Quoted: Indiana State
9/6/2023 10:00:00 AM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– As the days near closer to Indiana Football's week two matchup with Indiana State on Friday (September 8), Indiana offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Walt Bell, 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.
Walt Bell | Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
On managing the challenge of play calling with two young quarterbacks…
WB: From a quarterback standpoint, I thought both of them did the most important thing and that was avoid catastrophic error. We had some pre-snap error. I think both of them had one a piece. We had a third down-and-one issue where we missed a shift and a tray which caused a false start. We had another issue pre-snap. Really other than those two things, they played pretty clean. That's the biggest thing, there was no catastrophic error.
From a play calling standpoint, going into the game, the most important thing was we want to stay in the fight as long as possible. It was long, slow, it was going to be a grind. From an analytics standpoint, we were going to go for a bunch of fourth downs so that's some of the third down decision-making is to get us to a fourth-and-2 or get us to a fourth-and-3. We were exactly where we wanted to be going into half. … Defense was playing great, we wanted to keep staying in the fight as long as possible.
Where some decisions I regret was early in the second half. We had momentum, we got a big stop. I think the first third down, we have a quarterback draw and have what we want but don't really hit it right. The next third down, we throw a ball, and we have a miscommunication between the quarterback and wideout, but again that's coaching, that's not on them. We got to make sure that they understand the plan and they're doing it right. …
In the first half, I thought we accomplished what we wanted to accomplish. Now, it's just we've got to improve, and we've got to be better.
On the quarterback evaluations to this point and the upcoming week…
WB: I think Tayven (Jackson) played 29 (snaps), Brendan (Sorsby) played 28 (snaps) … they both played pretty much the exact same amount of plays. Different situations in the game, there's a good mix of that. The biggest thing for us is both of them had really good fall camps. They're both really good football players. It would not surprise me down the line if both of them don't have a chance to play in the NFL someday. I know that's a lot of praise they might not live up to, but they're both really talented. It just so happens that we have both of them at the same time and they're the same age.
Both of them had great fall camps. Both of them were around 70% on the hands through fall camp, didn't really turn the ball over. They both earned the right to have the opportunity to play. That and the fact they're so young, you really don't know until the lights go on. We've all seen guys that get better and we've all seen guys that kind of become a shell of who they are. And I don't think either one of them did that. We've got another game to look at and we'll just keep evaluating as we go.
On what each quarterback has that could allow them to take the next steps…
WB: With Tayven (Jackson), for a tall, long kid, he's a way better foot athlete than you'd expect him to be. He takes a great deal of pride in his work. He puts a lot of internal pressure on himself, which can be good and can be bad. That and he can distribute and he can spin the football.
The thing about Brendan (Sorsby) is that they're very similar. Brendan can hit spots, Brendan can distribute the football, Brendan is a big, physical runner. When we took Brendan out of high school, it was after the first signing day after I got hired. The majority of quarterbacks in America are signed somewhere else. The reason that we took him was because he was a big, physical runner. That's what you saw on his tape. You really didn't know about the distribution skills. Then we got a chance to see him throw live and we felt much better about that.
They're very, very, very similar. They're both really smart, they both retain information well, they both are composed. There's some personality nuances, but physically, they're very, very similar which helps because it's not like you have to have two distinct plans, which is hard.
Matt Guerrieri | Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
On the effort from the defensive line…
MG: I was really pleased with the effort. There's plenty for us to coach and clean up, as is with most opening games. But from an effort standpoint, what coach (Paul) Randolph has been able to do with those guys and the new faces and learning our scheme and implementing it, I'm really pleased with it from there.
On the experience of players helping with play calling…
MG: It helps a lot. Something that we talked about going into the games was we have a lot of new faces. Some of those guys have played and some haven't played. That's one of my big things in the box. I ask guys all the time, "Does anybody have big eyes down there? What's the look in their face?" Andre (Carter) is definitely a guy that is battle tested, and I think that showed.
On Aaron Casey and Philip Dunnam…
MG: Two guys that definitely stood out. Ace to me played fast. He's got great talent, he's shown that before, but he has a really good understanding of what we're trying to do schematically. He's taken lead of his leadership role. He flew around and made a ton of plays. You guys saw it. Then Dunnam, That play that he made I could show you 50 times already on the practice field. I tell guys all the time, "If you to do it in practice, you're going to earn the opportunity to go play meaningful snaps, and whatever you do in practice is going to show up in the game." But he's become more consistent. I mentioned that in a previous press conference. He's become more consistent, he's matured, he's bought in, he's doing a good job.
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 managing the challenge of play calling with two young quarterbacks…
WB: From a quarterback standpoint, I thought both of them did the most important thing and that was avoid catastrophic error. We had some pre-snap error. I think both of them had one a piece. We had a third down-and-one issue where we missed a shift and a tray which caused a false start. We had another issue pre-snap. Really other than those two things, they played pretty clean. That's the biggest thing, there was no catastrophic error.
From a play calling standpoint, going into the game, the most important thing was we want to stay in the fight as long as possible. It was long, slow, it was going to be a grind. From an analytics standpoint, we were going to go for a bunch of fourth downs so that's some of the third down decision-making is to get us to a fourth-and-2 or get us to a fourth-and-3. We were exactly where we wanted to be going into half. … Defense was playing great, we wanted to keep staying in the fight as long as possible.
Where some decisions I regret was early in the second half. We had momentum, we got a big stop. I think the first third down, we have a quarterback draw and have what we want but don't really hit it right. The next third down, we throw a ball, and we have a miscommunication between the quarterback and wideout, but again that's coaching, that's not on them. We got to make sure that they understand the plan and they're doing it right. …
In the first half, I thought we accomplished what we wanted to accomplish. Now, it's just we've got to improve, and we've got to be better.
On the quarterback evaluations to this point and the upcoming week…
WB: I think Tayven (Jackson) played 29 (snaps), Brendan (Sorsby) played 28 (snaps) … they both played pretty much the exact same amount of plays. Different situations in the game, there's a good mix of that. The biggest thing for us is both of them had really good fall camps. They're both really good football players. It would not surprise me down the line if both of them don't have a chance to play in the NFL someday. I know that's a lot of praise they might not live up to, but they're both really talented. It just so happens that we have both of them at the same time and they're the same age.
Both of them had great fall camps. Both of them were around 70% on the hands through fall camp, didn't really turn the ball over. They both earned the right to have the opportunity to play. That and the fact they're so young, you really don't know until the lights go on. We've all seen guys that get better and we've all seen guys that kind of become a shell of who they are. And I don't think either one of them did that. We've got another game to look at and we'll just keep evaluating as we go.
On what each quarterback has that could allow them to take the next steps…
WB: With Tayven (Jackson), for a tall, long kid, he's a way better foot athlete than you'd expect him to be. He takes a great deal of pride in his work. He puts a lot of internal pressure on himself, which can be good and can be bad. That and he can distribute and he can spin the football.
The thing about Brendan (Sorsby) is that they're very similar. Brendan can hit spots, Brendan can distribute the football, Brendan is a big, physical runner. When we took Brendan out of high school, it was after the first signing day after I got hired. The majority of quarterbacks in America are signed somewhere else. The reason that we took him was because he was a big, physical runner. That's what you saw on his tape. You really didn't know about the distribution skills. Then we got a chance to see him throw live and we felt much better about that.
They're very, very, very similar. They're both really smart, they both retain information well, they both are composed. There's some personality nuances, but physically, they're very, very similar which helps because it's not like you have to have two distinct plans, which is hard.
Matt Guerrieri | Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
On the effort from the defensive line…
MG: I was really pleased with the effort. There's plenty for us to coach and clean up, as is with most opening games. But from an effort standpoint, what coach (Paul) Randolph has been able to do with those guys and the new faces and learning our scheme and implementing it, I'm really pleased with it from there.
On the experience of players helping with play calling…
MG: It helps a lot. Something that we talked about going into the games was we have a lot of new faces. Some of those guys have played and some haven't played. That's one of my big things in the box. I ask guys all the time, "Does anybody have big eyes down there? What's the look in their face?" Andre (Carter) is definitely a guy that is battle tested, and I think that showed.
On Aaron Casey and Philip Dunnam…
MG: Two guys that definitely stood out. Ace to me played fast. He's got great talent, he's shown that before, but he has a really good understanding of what we're trying to do schematically. He's taken lead of his leadership role. He flew around and made a ton of plays. You guys saw it. Then Dunnam, That play that he made I could show you 50 times already on the practice field. I tell guys all the time, "If you to do it in practice, you're going to earn the opportunity to go play meaningful snaps, and whatever you do in practice is going to show up in the game." But he's become more consistent. I mentioned that in a previous press conference. He's become more consistent, he's matured, he's bought in, he's doing a good job.
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Players Mentioned
LB
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