Indiana University Athletics
Media Saturday: TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
12/28/2019 8:47:00 PM | Football
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – 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 Saturday, head coach Tom Allen and quarterback Peyton Ramsey met with the media in Jacksonville. Below are partial transcripts of the press conferences for both Allen and Ramsey.
Head Coach Tom Allen
On being in Florida…
"It feels great to me. It is 70 degrees. The sun will come out. I lived here long enough to know that rain is a part of it. That goes away and the sun follows. We are feeling very excited to be here. It is a great opportunity with a great venue here to play in Jacksonville. The city is so excited to have this Gator Bowl and there is so much tradition in this game itself. Seventy-five years, that is pretty awesome to be playing in this game. To be playing a team like Tennessee, with so much tradition and so many great players that have played here, so many great coaches have coached there, so it is a great honor to play them."
On maintaining focus despite the long layoff…
"It is a challenge and it is uncharted territory for a lot of our guys. We have seven players that have played in a bowl game in the past, that is it. The majority of our team has not. We have a majority of our coaching staff that has a lot of experience coaching in these games and knowing how to schedule it out. But the team has to respond. I feel good about what we have done so far. We need to have a great week of preparation here at the bowl site, which can be distracting because there are a lot of distractions. But those are good distractions. We just have to teach our guys how to handle it and be very productive here as a staff so that we can play our best on game day."
On quarterback Peyton Ramsey…
"What makes him so special has been revealed through the adversity that I created by not naming him the starter. At the same time, I challenged him when we met about how to handle this and how to respond. In my heart I knew that he would respond the right way. He is such a special young man, been raised the right way, but he is a competitor. He wanted to be the guy. The thing that I love so much about him is that he was ready when called upon. He did not know. There were games that he did not play at all, but he prepared at a high level and was ready to play. Sure enough, when we needed him, he was there and answered the bell. He did not just play, he played really well."
On quarterback Peyton Ramsey's improvement…
"I think that competition makes everyone better. He was in a battle during that time, during the entire offseason, and he knew that Michael Penix Jr. was a guy that he was competing against with Jack Tuttle in the mix as well. The thing to me was just his confidence in making down-the-field throws. He had to work on his arm strength and being able to make those decisions quicker sometimes, get the ball out faster, and I think that is the difference. He has always been accurate, he has always played a consistently high level in regards to completion percentage. To me, it was about creating more explosive plays for our offense and having a better command of it. He is a year older, he works so hard, he is so tough, and he makes so many timely runs that just show a ton of grit and toughness. He gets knocked around, gets back up, takes big shots, but he is absolutely resilient and tough. To me, he is just a winner. I am not necessarily surprised. I know that is was not easy for him to go through all of that, but his character was revealed, his value to this team was revealed in a huge way, and I could not be more proud and happier for him."
QB Peyton Ramsey
On how the team has kept focus the last few weeks…
"Yeah, I think so. I think it's a good time to kind of develop and stay sharp and go out there with the guys, get another month of football and have fun with it. I'm happy with where we're at. We had enough practices to stay sharp, so it's been a good little month of football."
On arriving in Florida…
"We are excited to be down here. Just looking forward to another week with the guys, being down here, playing an SEC opponent, something that we don't get to do very often. It's an exciting time for our team."
On the importance of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl to the program…
"I think it matters a lot. Playing a different team, somebody we don't really get to play against and playing well, I think it will carry a lot of momentum (into next season) if we play well in this game and get a win. It'd be good for recruiting. It'd be good for the young guys to continue to develop and look back and say, 'Look, we can compete with some good football teams.' I think it would mean a lot to us."
On Saturday, head coach Tom Allen and quarterback Peyton Ramsey met with the media in Jacksonville. Below are partial transcripts of the press conferences for both Allen and Ramsey.
Head Coach Tom Allen
On being in Florida…
"It feels great to me. It is 70 degrees. The sun will come out. I lived here long enough to know that rain is a part of it. That goes away and the sun follows. We are feeling very excited to be here. It is a great opportunity with a great venue here to play in Jacksonville. The city is so excited to have this Gator Bowl and there is so much tradition in this game itself. Seventy-five years, that is pretty awesome to be playing in this game. To be playing a team like Tennessee, with so much tradition and so many great players that have played here, so many great coaches have coached there, so it is a great honor to play them."
On maintaining focus despite the long layoff…
"It is a challenge and it is uncharted territory for a lot of our guys. We have seven players that have played in a bowl game in the past, that is it. The majority of our team has not. We have a majority of our coaching staff that has a lot of experience coaching in these games and knowing how to schedule it out. But the team has to respond. I feel good about what we have done so far. We need to have a great week of preparation here at the bowl site, which can be distracting because there are a lot of distractions. But those are good distractions. We just have to teach our guys how to handle it and be very productive here as a staff so that we can play our best on game day."
On quarterback Peyton Ramsey…
"What makes him so special has been revealed through the adversity that I created by not naming him the starter. At the same time, I challenged him when we met about how to handle this and how to respond. In my heart I knew that he would respond the right way. He is such a special young man, been raised the right way, but he is a competitor. He wanted to be the guy. The thing that I love so much about him is that he was ready when called upon. He did not know. There were games that he did not play at all, but he prepared at a high level and was ready to play. Sure enough, when we needed him, he was there and answered the bell. He did not just play, he played really well."
On quarterback Peyton Ramsey's improvement…
"I think that competition makes everyone better. He was in a battle during that time, during the entire offseason, and he knew that Michael Penix Jr. was a guy that he was competing against with Jack Tuttle in the mix as well. The thing to me was just his confidence in making down-the-field throws. He had to work on his arm strength and being able to make those decisions quicker sometimes, get the ball out faster, and I think that is the difference. He has always been accurate, he has always played a consistently high level in regards to completion percentage. To me, it was about creating more explosive plays for our offense and having a better command of it. He is a year older, he works so hard, he is so tough, and he makes so many timely runs that just show a ton of grit and toughness. He gets knocked around, gets back up, takes big shots, but he is absolutely resilient and tough. To me, he is just a winner. I am not necessarily surprised. I know that is was not easy for him to go through all of that, but his character was revealed, his value to this team was revealed in a huge way, and I could not be more proud and happier for him."
QB Peyton Ramsey
On how the team has kept focus the last few weeks…
"Yeah, I think so. I think it's a good time to kind of develop and stay sharp and go out there with the guys, get another month of football and have fun with it. I'm happy with where we're at. We had enough practices to stay sharp, so it's been a good little month of football."
On arriving in Florida…
"We are excited to be down here. Just looking forward to another week with the guys, being down here, playing an SEC opponent, something that we don't get to do very often. It's an exciting time for our team."
On the importance of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl to the program…
"I think it matters a lot. Playing a different team, somebody we don't really get to play against and playing well, I think it will carry a lot of momentum (into next season) if we play well in this game and get a win. It'd be good for recruiting. It'd be good for the young guys to continue to develop and look back and say, 'Look, we can compete with some good football teams.' I think it would mean a lot to us."
Players Mentioned
FB: Spring Game - Postgame Press Conference
Thursday, April 23
FB: Bray Lynch - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Drew Evans - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Nico Radicic - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21