Quoted: Penn State

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A visit from Penn State is next up for the Indiana football program and Indiana defensive coordinator Chad Wilt and offensive coordinator Walt Bell talked to the media, while student-athletes AJ Barner, Cam Jones, Devon Mathews and Tiawan Mullen each talked with IUHoosiers.com's Austin Render in front of the 3:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday (Nov. 5) on ABC.

Below is a partial transcript of the coordinators press conferences, while video of the full media sessions can be found near the top of this story or at IUHoosiers.com/watch.

Chad Wilt | Defensive Coordinator
On what he thinks will be the biggest key to winning games down the stretch…
CW: We are here coming down the home stretch and one of the things we challenged our guys this morning was being at the best at the end. We talked about as a defense being the best at the end of a drive or third down, half, two-minute situations. Here now we need to be at our best at the end of the season and we're doing that well.

We need to make progress in our run defense and our run fits and execution with our defensive line and linebackers understanding run fits. We continue to see that grow and develop. We have become more comfortable and confident as a unit with our assignments. Even last week when you head into the bye week it's a development time. We had some time towards Penn State to look ahead but more of the focus was on us and we spent a lot of time on that, the run defense side and development side because it's the end of the season and you got to keep those guys coming along because guys get hurt, guys get banged up but those guys returning or if guys go out, guys have to be able to step up. We're seeing that depth improve and grow and at the fundamental understandings.

On if he has tried to help Cam Jones navigate being on the sideline…
CW: One phenomenal thing that Cam has done, is he has sat in on every meeting position wise. He is sitting there taking notes like he's preparing to play. When we go out to practice, we give Cam a script... Cam is sitting there going along and the mental engagement he continues to have and push.

I told you this before, but Cam has said he might want to coach someday and he's taking that step back and see the bigger picture of how things fit together. I think him continuing to stay engaged in the preparation process but also out at practice and say "this is what the coaches are looking at, this is what they're working towards, this is what we're working to see happen" he can now stay ahead of the curve on that.

On Phillip Dunnam's progression
CW: He has cover [skills] and is physical, two great things for a secondary guy. He can cover, play man-to-man, lineup over guys. As a young guy who still has room to grow physically, he's not going to back down or shy away from that contact or physicality and kind of enjoys it, loves it, and craves it; which is a good mix to have in a secondary guy that he can cover but he doesn't mind being physical and putting his face on somebody.

Walt Bell | Offensive Coordinator
On what he used the bye week for…
WB: I think first and foremost self-scout. What are we doing well, what are we not doing well. Especially with the information about Cam [Camper] and going back to who are the guys that can create plays for us and create explosives, so you know self-scout, player identification with who is healthy and what we're doing well and keeping a keen eye on Penn State and having a couple extra days to prepare for them.

We got a little bit of head start Wednesday of last week with the players and basically had the ability to finalize normal downs today which is a day ahead which is good.

On the quarterback position…
WB: Well, I think the biggest thing is there has been times that the quarterback position has played good football. We have had some ball control issues but we're going to have a good week at practice, evaluate who's doing the best job and then make a decision from there.

On what each of the three depth chart quarterbacks bring to the table…
WB: I think the biggest thing is there are certain thing that Jack [Tuttle] does really well which goes back to fall camp and that's why it was a really close competition. There are things Connor [Bazelak] does really well and at times he's played really well this season, other than three or four plays, he's played pretty good football. Dexter [Williams II] is a young guy who continues to develop and has great physical tools as a passer, runner and you know what ever we have to do to create one more point than the other team at the end of the day that's what we need to do.

Indiana University Athletics

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