Indiana University Athletics
Quoted: Fall Camp Edition - August 12 Update
8/12/2022 4:26:00 PM | Football
WATCH: Tom Allen Press ConferenceWATCH: Connor Bazelak Press ConferenceWATCH: Jack Tuttle Press Conference---PETE: Hoosiers Make it Clear -- It’s Time to LeadQUOTED: Fall Camp Edition - Running BacksPETE: Bringing the Edge – Shivers Is Ready to RockQUOTED: Quoted: Fall Camp Edition - August 9 UpdatePETE: Have to Wait
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – After wrapping up the first scrimmage of the fall, Indiana football head coach Tom Allen and quarterbacks Connor Bazelak and Jack Tuttle met with the media inside Memorial Stadium on Friday (August 12).
Below is a partial transcript of the press conference, while video of the full media session can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Tom Allen | Head Coach
Opening Statement
I will tell you what, I thought today was a really good scrimmage. First one, we call it preseason game number one, as we go through this process. Then, we will have preseason game number two a week from today, and then we will have our mock game, which is preseason game number three.
A lot of guys got a lot of good reps. I thought it was competitive back-and-forth and it came down to the final snap: fourth-and-goal on the one [yard line]. to be able to decide the winner for that portion of it. Both sides made plays and I thought all three quarterbacks did some really good things and really protected the ball pretty well. We tried to do a lot of things difficult on them for that. We came out of it pretty clean injury-wise, which is always a huge plus.
Got a lot of good live go's, a lot of good situations and got some overtime work, got some heavy red zone work, moved the football and got our special teams worked on in a lot of situations. So, very positive, but a lot to work on. We haven't watched the film yet, so we will know what that looks like when I get a chance to grad [the film] here in a little bit, but thought it was a very good day for the Hoosiers.
Questions.
On what he was focused on the most during the scrimmage...
TA: To start on offense, just wanted to be able to move the football efficiently, get the ball in the end zone and we have emphasized creating more explosive plays. That is obviously a tough dynamic, because we are trying to not allow those on defense, which is the natural tension you have there. Trying to be able to create those and not have to drive 10, 11, 12-play drives to get down the field.
That was the emphasis and we had several of those today and that was good. Then, continue to master the offense and play with confidence. The whole objective [of today's scrimmage] was coaches off the field in the scrimmage, but don't even yell, because [the natural tendency for a coach is to correct someone], but don't say anything to them and make them make the checks and adjustments. That way, we know exactly where we are at.
The biggest goal [of the scrimmage] is evaluation. Where are we at schematically with our installs? And where are we at depth chart-wise and where do the guys stack up against each other at each position? We will go through and grade this just like we would a normal game, this afternoon, then bring the guys back tonight, watch it and get [the mistakes] cleaned up.
Then, the final thing to me, objectively, would just be able to start playing well as a team. We talk about offense, defense and special teams. The best team wins on game day and to have a chance to really see those special teams units transitioning in and out, the substitution patterns you have with that, can be challenging. We had offense on one side and defense on the other in a scrimmage situation. At the same time, in the pre-practice portion of the scrimmage we do our substitutions, we call them pop-up meetings, just showing them how it is going to look on game day. We are trying to simulate game day and I thought it was a good first step for that.
On what he saw from the quarterbacks during the scrimmage...
TA: I think the bottom line is that I wanted to get the ball thrown down the field and create those explosive plays and those chunk plays. It doesn't have to be bombs; we are talking about even just the deep 10-15-yard concepts. Just trying to get the ball to the second level and get [the defense] stressed.
I thought all three guys were effective at that. The part about reading the defense and we will know that more when we watch the film and do all that to know for sure. It appeared that there was good command of the offense.
We did have some holding penalties, and we talked that through out there on the field, from a technical perspective. I got to make sure we eliminate those. We had a couple illegal procedures we need to eliminate, had one bad snap over the head in the red zone, which is costly, and we can't have those. We haven't really had those with our first group, so that was the first one, I think, the entire spring we have with the one's. That hasn't been an issue, but we have to make sure it's not an issue.
For me, as I have said from the beginning, it is commanding the offense, number one, protecting the football, number two, which I thought we did a good job of that today, and then, number three, it's winning the team over. Who believes that when we have the ball with time on the clock if that guy is in the huddle our team believes we are going to go find a way to win. That's the final step to figure out who the guy needs to be.
On the health of the team...
TA: We have a couple of guys on defense that we felt [didn't need to see a lot of action in the scrimmage], Tiawan [Mullen], J-Will [Jaylin Williams], Cam [Jones] and Monster [Devon Matthews]. Those guys, we've seen them play a lot of football. I would say getting D.J. [Matthews Jr.] back, he is progressing really well, but kept him controlled today and did a lot of conditioning with him. Just trying to make sure those guys are physically ready and getting enough pops and physicality and tackling on defense and getting hit on offense to be able to be good for game day.
I feel we came out of the scrimmage good. I think we had a couple younger guys that got tripped up a little bit. Nothing serious, it didn't seem like. Very clean day on that, which is a big deal. When you have a chance to have a full live scrimmage like that, it doesn't always happen.
Felt good about that and feel like we are really trying to do a great job with our strength staff, [watching] a lot of play counts for our guys and understanding that whole dynamic. We spent a lot of time studying that and researching that and making sure we feel good about it. The whole scrimmage today was built off of that and kept track of the whole time. Then just trying to stay true to that progression to keep building and be able to peak on September 2.
Connor Bazelak | Jr.-R | QB
On what he's seen from Donaven McCulley as a wide receiver…
CB: To me, he's made a big jump. I think in the spring he was a little bit hesitant, he was still learning the playbook, still learning how to play a whole new receiver position that he's never played. Now, I think in fall camp I think he's willing to go in there and block and do the dirty work and I think that shows up in the film. He's getting the playbook down, learning how to run routes, learning the little nuances to play receiver in the Big Ten. So, really excited about him and what he brings to the offense.
On his comfort level and how he feels how he has improved…
CB: I feel really good about where my game is right now. I feel like I'm throwing the ball really well. Hitting deep shots, checking the ball down when I get pressure, and like you said, just learning the offense, getting a better grasp of the offense. I think Coach [Walt] Bell talked about the D, E, Fs of plays the other day, just kind of learning those, I think when you learn an offense and install a second time it's always easier and when you go out and rep it. I feel really good about where I am.
On if the change from Missouri to Indiana has been a reboot to his game…
CB: Last season was definitely up-and-down. I had a really bad grade two and a half hamstring last year and played through that which was tough, couldn't run. But nobody cares, you know, you go out there and you've got to win games that's what they want. So, able to make a bowl game but thought it was best to come here, everything's great, I love it here. The players have been awesome, the quarterbacks were super welcoming in the spring and can't say enough about Coach [Tom] Allen, he's an unbelievable man, coach, leader and Coach Bell has been great, just the hospitality has been awesome, and I think it's a great fit for me.
On his experience and what he learned at the Manning Passing Academy…
CB: That experience is awesome. It was my second year down there and the Manning's are great, unbelievable people. The camp they put on is twelve-hundred kids, and to be able to manage that is unbelievable and then I think the biggest part is just being around other quarterbacks kind of picking their mind, picking Peyton's mind, Eli, also meeting other college quarterbacks and guys who you're going to be playing against on Saturday, just kind of getting to know them, kind of what they do in their offense and just an unbelievable experience.
Jack Tuttle | Sr.-R | QB
On what he wants the offense to accomplish in scrimmages…
JT: Move the ball, score points. Pretty simple. Yeah, that's really it. That's all from scoring in the red zone, moving the ball, making plays, and explosive plays. I think we did a good job of that today and just got to keep on going.
On his approach to leadership in 2022…
JT: There's a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that the media doesn't really know or understand. But we didn't play in a bowl, right? So, just having that whole month of December just to kind of sit there and really think how last year went compared to two great years before that. A lot of thoughts came into my head, got with C-4 [Cam Jones] about it. Put all the thoughts, really had a lot of accountability stuff in there, presented it to the whole team in January and that kind of just created that spark we needed, that motivation we needed, that hunger we needed to get back, grind, do what we need to do, and improve.
On the challenges of learning a new offense again…
JT: As you learn new playbooks it kind of gets easier and easier. So, in that regard, it hasn't been bad at all. Getting with Coach Bell, he's great about meeting. I think that the team has done a great job, Coach Bell has done a great job of getting with us, meeting with basically everybody so we're all comfortable with him. So, it's going good.
On what he enjoys about playing with D.J. Matthews Jr. and how he looks coming off of injury…
JT: D.J. is a great person, a great player, and I think he's done a phenomenal job of just coming back from his knee [injury]. I can't imagine what he's been through. I know he's done a brilliant job in his rehab and getting back with the team. Honestly, you wouldn't even really be able to tell he hurt his knee. He's doing such a good job.
Below is a partial transcript of the press conference, while video of the full media session can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Tom Allen | Head Coach
Opening Statement
I will tell you what, I thought today was a really good scrimmage. First one, we call it preseason game number one, as we go through this process. Then, we will have preseason game number two a week from today, and then we will have our mock game, which is preseason game number three.
A lot of guys got a lot of good reps. I thought it was competitive back-and-forth and it came down to the final snap: fourth-and-goal on the one [yard line]. to be able to decide the winner for that portion of it. Both sides made plays and I thought all three quarterbacks did some really good things and really protected the ball pretty well. We tried to do a lot of things difficult on them for that. We came out of it pretty clean injury-wise, which is always a huge plus.
Got a lot of good live go's, a lot of good situations and got some overtime work, got some heavy red zone work, moved the football and got our special teams worked on in a lot of situations. So, very positive, but a lot to work on. We haven't watched the film yet, so we will know what that looks like when I get a chance to grad [the film] here in a little bit, but thought it was a very good day for the Hoosiers.
Questions.
On what he was focused on the most during the scrimmage...
TA: To start on offense, just wanted to be able to move the football efficiently, get the ball in the end zone and we have emphasized creating more explosive plays. That is obviously a tough dynamic, because we are trying to not allow those on defense, which is the natural tension you have there. Trying to be able to create those and not have to drive 10, 11, 12-play drives to get down the field.
That was the emphasis and we had several of those today and that was good. Then, continue to master the offense and play with confidence. The whole objective [of today's scrimmage] was coaches off the field in the scrimmage, but don't even yell, because [the natural tendency for a coach is to correct someone], but don't say anything to them and make them make the checks and adjustments. That way, we know exactly where we are at.
The biggest goal [of the scrimmage] is evaluation. Where are we at schematically with our installs? And where are we at depth chart-wise and where do the guys stack up against each other at each position? We will go through and grade this just like we would a normal game, this afternoon, then bring the guys back tonight, watch it and get [the mistakes] cleaned up.
Then, the final thing to me, objectively, would just be able to start playing well as a team. We talk about offense, defense and special teams. The best team wins on game day and to have a chance to really see those special teams units transitioning in and out, the substitution patterns you have with that, can be challenging. We had offense on one side and defense on the other in a scrimmage situation. At the same time, in the pre-practice portion of the scrimmage we do our substitutions, we call them pop-up meetings, just showing them how it is going to look on game day. We are trying to simulate game day and I thought it was a good first step for that.
On what he saw from the quarterbacks during the scrimmage...
TA: I think the bottom line is that I wanted to get the ball thrown down the field and create those explosive plays and those chunk plays. It doesn't have to be bombs; we are talking about even just the deep 10-15-yard concepts. Just trying to get the ball to the second level and get [the defense] stressed.
I thought all three guys were effective at that. The part about reading the defense and we will know that more when we watch the film and do all that to know for sure. It appeared that there was good command of the offense.
We did have some holding penalties, and we talked that through out there on the field, from a technical perspective. I got to make sure we eliminate those. We had a couple illegal procedures we need to eliminate, had one bad snap over the head in the red zone, which is costly, and we can't have those. We haven't really had those with our first group, so that was the first one, I think, the entire spring we have with the one's. That hasn't been an issue, but we have to make sure it's not an issue.
For me, as I have said from the beginning, it is commanding the offense, number one, protecting the football, number two, which I thought we did a good job of that today, and then, number three, it's winning the team over. Who believes that when we have the ball with time on the clock if that guy is in the huddle our team believes we are going to go find a way to win. That's the final step to figure out who the guy needs to be.
On the health of the team...
TA: We have a couple of guys on defense that we felt [didn't need to see a lot of action in the scrimmage], Tiawan [Mullen], J-Will [Jaylin Williams], Cam [Jones] and Monster [Devon Matthews]. Those guys, we've seen them play a lot of football. I would say getting D.J. [Matthews Jr.] back, he is progressing really well, but kept him controlled today and did a lot of conditioning with him. Just trying to make sure those guys are physically ready and getting enough pops and physicality and tackling on defense and getting hit on offense to be able to be good for game day.
I feel we came out of the scrimmage good. I think we had a couple younger guys that got tripped up a little bit. Nothing serious, it didn't seem like. Very clean day on that, which is a big deal. When you have a chance to have a full live scrimmage like that, it doesn't always happen.
Felt good about that and feel like we are really trying to do a great job with our strength staff, [watching] a lot of play counts for our guys and understanding that whole dynamic. We spent a lot of time studying that and researching that and making sure we feel good about it. The whole scrimmage today was built off of that and kept track of the whole time. Then just trying to stay true to that progression to keep building and be able to peak on September 2.
Connor Bazelak | Jr.-R | QB
On what he's seen from Donaven McCulley as a wide receiver…
CB: To me, he's made a big jump. I think in the spring he was a little bit hesitant, he was still learning the playbook, still learning how to play a whole new receiver position that he's never played. Now, I think in fall camp I think he's willing to go in there and block and do the dirty work and I think that shows up in the film. He's getting the playbook down, learning how to run routes, learning the little nuances to play receiver in the Big Ten. So, really excited about him and what he brings to the offense.
On his comfort level and how he feels how he has improved…
CB: I feel really good about where my game is right now. I feel like I'm throwing the ball really well. Hitting deep shots, checking the ball down when I get pressure, and like you said, just learning the offense, getting a better grasp of the offense. I think Coach [Walt] Bell talked about the D, E, Fs of plays the other day, just kind of learning those, I think when you learn an offense and install a second time it's always easier and when you go out and rep it. I feel really good about where I am.
On if the change from Missouri to Indiana has been a reboot to his game…
CB: Last season was definitely up-and-down. I had a really bad grade two and a half hamstring last year and played through that which was tough, couldn't run. But nobody cares, you know, you go out there and you've got to win games that's what they want. So, able to make a bowl game but thought it was best to come here, everything's great, I love it here. The players have been awesome, the quarterbacks were super welcoming in the spring and can't say enough about Coach [Tom] Allen, he's an unbelievable man, coach, leader and Coach Bell has been great, just the hospitality has been awesome, and I think it's a great fit for me.
On his experience and what he learned at the Manning Passing Academy…
CB: That experience is awesome. It was my second year down there and the Manning's are great, unbelievable people. The camp they put on is twelve-hundred kids, and to be able to manage that is unbelievable and then I think the biggest part is just being around other quarterbacks kind of picking their mind, picking Peyton's mind, Eli, also meeting other college quarterbacks and guys who you're going to be playing against on Saturday, just kind of getting to know them, kind of what they do in their offense and just an unbelievable experience.
Jack Tuttle | Sr.-R | QB
On what he wants the offense to accomplish in scrimmages…
JT: Move the ball, score points. Pretty simple. Yeah, that's really it. That's all from scoring in the red zone, moving the ball, making plays, and explosive plays. I think we did a good job of that today and just got to keep on going.
On his approach to leadership in 2022…
JT: There's a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that the media doesn't really know or understand. But we didn't play in a bowl, right? So, just having that whole month of December just to kind of sit there and really think how last year went compared to two great years before that. A lot of thoughts came into my head, got with C-4 [Cam Jones] about it. Put all the thoughts, really had a lot of accountability stuff in there, presented it to the whole team in January and that kind of just created that spark we needed, that motivation we needed, that hunger we needed to get back, grind, do what we need to do, and improve.
On the challenges of learning a new offense again…
JT: As you learn new playbooks it kind of gets easier and easier. So, in that regard, it hasn't been bad at all. Getting with Coach Bell, he's great about meeting. I think that the team has done a great job, Coach Bell has done a great job of getting with us, meeting with basically everybody so we're all comfortable with him. So, it's going good.
On what he enjoys about playing with D.J. Matthews Jr. and how he looks coming off of injury…
JT: D.J. is a great person, a great player, and I think he's done a phenomenal job of just coming back from his knee [injury]. I can't imagine what he's been through. I know he's done a brilliant job in his rehab and getting back with the team. Honestly, you wouldn't even really be able to tell he hurt his knee. He's doing such a good job.
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