Quoted: Rutgers
10/18/2023 10:00:00 AM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– As the days near closer to Indiana Football's week eight matchup with Rutgers on Saturday (October 21), Indiana offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Rod Carey, defensive coordinator and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri and select student-athletes addressed the media inside the Henke Hall of Champions.
Below is a partial transcript of the press conference, while video of the media sessions can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Rod Carey | Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
On the performances by Tayven Jackson and Brendan Sorsby…
RC: If only you could take the first quarter and bottle it up with both of them. I think they both did some really good things and played at a really high level in the first quarter, maybe quarter and a half. We can't turn the ball over as the quarterback. We can't do that. It wasn't good enough in the second half.
On what he has seen from the quarterbacks since becoming offensive coordinator...
RC: It was pretty obvious in the first quarter and a half of the last game that when they are doing exactly what is in the system, they are performing at a high level. They both are. then when they go outside of that a little bit away from that, then it's not good. I've seen the highs, (Brendan) Sorsby had a lot of highs in that game, and he had some lows. Tayven (Jackson) had the same thing. The highs were pretty good, and the lows would be the turnovers for both of them. I don't see much difference in that, which is the problem. It's my job to get rid of that. For the first quarter and a half, we were not doing that. I have to get that corrected with them.
On struggles in the second half…
RC: There were a lot of things that were not going right in that second half. When you go back and look at the game, the first pick when we were down in the red zone cost us at least three points. That hands to the face call when we had the ball across midfield in the second half gave them the ball with a lot of time left in the second quarter to score. Coming out in the second half there were some things that we did correct in the first half that we were not doing correctly in the second. You are going to get some of that with young quarterbacks, but we can't have a half of it. when they were doing what they were doing, it's pretty good. When they are not doing what they are supposed to be doing, then we get into that a little bit. I'm not putting that on them, I'm putting that on me. I have to correct that, get those lows a little higher, and keep those highs high.
Matt Guerrieri | Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
On the concerns of inconsistency from the defense…
MG: The biggest thing is all eleven players functioning as one from an execution standpoint. It may be a player here or a player there, and that's my job. Our job is to look at it in totality, but to make sure that each piece is in a place to be able to make plays and is able to do their job. The biggest thing is to have enough answers but simple enough to be able to execute at a higher level than the last couple of weeks.
On the current mentality of the defense…
MG: the preparation leading into the game was in a good place. I think the psyche going into the game was in a good place. We started fast because of that, but it's got to sustain. The results are not close to what we wanted. The challenge is to take the emotion out of it, be objective, here's the coaching points, let's get better. We owned it as coaches, you own it as players, and we work together to do that. I don't think that there is anybody that is backing down from the challenge.
On Lanell Carr Jr.'s performance…
MG: He definitely has ability, and you saw some of that edge rush talent that he has early in that game to generate the sacks against (Michigan) and being consistent and keep bringing that every single day. Keep bringing that every single game that our job is to put him in places to be able to go and be successful.
Below is a partial transcript of the press conference, while video of the media sessions can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Rod Carey | Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
On the performances by Tayven Jackson and Brendan Sorsby…
RC: If only you could take the first quarter and bottle it up with both of them. I think they both did some really good things and played at a really high level in the first quarter, maybe quarter and a half. We can't turn the ball over as the quarterback. We can't do that. It wasn't good enough in the second half.
On what he has seen from the quarterbacks since becoming offensive coordinator...
RC: It was pretty obvious in the first quarter and a half of the last game that when they are doing exactly what is in the system, they are performing at a high level. They both are. then when they go outside of that a little bit away from that, then it's not good. I've seen the highs, (Brendan) Sorsby had a lot of highs in that game, and he had some lows. Tayven (Jackson) had the same thing. The highs were pretty good, and the lows would be the turnovers for both of them. I don't see much difference in that, which is the problem. It's my job to get rid of that. For the first quarter and a half, we were not doing that. I have to get that corrected with them.
On struggles in the second half…
RC: There were a lot of things that were not going right in that second half. When you go back and look at the game, the first pick when we were down in the red zone cost us at least three points. That hands to the face call when we had the ball across midfield in the second half gave them the ball with a lot of time left in the second quarter to score. Coming out in the second half there were some things that we did correct in the first half that we were not doing correctly in the second. You are going to get some of that with young quarterbacks, but we can't have a half of it. when they were doing what they were doing, it's pretty good. When they are not doing what they are supposed to be doing, then we get into that a little bit. I'm not putting that on them, I'm putting that on me. I have to correct that, get those lows a little higher, and keep those highs high.
Matt Guerrieri | Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
On the concerns of inconsistency from the defense…
MG: The biggest thing is all eleven players functioning as one from an execution standpoint. It may be a player here or a player there, and that's my job. Our job is to look at it in totality, but to make sure that each piece is in a place to be able to make plays and is able to do their job. The biggest thing is to have enough answers but simple enough to be able to execute at a higher level than the last couple of weeks.
On the current mentality of the defense…
MG: the preparation leading into the game was in a good place. I think the psyche going into the game was in a good place. We started fast because of that, but it's got to sustain. The results are not close to what we wanted. The challenge is to take the emotion out of it, be objective, here's the coaching points, let's get better. We owned it as coaches, you own it as players, and we work together to do that. I don't think that there is anybody that is backing down from the challenge.
On Lanell Carr Jr.'s performance…
MG: He definitely has ability, and you saw some of that edge rush talent that he has early in that game to generate the sacks against (Michigan) and being consistent and keep bringing that every single day. Keep bringing that every single game that our job is to put him in places to be able to go and be successful.
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Players Mentioned
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