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INDIANA UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 12, 2015

Kevin Wilson

Bloomington, Indiana

FIU -22
Indiana -36

COACH WILSON: I thought our guys played hard, a good win, I think that's a really good defense. Defense we got a little better, got a little work to do to be a little better. But was proud of the guys. It's good to get a win.

I'll say something, I know Mr. Glass is over there, we started several years ago, and this wasn't about we've got Florida International for four years. It wasn't like we thought that was a good team or bad team. It was like I wanted seven home games. I wanted for our players like Zack Shaw would have played four of his five years with six home games and nobody in the Big Ten has done that, no one. Everyone has played seven home games. So for us to get a seventh home game was for our parents, our players' parents and the fans and students. It wasn't about trying to lessen down.

You look at the teams we would have played, could have played so that tried to be a story that was totally out of context, because my integrity is I want players to play in front of our fans one more time. And no matter what we paid, you make a lot more in concession stand money, parking money, and season tickets, so it ain't like you're losing when you're playing home games.

So we play Florida an extra four years, we have a great challenge next week. But I do want you guys to know the reason we wanted to play this team is I early didn't like six games, six games, eight games, six games, six games, and Mr. Glass, they worked hard and we're excited to play Florida International. They're much improved and going to have a great year, and I think it was a good win.

Q. Can you talk about the defensive plays?
COACH WILSON: I think it was a huge play. You guys remember the touch-up. Dawson Fletcher made a huge play the play before to get his hand on the ball and deflect what could be an open pop pass for a touchdown. When he actually kind of sucked up on the run, made a great effort. I think maybe the ball may have been slightly underthrown and the QB might have missed it.

So there were a lot of placement. Sometimes you see the one long play and say, well, it's really the pressure on the quarterback, and Jameel happened to be in the right place. So there's a lot of things going on.

I think Dawson's play is one of those plays, I saw the story about the play before the super play where the guy made the tackle and made him snap that play. Nobody talks about that play. I thought Dawson Fletcher's play was one of the huge plays in the game because he had a chance to be there for them. He had great anticipation and recovery to get his hand on the ball, and that was awesome for a fourth-year player. He's been a back-up. He was red-shirted last year, didn't even play. So to get him back in the mix, because he actually is a red-shirt junior, not a senior, so it was a good play for Dawson.

Q. Talk about the ability of the defensive line to step up?
COACH WILSON: Just when we watched the tape last week with the defense I said I don't like the number of times our D-linemen linebackers are going sideways. We play more up the field, and I'm not telling you what to do, but I want to go more that way than this way. I don't want to be sitting here not showing two gap and looking. I just want to get guys to be more aggressive.

We've got a lot to clean up on, but that was the mindset. It was very clear for me to the coaches and players what I wanted to see, and didn't really -- wasn't concerned if it was going to be successful. Just wanted to be aggressive and call up the things that could give our kids a chance to be more assertive. We have a long way to go, but we took a look at a few things to clean up and we'll keep working on that.

Q. Talk about the scoring off their turnovers?
COACH WILSON: Yeah, I think we had three today. (No audio) so on the plus side, which is the sign of a good team. We're playing close games and finding ways better in the kick game, et cetera. So there are a lot of positives.

But to get the turnovers is one thing because our turnover ratio has never been in my three or four years here very good. But we actually don't turn the ball over a whole lot. We have not created turnovers, so those linemen up field are actually a part of those turnovers and their ability to rest. Saunders created several plays. I think he had a fumble recovery tonight. I don't think he had a fumble. I think he had a recovery correct. Maybe I'm wrong. But turnovers are big plays and turnovers are huge in games, but right now we're fortunate to be on the right side for two weeks, so we'll see if we can keep it up.

Q. On one hand some of those offensive drives had stalled. What did you see early in that? And on the other, when you talk about your defense, how encouraging is it to see a defense that can pick up the slack over the course of game the way they did?
COACH WILSON: The offense I felt I was very poor on some third down and red zone thought processes and really could have put us in better positions. I'll take total responsibility for some of those. We can still execute it. But you go back and look at it, and hindsight 20/20, and probably a little too conservative. Felt got in some formations where the pass options weren't great, and the run choice went to, got a little loaded up, so we got a little limited. That was a little bit my fault. I was a little more defensive oriented this week, and I think I messed Coach Johns up.

But Coach Johns did a tremendous job there in the start of the fourth quarter. Had a couple wide-open drives that was good to see. That was all him. I think some of that first half lack of execution was on me.

Defensively all I talked about to our team is the way I kind of try to live and try to coach and want our team to play, doesn't matter what happens, it's what's next. You need to move on. As a matter of fact, my wife gave a comment to me the other day, the quicker you call plays, the players can't even think about what happened. They can't think good or bad, they just play the next play. I don't think she knows much about football, but I shared that thought with our team. I like it when we go fast.

Our defense has got to do that. You've got the huddle play and you're sitting there, like I told Coach Shelby before the game, I go, listen, you're going to have a DB tonight that's probably going to get burned. I said so get ready. Don't think I'm going to mad. Don't jump down his throat because he's got to keep growing up.

You've got to get out there and feel that. You've got to feel what that's like. You have to go through some of that stuff and learn how to wobble around a little bit before you start walking fast and running. So there are a lot of things we talked about before the game with our kids, but I do appreciate the way the defense battled. I think, again, as coaches we try to have a plan to give them a chance to do that, and for Andre Brown to get burned and make those plays in the second half was great. Seeing Jameel Cook, the freshman, make the huge play was awesome, and seeing the D-line create pressure was very, very good.

Q. How important is it to have the suspended players back?
COACH WILSON: I think it gave us more players in the mix. Last week we couldn't get the stops in the heat. So I just think having more bodies. But at the same time those other guys, like Jordan Howard is playing good for us. But Devine Redding is playing well. We'll need more than Jordan.

When Devine's called upon, we'll probably need another guy besides Devine. It's good to see Michael Cooper make a couple catches. It's good to see guys stepping up, and it's nice to have those guys back.

But having said Dougherty and Nate Hoff and all those guys need to keep coming, because we'll need those guys for the long haul.

Q. You couldn't have been happy with 11 penalties for 110 yards?
COACH WILSON: Yeah, but I don't know if that's our track record. In Big Ten games we'll have two, three, four penalties and in other games we seem to have more. I think we have a veteran team that we can correct, and I think we can tighten up some things defensively that was sloppy that I don't like. It can be a lineman or a late hit, okay, bang, bang, but you have player safety and I get that.

But at the end of the day we're going to play some one on one. There are going to be some PIs and these young guys have to learn to turn and play the ball a little bit. There is a little bit of that. But to have those penalties and overcome it, it shows this is an immature team that doesn't need every break. Doesn't need it to go right, just keep playing.

That was my whole deal before. Again, it's not going to be perfect. I want to attack and keep playing, and if it's going good at the end, you need to go back out and stop them again. When the offense scored, wait a second, you need to -- don't get a technical. We can go, we can work clock, we can be smart, but we don't need to get into being a non-sitting-on-our-heels. In that first half there were some scores on some third downs, so I think I got us sitting on our heels offensively which I didn't like.

Q. You talked about (Indiscernible) what you wanted to see differently from the defense. What did you guys do this week on the practice field, and what did you like about what you did?
COACH WILSON: Well, I don't know. We practice the way we practice, except I did a bunch of hollering. I don't think anybody listens to me, but we're going to play hard. I didn't like the call that got us aggressive. I said I don't do that. I just want the kids to play hard.

I ask a lot of questions of defensive coaches. If I thought a call could not put us in place, just don't worry about that right now. Take that out. We've got to be sound. But to me if you're thinking, I always tell our guys, if you're thinking, you don't know. I want our kids to know what to do and go play. Don't be thinking about what to do. You've got to know what to do.

So if there is a lot of thinking, put that one aside and we'll come back to that one. We'll need it, but I think it was a good offense, Coach Turner did a good job. They worked us good. But I wanted to do some things where -- I wouldn't say simplified, but I wanted to do things where our kids could be assertive and they knew what was going on.

Q. What were your thoughts on the run game?
COACH WILSON: They're a very good run defense, and they gave up 46 the first week. We thought watching them on tape, they were, and we're going to place them, but we thought they were a very impressive defense and they showed it the first game. But I think because of some of the passing stuff, I don't know if they were as aggressive with their safeties and backers as we anticipated, so they played the pass a little in some of those runs. And we did talk to the line that no matter how many they put up, their two better be four, five better be seven, and that's one of Jordan's strength as a bigger guy falling forward and getting a few more yards.

Q. I know it's one game, but is this something like you talked about the kind of offense of Latham in the summer and in the off-season?
COACH WILSON: I don't know. Jump was in neutral zone, but he's still like Nate. So he's like all those guys. He's talented, but, man, he still hasn't played a lot of football. He's young, there is so much growing. The more you play, the more you learn.

So he's been awesome in the way he's prepared and the way he's practiced. But again, like I told Ricky last week, you're only a good player if you can back it up by playing another good week, and for Darius to be able to want to be in game mode, we want to see that preparation and that consistency.

So glad to get him going, but really I'll be looking forward to seeing what he wants to do this week and how he wants to build from that.

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