Indiana University Athletics
Thursday Takeaways: Wisconsin
11/2/2023 3:00:00 PM | Football
Tom Allen | Head Coach
On getting Josh Henderson back…
TA: He's very important to us. You saw that he worked really, really hard to come back and I'm really encouraged to see what he did last weekend. I'm not surprised. He's such a solid guy in every phase of catching the ball, pass protection, running obviously. He gives us a great presence out there and a lot of good, strong leadership in that room and on our side of the football. It's great to have him back. We're going to need him each of these last four regular season games. I expect him to just continue to get healthier each week and get back to who he is, which we know is a great, great player for us.
On Coach Bob Knight…
TA: I never met him. I wish I had, but I did not have that opportunity. From a earliest memories, just the intensity and passion, I shared last night that my first time ever seeing him when I was a boy at New Castle and he was recruiting Steve Alford, He came to one of his games. So I got to see him there. I didn't realize how big of a man he was until then, and he was just such an imposing presence. The motivation, the toughness, the defensive emphasis, the way that I perceived it was that guys went to class. They did things the right way on and off the field. He didn't tolerate that. The consistent performance of his teams of being tough, gritty and competitive. That's the part I loved. I have ever seen him coach in person, as far as in a practice, just in some games that I've seen in person. Everything else was from a distance. Any time a person has that level of success in any sport, it's hard to do without, without question, especially for a long period of time. I think just the toughness, the way his teams executed and trying to get the most out of your players to get them to play at the highest potential that they have been given. Those are the things that stick out to me about him. We are going to wear helmet decals on Saturday in honor of him with his initials on our helmets.
On changes that need to be made against Wisconsin…
TA We have got to be aggressive. There is going to be some calculated risks that need to be taken. As you move forward into situations like this, you look at that game last week and you say, "what do we need to do differently?" We need to limit some of those self-inflicted mistakes. We need to catch all of the punts. We have got to be great on special teams. We can't have crimes against the team where we're jumping offsides on offense, we had an illegal procedure penalty by our Punt team that cannot happen. Those are things that hurt us. Executing on critical third down situations. We need to be more aggressive, without question. I think in that situation, would I have still kicked a field goal? Yes. What you maybe called leading up to that field goal, that's where you want to be more aggressive. As far as the field goal itself, you got into a situation where there is three minutes to go in the game and you got a chance to tie the game. I think you need to do that. If there's less time than that and you have no chance of getting the ball back, our defense was playing really good at the time. You expect to get a stop, get the ball back and go win the game or have a chance to beat them in overtime. At the same time, those are variables that play into it. with everything to gain and nothing to lose, you have go t to go and play be aggressive. We have got to coach that way and play that way. I want to see our guys do that. There's no doubt that the intensity is elevated, there's urgency each week as there always is. But I think that definitely gets heightened when you know what's at stake.
On balancing the run and pass game of Brendan Sorsby…
TA: We talk about picking and choosing because he says to us it gets him fired up. We've got to be smart. He's not a linebacker, He does have to throw the football. I love that mindset and that toughness. That's what attracted us to him when we recruited him. I saw that on film, but you've got to pick and choose. You've got to know if we've got to get a first down and it's third or fourth down, then it's time to lower your shoulder and go make a play. But if that's not the case, you've got to be able to eliminate some of those unnecessary hits that will happen when you're playing against elite level defensive players that have one objective. That is to affect the quarterback. They know those hits add up as well. We just need to be smart. We've obviously talked him through that and will continue to do that. He is still young, but you love that edge about him. You love that swagger and the ability to play that way. We just need to be smart.
On getting Josh Henderson back…
TA: He's very important to us. You saw that he worked really, really hard to come back and I'm really encouraged to see what he did last weekend. I'm not surprised. He's such a solid guy in every phase of catching the ball, pass protection, running obviously. He gives us a great presence out there and a lot of good, strong leadership in that room and on our side of the football. It's great to have him back. We're going to need him each of these last four regular season games. I expect him to just continue to get healthier each week and get back to who he is, which we know is a great, great player for us.
On Coach Bob Knight…
TA: I never met him. I wish I had, but I did not have that opportunity. From a earliest memories, just the intensity and passion, I shared last night that my first time ever seeing him when I was a boy at New Castle and he was recruiting Steve Alford, He came to one of his games. So I got to see him there. I didn't realize how big of a man he was until then, and he was just such an imposing presence. The motivation, the toughness, the defensive emphasis, the way that I perceived it was that guys went to class. They did things the right way on and off the field. He didn't tolerate that. The consistent performance of his teams of being tough, gritty and competitive. That's the part I loved. I have ever seen him coach in person, as far as in a practice, just in some games that I've seen in person. Everything else was from a distance. Any time a person has that level of success in any sport, it's hard to do without, without question, especially for a long period of time. I think just the toughness, the way his teams executed and trying to get the most out of your players to get them to play at the highest potential that they have been given. Those are the things that stick out to me about him. We are going to wear helmet decals on Saturday in honor of him with his initials on our helmets.
On changes that need to be made against Wisconsin…
TA We have got to be aggressive. There is going to be some calculated risks that need to be taken. As you move forward into situations like this, you look at that game last week and you say, "what do we need to do differently?" We need to limit some of those self-inflicted mistakes. We need to catch all of the punts. We have got to be great on special teams. We can't have crimes against the team where we're jumping offsides on offense, we had an illegal procedure penalty by our Punt team that cannot happen. Those are things that hurt us. Executing on critical third down situations. We need to be more aggressive, without question. I think in that situation, would I have still kicked a field goal? Yes. What you maybe called leading up to that field goal, that's where you want to be more aggressive. As far as the field goal itself, you got into a situation where there is three minutes to go in the game and you got a chance to tie the game. I think you need to do that. If there's less time than that and you have no chance of getting the ball back, our defense was playing really good at the time. You expect to get a stop, get the ball back and go win the game or have a chance to beat them in overtime. At the same time, those are variables that play into it. with everything to gain and nothing to lose, you have go t to go and play be aggressive. We have got to coach that way and play that way. I want to see our guys do that. There's no doubt that the intensity is elevated, there's urgency each week as there always is. But I think that definitely gets heightened when you know what's at stake.
On balancing the run and pass game of Brendan Sorsby…
TA: We talk about picking and choosing because he says to us it gets him fired up. We've got to be smart. He's not a linebacker, He does have to throw the football. I love that mindset and that toughness. That's what attracted us to him when we recruited him. I saw that on film, but you've got to pick and choose. You've got to know if we've got to get a first down and it's third or fourth down, then it's time to lower your shoulder and go make a play. But if that's not the case, you've got to be able to eliminate some of those unnecessary hits that will happen when you're playing against elite level defensive players that have one objective. That is to affect the quarterback. They know those hits add up as well. We just need to be smart. We've obviously talked him through that and will continue to do that. He is still young, but you love that edge about him. You love that swagger and the ability to play that way. We just need to be smart.
Players Mentioned
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