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INDIANA UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 22, 2014Kevin WilsonCOACH WILSON: Okay. So recap the game. Going through our thoughts after last week's game against Missouri, a solid win for sure. Really good prep, I thought our team during the week as we went through our stuff and the energy and effort in what we did throughout the week, and not just the guys you saw playing Saturday, but our off the field guys, the scout team guys, all those guys were really, really impressive. Our game‑day effort was something to be proud of as coaches I'm impressed with their prep. Our kids didn't panic when they got into a good team on the road, loud, lot of still young guys playing, but we've got a lot of vets, so we kind of stayed the course there. Made a bunch of mistakes, that is for sure, but we kept playing hard, which is all we talked about wanting to do. It was good to see. Said in preseason we wanted consistency and competitiveness, and that's what we expect to see this week. So we need the same kind of‑‑ we were talking about that in our preparation, it's just not what you see Saturday when you guys get us out there this weekend with a 1:30 kick, which is what we went through yesterday in our cleaning up our meetings and that as we're going into today and back into our normal Monday routine into Tuesday and whatnot. Looking for that a little bit more on a weekly, daily routine. I thought we were good in all three phases, which we needed to be against that team. Needed to be on the road, we'll need as we get into conference play and our opponents coming down the stretch because they're all going to be tough and competitive games. In the kicking game, our players of the game were Toth and Oakes, a variation of Hall & Oates back in the day. But Toth and Oakes, I don't think they'll be a music group. Both those guys kicked it very, very well. Del Grosso would still be in the mix, but he's got a little bit of a lingering groin thing he's been battling, minor thing. And just didn't seem to have as much pop. When Griff came in and kicked the kickoffs very well, actually moved to him. We haven't made, what I'd say, any rash decisions other than we expect guys to play when they're called upon. And Griff answered the deal at kicker, and we'll have to see what happens this week as we prepare and chart. We think they're all good, and we'll see how it goes going forward as far as he continues to manage the opportunity is there for him to do so. We'll see if he keeps it. We'll have a huge challenge this week for Maryland. They've got great athletes. They've impacted every game, and the kicking game. So it will be a huge game in conference to win a game like we did last week and have success, and have a chance this week. We'll need to play well in the kick game. So it's nice to have the kickers and also our coverage guys and return guys weren't bad. We need a little more in the return game. We're not getting a lot right now in our punt return and kick return. We need to be better there. Defensively, we have some tackles for loss, have some sacks, created a turnover, too many missed tackles. We had some take‑back opportunities and had a ball out in the fourth quarter. Tony Phillips causes a fumble, we don't get it. Had the ball out early, caused an incomplete pass, had the potential for more negative plays, we just didn't wrap up and tackle well. We had even more, but we had an impressive effort. We talked about, spot the ball, get the call and line up and play hard. No matter where they put the ball down and do it again. We gave up a couple big plays in the first half. Not as many in the second half, but no matter what happens, let's just move on to the next play and get it going. It's nice to see those guys, for the most part, do that in a decent way. Players of the game were Mark Murphy, T.J. Simmons, and Tegray Scales. We recognized three guys. Tegray was co‑freshman Big Ten player of the week on the defensive side. All very, very good performances. Scouts of the week given a great look. Zander Diamont that travels as a back‑up quarterback. Played a little bit at quarterback for us last week helping get the look they needed. And Tyler Lukens, an older, walk‑offensive linemen, did a great job, and really helped the defense. They had an awesome week. Offensively, had zero turnovers, that was a huge deal, and a team effort. Because you've got some protection issues that create turnovers or the ability to just maintain some blocks where a guy doesn't get a great strip out or club of the ball. So zero turnovers against a team that I think had a very, very strong streak. One of the longest active streaks in the country, probably one of the longest in the history of the game. Had 240 running, 250 passing, we're not trying to be equal, but it was nice to see we were decent on both run and pass. It was a solid day, kept playing hard. Players of the game, three guys recognized for us: D'Angelo Roberts, Tevin Coleman and Ralston Evans who played very, very well.  Our scouts from last week Nile Sykes did a great job for us emulating their rush. A guy that's getting close and might be getting worked into playing. And Kyle Kennedy, who kind of plays scouts, and gets a little extra zone. One of the bigger plays in the game is a third down, and we hold them to a field goal there, we're going cover zero. Some pressure that makes the quarterback throw it about a count early, and we get off the field and hold them to a field goal. So great job for an older guy that's doing well there in Kyle Kennedy. Injury update. Came out of the game pretty good. We did have two injuries. Kenny Mullen got a knee injury, probably going to require surgery it looks like. Marcus Oliver, same deal, playing a non‑contact deal. Both of those appear to be surgical. I think they're‑‑ I didn't get detailed medical, I think they're both ACLs. They'll be season‑ending, it looks like. Those are early enough too that they could be potential red‑shirts, if you need them because I think before the fourth game you can get your year back. So even though they played, it's not going to be a "wasted year". So they're fortunate. They're two of our better backups and special team guys. Marcus has been playing a lot. Both the young guys we've got in the secondary, young guys at linebacker, I think we've got the team that can overcome that and handle it. As a matter of fact, defensively, every player that went on the trip played except one. So we played a bunch of guys. We needed it. We'll need that going forward. We've got a lot of young guys, so unfortunate for Kenny and Marcus. Two great kids and great players, but we need to move on. We'll need those guys to be great leaders for us and keep bringing some energy because they're veterans. But we'll need some young guys to keep stepping up. I don't think we're different from any other team this time of year. They're getting nicked up, and unfortunately we got that. Good to be back home this week. Three weeks in a row we've been gone with the open date and two road games. It's the Big Ten opener, so excited about that. We'll need another and our best week of preparation. We'll need a great deal of energy from everyone, and I'm talking about our student body and our fan base. We need a lot of energy this week to build this week. See if we can have an exciting atmosphere on game day. Lot of vibe around town. Lot of guys not jumping on the bandwagon, but just giving the team the positive energy it needs to keep building. Maryland is coming in at 3‑1. They've played a very strong schedule. They've played two road games they won. The one loss to West Virginia, 40‑37 at home. West Virginia was up 28‑3 in the second quarter. It shows the team that Coach Edsall has for those guys to come back and have a chance to win. Coach Edsall does an awesome job and has a bunch of veteran coaches that we respect. Led by the quarterback, C.J. Brown. Dynamic player, six‑year player. Think he took over when Boomer graduated, and I played in '84. He's been there a long time. He's their leading rusher and makes a lot of plays throwing the football. He makes them to some very, very dynamic receivers. As good as there is collectively on any college team. Very impressive receivers, very impressive offense. They'll stress you out and score a bunch of points. Defensively, very athletic, multiple, very aggressive. Last week a pick six. They've created ten turnovers. We've had seasons I don't think we've created ten. They've got ten in four games. They battled for four quarters. It's evident in how they played those games. They won a game, and they had seven turnovers. They had eight for the year, and I think they had six in one game and yet they won. So it shows their team has a lot of resolve, a lot of fight. They played really strong in the scoring zone. I think 40% of the time you score a touchdown on them, they might give up yards, but they don't give up points. Kicking game, like I said is very impactive in what they do. Before we open it up, this week we're having our free youth clinic prior to the game. It's going to be on our practice Fields right here behind the stadium. It's free to everyone that has a ticket or they can buy one, go online at IUHoosiers.com. You can get youth tickets for $10. Our players that are red‑shirting, not dressing will be working with USA Football. Remember USA Football is headquartered right up the street in Indianapolis. It's right in our backyard. Scott Hallenbeck and his guys do a great job teaching heads up football. They're instrumental now working with a lot of high schools and a ton of little league teams, certification of coaches, teaching proper fundamentals. Their group will run the clinic and our players that are not dressing will be out there coaching that clinic. That starts at 1:30. Registration clinic is at 12:00, and the kids will get to run on the field before the team gets to take the field. It's a heck of an atmosphere. We had a great turnout last year. Almost 300 kids, and kids out of Indy, lot of Monroe County guys, and we'll have the same deal this year. Last, this week is the Coaches Versus Curing Cancer game. Everyone around the country for the most part, most teams unless you're open, and I think the Open teams kind of recognize it next week. But to create some energy, some knowledge, some research for the Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which is one of the leading issues with children and the issues it causes for families. We've got today right here on south side (No microphone). This is Jordan. This is Lauren and they have a daughter here, and we're recognizing this big guy here, a 5‑year‑old out of South Side. All right. It's something our coaches have done for years. It's a big weekend. You see the guys wearing the patch. But it's not just a patch, it's representing the families and a lot of families get affected by a lot of things and it's a family fight. So we want to create some energy and awareness about that. There have been a lot of strides made in helping that disease, and we're happy to have those guys here today. Q. A win is a win, a loss is a loss and move on. But (No microphone) for the program and the section of the program and just for the fans? COACH WILSON: It's good for all of that, but really good for the players that have been working. They're the guys that have been doing a lot of things right for a long time. It's very, very difficult to maintain doing that if you don't see results. So for those kids to finally just like we've been saying, we talk about kind of busting through and keep playing. We could have played as hard as we could and made a poor play call or not gotten a good break or had the ball bounce on the short side. But to see those guys battle, compete, wasn't surprised, but it was really great to see on game day with that. I'm sure it will be good for our fans and everyone else. But most importantly, these kids have made a phenomenal amount of commitment, and I was just very, very happy for the seniors and for those guys to get a little positive. But my deal is it's short‑term, and it's the process of that week. You've done a lot of things right for a long time, but it's easy to drop your guard, drop your hands and come out ready to play the next game. That's human nature. That being said, we'll see if we have the guts and the discipline to just prepare and give ourselves a chance to go play hard again. That's all we talked about last week was just playing hard. The team we play, I think that's their mindset. They talk about playing the next play and keep playing. So I expect a strong challenge. I'm just wanting our kids to kind of keep the focus on how you prepare, and let's keep putting together good weeks and see how many we can stack up. Q. The kids can see what their really capable of? COACH WILSON: I think a lot. Again, until you‑‑ again, that's some of the last fine lines that you have to walk over and over. It's no different. Teams that play really good, players that play really good, great players that are really just really good all the time. They keep doing it over and over. They stay hungry, they stay humble, they stay grounded and keep preparing, and that is what the strong players do in any sport. It's what you do in your field, and if you're good at it, you keep repeating it. It's not that you're doing anything unusual, you just keep doing good things over and over and backing it up. That's our challenge for these guys. Go back now to what we do, how we do it, and make sure you're resting right, eating right, practicing right, studying right. If you like that feeling, remember, all the things that it took to get it. There has been a lot of work to get them to this point, but now you've got to do it on a weekly basis to go out there and perform. You've worked hard. You've recruited better. You've developed. You've got things in place that helps. That's a part of it. But now that you're here, you have to do the things to give yourself a chance to perform well, and that's what we're talking to our team about. We had to let go of the Bowling Green game. We already talked about it we got to let go of Missouri, and now it's on to Maryland. We have to move on. We have a lot of things to learn on, a lot of things to build on, and now we have to move full tilt to the play at Maryland at 1:30 Saturday. Q. Coming into the end of the game, score is tied, and Missouri's driving. I think it was the second down you call timeout. Coach brought the defense over and talked to them a little bit. Was that to say, hey just because they're in the red zone, they don't have to score. Hold them and we're going to go win? What did you tell them in that time lapse? COACH WILSON: I didn't feel like it wasn't like here we go again, because this team hasn't been here. You know, this team is we, us was the year before and the year before and the year before, but we was this team. So I wanted this team to right now we talk about playing hard. We're just going to play hard right now. All you've got right now. That's all we talked about. We're going to go four quarters and we trained, and we're strong enough and mature enough that there is some gas in your tank, and let's don't save it. Let's push it. Looked at some guys on the sideline and said let's get behind these guys a little bit and get going. Let's get some energy here. I kind of felt like we were halfway reeling and we needed to slow down. We didn't make any phenomenal call or something different. Just everybody slow down, take a deep breath, get your eyes back on the target and go play. That's it. Q. (No microphone)? COACH WILSON: Um, I mean, it's tough to run. It's an attitude to run. It's more of a mindset, and it's taken us some time to get that mindset where we're mature enough across the board. It's tough to do it week after week. That box is going to get loaded and you better be able to throw it up there too. I had a couple this year where it should have been pitched out and we didn't pitch it. With the quarterback, hey, man, if they're giving you one‑on‑one opportunities, we have some guys outside. It's a team effort. It's a team effort to run the ball. The pass helps the run, the run helps the pass, and it all goes together. The offensive line is a group that's getting better and playing hard, and they get all the credit when you run the ball. But they actually get a lot of credit when you pass because that was a tremendous pass rush we played the other day. There are some things we had to do to protect the quarterback that the line does. That running game was pretty good the other day because of some tight end blocking and perimeter blocking. More importantly, the three guys that came in played with attitude and they took care of the football. Tevin's a special player. D'Angelo's a veteran, and you didn't see Myles much, but he's not far behind what you saw from Devine, so it's kind of a committee deal. As much as we play, as fast as we play you think about guys understanding roles and we addressed that. That's why our defense played a lot better because nobody worried about playing. They all kind of played and went out and played hard. I think our running backs think they're going to play. Our receivers think they're going to play. So quit worrying about it, just go get ready and play hard. I think D'Angelo and Devine's play, as Tevin was kind of out there getting IV'd up there in the second quarter was a huge part of keeping the team in rhythm to go four quarters. It was huge. Q. How much did Tommy Mister's injury open the door for Devine? COACH WILSON: The day Tommy got hurt it was like we need to see both of those guys because I think Tommy showed a little bit more flash, but Devine showed more consistency for a young guy. It was a little tougher for a young guy. So it was probably even, and maybe Devine had a slight lead, but Tommy's got his injury right now. They were both neck and neck. Q. Maryland's a conference game, but does it to a certain extent feel like a non‑conference game because you don't have any familiarity with them? You have more familiarity with Bowling Green and Missouri than you'll have with Maryland? COACH WILSON: Yeah, to me, I could be wrong but I don't believe anyone has won our division that starts 0‑1 since they've done our division. So we talked about getting off to a good start, and we talked totally about it being a conference game and the importance of that. Again, they're very, very talented. I didn't watch the Missouri game from last year until last Sunday. We didn't do an enormous study. We put more time, I think, on ourselves and our player development and what we need to do to get better more than worrying about what other people do. So to me, this is no different than any week. You go back and review some things, but it's like coaches always do all these studies all the time and it was justifying so you had to be in the office that long. You really just watch yourself and your cut ups. Like, man, we're not good at double teams, and our perimeter blocking is great. We're not good in movement pass team. We've got to work on our boot leg passing or sprints. So to me, you always study yourself. You know, Sunday is a new chapter, and all the energy starts on Sunday. So we came in yesterday. We showed our guys. We showed a lot more Maryland than we did Missouri. Here are some things that we liked that were very impressive. Here are some things that got to get fixed. Now let's go into Maryland and start moving this week. Q. I don't know if concern is the right word that Maryland's special teams ability to return kickoffs and punt returns. How crucial will that be for you to retain that? COACH WILSON: We had the same issue the last couple weeks. Bowling Green's guy had that block the punt week one, had the return and almost had the second return in week two. The wind was so bad the kicking wasn't an issue that day and you couldn't get one into coverage last week. They had a good return last week. We missed the tackle and one got out on us. But you're going to be in conference. If you do your end, I would expect most games to be very competitive, and that means you're down to a play can get you. So whether I'm supposed to go cross face to a kick cover and cancel lane or don't, reach on the back side of a punt protection or don't. You'll be in games where critical plays can get you short. One critical play can get you on the short end of the stick, and that's going to be a lot of games. That is the nature of college football. That's why the difference between 4 and 8, 8 and 4 is not a lot, not a lot. It's a few plays and a few players. Q. The games decided by 4 points or less, you're 1‑7 in your career here on Saturday. How important was it to finally get over the top in one of those games? COACH WILSON: Good for the guys. We thought about the only way you do that is we have an (No audio). I don't think we've choked games away or lost games or just gave up and quit or whatever. Our deal is you've got to make a play. You always see like at the end, but there are plays throughout the game that is the one play that makes it a ten‑point game instead of a three. So now you're two scores up instead of three point game. We talked about it. You've got to make plays to win games. The way you make plays is you're playing hard every play. Keep playing hard and chipping at it, sooner or later that ball's going to come out you're going to have an explosive play or lack thereof. So our deal is if you keep playing hard the odds of those plays happening increase. The whole focus last week was just on, and it needs to be, but it's easier said than done, but you need to get their attention, their bodies and their practice habits in a way that when they're falling back to something, they're fall back on good habits and playing hard. And that being said, we were very fortunate to play like that on Saturday. Q. Coach, sometime during the fourth quarter you had a heated discussion with Nate Sudfeld. I think it was the result of a sack or something. What was the nature of that conversation? COACH WILSON: That's called family love. That's how we love our brothers. We need to call that play, get the ball out of our hand and keep attacking. That's all that was. Short and sweet. We're coming at these guys. Let's go, man. Call the play, get them set, spot the ball, lineup and play, and let's go get it. That's all it was. Let's don't start waiting around and seeing what they were doing. We were waiting. Not that we want to be a hyper‑tempo team, but if we had slowed down, those guys could really tee off on us and we didn't want that. We wanted to be teeing off on them. It was swing and misses, but we were going to swing. We were not going to sit there and hope the fourth pitch was a ball. We were going to take a cut at it if it's close. I pointed out we're not looking and waiting for something to happen. We're attacking. Let's get back into attack mode. That was some good old family love to a great player who played very, very well. That's a stressful situation. On the road, that crowd. They've got some guys coming at you. It was a really good job by the O‑line. That kid handling some really‑‑ that was good to see. Very good to see for a quarterback that can't win on the road. Q. Talk about‑‑ COACH WILSON: You guys wrote that, right? You guys wrote that. He doesn't win on the road. We lose on the road. We got nothing. We did it. We've got to do it again at home. What's up? Q. (No microphone)? COACH WILSON: I don't know. All success is one week. So if that's your definition of success, so be it. We talked before the game that we want to do everything we could to put ourselves in position to play hard and give ourselves a chance. As soon as it's over, if you like that, you've got to do it again. It's not going to be easy. If you're a senior, it's the end of your career, like some of you guys. If you've made enough money to retire on, did you get jacked up because your investments didn't go well and you're going to blame somebody, you're going to work hard and make more money at the end. So how much do you want it at the end? You have a few more weeks to play this game, and the season has weeks yet to come. I don't think we work all that time not to play well. We don't work all that time to rest on our laurels. We haven't accomplished anything. We had one good week. We talk about a season. It's a football season, not a football week. We break it up into weeks, buts it's the football season. It's a long season, and it's your ability to do it again. So it's not‑‑ yeah, I wasn't overly excited about it. Wasn't overly surprised. I'm kind of back in the groove. This is Monday. This is what we do. It's Tuesday. Here's what we do. Let's put it together. If anything, you'd like to think we put it together better. Because if that's the best we can play, we're not very good. We're not very good coaches or players if that's the best we've got. We've got a lot left in front of us, and it better be getting better. Q. (No microphone) this week than it had been previously. Was it aggression or getting off blocks, what was it? COACH WILSON: Little bit of both. Sometimes it was some movements calls that started from the start. I think three of the first runs were tackles for losses. You can talk to Coach McDaniel or Bryan a little bit more about their schematic calls. I don't get as much of that as my thing was, you know, there are different styles, and I think we're good here if we conservatively invest. I don't think that's why we go no huddle. That's why we go for it on some fourth downs. That's why we do some things. We've got to be calculated. Like I said a week ago, don't be careless, but we have to have an aggressive approach. I implored the defensive guys, do what you need to. I don't understand all the schemes. I see when I attack it from the offensive view that I have. But I know this, if I want to sit around and be cautious in my investments, I don't know if you're going to get the return you want. You can get burned. It doesn't mean you need to get blitzed a lot, but we played a bunch of guys. You got to play those guys. Now, you can get burned by playing a freshman, but we needed to play those guys to play as hard as we could after that. If we hadn't played those guys we wouldn't have had enough gas in the tank. As a coach that's a risky investment, but you have to do that sometimes to get the return you want. We have to have enough guts to challenge ourselves and not worry about the results. Coach Stoops said to me and he got it from Coach Spurrier, you have to make the calls you think are best and don't worry about criticism. Everything we've been doing here is what's best to help the team. From a recruiting standpoint, budget standpoint, you name it, we're trying to build the team. And every decision we did in the week in game planning is put those players in position where they have a chance, they can go out there and get after it and be aggressive. Q. Talk about wanting this to become a program. Like you're talking about, week‑in, and week‑out it's competitive. Where do you feel it is at that standpoint? And what are the keys to Missouri being one of your leaders? COACH WILSON: One thing we've talked about is even though we've yet to crack the deal over being a bowl team, you have to get to where you're competitive on the short side before you get over the hump. So I know we go through it, like in our time here. I think now we've won our last eight, and we've lost games by one, two, three, three, four and six. So we're going to play very, very competitive football. Now we've got to keep playing hard, coach better, make enough plays to get on the right side. So we've been competitive winners. We've been competing and doing things that make us competitive, but now you've got to do things where the competitiveness becomes consistency, and you have the winning and you get on the right side of the ledger more. So I think our guys, that's why I keep saying we do a lot of things right. It's got to transfer to game week and play this week probably as skilled as talented teams as we played today. Probably the most. It's going to be a huge test for us, and a great team coming in. Q. (No microphone)? COACH WILSON: Maryland's defense is very multiple in what they're doing. They're not very static. Their defensive coordinator has background in the pro deal, so it's a combination of three‑man fronts, four‑man fronts, pressures, lot of movement in the secondary, confusing your quarterback on rotations, looking like you've got a field throw, and all of a sudden clouding that way and clamping down over top and making you work. So athletic crowd, they've had a few injuries, but like all of us, we've got a few on the defensive side now and that's part of the game. They've continued to overcome that and they came up short against an opponent in West Virginia. West Virginia as two close losses in Alabama and Oklahoma. They've played a very good schedule. They've been on the road twice. Playing at Syracuse, playing at South Florida. They've traveled, and they've had a long travel. To me they come in as a veteran team. They were a bowl team a year ago, so they have a lot of good habits. It's going to be a strong test. Whatever you want to call it, success or whatever, we need to put last week away and move on and have a good week and come out and play hard. Maybe we call the right plays and get right bounces, maybe we don't, but let's go play hard and get after it again. Q. It's your Big Ten opener, and their first Big Ten game ever, their first conference game, do you figure their guys are going to be ready to play? COACH WILSON: No doubt, sometimes you come in and you feel a little slighted. Whether it's you or the media who gravitate, so sometimes you get a little slighted. But understand this, they've come out of playing big games against great teams. We were playing against Clemson and Florida State, and the guys in the ACC, they've played in big games and very, very successful. So, again, it's not like to me they're stepping up. They just moved over. Sometimes you see teams stepping up from maybe a non‑Power 5 conference. They moved over from a competitive conference. So I don't know if their coaches or players might feel a little slighted because media day everybody knows the quarterback from this school and maybe not them. But at the end of the day, they're not out of their league. This is where they belong. We're excited to have them here and excited to have them in our division, and we look forward to a great game Saturday and need to play very, very well. Thanks, guys. Q. Do you hope you made some believers outside of the program? COACH WILSON: Oh, I think they believe. Again, belief comes with trust, and the key to trust has already been said a couple times today, consistency. Because if you do it consistently, they'll trust you and believe you. If you show up and play well and don't, quarterback plays well or don't, team plays well or don't, people believe the things they see over and over. It's called trust, and the key to trust is consistency. So there will be more if we can be consistent. We've been saying for a long time, consistency and competitiveness. We'll see if we can keep competing and backing it up. We've got some great fans. Love to have a great day Saturday with everybody. Thanks. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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