Indiana University Athletics
Media Tuesday: Rutgers
10/27/2020 12:45:00 PM | Football
Below are partial transcriptions of Zoom press conferences with Indiana LB Micah McFadden, CB Reese Taylor, RB Stevie Scott III, K Charles Campbell and S Jamar Johnson on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
LB Micah McFadden
Q. On Coach Allen…
MCFADDEN: I think you guys can tell it is so genuine. It is true that we really do love him. He sets the example. A lot of coaches talk the talk but not every coach lives out what they speak to their players every day. Coach Allen brings that to the table every day. I have not seen him not bring energy, not motivating his players or not living out what he says. We can joke about it, but it is true. He lives it out. We recognize that and we follow him. He is a true leader.
Q. On how the first game felt…
MCFADDEN: It was definitely big to get the first win of the season. I think in our reaction to it, it was a big deal to us. It was a huge win.
Q. On the vibe of practice…
MCFADDEN: We have a great one word this week in 'focus'. I think that is what we have to bring to the table every day, extreme focus. We have to practice at a high level each day. I think we had a great practice today. Obviously, we will have a few hiccups preparing for a first-time offense and something we have not seen before. I think we had a really good practice, but we have to stay focused throughout this week to get prepared for a really good football team coming up.
CB Reese Taylor
Q. On his punt return this past weekend…
TAYLOR: It was a spectacular moment for me, really. I saw the ball in the air, it was a high kick actually. I was just waiting for it to come down, and when I caught it, I just paused for a little second. I had to get north and south. After the ball is in my hands, it just felt natural to me. It felt like I have to do what I have got to do to make the play. I have got to be the best that I can be in that moment.
Q. On the confidence level of the defense following the Penn State win…
TAYLOR: We finished that game, but we did not play the best that we can. We still have a lot of work to do. We still have a lot more things to get done. A lot of work still, but it gave us great confidence that we actually finished that game. We actually came out with the 'W' because there were a lot of games like that where we should have come out with the 'W' last year, that we prepared well, that we should go in for the 'W' but we came out short. But after the 'W' against Penn State, it just felt that we were ready as a defense and that we need to step up a little bit more to make sure that a close game would not be that close after all.
Q. On what he can bring to the punt return position…
TAYLOR: I am trying to be the best punt returner in the country. That is what I am trying to be. I am not trying to be anything less. I am trying to be the number one guy in the country. I am going to be the best I can, make sure I do not drop any punts, make sure I do not make any mistakes as much as I should, make sure I do not fail the punt return team short, make sure I do what I have got to do to be the number one guy in the country.
RB Stevie Scott III
Q. What it felt like to be back on the field…
SCOTT: It was an exciting moment to get back out there with my teammates and help make plays to get the victory. Very exciting moment for me and I feel like my teammates and I lived it up for our first game. Looking ahead to Rutgers, they are another team that pulled off a Big Ten upset so they have a good number of players on their team that can make plays just as well as us. I feel like this is going to be another great test for our team.
Q. On offensive improvements needed…
SCOTT: We need to be more locked in. Focus on the little things like catching the ball, knowing who to pick up and block in pass protection. Little things like that. I feel like we got a little rhythm going and then we just let it die down later in the game so that is something we need to be more consistent with. Once we stay consistent, I feel we can do anything after that.
Q. How to keep everybody focused on the week after big win…
SCOTT: Everybody has to have a positive mindset. We need to keep taking care of our bodies by getting in the hot tub and the cold tub. Go to treatment if they are hurt or injured. We need everybody 100 percent each week and I stress that to the team a lot. Taking care of our bodies is the number one priority with playing football. Your body is like a car so if you cannot take care of your car how are you going to go anywhere? I try to stress to my teammates a lot that we have to stay on the same page and stay locked in. Even outside of football we have to make sure we are taking care of each other and making sure we do not make bad decisions. We just have to keep striving for greatness and try to keep adding on to this great start to the season.
K Charles Campbell
Q. On Coach Allen…
CAMPBELL: He always brings energy. He is always at practice, yelling around, jumping around, even in team meetings he gets so fired up. You love, as a player, to see someone who cares so much about the team. A big team win like Penn State this week and something worked out for Coach Allen. Seeing him get so fired up after the win was so heartwarming, for the whole team. Seeing him jump out into the crowd was incredible.
Q. On keeping composure during pressure kicks…
CAMPBELL: I tell myself not to think about the kick. I have been training since I was young to go out there and execute. I think it is mostly muscle memory at this point. I know that if I do not think about the kick, I will fall back on my technique. If I follow my technique, I will make the kick.
Q. On the cutouts behinds the end zone…
CAMPBELL: I was actually told before the game that if I hit one of the cutouts that the person inside the cutout wins something. I thought that was funny. I think during the game I might have hit a dog [cutout] so I hope that dog got something nice. During games I normally pick a spot behind the upright, not in the stands, and I take that as my line. I kick down my line.
DB Jamar Johnson
Q. On what about Coach Allen convinced him to come to Indiana…
JOHNSON: Coach Allen, he had some ties in Florida. He used to be at USF and was recruiting me there, but he is just a great guy. During the games he is always fired up, during practice he is always fired up. He is hard on us, he is hard on me, he is hard on everybody. We just love him. We know he has been through so much. We know he brought us here to change this program and he has done exactly what he was planning on doing since we got here. It is all coming together now.
Q. On the national status…
JOHNSON: This shows where we are now. We are 1-0, but we are on to the next one. Every week we are going in there with the mindset. We are just taking it week per week. We have Rutgers this Saturday, so that is the next up.
Q. On preparing for a team with mostly brand-new personnel and players…
JOHNSON: We are just going to treat them like we treat any other opponent. We are not going to take anyone lightly. They have got good players; we have got good players. They like to run, they have got good running backs, they have got a good slot receiver, quarterback; he came from Nebraska last year so we know a little bit about him. Their coaches are doing a good job, but that is up to us. We just have to come out with the win.
LB Micah McFadden
Q. On Coach Allen…
MCFADDEN: I think you guys can tell it is so genuine. It is true that we really do love him. He sets the example. A lot of coaches talk the talk but not every coach lives out what they speak to their players every day. Coach Allen brings that to the table every day. I have not seen him not bring energy, not motivating his players or not living out what he says. We can joke about it, but it is true. He lives it out. We recognize that and we follow him. He is a true leader.
Q. On how the first game felt…
MCFADDEN: It was definitely big to get the first win of the season. I think in our reaction to it, it was a big deal to us. It was a huge win.
Q. On the vibe of practice…
MCFADDEN: We have a great one word this week in 'focus'. I think that is what we have to bring to the table every day, extreme focus. We have to practice at a high level each day. I think we had a great practice today. Obviously, we will have a few hiccups preparing for a first-time offense and something we have not seen before. I think we had a really good practice, but we have to stay focused throughout this week to get prepared for a really good football team coming up.
CB Reese Taylor
Q. On his punt return this past weekend…
TAYLOR: It was a spectacular moment for me, really. I saw the ball in the air, it was a high kick actually. I was just waiting for it to come down, and when I caught it, I just paused for a little second. I had to get north and south. After the ball is in my hands, it just felt natural to me. It felt like I have to do what I have got to do to make the play. I have got to be the best that I can be in that moment.
Q. On the confidence level of the defense following the Penn State win…
TAYLOR: We finished that game, but we did not play the best that we can. We still have a lot of work to do. We still have a lot more things to get done. A lot of work still, but it gave us great confidence that we actually finished that game. We actually came out with the 'W' because there were a lot of games like that where we should have come out with the 'W' last year, that we prepared well, that we should go in for the 'W' but we came out short. But after the 'W' against Penn State, it just felt that we were ready as a defense and that we need to step up a little bit more to make sure that a close game would not be that close after all.
Q. On what he can bring to the punt return position…
TAYLOR: I am trying to be the best punt returner in the country. That is what I am trying to be. I am not trying to be anything less. I am trying to be the number one guy in the country. I am going to be the best I can, make sure I do not drop any punts, make sure I do not make any mistakes as much as I should, make sure I do not fail the punt return team short, make sure I do what I have got to do to be the number one guy in the country.
RB Stevie Scott III
Q. What it felt like to be back on the field…
SCOTT: It was an exciting moment to get back out there with my teammates and help make plays to get the victory. Very exciting moment for me and I feel like my teammates and I lived it up for our first game. Looking ahead to Rutgers, they are another team that pulled off a Big Ten upset so they have a good number of players on their team that can make plays just as well as us. I feel like this is going to be another great test for our team.
Q. On offensive improvements needed…
SCOTT: We need to be more locked in. Focus on the little things like catching the ball, knowing who to pick up and block in pass protection. Little things like that. I feel like we got a little rhythm going and then we just let it die down later in the game so that is something we need to be more consistent with. Once we stay consistent, I feel we can do anything after that.
Q. How to keep everybody focused on the week after big win…
SCOTT: Everybody has to have a positive mindset. We need to keep taking care of our bodies by getting in the hot tub and the cold tub. Go to treatment if they are hurt or injured. We need everybody 100 percent each week and I stress that to the team a lot. Taking care of our bodies is the number one priority with playing football. Your body is like a car so if you cannot take care of your car how are you going to go anywhere? I try to stress to my teammates a lot that we have to stay on the same page and stay locked in. Even outside of football we have to make sure we are taking care of each other and making sure we do not make bad decisions. We just have to keep striving for greatness and try to keep adding on to this great start to the season.
K Charles Campbell
Q. On Coach Allen…
CAMPBELL: He always brings energy. He is always at practice, yelling around, jumping around, even in team meetings he gets so fired up. You love, as a player, to see someone who cares so much about the team. A big team win like Penn State this week and something worked out for Coach Allen. Seeing him get so fired up after the win was so heartwarming, for the whole team. Seeing him jump out into the crowd was incredible.
Q. On keeping composure during pressure kicks…
CAMPBELL: I tell myself not to think about the kick. I have been training since I was young to go out there and execute. I think it is mostly muscle memory at this point. I know that if I do not think about the kick, I will fall back on my technique. If I follow my technique, I will make the kick.
Q. On the cutouts behinds the end zone…
CAMPBELL: I was actually told before the game that if I hit one of the cutouts that the person inside the cutout wins something. I thought that was funny. I think during the game I might have hit a dog [cutout] so I hope that dog got something nice. During games I normally pick a spot behind the upright, not in the stands, and I take that as my line. I kick down my line.
DB Jamar Johnson
Q. On what about Coach Allen convinced him to come to Indiana…
JOHNSON: Coach Allen, he had some ties in Florida. He used to be at USF and was recruiting me there, but he is just a great guy. During the games he is always fired up, during practice he is always fired up. He is hard on us, he is hard on me, he is hard on everybody. We just love him. We know he has been through so much. We know he brought us here to change this program and he has done exactly what he was planning on doing since we got here. It is all coming together now.
Q. On the national status…
JOHNSON: This shows where we are now. We are 1-0, but we are on to the next one. Every week we are going in there with the mindset. We are just taking it week per week. We have Rutgers this Saturday, so that is the next up.
Q. On preparing for a team with mostly brand-new personnel and players…
JOHNSON: We are just going to treat them like we treat any other opponent. We are not going to take anyone lightly. They have got good players; we have got good players. They like to run, they have got good running backs, they have got a good slot receiver, quarterback; he came from Nebraska last year so we know a little bit about him. Their coaches are doing a good job, but that is up to us. We just have to come out with the win.
Players Mentioned
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