Indiana University Athletics
Quoted: Ohio State
8/30/2023 10:00:00 AM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– As the days near closer to Saturday's (September 2) season opener against No. 3/4 Ohio State, Indiana's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Walt Bell, defensive coordinator and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri along with 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.
Walt Bell | Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
On filling the slot position…
WB: There's a couple ways to fill that role. We've got some guys that are not only really good players outside, but also are smart enough in concepts to play inside. So, you'll see the Donny macs (Donovan McCulley), the Omar Coopers, the Cam Campers, the EJ Williams. You may see them inside at times. Dequece Carter, Kam (Kamryn) Perry have done a really nice job in camp, and then the bonus, the move-around-toy, Jaylin Lucas, has also played there as well. Just depending on different personnel groupings and things that were doing, we've got a multitude of different ways to attack that position.
On the run game dictating pace…
WB: The simplest answer is it won't have any impact at all. But our ability to run the ball, stay on the field, put us in more manageable third downs with young quarterbacks, that's going to be huge. But in terms from a pace of play standpoint, we've got the ability to go as fast as we want to go, we've got the ability to go as slow as we want to go. For me, it's just making sure that our run game is explosive, and that we can win from the C-gap out, we can dent the line of scrimmage when we need to. To me, we've got to make sure that we're staying on schedule, productive runs, efficient runs, eliminating as many negatives as we can in the run game. But, in terms of pace and how we play, it really won't have much of a say in how we run the football.
On the deciding factor for choosing the starting quarterback…
WB: I think first and foremost with any young guys is eliminating error, and how does that happen? That's your entire pre-snap process. Eliminating issues at the line of scrimmage, if a guy is not right, can you get him right, your at the line of scrimmage communication, your communication on the sideline when we do huddle. But number one is just minimizing error. Number two is after the snap, can you drive your eyes where your supposed to early in the downs, and can you be smart with the football late in downs. Those two things are completely different things. But they both manifest themselves in completions or balls in jeopardy. And then number three, I would think just comfortability, leadership ability, do you create confidence in the other ten guys on the football field when you're out there? To me those three things, especially with younger guys, are kind of the lynch pins in how you're going to make a decision.
Matt Guerrieri | Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
On preparing for two different quarterbacks…
MG: I think a couple of things, holistically, you know how a system has functioned for a number of years, and then you try to best guess what you see on film, what those guys do best, and how those things could be featured from that standpoint. Obviously, at an opening game you have a lot of time, so there's a lot of time spent in the offseason of studying an opponent. From taking away from other things, not so much in an opening game. Other times in a game plan week when you have a shorter period of time and you have two drastically different types of players and you can say, what's the plan for this versus the plan for that, and sometimes those packages have to be tighter because of that. You can't just smear your whole defense over everything from that standpoint. But I would say in an opening game, what's the overall approach, what's the flavor of each individual player, and then you best attack from there. But you have a lot of time in the summer to plan those things.
On taking his experience from Ohio State into the gameplan…
MG: This is an elite offense. Ryan Day has had some of the best offenses in college football his entire time at Ohio State. So, while there is some familiarity from what the people look like and how they function from that standpoint, you've still got to go stop them. And the biggest thing is what are the fundamentals of defense regardless of who we're playing against and opening games. How we tackle, how we vice the ball in space, those are really the biggest things as far as execution on our part compared to saying, "hey I know what's going to happen." They're going to have things that he's never shown before, different from when I was there, things like that. It's about us.
On the importance of the defensive line winning the line of scrimmage…
MG: I think regardless of who you're playing, it starts in the trenches for us, so that's been a big point of emphasis for us. It all starts up front on defense regardless of the opponent. And then you say, "here's how they function and what we need to do to best prepare for it from that standpoint." But again, it comes back to us, our mentality, the guys that we have up front, hand in the dirt how we're going to play from that standpoint.
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.
Walt Bell | Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
On filling the slot position…
WB: There's a couple ways to fill that role. We've got some guys that are not only really good players outside, but also are smart enough in concepts to play inside. So, you'll see the Donny macs (Donovan McCulley), the Omar Coopers, the Cam Campers, the EJ Williams. You may see them inside at times. Dequece Carter, Kam (Kamryn) Perry have done a really nice job in camp, and then the bonus, the move-around-toy, Jaylin Lucas, has also played there as well. Just depending on different personnel groupings and things that were doing, we've got a multitude of different ways to attack that position.
On the run game dictating pace…
WB: The simplest answer is it won't have any impact at all. But our ability to run the ball, stay on the field, put us in more manageable third downs with young quarterbacks, that's going to be huge. But in terms from a pace of play standpoint, we've got the ability to go as fast as we want to go, we've got the ability to go as slow as we want to go. For me, it's just making sure that our run game is explosive, and that we can win from the C-gap out, we can dent the line of scrimmage when we need to. To me, we've got to make sure that we're staying on schedule, productive runs, efficient runs, eliminating as many negatives as we can in the run game. But, in terms of pace and how we play, it really won't have much of a say in how we run the football.
On the deciding factor for choosing the starting quarterback…
WB: I think first and foremost with any young guys is eliminating error, and how does that happen? That's your entire pre-snap process. Eliminating issues at the line of scrimmage, if a guy is not right, can you get him right, your at the line of scrimmage communication, your communication on the sideline when we do huddle. But number one is just minimizing error. Number two is after the snap, can you drive your eyes where your supposed to early in the downs, and can you be smart with the football late in downs. Those two things are completely different things. But they both manifest themselves in completions or balls in jeopardy. And then number three, I would think just comfortability, leadership ability, do you create confidence in the other ten guys on the football field when you're out there? To me those three things, especially with younger guys, are kind of the lynch pins in how you're going to make a decision.
Matt Guerrieri | Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
On preparing for two different quarterbacks…
MG: I think a couple of things, holistically, you know how a system has functioned for a number of years, and then you try to best guess what you see on film, what those guys do best, and how those things could be featured from that standpoint. Obviously, at an opening game you have a lot of time, so there's a lot of time spent in the offseason of studying an opponent. From taking away from other things, not so much in an opening game. Other times in a game plan week when you have a shorter period of time and you have two drastically different types of players and you can say, what's the plan for this versus the plan for that, and sometimes those packages have to be tighter because of that. You can't just smear your whole defense over everything from that standpoint. But I would say in an opening game, what's the overall approach, what's the flavor of each individual player, and then you best attack from there. But you have a lot of time in the summer to plan those things.
On taking his experience from Ohio State into the gameplan…
MG: This is an elite offense. Ryan Day has had some of the best offenses in college football his entire time at Ohio State. So, while there is some familiarity from what the people look like and how they function from that standpoint, you've still got to go stop them. And the biggest thing is what are the fundamentals of defense regardless of who we're playing against and opening games. How we tackle, how we vice the ball in space, those are really the biggest things as far as execution on our part compared to saying, "hey I know what's going to happen." They're going to have things that he's never shown before, different from when I was there, things like that. It's about us.
On the importance of the defensive line winning the line of scrimmage…
MG: I think regardless of who you're playing, it starts in the trenches for us, so that's been a big point of emphasis for us. It all starts up front on defense regardless of the opponent. And then you say, "here's how they function and what we need to do to best prepare for it from that standpoint." But again, it comes back to us, our mentality, the guys that we have up front, hand in the dirt how we're going to play from that standpoint.
Players Mentioned
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