. I addressed the team in the locker room after the game and I told them 'I'm happy we won, but we all feel like we left something out there. And that's how you should feel. We should play to a higher standard. And we left a lot of plays out there that should have been made that made this game a lot closer than it could have been.' Going into this next week, we're really going to emphasize finishing. I think they guys are ready, I'm very confident in them. I think we know that we left some plays out there and we need to come back strong next week."
On why he addressed the team: "I didn't want anyone to feel complacent or content with that win. Every win is a great win, but I don't want them to think that is our standard. Our standard is a lot higher. We left stuff out there. We can be happy but at the same time know that we made mistakes and we need to come back and really emphasize finishing and working hard."
On the second half: "The energy on the sideline died down in that half. We didn't score in that half and we let them score. When we come out of halftime, our mindset is that it's 0-0. I wanted to tell our team, this stuff can't happen if we want to get to where we want to be. We know what kind of team we're trying to be. Whatever the outcome may be, you have to come back the next week and treat it like the start of the season."
Indiana Quarterback Peyton Ramsey
On the second half: "They made adjustments too. Scoring on all four of our possessions in the first half, they had to adjust. They did a good job, but obviously we didn't do a good job of executing. It came down to little things. Just missed assignments. There's no one person to point fingers at, it was a collective offensive effort that needs to be better.
On the locker room after the game: "A win is a win, especially in the Big Ten. It's hard to win. But obviously, we're not satisfied. We're going to learn from it come Monday and move on."
On the fourth down at the end of the game: "I wasn't even expecting the ball to be snapped. Then the ball was snapped and they just took off and Peyton Hendershot made a heck of a catch. We were just trying to draw them offsides at first. We could have changed the play, we could have taken a timeout, so I wasn't really expecting to catch a snap there."
Indiana Wide Receiver Nick Westbrook
On the team's offense: "The gameplan was to get our outside receivers involved more and throw the ball downfield more. That was definitely part of the gameplan because we have great receivers. We know we need to utilize that.
On the message postgame: "Yea, we didn't finish. We came out with the win, which was great. That's just something we have to do moving forward. We preach finishing every game. Our receivers did make some plays, some third down receivers that did help us at least stay in the lead and keep us able to win the game. That's one positive I'll take from it."
Indiana Receiver J-Shun Harris II
On getting more involved: "Played a lot in the slot today and felt great to be able to contribute to the team and you know when some guys go down, guys have to rise up and we have experienced that in the receiving room but the huskie position as well today."
On getting a touchdown in the offense: "It felt awesome, the last time that I was able to get into the end zone as a receiver was freshman year, that felt pretty good, there was not the huge uproar that we usually get at our home stadium, it was silent so it did not feel as great as it would be if it was at home, hopefully in the future can get one at home as well."
On team message after this game: "We still have a lot of stuff that we have to work on and we learned from this game, coming out first half all fire and in the second half we did not finish so we just have to continue to stride for that greatness in that second half, because as we get further into the conference, the second half is going to be more important."
On looking ahead to next week against Ohio State: "Not concerned by any chance, we have things to work on and Ohio State needs to work on some things as well, that is one of the factors where we have to get stronger, get better and if our conditioning is there and we need to run more and just need to figure out a way to continue to finish. Our coaches are doing a great job of continue to put that button in our heads so we know our second half score is 0-0 no matter what the score is, so go out there and win that half again."
On being able to contribute as a wide receiver: "It feels great and I was practicing as a receiver all camp and up to this point as receiver as well so I am not scared or I would say limit myself to just punt return because I know at any point or any play I would be in a situation where I am in right now so I have been practicing and mentally preparing myself just incase because in the game at any play anything can happen so thankfully I did not put myself in the back or being sappy about not playing receiver but showing up each and every day and being the leader for the guys whenever they needed me."
