Postgame Quotes: vs. Maryland

Postgame Quotes
Maryland at Indiana
October 15, 2022

Tom Allen | Head Coach
Opening Statement
TA: Tough game. Proud of our guys for playing hard. Just the thing that sticks out to me is minus three in the turnover margin. Don't turn the ball over three times, get takeaways, really was the difference in the game.
Played good enough, well enough to win, but not in those areas. That's what it comes down to in my opinion.
Questions.

On the disappointment of the big run plays with a new QB…
TA: Very disappointing. I think that last run, it was third-and-long. They ran the football. Kind of trying to stop some different things. Obviously have that call back, you have a different game. At the same time you got to get him on the ground.

So it's still a run play. Then he had the long quarterback run on a short yardage situation. I thought that was bad execution on our part.

Disappointing. To me you put yourself in a tough spot, the defense has to step up. That really to me was a frustrating thing, without question.

On if the turnovers reflected an offense that could find its rhythm but not consistency…
TA: Yeah, I mean, the first one was a tip ball. The second was a 50/50 ball. Yeah, they were the first plays. Gave them momentum right out of the start of each half, which is tough.

Then obviously the final fumble. Fighting for yards. We work so hard on ball security every day, to get a helmet on the ball.
Yeah, it's frustrating, without question. But got to do a better job protecting the football. Takeaways, big deal on defense. Protecting the ball is a huge deal on offense.

On what you need to do to stop making mistakes that put you in a hole in the first minutes of each half…
TA: There's no question, yeah. So frustrating for me. Haven't had this type of pattern continue like this. This is just hard to put a finger on.

Obviously we've changed so many different things practice-wise, tried to emphasize the strong starts, big things, giving up points.
To me we got to go back and continue to try to look at different ways to try and create. Like I said, it's not that our guys weren't ready to play. They played hard, were locked in. This one today kind of seemed not able to come up with the play on defense to get a stop. Then you give the ball away right out of the gate, it kind of sets everything off to a negative tone.
They are part of the game, can't separate them. They are frustrating, no doubt.

On Monster being called for the unsportsmanlike conduct…
TA: I just don't see that call being made in that situation. That's my opinion, so... I just don't see it.

On how the defense is adapting to the loss of Cam and Jaylin and what needs improvement…
TA: Yeah, I mean, you lose two elite players, it's hard. But other guys are stepping up. Yeah, it's made it more difficult, without a question.

But hopefully we get Jaylin back here. Has a chance to come back sooner probably than Cam. Hope we'd get him back here soon.

Yeah, we need those guys, no doubt about it. We need everybody. Brylan Lanier got a huge sack before half, which is huge for his confidence. His execution was tremendous on that play. We worked hard on that. Other guys are rising up and doing things.

Obviously it hurts to lose All-Big Ten guys. Cam was playing at All-American level in my opinion. You just don't replace guys like that.

On the defensive game plan going in against Taulia…
TA: We were trying to prevent the explosive pass plays. That's something he does really, really well. He creates them with his legs as well as just in the flow of the drop.

We had a hard time getting him on the ground. He's a really, really elusive guy. Has been that way every single week on tape. A really good offense, we knew that going in. Knew they were going to be challenging. One of the best receiver cores in the country. No question.

You when have a talented quarterback like that, with the combination, makes it tough. When you get a new guy in there, he played a little bit against Michigan. Came in that game, drove down and scored against Michigan. A little bit similar style in terms of we didn't think it would necessarily change. The quarterback runs a little bit more downhill than they were making guys miss.

We just didn't execute, in my opinion, in terms of the calls that was made for those situations where he broke free a little bit.
But, yeah, I mean, a guy goes down, another guy's got to step in and make plays. Obviously a little bit different style, but similar enough where we didn't think they were going to change things.

On Rod Carey…
TA: I thought they played solid. I haven't watched the film. I saw some improvement, without question. I thought they were a big, physical defensive line that has pressured people. I thought they held up better in the pass protections, did some things to help them as well.

But, yeah, definitely a positive step in the right direction with that group. No question about it.

On tackling and what wasn't clicking today…
TA: I thought especially early on, I mean, we had several times where we had guys right there in the right position to make those plays. They got to finish 'em. Whether it's some of our corners trying to tackle their big backs, both of their backs are big and physical, that could be a physical mismatch in some ways. Still got to play with technique.

Man, we've worked extremely hard the last couple weeks on it. Saw some improvement last week. Disappointed in today.
They have good athletes. When you have more elite athletes, it makes it harder. The combination of power and quickness makes it tough.
Just continue to work on it. That's not going to change. Disappointed in that, for sure. Third down earlier in the game where we had the guy two, three yards behind the line, didn't get him on the ground.

A couple of them are more of our older guys that we count on to do that.
Never going to cease to emphasize takeaways and tackling. Not getting enough takeaways and we didn't tackle good enough tonight. To me that's the disappointing part for our defense.

On what went wrong after being up by three when Taulia went out…
TA: There were a couple quarterback runs, like I said, one in particular. To me the key one was the third-and-long where we had a chance to get off the field and we didn't. They ran the football. We had a pass pressure called and they ran it.

Sometimes you're trying to decide what they're going to do. If you have a run call, if you're going to give them too much time against talented receivers, if you don't get any pressure on the quarterback...

Just part of it. You have to make decisions. I wish we could have that call back, without question. But to me it's just about having a finishing mindset, finishing mentality. We had ourselves in position to do that and we didn't do that. That's what makes this really, really disappointing.

Appreciate it. Have a good night. LEO.

Indiana Student-Athletes
Connor Bazelak | QB | R-Jr.
On if he as the QB can make adjustments…
CB: I think having the feeling of being in the rhythm, on a roll. I feel like once we get to our first down of the drive, we end up having good success in that drive. We can play fast, we're in a rhythm. I think sometimes when you get the first and 10 incompletion, second and 10 incompletion and leave yourself third and long, sometimes you have to take check downs, call draws. Sometimes the defense gets you, but there's definitely a feeling when you get on a roll everyone knows, and we were on a roll on the last drive before the fumble. We were going to go score and win the game.

On troubles in the red zone…
CB: I think Coach Bell is trying to get us in a good play and trying to see what the defense is in. A lot of the stuff is match-up based down there. We've got to win on match-ups and win on one-on-ones in the run game and in the pass game. Cam (Camper) won on a fade ball and we have to find a way to connect with Donaven (McCulley) on the other end.

On what Josh Henderson does well…
CB: I think he's always around the ball. You say that for a defensive guy. When he's in, he gets the ball a lot and usually good things happen. He runs hard. He runs over guys. He catches really well out of the backfield and you've seen him a bunch split out wide in empty, he's done great with that.

Aaron Steinfeldt | TE | R-Fr.
On his first career touchdown…
AS: I saw the opportunity to get a play, try to get some momentum back. I know last week wasn't the way I wanted it to go, but I think the football gods payed it back to me and I got my touchdown back. I'm glad I got a touchdown. It's awesome to be the hometown kid getting a touchdown in front of the big stage, but as a team we've just got to get better. There's a lot of season left, get those three more wins and get a bowl game.

On the offensive turnovers…
AS: It's just the little things. We've just got to get better at ball security, practice that every day. Little things like keeping the ball high and tight. I think those definitely affected us. But I thought, overall, the offense played very solid. 33 points doesn't happen by accident, so I'm glad the offense responded after last week.

On the offensive line…
AS: I'm proud of the O-Line. They worked their tails off this week. We made an emphasis of run the ball a lot more. We go to the offensive tackles a lot to get some combo blocks and dead line screens. Overall, I'm proud of the O-line. I love coach Carey, I love his enthusiasm, the game, and just helping us get better week by week. I just felt that we did a lot of improving this week, but I'm really excited about the rest of the season.

Aaron Casey | LB | Sr.-R
On the difference between Maryland quarterbacks Taulia Tagovailoa and Billy Edwards, Jr., after Tagovailoa exited the game...
AC: The difference to me, with the backup, they wanted to get the ball downhill. Whenever he took off, he would take off downhill. [When Tagovailoa] took off, he would normally try to flush out of the pocket, sideline-to-sideline, sideways. There was just that difference that I saw.

On how it felt to come away with a defeat...
AC: It was just another one that came down to the fourth quarter that we just let slip away. We just need to change the way we play, finish the game strong and finish all four quarters.

On what head coach Tom Allen told the defense about Maryland quarterback Bill Edwards, Jr....
AC: He said that he's not as quick as [Tagovailoa] was. He's fast, he can run the ball, but he's not as precise as a passer. They don't move the same way for the most part.

Josh Henderson | RB | Sr.
On if Maryland came out and played differently then you expected…
JH: On Rod Carey taking over the offensive line …
I think the O-Line did a great job. They practiced all week and had a different juice to them, playing more aggressive and staying up. It was a good thing to see throughout practice this week. I like where are O-Line is at right now.

On how they are using you in the passing game…
JH: The passing game is something that I pride myself in being able to play in. Just proving to the coaches and my teammates that I can be a versatile back. Being put in a position to help the team throughout the pass defense is a blessing.

On how you are trying to help the team rebound after losses…
JH: By telling them that the season is not over yet. We have games every week. We just have to compare the same and realize that most of the mistakes we made were self-inflicted. I think the whole team is frustrated with that, and we will get that fixed for sure.

Cam Camper | WR | Jr.
On being surprised by Maryland's offensive in the second half after Tualia went out…
CC: I figured that was going to happen. He is a different type of player. I can just tell that they are two different bodies. I kind of already knew what was going to happen because we have the same talent.

On looking at the missed opportunities and what is going to stick with you from this game…
CC: It was in our control. I don't want to bring up the turnovers, and that wasn't the reason the game was over. We do ball security every day, and we need to be mindful of how we are running with the ball.

On what it took to get you going today…
CC: Just feeling the ball again. I just needed my first catch, and I knew I was going to be fine.

Mike Locksley | Maryland Head Coach
Opening Statement
ML: Big Ten road wins are tough, Tom had his team ready to play today. Indiana played with great effort. Maryland vs Indiana has never been easy, but it's great for our team the way we faced adversity. The young players that got thrusted into playing because of the unavailability of a few of our starters. I was really proud of the way guys like Coltin (Deery) did, came in and played, the way Billy Edwards Jr. came in for Taulia when he went down. A lot of guys that haven't played a lot of football had to step up. I like the way we face adversity. I'm also not really happy with the way we played, how we don't play smart. We're a good team, and good teams don't beat themselves. We keep talking about it. The penalties before the first half allowed them to score points, at the end of the game, the false start by veteran players. Those are the things that take away from our ability to celebrate a really tough, hardfought game. What I will say is that this team has shown tremendous resiliency all year long and play with the right effort. They understand how to come together when things aren't going well, but I'd sure like to see us play one of those perfect games when we start fast and finish strong. We didn't get that done today. But Big Ten road wins are tough, and I'm proud of the effort and resiliency that we continue to show.

Update on Taulia Tagovailoa...
ML: It was a lower leg injury. I don't know if it was a knee or ankle, but by the time I got in there, it probably won't be clear until tomorrow when hopefully we get back and he gets an MRI. I know he was in there celebrating with his teammates, so that was good to see. But we'll know more after we get the MRI.

On message to team after Taulia went down...
ML: We knew going into the game that Jaelyn Duncan wouldn't be available, our starting Left Tackle. He's dealing with a family emergency back home. Jakorian Bennett gets banged up on Thursday, last play of practice, so you lose two starters like that, and young players are thrusted in there. So, when Taulia went down, I think the big message from me to our offense was listen, Billy gets forty percent of those reps throughout the week, Taulia gets sixty. We have tremendous faith in Billy and his ability to come in and execute. It's a next-man-up mentality, and I was really glad to see Billy come in and do what he did. Dan (Enos) did a tremendous job of establishing the run game in the second half which really took some pressure off of things. They were a high-pressure team on first and second down. Once we were able to get their flavor of the day, we were able to go in at half and settle some things down and be able to run the ball which I think helped us in the second half.

On what changed in the run game from first to second half...
ML: It's adjustments. We didn't run because of the amount of pressure they showed on first and second down. This was the most pressure we've faced, and we knew that going in. So, the game plan initially was to get the ball out on the perimeter which we were able to do. We scored fourteen points. We got the ball out with space on the perimeter, the interior pressures they did didn't affect us, but then as we got a good feel for what their blitz's of the day would be, we went in at halftime and made the decision to tie down the back side edge which allowed us to take care of that run-view backer. We were able to pop some walls. Roman (Hemby) did a good job of reading them out in the run game. It helped settle some things down and opened up some things for us in terms of big plays.

Players Mentioned

Connor Bazelak

Cam Camper

Aaron Casey

Josh Henderson

Brylan Lanier

Aaron Steinfeldt

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