Indiana University Athletics
Media Tuesday: Ohio State
11/17/2020 1:30:00 PM | Football
Below are partial transcriptions of Zoom press conferences with Indiana WR Ty Fryfogle, RB Stevie Scott III, LB Micah McFadden and CB Tiawan Mullen on Tuesday, Nov. 17.
WR Ty Fryfogle
Q. On Ohio State's defense…
FRYFOGLE: Watching film on Ohio State, there is a lot of defense and a lot of coverage. They have a lot of great players, but we have a good coaching staff that are dialing up plays for us to beat the coverage. I am excited for this opportunity on Saturday.
Q. On the chemistry with Michael Penix Jr.…
FRYFOGLE: As the weeks go on you get better chemistry because you have more practices together and getting to play together more. I feel great with Mike in terms of being able to get more practices in versus last year. He just keeps getting better every week.
Q. On Penix's mental progression this season…
FRYFOGLE: He has progressed a lot as a quarterback. He has learned the game, the coverages, and the hard parts that a lot of guys cannot figure out. Everybody can continue to get better, but he is dialed in. He knows where guys are going to be in coverage. He has learned how to beat the coverage and that is the part he has really become great at.
RB Stevie Scott III
Q. On pass blocking…
SCOTT: It is about protecting my quarterback at the end of the day, especially if I want to get to the next level. I know that pass pro is something that I have to be good at other than just running the ball. Just things like protecting the quarterback, knowing my pass protection, making sure the quarterback can get the ball to the receivers so that we can make plays. Pass pro is something that I have worked on over the summer and I just developed a love for pass blocking. I feel like that is the next step in my game to help me advance as a player and to help this team.
Q. On Tim Baldwin Jr.…
SCOTT: Tim is going to be a great player here in a few years. Once he gets his time to shine, he is going to be great. He is young, but he is learning. He has great mentors ahead of him to show him the ropes and the courses on how to be a college player. Tim comes to practice everyday and is a hard worker. He has a willingness to learn anything that will help his game improve. Just give it one or two years and you will see Tim bursting onto the scene.
Q. On the team's level of confidence…
SCOTT: We have a whole new mindset going into this game. We are going into practice every day and building that team chemistry as we try to get better. Last week we did not execute that well in the red zone in the second half, so that is something that we have been trying to work on. It is a new week of practice and we just have to keep moving forward.
LB Micah McFadden
Q. On the vision that head coach Tom Allen has for this program and how it has played out…
MCFADDEN: When I was a senior in high school and in the recruiting process, he was true from the start. He was telling me that Indiana was going to be a Big Ten contender for the Big Ten Championship. He said we were going to win a lot of games if I came here. The guys that he was recruiting, he knew it was going to be a good class. He was so enthusiastic about the change that was going on in this program. You could see it in his eyes and the way he talked was so convincing. That led me to believe, believe in him, believe in the program and the change that was going on. That led to me wanting to commit here.
Q. On Ohio State's offense…
MCFADDEN: They have a great quarterback and a great offense as a whole with the receivers on the outside. It comes down to our defense executing fundamentally and doing what the coaches tell us to do each day and each week. We have to perform at a high level and prepare that way throughout the week. We need to go into game day feeling confident in everything that we do, feel prepared, play lights out, play fast and physical, and play that Indiana football that we always talk about. We need to be ready to go. We cannot think about them being Ohio State or it being a big-time matchup. We have to prepare like we have always prepared and attack each week with the same mindset. I think that is what we are going to do because that is what we have been doing. We have to keep working at it.
Q. On his development in high school…
MCFADDEN: I played junior varsity as a sophomore. The JV coaches told me going into my junior season that I was going to be a beast in the next season. Personally, I did not always see it or whole-heartedly believe it, but those guys believed in me. They trusted that my talent could get me on the field and perform at a high level. It was those words that I was hearing every day, those guys in my ear telling me how good I could be and the work it would take to get me there, that continuous effort to do that really got me to that mindset. That got me to the next level to prepare for a varsity-type season that I had my junior year.
CB Tiawan Mullen
Q. On Ohio State WR Chris Olave…
MULLEN: He is a great receiver. We have great receivers here at IU, too, so I will be prepared. He has done great things at Ohio State and you cannot take that away from him. I will be well prepared. My preparation from Monday to Friday will create confidence and elite performance come game day.
Q. On the belief in head coach Tom Allen…
MULLEN: I will not say much about the personality, it is his actions. His actions speak louder than his words. He is a driven coach. He thrives and he wants the best for everybody. It is not so much about his words as it is about his actions. He does what he says he is going to do and that is why everyone follows him. He is the head of the triangle of the program. Everything starts with him and we follow his lead, as we are doing right now and everything is falling into place.
Q. On Ohio State QB Justin Fields…
MULLEN: He is pretty deceptive in where he is throwing the ball. He is a great quarterback. We have to create takeaways in the coverages we play. We need to try to create turnovers. He is a great quarterback. He is very detailed in where he throws the ball, but we have to create some takeaways.
WR Ty Fryfogle
Q. On Ohio State's defense…
FRYFOGLE: Watching film on Ohio State, there is a lot of defense and a lot of coverage. They have a lot of great players, but we have a good coaching staff that are dialing up plays for us to beat the coverage. I am excited for this opportunity on Saturday.
Q. On the chemistry with Michael Penix Jr.…
FRYFOGLE: As the weeks go on you get better chemistry because you have more practices together and getting to play together more. I feel great with Mike in terms of being able to get more practices in versus last year. He just keeps getting better every week.
Q. On Penix's mental progression this season…
FRYFOGLE: He has progressed a lot as a quarterback. He has learned the game, the coverages, and the hard parts that a lot of guys cannot figure out. Everybody can continue to get better, but he is dialed in. He knows where guys are going to be in coverage. He has learned how to beat the coverage and that is the part he has really become great at.
RB Stevie Scott III
Q. On pass blocking…
SCOTT: It is about protecting my quarterback at the end of the day, especially if I want to get to the next level. I know that pass pro is something that I have to be good at other than just running the ball. Just things like protecting the quarterback, knowing my pass protection, making sure the quarterback can get the ball to the receivers so that we can make plays. Pass pro is something that I have worked on over the summer and I just developed a love for pass blocking. I feel like that is the next step in my game to help me advance as a player and to help this team.
Q. On Tim Baldwin Jr.…
SCOTT: Tim is going to be a great player here in a few years. Once he gets his time to shine, he is going to be great. He is young, but he is learning. He has great mentors ahead of him to show him the ropes and the courses on how to be a college player. Tim comes to practice everyday and is a hard worker. He has a willingness to learn anything that will help his game improve. Just give it one or two years and you will see Tim bursting onto the scene.
Q. On the team's level of confidence…
SCOTT: We have a whole new mindset going into this game. We are going into practice every day and building that team chemistry as we try to get better. Last week we did not execute that well in the red zone in the second half, so that is something that we have been trying to work on. It is a new week of practice and we just have to keep moving forward.
LB Micah McFadden
Q. On the vision that head coach Tom Allen has for this program and how it has played out…
MCFADDEN: When I was a senior in high school and in the recruiting process, he was true from the start. He was telling me that Indiana was going to be a Big Ten contender for the Big Ten Championship. He said we were going to win a lot of games if I came here. The guys that he was recruiting, he knew it was going to be a good class. He was so enthusiastic about the change that was going on in this program. You could see it in his eyes and the way he talked was so convincing. That led me to believe, believe in him, believe in the program and the change that was going on. That led to me wanting to commit here.
Q. On Ohio State's offense…
MCFADDEN: They have a great quarterback and a great offense as a whole with the receivers on the outside. It comes down to our defense executing fundamentally and doing what the coaches tell us to do each day and each week. We have to perform at a high level and prepare that way throughout the week. We need to go into game day feeling confident in everything that we do, feel prepared, play lights out, play fast and physical, and play that Indiana football that we always talk about. We need to be ready to go. We cannot think about them being Ohio State or it being a big-time matchup. We have to prepare like we have always prepared and attack each week with the same mindset. I think that is what we are going to do because that is what we have been doing. We have to keep working at it.
Q. On his development in high school…
MCFADDEN: I played junior varsity as a sophomore. The JV coaches told me going into my junior season that I was going to be a beast in the next season. Personally, I did not always see it or whole-heartedly believe it, but those guys believed in me. They trusted that my talent could get me on the field and perform at a high level. It was those words that I was hearing every day, those guys in my ear telling me how good I could be and the work it would take to get me there, that continuous effort to do that really got me to that mindset. That got me to the next level to prepare for a varsity-type season that I had my junior year.
CB Tiawan Mullen
Q. On Ohio State WR Chris Olave…
MULLEN: He is a great receiver. We have great receivers here at IU, too, so I will be prepared. He has done great things at Ohio State and you cannot take that away from him. I will be well prepared. My preparation from Monday to Friday will create confidence and elite performance come game day.
Q. On the belief in head coach Tom Allen…
MULLEN: I will not say much about the personality, it is his actions. His actions speak louder than his words. He is a driven coach. He thrives and he wants the best for everybody. It is not so much about his words as it is about his actions. He does what he says he is going to do and that is why everyone follows him. He is the head of the triangle of the program. Everything starts with him and we follow his lead, as we are doing right now and everything is falling into place.
Q. On Ohio State QB Justin Fields…
MULLEN: He is pretty deceptive in where he is throwing the ball. He is a great quarterback. We have to create takeaways in the coverages we play. We need to try to create turnovers. He is a great quarterback. He is very detailed in where he throws the ball, but we have to create some takeaways.
Players Mentioned
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