Postgame Quotes vs. Louisville

Postgame Quotes
Louisville vs. Indiana
September 16, 2023

Tom Allen | Indiana Head Coach
Opening Statement
TA: Just want to start by, hearts are heavy. The loss of Marty Clark from our program and university, such a tough battle last couple years. He's such a fighter. Prayers for his family. Just really want to be there for them during this tough time. Very, very, very special person.

Just proud of our football team. But you got to play two halves of football. Disappointed in our first-half performance. Gave up some big plays by our defense. Too many self-inflicted wounds offensively in the first half.

Man, just proud of our team's fight. Really didn't have any momentum going into halftime. The guys bowed up and showed a lot of fight to be able to shut them down in the second half, give ourselves a chance offensively to win the game. Just proud of that.
Got a lot of work to do. Got a young quarterback that obviously can make plays, is growing up, is going to be some growing pains with that. At the same time you can see what he can become. Got to build our team around the positives and continue to battle and fight, because this team has character. We just got to get better.

Questions.

On Tate's first performance and what you felt from him on the sidelines…
TA: Yeah, I think there's no question, you could see him growing up throughout. There's things that happen that you don't always see, especially in the first half, just mistakes being young, the clock, different formations, checks, seeing guys in motion, things like that. But those will continue to get better and better.

But I just love the fact that he just makes plays. He's able to create, extend plays, eyes downfield, finding receivers. Those are things you can't teach. That's just instinctual things that he has.

He's got a lot of confidence, a lot of moxy that I've said from day one, one of his strengths. Those things are showing up. We're just trying to find a way to move us down the field.

Like I said, we got to play two halves of football. That's really the bottom line.

On your thoughts during the timeout on the one play at fourth and goal at the one-foot line…
TA: Could have run a quarterback sneak, run your base power play, whatever. We obviously chose to run, not to sneak. Obviously since it didn't work, you want to run the other one. We scored previously on the other one. Yeah, didn't work, so...

You obviously wish you would have done something else. I think that's how we all would think the same exact way.
I don't second-guess that. Goodness, you just got to execute. You have the ball on the six-inch line. Knock 'em off the football and score. I don't care what you call. If you run the football... You do something that has a little riskiness to it.

We didn't execute it obviously. That's frustrating. I'm sure that's one that everybody is going to focus on. There are a lot of other variables leading up to that. Since the play didn't work, I wish we would have called something else. I love or team, love our coaches. We just got to keep battling.

(No microphone.)
TA: Yeah, I was disappointed we did. We actually moved the ball. I thought we hurt ourselves offensively with self-inflicted mistakes. Then I thought defensively we just gave up some big plays. You can't do that. That was the frustration from the first half. I didn't think we defended the run in the first half either.

Yeah, even as the half was ending, which is why I chose to not go forward on fourth down there, punt the ball, get out of the half and regroup, because I was planning on kicking on-side kick to start the second half because I knew we had to kick off. We thought we had a shot to get it if the opportunity presented itself.

So, yeah, that was something we went in at halftime, already made that decision being in there for one or two minutes.

On practicing that offense…
TA: We actually repped it two previous times that week. That's one of those deals where I have a situation with Casey. I say if we're going to do something like that, I have to see it executed in practice. If we hadn't done it well in practice, I wouldn't have called it. He did. We were 2-2 in practice. Now we're 3-3.

On the big plays that were limited in the second half…
TA: High discipline. One of our young corners was the first culprit. He bit on a play fake. He's playing deep third, which can't happen. That's learning from his mistake in the first half was huge.

Then just really, really emphasized eyes, eyes, eyes. We made some adjustments and calls at halftime. I thought coach did a really good job at halftime getting adjustments on both sides of the ball.

To me it's more about executing what you're doing. Every coverage has levels to it. If you're the guy that's supposed to be on top, you better have that discipline, execute, or else you're going to give up those double moves, the play-action passes.
Did some things up in the front area, too, to help us on the run game. I thought Coach Craig did a great job doing some adjustments as well as Coach Bell.

On your thoughts about the decision to cancel the rest of the series with Louisville…
TA: I would just say that in the last six months, the Big Ten has changed a lot. We've added four teams to this conference that has changed the landscape of the Big Ten. I believe that we have to adjust accordingly.

To me, we have to do what's best for our football program.

On the pass-rush in the second half…
TA: Yeah, they do a really good job of this. I was very frustrated with the lack of that being acknowledged. So we just tried to just keep fighting through it. We called some more things on some second downs to get us a better chance to get a pass-rush in those play-action situations.

Got a really good pass-rusher, No. 1. I think his jersey right now is almost ripped in half. Don't recall ever seeing anything with that. That's a frustrating thing.

Just got to keep playing. I just handle that with those. But we tried to do some things to do a better job of keeping edges. A couple times he rolled out, lost containment, which just can't happen. The last third down was a mistake by our backs, not containing the quarterback, a throwaway or a sack.

I thought we did a better job of securing the edges in the second half.

On Jaylin Lucas…
TA: We worked hard on that this off-season, for him in that role. I just continue to see that being a focus for him, getting the ball in space, try to do a good job with that.

As with all of our guys, you try to maximize an individual's talent, what he can do. Getting him the ball in space is important, whether it's hand it to him or throwing it to him. Like I said, he works really hard on that and we're going to continue to emphasize that.

On keeping the guys locked in…
TA: I think it speaks to the character of our guys. They fought. Challenged them at halftime to see, get a chance to see who we are as a football program and a team. Every team is different.

I believe the in core values of our program. With all the new faces we have, I want to see these guys fight through adversity, fight through some hard things, even if you sometimes create them yourself.

How you respond in a game is important. Our guys bowed up and fought. That's a good sign. Then we had a great week of practice. Just expected us to play well. Disappointed we didn't. Sometimes it's schematic things you give up, you continue to do that. They give some new looks, whatever things you didn't expect.

But at the same time I felt like we were ready. I just think we didn't execute consistently on either side of the ball, third downs on defense. Then just overall offensively in the first half to be able to finish those drives. We had some good drives, we just didn't finish those drives. At least try to get some field goals, not be down 21 at halftime.

When you have a new group like we have, so many new faces, for them to be able to battle through and fight to the finish was encouraging. We just got to play four quarters.

On the linebacker core…
TA: Some schematic adjustments at halftime. Called some different things just to try to take away the things they were doing well in the first half.

A couple of missed tackles. We missed a few tackles in the first half as well that you can't do. They got two good running backs. It was a combination of schematic adjustments as well as our guys wrapping better, running their feet through contacts. Aaron Casey is a huge part of that. He continues to play well.

We just can't give up the big plays whether it's in the run game or the throw game, especially in the pass game in the first half. Starts up front, you got to be able to stop the run and be able to read react from there.

On sacks…
TA: I think that's hard to teach that. I think there's a lot of instinctual components to that, that a guy has a pocket presence to him, that he can feel. He knows where to step up to. Coach Bell does a good job of teaching a lot of those things. From my experience, the guy that has the ability to just feel it instinctually is pretty special.

He seems to have that, which is great. Takes some stress off the O-line, as well. Not to be perfect in those situations, but it's obviously important to keep him protected.
It's been a big objective for us to do that. We're doing a solid job of that right now. We just got to continue to get better on that so we can get him a clean pocket. We obviously have receivers that can make plays, there's several of them. We have to continue to help him grow.

He is a talented quarterback, he's a really good football player. Like I said before, he's only going to get better.

Appreciate you. LEO.

Indiana Student-Athletes
Tayven Jackson | QB | R-Fr.
On whether or not he has to grow into an environment and close game like the one just played…
TJ: I think that you have to take the mistakes and move on from them. Unfortunately, the game did not go as planned or how we wanted. But that's life and that's football and we have to move on to Akron.

On how much of a rhythm he found as the game progressed…
TJ: I think once we started playing fast. I'm used to that. I think it brings out all of us as a group of quarterbacks and wide receivers. We all know how to play fast and when we play fast, we play free.

On if it is hard to not have the late dive attempt for a touchdown stick with him…
TJ: Growing up as a little kid you're always in the backyard pretending "Three, two, one … I'm diving for the endzone." When you finally get that moment, and it doesn't go as planned, that is a hard pill to swallow.

Jaylin Lucas | RB | So.
On being more involved in the receiving game today…
JL: I think just getting me the ball and giving me open space. I felt like I did well, it's just going to take getting continuous reps at it and keep doing what I do.

On how he felt Tayven Jackson grew in the game today…
JL: Man, Tayven. It's a big eye opener. I love the way he was making the right decisions, but Tayven played his butt off today, like every drive it was hard work. He had a winning mentality. After coming in and losing 0-21 at half, I feel like we were executing well in the second half.

On Jackson in the locker room at halftime and coming back energized in the second half…
JL: I felt like his energy was just picking us up. He didn't say anything negative; everything was positive. He was encouraging everybody to give our all when we step out on the field.

Louis Moore | DB | Sr.
On the onside kick…
LM: We practiced it this week as a team. We did it twice. We executed it twice, and in the game, we were down 21, so we wanted to play aggressively.

On what he feels they need to do to play like they did the second half for a whole game…
LM: I like the way we played. In the first half the busted plays we had were detrimental, and the second half we didn't bust any covers. The first two weeks we didn't bust coverage very well.

Aaron Casey | LB | Sr. +
On what changed in the second half that they stopped the run better…
AC: We changed some calls we were making. We decided to trust each other and play our best and our responsibilities and lock in.

On how he felt they improved the pass rush in the second half…
AC: We were able to affect the quarterback a little more, and different games we did upfront affected them.

On blowing up both players on a reverse…
AC: It was a first for me. I was kind of surprised I was Scot free coming in there and I saw the other guy coming to my left.

On what the half-time locker room was like…
AC: It was serious. We knew that we were beating ourselves more than they were beating us, and we all just decided we needed to lock in and trust each other and play our responsibilities and focus and hone in to what we had to do.

Cam Camper | WR | Sr.
On what changed in the second half for the Hoosiers…
CC: We knew that the stuff going on was self-inflicted. We just locked in and did what we had to do.

On whether he felt fully healthy going into the game today…
CC: I knew that I was going to be fine. I made sure that I said my prayers. Everyone around me said their prayers. I'm just grateful to be out there and finish the game safely.

On Tayven Jackson's rhythm as the game progressed…
CC: For sure. I feel like throughout the whole game he was calm the whole time. He didn't let plays rattle him. We just followed his lead and did what we do.

Jeff Brohm | Louisville Head Coach
Opening Statement
JB: It's great to come out with a win. I thought our guys competed hard for four quarters. It was touch-and-go in the second half, but we found a way to toughen it up when we needed to and get a great stop. Tremendous job by our defense and our coaches. They had a great plan there on the goal line and the minus half yard to run a naked on a first-and-one and take a little chance and put it on our quarterback (Jack Plummer) to get outside. He did a good job running the first down. We ran and got some first downs when we needed to. To me, that's a sign of a pretty decent football team. We've got to build off of that. Of course, we would have loved to play better in the second half. The onside kick was coming at the start of the second half. It was talked about a lot. The plan obviously wasn't good enough. We've got to do a better job of that because we did recognize that that was probably coming, so that was disappointing. But they played hard to the end, so I'm proud of them. As we tell our team every week, every game is going to be like Georgia Tech. Now every game is going to be like Georgia Tech and Indiana. Then from there on that's how it's going to be. We've got to be tough enough to hang in there and make more plays than they do and figure out a way to score more points than they do. It's good to get out with a win.

On overcoming adversity early in the season…
JB: It's great. I like the makeup of our guys. They really play hard, they work hard, and they're coachable. Our coaches are tough enough to realize that we make a lot of mistakes too, and we have to fix those every week and put our players in the best position to succeed. We will have to continue to make corrections from this week, but that's a great starting point. If we can figure out a way to be a little more efficient for 60 minutes and not have lapses, then maybe we can have a big win. But until then, it will be a back-and-forth affair, and we have to be the tougher team in order to come out with the win.

On the fourth-and-goal play from Indiana…
JB: When it was at the two, we had an idea that it was probably going to be a pass or a play action or get out on the edge. When it got to the half yard, we thought it would be either a half back sneak first, and then when the big back came in that was the second choice. We worked on our goal line package. We had a lot of big bodies in there. We stemmed at the last minute, trying to get them to snap it early. I don't know if it affected them a little bit or not. I thought we got in there. Because of the stim and movement, we got in there quick, and we penetrated and stopped the run and did a great job with it. That's not easy to do, so that's just all-out effort and good coaching from our defensive coaches. We had to have it to win.

On the confidence from T.J Quinn…
JB: T.J. is a great leader. I was lucky enough to play with his dad (Terry Quinn). He's hard-nosed. He tackled and played to the end and never complained one bit. His son is just like him. He's very productive. He is a great leader by example. He'll tackle and hit you. It's remarkable how similar he is to his father. He has just really embraced his role. He's a great teammate. He wants to win, and he carries a lot of self-confidence. If you are going to run it at him, he's going to tackle you.

Louisville Student-Athletes
Jack Plummer | QB | Sr.
On his rushing ability being an underrated skill of his …
JP: I mean, I think I've proved I have been alright on running the ball. If it's something I have to do, I will do to help the team. Obviously, I don't major in that, but you know I'm not Lamar (Jackson), I'm not Malik Cunningham, but it is something I can do.

On the defense during the fourth-and-goal for Indiana…
JP: We were preparing for if they stop them, which we think they will, then let's do what we've got to do to win. If they get it, we'll just go down and score.

On the early growth from the team…
JP: The first game and this game as well have been very good for us to be able to go through adversity and come out on the other side. Winning is a skill, and when you get used to it you start to piggyback off of it. Those are good for us. The first game we had to come back and win, and this game we were up big and to find a way to win at the end.

Cam'Ron Kelly | S | R-Sr.
On the fourth and goal play from Indiana…
CK: To be honest, not really. We had jumbo in and they did their thing. Our big guys versus their big guys will take them every time.

On the confidence of the defense after a strong performance today…
CK: We've got to keep stacking good days on good days and good games on good games. We build a foundation off of that and then keep doing it. If we play like that, and we stop them, they can't score. We won. And that's how we have to do it.

#GoIU

Players Mentioned

Cam Camper

Aaron Casey

Tayven Jackson

Jaylin Lucas

Louis Moore

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