Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes No. 3/4 Ohio State
9/2/2023 8:45:00 PM | Football
Postgame Quotes
Ohio State at Indiana
September 2, 2023
Tom Allen | Head Coach
Opening Statement
TA: All right. Disappointed in the loss. Our kids fought hard. Played hard. Did have a couple guys cramping up with the heat. But I thought our defense played tough. Showed some things that we got build off of. Just not good enough. Scoring touchdowns obviously is not acceptable. Too many penalties. Disappointed that the special teams penalties really hurt our offense. Set us back inside the 10, sometimes the 15. So every time we get a decent return seemed like we had a penalty. So can't do that. But just play the game. You learn from week one and move on to week two. Questions?
On the thought process for splitting up the quarterback reps…
TA: Just I'll be very open about the process. So went through the whole thing. When I said, when I named -- I said, we made our decision. Our decision was to play 'em both in the first two games. So Sorsby started this week. Tayven starts next week. The guys know that. They knew that ahead of time.
So, because, here's reality: You have spring ball, you have summer and you have fall camp. And they never get hit and it's not full-bore live football playing in the game. And they need to play in a game for us to truly be able to -- it was one guy would have a good practice and the other guy. And it would be back and forth. Or a good week. And it was just all kind of like, man, so similar. And so, but at the same time -- so I felt like, we felt like the best thing to do was let's let them see them play. We told 'em both they're both going to play. We didn't have a pitch count.
We didn't say when they were going to go in. We just said whoever starts week one, the other is going to start week two. That's how we set it up. So it gives us a chance to be able to, after the first two games, be able to evaluate where we're at, where they're at and what we need to be able to do moving forward.
So that's what happened today. I couldn't even tell you how many snaps each one of 'em played. But we'll watch the film and bottom line it's about being able to move the football down the field and get us in the end zone. So, we weren't able to score with either one of them.
So we obviously got to get better. So we got to do a better job executing and just continue to grow our offense. Obviously they do a lot of things that make it very difficult. Just felt like that we needed game time to evaluate. And that's where we are.
We don't have pre-season games. We don't have anything against anybody else. So we obviously had to play a Big-10 opponent week one. That's something that was part of the deal. So we chose to go that direction. So I thought both guys did some good things, both guys made some mistakes. So just got to build off of it.
On struggling to throw the ball and if that was a part of the game plan…
TA: I would say it was probably a little more conservative than we, even in that game, would like for it to be. But there's certain reasons for that, without question. But, yeah, we got to be able to do that. That's going to grow, for sure. We really felt like, coming in, you're going to have to take about, you know, seven or eight shots. And a couple of those we had and then got pressured. And so, but at the same time, yeah, there's no question we got talented receivers on the perimeter and got to do a better job of getting those guys the football. But I think you're just going to see it continue to grow each week, there's no question about it. Both these guys can throw the football. But I just think, once again, some of the field position didn't help us, several times. And when you're backed up like that that's when you make big mistakes and get costly situations. You don't want to throw picks in those spots.
So once again, two young guys, probably a little more conservative than we will be moving forward -- definitely more conservative than we will be moving forward, but at the same time just got to continue to get better.
On reevaluating the quarterbacks after two games…
TA: Yes, I would like to be able to have that, yes. But I think it's really just fair to have them both play against the same opponent. You just play one against one team, one against another team, it really doesn't give you a pretty clear picture at all. Because obviously they're two different opponents. Our first two opponents are very different.
On the incomplete pass at the end of the first half that was reviewed…
TA: Oh, yeah, they said his arm was going forward. So, obviously, I didn't think it was. But it's a review that they go through and it's not like I can challenge that. So once they review it, they made that decision. But I thought it was a hit and a fumble. So obviously we would have had the ball and saved us three points. But, so...
On linebackers Aaron and Jacob and settingYour defense gave you a chance for most of the game today. Seemed like especially in the middle Aaron and Jacob really set the tone. How big of a catalyst is it when you get good play from your linebackers?
TA: It's huge. I was really proud of Jacob. Obviously, we've never seen Jacob play in a game here, just on film at Stanford. So I thought he did a really good job. I think he's played the way we expect him to play.
So we're excited about those two guys. Two big, physical guys that can both run and make plays. So we showed some signs up front, too, to be able to do some things that are going to be very important moving forward. So just got to keep getting better. And I like the look in our guys' eyes. There was no doubt a lot of disappointment in that locker room, but at the same time we got to be able to look ourselves in the eye, make corrections and get ready for a short week.
On the secondary of the defense against one of the best receiving teams in the country…
TA: I believe so. Obviously, you don't know until you go do it. I was really concerned about that matchup, without question. It is, we know -- I know for a fact those receivers are special. And the one is probably the best we've ever gone against since I've been coaching, in my entire career. So to believe able to keep those guys in check was very critical. It was a combination of some pressure up front, as well as the guys coming around the back end and just trying to do a good job of disguising things. You saw how we're going to play. That's the system. That's who we are. That's what we want to be able to do. Mix things up. Confuse people. Got some length in the back end. Got some playmakers. I thought -- we dropped two picks. It would have been tough catches. We dropped two picks that they ended up getting six points off of two field goals that we got to make plays on. But I was very encouraged by our secondary.
As you said, it's a whole bunch of new guys. And then you got Jamari Sharpe, who is a redshirt freshman, that didn't play much last year. He really played a lot today.
So a lot to build off of. A lot to be excited about in that area. We just got to keep battling and keep getting better.
On evaluating the transfers performance…
TA: Yeah, I would say we got a little tired. The heat was a part of that. But obviously it's for both teams. But I thought that we did a good job of establishing the line of scrimmage defensively. Made it hard on 'em. We gave up a couple creases there, but not very many. We have struggled. You can go back and look at the stats, if I need to help you on that. But we've not done a good job stopping the run against these guys for many years now.
Even in the year we played 'em close it wasn't because we played great run defense. They ran all over us. So we made a concerted effort. Obviously, we went out and found guys that we felt like gave us some size and length and ability to help us do a better job physically. But also just made sure we just worked so hard on our run fits all fall camp, all spring long.
So I think there's a lot to build off there on that, without question. You go to the stop the run. And we got some talented DB's to help us when they do have to throw it. Some guys that can pressure 'em. So, yeah, there's no question.
They had new quarterbacks, too. So having new quarterbacks creates a difficulty for an offense, without question. But at the same time they have been a machine on offense for a long, long time. They got some really, really talented football players in the back field, up front and on the perimeter. So I thought our guys did a lot of good things defensively.
I was more encouraged by the bows up in the red zone. That's when you got a long drive, you're tired, you're fatigued. It's a gut check. It's a character check. It's a, can you bow up when your body is really, really exhausted and fatigued and make a play against an elite team, a top-3 team in the country. So, to me, our guys showed that. Forced them to kick several field goals. And that's how you win games.
On the comfortability of the offense with one quarterback versus another…
TA: Yeah, I don't know that we really look at it as that we're changing with those two guys. I think that their skill sets are similar enough. We really will -- there may be a couple of things that I wouldn't get, you know, put out that we might say we would do, per their strengths. But it's not holistically major, okay. It will be some subtle things within both the run game and throw game to favor their strengths.
But, yeah, as a system though we just got to keep growing and keep getting better at it. And I think they both showed some signs of that. And also showed that they're young. So, but I, you know, we just got to keep working. It's one of those situations where we know what's ahead of us, what we got to do, and I want to see a lot of growth between week one and week two. We say it all the time, it's very, very true. We knew we didn't have any margin for error week one because of our opponent. But at the same time the growth is still expected between week one and week two. So that's what we did. Especially with our offense and our defense as well and our special teams play. But I think that those guys showed that there's much to build off of, without question. So I'm not that going to sit here and be negative, because that's not who I am. It doesn't serve any purpose, doesn't help us get any better. It's just finding things we can do to get better from now until when we play again. There's no off day this week. Monday is usually our off day. We'll practice on Monday because of our Friday game. But you know how I feel about Friday night games. That's not a decision that we make. That comes straight from the Big Ten. Somebody wants to complain about that, don't talk to me. That's -- Friday night football, that's for high school football, bottom line. And I'll say it until I'm blue in the face, until somebody tells me to shut up. And I'll probably say it again. Friday night football is for high school football.
On James Evans performance and what he can provide this season…
TA: Yeah, my big thing for him is consistency. He was excellent today. He works his tail off. Every year he just keeps getting better. So I'm really proud of him. He's one of those guys I got to tell him, like I said this year, I got to tell him to stop kicking. He tries to kick way too much in the offseason, summer time. But he's such a hard worker, he cares so much. Not at all surprised.
As a matter of fact, Coach Guerrieri when he came and joined us, he's like, man, that's the best punter I've ever seen on any team I've ever been a part of. And I would agree, because he continues to get better. Big weapon for us. And obviously he's got to do his job consistently well. And it helps us flip the field. So we got to have everybody doing their job at a high level to win in this conference.
On Jaylin Lucas and his performance on special teams…
TA: Yeah, I would say, you know, the whole -- and I was questioned last year why he didn't return punts last year. And he wasn't ready. So he struggled in that area to catch the ball. And, I mean, he has worked as much as James. So he would tell you, James would tell you, that Jaylin would be coming to get him. Every time you're punting, I'm catching. He caught punt after punt after punt all off-season to be able to put himself in a position to be our punt returner. Because that's a very difficult skill set to be able to do. Especially at the kind of punters we're going to play against.
So that's a huge new weapon. We got to do great job of making sure we don't get any penalties on those returns, but that's a huge way for to us get him the ball in space. Even more so than kickoff returns, regarding the nature of the way punts are.
And then offensively we got to continue to find ways to get him the ball in space. That to me is going to be -- we have a pitch count for him to make sure he gets so many touches. Obviously he went out a couple different times with some cramping. Which, he's got such a lean-body type and, you know, such a small percent of body fat and he's all muscled up. So that's a concern. We obviously worked through that as we go each week. We'll have a night game on this weekend, which may help.
So, but at the same time, we want to see him get the ball in space. That's where he's the most dangerous. So I think that that will continue to be a chance to get him the ball and I think our offense, there's no question, we understand how valuable he is. So he's a great little player we just go to keep working to try to get him the ball.
Indiana Student-Athletes
Jaylin Lucas / RB/RS / So.
On how the performance of both quarterbacks…
JL: I think both of them did well. They just made little mistakes, but we can just stick to what we have.
On how the little mistakes affected the team…
JL: Yeah, it was the little mistakes that killed us. Especially the ones on special teams.
On how he supports the quarterbacks…
JL: I tell them to be confident each and every day. Just come and do your role and make this team as best that we can be.
Aaron Casey / LB / R-Sr.+
On leading the defense in his first game alongside Jacob Mangum-Farrar…
AC: You know, it was great. We've been going through all camp and all of spring ball together. Now we are able to show our opponent and play off each other. I mean, I trust him and he trusts me. I think, or I hope. So we are just able to play well together.
On the belief in himself and his teammates and showing everyone what they can do on the field…
AC: Well, it feels good. All the work you put in over the summer and everything. Just like knowing how much you put into it, seeing my teammates, and how much extra work they put in. Seeing them come out and play, you know, I've been waiting for it. I'm glad to see what I got to see today.
Andre Carter | DL | R-Sr. +
On holding Ohio State to 23 points and the takeaways from the performance today…
AC: I was telling guys yes it was an L, but we did a lot of good things out there offensively and defensively. Again, like you said, years prior it was 50 and 40 points by halftime. 23 points, hey that's a brick towards and a step towards the right direction. We just got to come back to work and keep putting in the work that we've been putting in. And again 23 points against Ohio State, that might be the lowest they score all year you know. It's still an L, but we still have a lot of good things we did out there and a lot of things we can build on.
On his first game in the Big Ten…
AC: Okay so I'm going to be honest, I've been getting a lot of "How's it been feeling since you've been in the Big Ten?" but coming from the MAC I've played a lot of Big Ten schools at the beginning of the year but this being like my first introduction to like Ohio State, Big Ten, and you know like the real deal thing, I mean it was amazing. It felt normal, it felt right. The crowd was amazing and the energy was amazing. The fans were great. Coach Allen did a great job getting us prepared mentally and physically and getting us ready. And again the atmosphere, it was amazing dude, the first time for me, like being here, I loved it. I can't wait to do it again.
Nic Toomer | LB | R-Sr.
On how he felt about the performance today…
JC: I feel we held our own. Obviously, we made too many mistakes in the secondary, and just the defense as a whole. But whenever you can hold a star-studded receiving unit to minimal gain like that, I think it's a success. That's something to build on the next game.
On what the game plan was to limit OSU's gains…
JC: Honestly, we just did our jobs and stuck to the plan. Not trying to do too much, and not try too many plays outside of our assignment.
Ryan Day| Ohio State Head Coach
On his decision of the starting quarterback...
RD: I would have liked to have seen Devin (Brown) play a little bit more, but I just felt like, you know, we went three-and-out there and then I was worried we weren't going to be able to get into a rhythm. We already felt a little clunky early on. We missed some short yardage situations, didn't convert on some third downs, and I didn't want to run the risk of putting ourselves in a bad spot by continually moving those guys in and out. But going in, I really wanted to play Devin some more. I would like to do that moving forward, but like I said from the beginning, we've got to make sure we're doing what's right for the team, what's right for Ohio State, and I felt like that was the right call at the time.
On the feeling of the offense...
RD: Mixed bag, I guess right now. I thought there were some good things, but we've got to play better situational football, we've got to finish in the redzone, we've got to finish in short yardage, and we've got to do a better job on third down. If we can do that, then certainly we'll do better. We need to run the football. I thought there was times it was by committee today, and those games tend to go fast. They (Indiana) had 54 total plays, we had 67. But it just seems to go fast. I guess we ended up with about 27 rushes and about 33 passes, which is a decent balance right there. Chip (Deamonte Trayanum) ended up with about seven yards a carry, the other guys were just south of four yards a carry. we'd like to see all that normally north of five or six yards a carry, then we're really cooking. We know what we need to do in order to win down the stretch. Play great defense. run the football, and we'll continue to work to do that. But, like I said on the radio, it's okay for me to be excited about great defense. I thought our defense played really well, and I'm excited about that. I think what we talked about is it's a different looking defense. we've got some good length out there, we got our hands on some balls early. They took some shots early. I thought we were there. I thought we were there ready to make the play. The defensive line was disruptive. There was a lot to grow on. You've got to get that first win. Any time you're dealing with a new quarterback and some guys in some new spots, conference game on the road, it's good to get that one under your belt.
On the first game with new Offensive Coordinator Brian Hartline...
RD: A lot of great feedback from Brian between the series and we talk about it. There was some injuries, and so we got these timeouts. There was a lot of times we were over by the sideline talking about each play. I felt like it was just kind of that way today for whatever reason. I don't know if that's because the clocks running and the TV timeouts happen, but just seeing like, we were over on the sideline a lot. But during those times we're constantly having conversations. Justin Frye is very much involved and the guys upstairs. It was a team effort and a good start, but as we start to get into some of the games in the next couple of weeks, we'll start to figure out how it's all going to work out moving forward. Like I said before, we've got to do what's best to win and Brian's doing a great job
On Kyle McCords' performance...
RD: I thought in the third quarter during those couple drives, we got into a rhythm. He made some nice throws. He made the nice throw to Marvin (Harrison Jr.) that the refs told me that he put himself out of bounds. I'd like to see the film. I thought that was a nice throw. But, then we came right back and scored right after that, which is good. That's a good sign because it can be deflating when you throw a touchdown, then you've got to come back and do it again. That was good. I thought the throw down the middle to Cade (Stover) was a really nice throw. That was big. There were some plays certainly you want to have back. We'll have to, again, look at the film and see. I think it was a mixed bag overall. We've got to see if it was a mixed bag to the positive or negative, and that's part of watching the film. Sometimes you think coming out of the game and something happened, and you didn't quite see it that way on the film. We'll get on it, identify it, and move forward.
Ohio State Student-Athletes
JT Tuimoloau | DE | Jr..
On whether the game was the anticipated performance of the team going into week one…
JT: Yeah, you know like I said there's a lot of goals set for our defense. Sitting a team to three points and having it be the first game, I think we exceeded that. But, we just got to keep it consistent and keep doing that every game.
On Jaden McKenzie's sack during the game…
JT: Oh man, I saw it. I saw the suplex. I was just hoping we wouldn't get flagged, but I was right there celebrating with him. I was right there because we were trying to get to the quarterback, and they were running it a lot today but at different moments. We got there. Seeing one of my brothers make the sack, there was a lot of joy, a lot of joy coming from it.
On playing alongside Caden Curry on the defensive line…
JT: Oh it's great, you know. That dude has a motor. I call him a Tasmanian Devil. He just keeps going no matter who it is, no matter where he's lined up. Playing with him just gets me going, and how he plays makes me want to play up every play too.
TreyVeon Henderson | RB | Jr.
On being healthy and being able to play again…
TH: It's a blessing man, I'm blessed. I'm just excited to be out here today and just get to play alongside my teammates again. It's a blessing.
On the running back group coming out strong on the first drive…
TH: It was exciting. It was exciting, man. We've got a great running back group and we've just got to keep going. Keep stacking days, keep stacking games and practices. This running back group, it's dangerous.
On what the expectation was for an in-conference road game as the first game of the season…
TH: We knew it wasn't gonna be easy. We knew it was gonna be a tough battle. Indiana, they're a good team as you all saw, so we just came out and played hard. Definitely in the second half. The second half was important for us to go out there and pick it up because in the first half we didn't start off quite strong. We definitely have some things we got to clean up this week.
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