Indiana University Athletics
Thursday Takeaways: Idaho
9/9/2021 3:48:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – As the home opener for his team nears, Indiana head football coach Tom Allen addressed the media for the final time before kickoff against Idaho on Saturday (Sept. 11) inside Memorial Stadium.
Below is a partial transcript of the press conferences, while video of the full media session can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Tom Allen | Head Coach
Opening Statement
TA: A couple of updates. Devon Matthews will be out this week, but he is doing well, and we expect a full recovery from him. Jaylin Williams is doubtful at this point, and we will have to see how the next couple days unfold if he will be able to go or not from an injury during the game on Saturday against Iowa. Other than that, I feel good about our guys, and we get a couple of guys back on offense. Ready for questions.
On Luke Haggard's status…
TA: He's back and is good. He's had a really good week as well and he will be a part of those five guys we will see on offense on game day. Bottom line is, it's trying to get our best five guys on the field and unfortunately for last week the group that is going to be taking the field on Saturday is the ones who we were going to take on the field against Iowa until Luke got injured in practice. He's healthy, back now, and we've got other guys back as well that are going to be competing to play and will play in the game on Saturday.
On David Ellis status and practice this week…
TA: To answer your first question, David Ellis is expected to go, and he's had a good week of practice. To your second question – it was crisp and sharp, I do feel like that. I think it was good. I think it got better every day during the week. It wasn't that we practiced poorly last week either, but at the same time, that preparation didn't show up on game day which is what really matters. The key for us now is to transfer what we're doing in practice so that it shows up on Saturday. That's what I expect, and we've had a good week of doing that.
On Ryder Anderson's leadership…
TA: I think first of all, any time you come somewhere new the best thing to do is shut your mouth and work your tail off and prove by your work ethic that you're a guy that should be listened to and he did that. Once you get here and you start to get to know the guys and you start to assert yourself physically by your actions, then you start being more apt to verbally hold guys accountable, encourage, and challenge. He did that. I thought the progression was in the right order and I thought that even his past, he's played a lot of football. Our guys knew that, and we played against him in a bowl game. He made plays in that game. I think he's just a humble guy. He's not coming in with a cockiness or arrogance that he's better than anybody else. He knew he was coming into a new team, and he was excited and felt blessed to be here, excited to be here, wanted to be here, and chose to be here. I think that matters. I think it's been reflected in how he's handled his teammates and he's a great teammate because he practices really hard and that's huge because that's how you get the respect of your teammates. It started in the weight room in January and carried into spring football. We selected him as the most valuable defensive guy during spring for those 15 practices and it carried over into summer. He had a great, great summer. It was a position where we had a lot of guys play football on that side of the ball, but the D-line...not a lot of strong, verbal leadership. I expected that and we talked about that when he got here. His maturity and just knowing him a little bit, his personality from those who recruited him and knew him before and just felt like he would fit with us, and he truly has. He has obviously been a big part of us this year, in my opinion, being able to elevate the defensive line play each and every week.
On the matchup with Idaho…
TA: They do quite a bit on offense. They score a lot of points, get a lot of yards, and their skill guys are really talented. They've got really good receivers who catch the football and they've got some big lineman, a huge fullback - 270-plus pounds - that's really an H-back and an All-American at the FCS level, as well as a receiver who is an All-American. Just conceptually, the whole [Petrino] family, they have a great understanding of offensive play and how to score points and how to put you in conflict defensively. They do a good job of that. They play multiple quarterbacks and create different things there and they all have different skill sets. They are just tough. I'm telling you. The toughness of their team shows up on film on both sides of the ball. The core of their defense, the front seven, is very physical and very talented. To me, that's what sticks out is their skill guys on offense and their talent and execution. They manage to catch the ball really well and defensively how hard they play, how physical they are. They are just tough, hard-nosed kids that play well and play together. Coach [Paul] Petrino comes from a great football family that is known for scoring a lot of points and doing a great job on that side of the football. That's what he's built there.
Below is a partial transcript of the press conferences, while video of the full media session can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Tom Allen | Head Coach
Opening Statement
TA: A couple of updates. Devon Matthews will be out this week, but he is doing well, and we expect a full recovery from him. Jaylin Williams is doubtful at this point, and we will have to see how the next couple days unfold if he will be able to go or not from an injury during the game on Saturday against Iowa. Other than that, I feel good about our guys, and we get a couple of guys back on offense. Ready for questions.
On Luke Haggard's status…
TA: He's back and is good. He's had a really good week as well and he will be a part of those five guys we will see on offense on game day. Bottom line is, it's trying to get our best five guys on the field and unfortunately for last week the group that is going to be taking the field on Saturday is the ones who we were going to take on the field against Iowa until Luke got injured in practice. He's healthy, back now, and we've got other guys back as well that are going to be competing to play and will play in the game on Saturday.
On David Ellis status and practice this week…
TA: To answer your first question, David Ellis is expected to go, and he's had a good week of practice. To your second question – it was crisp and sharp, I do feel like that. I think it was good. I think it got better every day during the week. It wasn't that we practiced poorly last week either, but at the same time, that preparation didn't show up on game day which is what really matters. The key for us now is to transfer what we're doing in practice so that it shows up on Saturday. That's what I expect, and we've had a good week of doing that.
On Ryder Anderson's leadership…
TA: I think first of all, any time you come somewhere new the best thing to do is shut your mouth and work your tail off and prove by your work ethic that you're a guy that should be listened to and he did that. Once you get here and you start to get to know the guys and you start to assert yourself physically by your actions, then you start being more apt to verbally hold guys accountable, encourage, and challenge. He did that. I thought the progression was in the right order and I thought that even his past, he's played a lot of football. Our guys knew that, and we played against him in a bowl game. He made plays in that game. I think he's just a humble guy. He's not coming in with a cockiness or arrogance that he's better than anybody else. He knew he was coming into a new team, and he was excited and felt blessed to be here, excited to be here, wanted to be here, and chose to be here. I think that matters. I think it's been reflected in how he's handled his teammates and he's a great teammate because he practices really hard and that's huge because that's how you get the respect of your teammates. It started in the weight room in January and carried into spring football. We selected him as the most valuable defensive guy during spring for those 15 practices and it carried over into summer. He had a great, great summer. It was a position where we had a lot of guys play football on that side of the ball, but the D-line...not a lot of strong, verbal leadership. I expected that and we talked about that when he got here. His maturity and just knowing him a little bit, his personality from those who recruited him and knew him before and just felt like he would fit with us, and he truly has. He has obviously been a big part of us this year, in my opinion, being able to elevate the defensive line play each and every week.
On the matchup with Idaho…
TA: They do quite a bit on offense. They score a lot of points, get a lot of yards, and their skill guys are really talented. They've got really good receivers who catch the football and they've got some big lineman, a huge fullback - 270-plus pounds - that's really an H-back and an All-American at the FCS level, as well as a receiver who is an All-American. Just conceptually, the whole [Petrino] family, they have a great understanding of offensive play and how to score points and how to put you in conflict defensively. They do a good job of that. They play multiple quarterbacks and create different things there and they all have different skill sets. They are just tough. I'm telling you. The toughness of their team shows up on film on both sides of the ball. The core of their defense, the front seven, is very physical and very talented. To me, that's what sticks out is their skill guys on offense and their talent and execution. They manage to catch the ball really well and defensively how hard they play, how physical they are. They are just tough, hard-nosed kids that play well and play together. Coach [Paul] Petrino comes from a great football family that is known for scoring a lot of points and doing a great job on that side of the football. That's what he's built there.
Players Mentioned
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