Indiana University Athletics
Media Monday: TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
12/23/2019 1:44:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana will face Tennessee in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla., on Thursday, Jan. 2, with a 7 p.m. ET kick on ESPN.
On Monday, head coach Tom Allen, quarterback Peyton Ramsey, offensive lineman Caleb Jones and wide receiver Ty Fryfogle met with the media.
Below are partial transcripts of the press conferences for both Allen and Ramsey, as well as video interviews with Jones and Fryfogle.
Head Coach Tom Allen
"Some good practices here. We are now into focused work on Tennessee. This was a really good practice today. Our guys were really locked in. Final exams are over with and here a couple days before Christmas, a chance to kind of lock in and get a lot of good work in. We'll wrap up tomorrow, a good go in the morning. That's my expectation and then we will get our guys home for Christmas. I do want to confirm that Kalen DeBoer will be calling the offense in the bowl game. That is something we have been working towards and hoping to have done. Both sides have worked together to make that a possibility. We really appreciate that. He wants to finish well here and finish what we started. We are excited for that. I know that our players are as well."
On offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer coaching in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl…
"Both athletic directors have been supportive. My whole philosophy is that I want to support our guys, our players and our coaches. This is obviously a great opportunity for him but selfishly you would like to be able to keep him here for the remainder of our time. I have been in those situations with other staffs, I have been in it with my own self, not as a head coach, but going to another staff where I have actually not coached in a bowl game in the past because of that and the demands of the new job. You do not want to take away from that either. What goes into that is, basically just good communication from both sides and just sitting down, talking it through and making it work. There is give and take on both sides to allow him to do the things that he needs to do there. But, the timing of the bowl is good. I think it has helped both sides be able to make it work. We are excited about that."
On preparation for Tennessee…
"The whole philosophy is to have a week, and when we say week, we mean a normal Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday progression, we like to have one of those in full before moving to the bowl site. Some bowl sites when you go, you do not get a full week when you get there, but we do get that with this particular bowl. We will have a full week at the bowl site. This is really day two for us and we will have day three tomorrow. We like to be able to have a full week of prep going to the bowl site and then we will go there to clean it up and keep working on it. We really worked, the first six practices were really about fundamentals and technique, like I said before. We really stuck true to that. We did a couple of things, but we did not divide up into scouts until the last couple of days."
On running back Sampson James…
"I think Sampson did an excellent job in the Purdue game. It hurt us there in the second half not having him the whole time. He should be good to go. If Stevie can go, that would be awesome, but if not, next man up."
QB Peyton Ramsey
On where he feels the team is at in their preparation…
"I think we've had a good week or so, two weeks of developmental work and just staying sharp. Not necessarily game plan for Tennessee, we just hopped into it (Sunday). Guys are staying sharp, younger guys are getting reps and continuing just having fun out there and being with the guys another month."
On offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer coaching in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl…
"Coach DeBoer has been monumental in my development as a player and a person. To be able to have another game with him means the world, it's awesome. It says a lot about him that he was willing to come back and want to be a part of this one."
On how the younger guys are handling bowl practice…
"I think it's a learning process for sure. Kind of going all the way back to spring ball practice. You're not necessarily preparing for anything, but you're just going out and trying to get better. That can be hard at times and I think the guys were getting used to that whole process of going out and playing football just to get better. It's been good for them to learn, I think, as they will have to go through spring ball and that whole process. I think it's been good for those younger guys to develop in that way."
OL Caleb Jones
WR Ty Fryfogle
On Monday, head coach Tom Allen, quarterback Peyton Ramsey, offensive lineman Caleb Jones and wide receiver Ty Fryfogle met with the media.
Below are partial transcripts of the press conferences for both Allen and Ramsey, as well as video interviews with Jones and Fryfogle.
Head Coach Tom Allen
"Some good practices here. We are now into focused work on Tennessee. This was a really good practice today. Our guys were really locked in. Final exams are over with and here a couple days before Christmas, a chance to kind of lock in and get a lot of good work in. We'll wrap up tomorrow, a good go in the morning. That's my expectation and then we will get our guys home for Christmas. I do want to confirm that Kalen DeBoer will be calling the offense in the bowl game. That is something we have been working towards and hoping to have done. Both sides have worked together to make that a possibility. We really appreciate that. He wants to finish well here and finish what we started. We are excited for that. I know that our players are as well."
On offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer coaching in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl…
"Both athletic directors have been supportive. My whole philosophy is that I want to support our guys, our players and our coaches. This is obviously a great opportunity for him but selfishly you would like to be able to keep him here for the remainder of our time. I have been in those situations with other staffs, I have been in it with my own self, not as a head coach, but going to another staff where I have actually not coached in a bowl game in the past because of that and the demands of the new job. You do not want to take away from that either. What goes into that is, basically just good communication from both sides and just sitting down, talking it through and making it work. There is give and take on both sides to allow him to do the things that he needs to do there. But, the timing of the bowl is good. I think it has helped both sides be able to make it work. We are excited about that."
On preparation for Tennessee…
"The whole philosophy is to have a week, and when we say week, we mean a normal Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday progression, we like to have one of those in full before moving to the bowl site. Some bowl sites when you go, you do not get a full week when you get there, but we do get that with this particular bowl. We will have a full week at the bowl site. This is really day two for us and we will have day three tomorrow. We like to be able to have a full week of prep going to the bowl site and then we will go there to clean it up and keep working on it. We really worked, the first six practices were really about fundamentals and technique, like I said before. We really stuck true to that. We did a couple of things, but we did not divide up into scouts until the last couple of days."
On running back Sampson James…
"I think Sampson did an excellent job in the Purdue game. It hurt us there in the second half not having him the whole time. He should be good to go. If Stevie can go, that would be awesome, but if not, next man up."
QB Peyton Ramsey
On where he feels the team is at in their preparation…
"I think we've had a good week or so, two weeks of developmental work and just staying sharp. Not necessarily game plan for Tennessee, we just hopped into it (Sunday). Guys are staying sharp, younger guys are getting reps and continuing just having fun out there and being with the guys another month."
On offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer coaching in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl…
"Coach DeBoer has been monumental in my development as a player and a person. To be able to have another game with him means the world, it's awesome. It says a lot about him that he was willing to come back and want to be a part of this one."
On how the younger guys are handling bowl practice…
"I think it's a learning process for sure. Kind of going all the way back to spring ball practice. You're not necessarily preparing for anything, but you're just going out and trying to get better. That can be hard at times and I think the guys were getting used to that whole process of going out and playing football just to get better. It's been good for them to learn, I think, as they will have to go through spring ball and that whole process. I think it's been good for those younger guys to develop in that way."
OL Caleb Jones
WR Ty Fryfogle
Players Mentioned
WR
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RB
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OL
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QB
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