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PURDUE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 13, 2015

Darrell Hazell

West Lafayette, Indiana

THE MODERATOR: We will get an opening statement from Coach Hazell, and we will open it up for questions.

COACH HAZELL: As we look at our film from Sunday against the Gophers, as a staff, you take a close look at a lot of different things, but I think through the fundamental things that you have to do in football to be successful is you gotta finish blocks up front, offensively and across the board, not just up front but across the board offensively, and you've got to tackle, and those are the two fundamental things anywhere you play football that you have to be able to.

Those are the things that we must improve on I thought we tackled pretty well the first half, but the third quarter we missed some very key tackles in the first two drives that allowed, you know, 14 points coming out of the locker room and, you know, right now we're just not good enough to overcome those big deficits, but our kids came back today and worked hard this afternoon -- excuse me, this morning, we switched practice around, getting ready for the Badgers.

Q. Darrell, I guess with Bentley, where is he at? Could he play anymore this season, or is his season over?
COACH HAZELL: Right now, Pete, we're going to take it day by day and week by week with Bentley. He told me today he's still a little stiff, so he won't be available for us this week, but it will a week-to-week thing as we evaluate him going forward. It's not out of the equation that he isn't going to play again this year, but we will see each week as we evaluate him.

Q. And as you evaluated the film, obviously you mentioned bout the blocking and tackling and you addressed after the game bout maybe cutting back on things you are going to do offensively. Where are you with that? What kind of changes do you need to make offensively?
COACH HAZELL: We looked at that at length, Pete, to see how much the young quarterback can handle, and that's one of the things we did is we took out a lot of things out of the game plan, and this new game plan that we put together, just to make sure that we can operate at a high level of efficiency, and I think that will help David.

David was a little bit unsettled and I don't think it had anything to do with the amount of plays on the game plan, we just need to get his feet a little bit more stable in the pocket.

Q. When you simplify things or cut back things, does that potentially make you more -- that Wisconsin maybe could figure out what you are doing, in other words, it's not as complex so they can dial in on that? Is that a concern at all?
COACH HAZELL: No, not at all, there is still a lot in the game plan, it's not like we cut it down to two or three runs. There are still quite a few runs, and obviously a lot of pass concepts that we can get to, but we have to be simplistic against their defense because of how good they are and some of the things that they do to complicate some things, so I think this works well on both hands.

Q. And from a defensive standpoint, do you cut back at all from what you do defensively, or do you alter some things? How do you address that look?
COACH HAZELL: Again, it's about what we're going to see this weekend, Pete. We're going to see those two tight ends again, and those two backs, not a whole lot of spread formations, and you better have your package simple and be able to put a lot of guys in the box to stop the run, otherwise they're going to run downhill on you.

Q. And Wisconsin has shown that, certainly in the last game, more of a willingness to pass. How much of a concern -- I don't know if concern is the word, or just how do you address that since they seem to be passing more and maybe not running quite as effectively as they have in the past?
COACH HAZELL: I think we have to focus out of the gate stopping the run, because if you don't stop the run that breaks your will. So we have to do a great job of stopping the run, and then it comes back to your "I" discipline in those play-action passes and naked routes that they do throw. They're not a huge drop-back team, just five- or six-man protection, but they will play-fake you with a seven-man protection, as well as move the pocket a little bit with some nakeds.

Q. The last thing, with the struggle that you've had, does this team still have the confidence and the belief to turn it around to get some wins in?
COACH HAZELL: I do believe that, Pete. We talked about that at not length. We kinda slowed the team meeting down on Sunday and talked about a lot of different things and that was one of the things we talked about. I said, again, you're going to be in a lot of close football games, the back six games of the season, and you have to be able to come out of those things on the right end, and this is how you're going to do it. They still have the confidence, obviously they were down after Saturday's loss, based on the way we played in that third quarter, but they're very resilient.

Q. Coach, I'm writing a story about Jordan Jurasevich, just wondered if you could talk for a moment about giving him a scholarship in the spring, what made you decide to award one to him, and what do you remember about that moment at the draft when you announced you were giving him one?
COACH HAZELL: To me he's a true Boilermaker. He comes to work, he doesn't say anything, he grinds as hard as anybody in our team meeting room, and it's very important, Purdue football is to him. One of the reasons we decided and we surprised him with the scholarship this spring was because he deserved it.

He deserves it for his actions off the field, he deserves it for his actions in the classroom, and obviously he's helped us on the football field as well, so he's a wonderful young man, and the players in our locker room love him, and that's why we awarded him the scholarship.

Q. Following up on that, how would you say he's progressed to perform this year, obviously in an expanded role, with as many tight ends as you graduated from last year?
COACH HAZELL: Well, he's done what we've asked him to do. We asked him to hold the point for us in the run game, be one of those guys that slips out into the flat in the pass game. He's not a great vertical route runner, but we all have different assignments within schemes of things, and he's done a good job in all of his assignments.

Q. Darrell, I wanted to ask you, there is a national story about injuries, and it just seems, if you look throughout the Big Ten, it's not just the back-up safety, it's key players. Mike Riley has gone to the point of talking to his medical staff about what their coaching staff could do to help prevent injuries. It's an interesting point. Have you guys talked about that? Again, you've lost some key guys?
COACH HAZELL: It's crazy anymore with college football or pro football. Guys are getting bigger, guys are getting faster, and all their joints are not growing at the same size, but you try to keep 'em off the ground as much as you can, we talk about that all the time. You try to pull the pads as much as you can, try to practice as fast, but you try not to beat on each other, but yet you have to be able to tackle, like the things that we need to address, so there is that fine line on how much you beat on each other and how much you pull back off of each other.

But you're right, you look across the landscape of college football, guys are dropping left and right, and it's a lot of different things, it's not one particular thing. You are seeing ACLs, concussions, shoulders, ankles, all those things. I don't know if there is a magical formula to keep guys healthy other than you gotta watch the amount of reps that you give 'em.

Q. Obviously a concern, though, for all coaches?
COACH HAZELL: It is a concern. It's absolutely a concern. You constantly talk about it with your medical staff, how do we keep these guys as healthy as we can.

Q. You talked after the game Saturday that you were going to look -- you kinda look in the mirror as a staff and look at everything. You mentioned some of the elements, but is there anything beyond that that you can do to enhance your opportunity to win?
COACH HAZELL: I think one of the things we addressed with the team, and I wanted feedback from our guys in the locker room on Sunday, was that internal motivation, not always being driven by something external, and that's one of the things we talked about, when you're exiting the locker room. What's the thing that motivates yourself?

That's something we're always trying to push, hey, you gotta get your own -- you shouldn't have to have a coach always trying to get you going. That's one of the things that -- and I'm going to meet with our Player Counsel here this afternoon and have another discussion about it, because I think that's very important at this juncture in our program.

Q. You talked to us, I think as early as Chicago, you said this is still a young team but it's an experienced team. Now you're halfway through the season. Do you honestly feel like you have enough experienced talent to consistently win Big Ten games right now?
COACH HAZELL: I think we have enough talent. I think one of the things that showed up a little bit was some youth behind the center last week, but he will continue to get better. He's a good player. He's going to be a really good player. But he's got to get a feel for the speed of the game and how things are happening. I'm very high on David Blough, and I think he's going to be a really good player for us, but some of those young things showed up and you battle through it, as hard as you can, and try to get it fixed as fast as you can.

Q. Last thing from me, if you go back even to last year, different team, different setting, but, you know, the perception is you guys have played awfully well on the road. You won at Illinois, could have won at Minnesota. You played, with the exception of the pick six at Marshall, you played well at Michigan State. The building across the street, it's just -- it's been -- honestly some of your worst football. Are you aware of that and how do you fix that?
COACH HAZELL: We are aware of it, absolutely aware of it. We talk about -- that's the other thing we talked about as a staff, and we're going to address some things with that.

Q. Can you talk about the importance of establishing a run game? Seems like when you guys do that it's an entirely different Purdue team. Talk about how you establish that and how important it is against Wisconsin?
COACH HAZELL: That's a great observation, you're absolutely right. I think that's something we have to do better. We have to be more committed to the run game and, you know, we said it the last couple of weeks, but we have to get those backs more touches, because I think that can take the stress off of -- and probably in retrospect that can take the stress off the trigger man, but also those two are good players, and I think that's probably what we do best up front.

To be honest with you, our offensive linemen are probably better run blockers, than they are pass -- not to say they are bad pass blockers, because they're not, but we're probably a little better run blocking, so you're right, we have to make a concerted effort to be able to establish the run. That's a great observation by you.

Q. Especially against Wisconsin, I'm just looking at their defense. Can you analyze that a little bit and how you establish that this week?
COACH HAZELL: They're really good defensively. They're going to play one high safety, they're going to play press man coverage on the outside, and they're going to loop the ends -- they've got two great outside linebackers, No. 58 and No. 47, who are -- if you try to block them one-on-one you're going to have some issues, and they're coming from all angles. So we have to do things a little bit differently in the run game than we have in the past, but we have to make sure we put, you know, four hands on some of those guys a lot of times.

Q. I will be talking a little bit about Ja'Whaun and just the situation he's in. That line backing core has kind of been through ups and downs dating back to fall camp. Have you had a conversation with the rest of that unit? Just how are they handling knowing his situation?
COACH HAZELL: Well, you know, it's always hard when you lose your leader in that room. He's the motivational leader, he's been the leading tackler in that room, so that's always difficult, but I mean, this is big-time football and you have to have guys step up and do their part.

They're constantly talking about who is the next guy that can -- maybe another guy has to take up for one of his tackles over here, and another guy has to pick up for one of his tackles up here, so someone else has to make up for the loss of your Mike linebacker and captain.

Q. We just talked to him, and he was talking about still being a leader even if he's not going to be able to be on the field. Just what is it about him as a guy and how does he carry out that leadership if he isn't out there?
COACH HAZELL: Well, he sees things from a coach's perspective; that's one of the things you like about him, from top to bottom. And he's such a young, old guy. He's got that old spirit about him. He comes to work still, and he's helping those other young guys in the room get better and that's what you like about Ja'Whaun.

Q. You mentioned motivation earlier and you haven't started the way you've wanted. Are you concerned about their motivation for the second half of the season?
COACH HAZELL: Am I concerned about our guys' motivation?

Q. Yeah.
COACH HAZELL: No, I'm not concerned. Like I said earlier, we addressed that, we talked about, we talked about self-motivation, and I think that Player Counsel group of 13 or 14 guys has to do more in terms of dragging people along, and making sure that they pull a couple of guys here and there and really infuse some of that energy that we're not getting out of the masses.

Q. Do you spend a lot of time thinking about their mental health at this point in the season, like, making sure that they're thinking about that kind of stuff?
COACH HAZELL: I think you've got to think about it, I don't think you've got to spend a whole lot of time, but you do have to think about it, because it's real.

Q. Just with regard it your rush defense, besides the tackling which is obviously a pretty big part of it, what else do you feel is not going right to try and slow teams' running games down?
COACH HAZELL: Well, we're in the right gaps. That was one thing that you always want to see. We're in the right gaps, and it really does come down to those tackles. We had 12 plays over -- or 10 plays over 12 yards a carry, which is significant. You talk about big-chunk plays in the running game, that's way too many, and that's because of a lot of those were missed tackles. We're hitting it at 2 yards, 1 yard, 3 yards, and all of the sudden a guy pops out for a 12-yard gain, or a 14-yard gain, or a 71-yard gain, and if you don't think that's significant, you better look twice.

Q. They were asking earlier about injuries and tackling. How much has that changed in the last 20 years that you're seen, from how much tackling you're able to do and contact during a practice to what you do now?
COACH HAZELL: Well, you know, it's changed quite a bit, because before there didn't used to be restrictions on how much you can tackle on camp, and now there are restrictions on how many times you can tackle and how many times you can wear pads and those things. But it still comes down to the fundamentals of dropping your weight and having a base and wrapping the guy up and not always trying to shoulder tackle a guy.

Q. Do you think it's more difficult to teach though now?
COACH HAZELL: I don't know if it's more difficult to teach, but you don't get as many reps awe you would 15, 20 years ago when there were no restrictions on how many times -- it might have been longer than that, I'm saying 15, 20, might have been 25 years, but there are less reps of how much you can tackle in practice.

Q. Do you think that shows up on Saturdays, not just here but everywhere?
COACH HAZELL: It's hard to say, I don't know what the barometer is to measure that, but some teams will tackle better, some don't tackle as well. We need to tackle better.

Q. What's the most surprising part of the first half of the season, whether it's good or bad, what are you most surprised at?
COACH HAZELL: Obviously you thought you would be more successful in the win/loss column. That's probably the most surprising thing. That's probably it.

Q. What happened on Griggs' missed extra point?
COACH HAZELL: He yanked it pretty hard. It was just one of those things. Didn't look like he was as smooth as he typically is, and he yanks it hard, and it hooks and hits the upright. That's probably a fundamental thing.

Q. And Jimmy Herman has moved inside for you. Just what do you hope to be able to -- provided he's healthy, what do you hope that he's able to do for you there?
COACH HAZELL: I hope he can provide leadership by experience. He's been out on the field a lot; he's done it well. We gotta get him 100% healthy. He's still a little bit sore after last Saturday's game. At one point in time we weren't sure we were going to get him back, but he did come back in the second half, but I think it's important that he provides that leadership and he provides the experience of calming people down on some of those young players that are around on, he's gotta calm some of those guys down and then be able to make plays himself.

Q. Are you in a situation with him where he's going to have to play at 80%, I mean, whatever percent he's got, if you can get him out there, it's good for you?
COACH HAZELL: Well, I think you're always -- the number one certain is always player safety. So you don't want to put him out there it if he's not healthy enough to protect himself. That's the number one concern. But if he is able to protect himself, and he's playing at 85%, absolutely you leave him out there because he's one of our best available guys.

Q. You talked yesterday about having a discussion if you bring any freshmen linebackers up. What did you decide about that?
COACH HAZELL: We have not made a determination whether or not we're going to do it 100% but one of the guys we looked at, Sawyer, as an extra body at the linebacker position. He would have to be drinking through a fire hose right now, just trying to get caught up with all the knowledge, because he hasn't been up on the real field.

Q. I guess as you start the week, where are you at from a back-up quarterback standpoint?
COACH HAZELL: You know, Austin took a lot of reps today, which was good to see as the back-up quarterback, and hopefully as the week progresses, he's able to continue to get better. He's not 100%, obviously, but if he can continue to get better, you feel good about having him available as your back-up quarterback on Saturday.

Q. Following up to the run game question earlier, as you look back, do you feel like you got out of the run game maybe earlier than what you wanted to when the game was maybe in the first half, early in the second half, not just Minnesota but previous games?
COACH HAZELL: No, not necessarily but, you know what, the thing is -- and if you study the film, there were some throws there that we have to make to take the pressure off of being able to hit it between the tackles, because they were forcing everything in between the tackles with the real wide nine techniques with the ends. You have to be able to drop it off and throw it to the flats and relieve the quarterback as well as some of those other guys, but I think we have to go, you know, maybe put another tight end in once in a while, not always have an open set, we will still continue to do that, but we have to put our hand on people up front and be able to pound it for 3 yards or pound it for 4 yards because, again, I think that's a matter of will. I think that sends a message that you're going to be a physical football team even though you want to be spread out you still can be physical in the run game.

Q. You said earlier about having to run when the other team knows you're going to run. Do you feel like you are at that point yet?
COACH HAZELL: I think we are. I really believe we have to be able to take the 10-yard sticks and make 'em 3 or 4 on first down, 4 or 5 on second down, and be able to -- you know, we're getting too many three-and-outs because we're getting in third and long situations, because we're not being able to pound people right now.

Q. What do you need to see from this team in the second half of the season?
COACH HAZELL: Well, I think the first thing you gotta see energy because if you don't have the energy, everything else won't matter. You have to come out with energy and enthusiasm, and it's somewhat of an enigma because at some point in time you have it, and some point in time you don't, and those were the questions we were asking the kids -- I keep calling them kids, they're not kids, the young men on Sunday, you know, why? Why? So that's the thing that we're addressing right now.

But I think it starts with the energy and then obviously it's the other things. Here is one of the other things that zaps your energy, because sometimes you think you come out and you don't have the energy, well, bad execution will zap your energy in a heartbeat. So if you don't tackle that will take some energy out of you.

Q. Trae Hart's status now; how long will he be out?
COACH HAZELL: Five to eight weeks, so I would not count on him coming back before six weeks is over. He had surgery on the clavicle. They fixed him up and he's doing well right now, but I would say five to eight weeks realistically.

Q. You won't face Wisconsin's top running back with Corey Clement, he's still out, but what have you seen from those other guys? And I believe some of those guys have been converted from defense to running backs and what have you seen from them?
COACH HAZELL: I think the thing that you see out of those guys is they run hard. It's Big Ten, most of the backs that you see they may not be flashy, they may not have the top-end speed but they run hard, they're physical backs, with the ball in their hands and that's what you see out of these guys.

Q. What have you thought of Jason King's evolution? He came in here and he kinda joked, "I was a fourth string center and didn't really know what I was doing," and now he's ben a pivotal part of what you guys have done offensively.
COACH HAZELL: He's been a rock, really up front for us at the left guard spot. He's been very consistent. I thought last year he didn't play as well with his hands. I think he's playing much better with his hands this year in terms of putting them on people and stop blocking people with his forearms, but he's been a staple for us up front.

Q. He's a guy who I think Kugler has kinda brought him along, in terms of watching film and just generally teaching him the game, I think they say, but that would seem like an obvious thing that you need to watch film to get better, but, I mean, have you noticed that the more he watches that's really showing up for him on the field?
COACH HAZELL: You know, all the answers to the test are on the film; they are. It's amazing when guys realize that. There are so many tips and keys that if you watch and study the film, that you will be able to pick up things through a line slant, because one hand is down, or the other hand is down, or the way their feet are set up on a movement. Those are so many things that if you study the film. You know, the way a corner plays, he can tell you he's giving something away. If you study the film, you can see it.

Q. He's a pretty high-character guy too; right? Jim Bridge said, "I don't ever really worry about him."
COACH HAZELL: He's a yes, sir, yes, ma'am, type of guy and, you know, when he got a penalty the other day he swore to me he did nothing wrong, and I believed him, I believed him. When he came off because -- he's honest, he's a very honest guy. He will tell you if he did something wrong or not. But he came off the field, we had a personal foul on both sides, they were pulling David Blough off the pile or something trying to get the ball, and King said, "Coach, I swear to you, I did nothing wrong."

Q. Did you go back and watch?
COACH HAZELL: I couldn't find it on film, could not find anything wrong on film.

Q. That's good. He didn't lie. I didn't see Howard out at practice today. Did I miss him?
COACH HAZELL: He had a medical emergency that we had to address, not with him, not with him.

Q. So you anticipate that he will be ready --
COACH HAZELL: Yeah, he's fine, he's okay.

Q. What have you thought about just the defensive front? I mean, you talked this season it could potentially be a strength for you guys. How is it playing?
COACH HAZELL: I wish we were getting more productivity out of those guys, I just don't think they're making enough plays. I think they're doing their job, but they have to be able to take the next step and disengage from their blocker, and that's where we're not doing a great job, especially on the interior. I think our tackles have to be -- other than Jake Replogle, Jake's been a stallion inside, but those other guys that are coming in, we have been rotating three or four other guys in, they have to be able to disengage and take the pressure off the linebackers and make some production points.

Q. In terms of the self-motivation, you guys watched a video with Buster Douglas; is that right?
COACH HAZELL: Yeah.

Q. Was that the point kind of this what you're talking about?
COACH HAZELL: Well each, like we have done for the last couple of years, each coach has a thing that he is kind of addressing the team with, and Buster Douglas, Mike Tyson was one of the things we looked at last week.

Q. But that wasn't specifically stemming from my kind of motivation --
COACH HAZELL: No.

Q. I think Blough told me because he said he was fighting for his mom, and we all have something that we can fight for?
COACH HAZELL: Sure, yep.

Q. This is random, but the helmet stickers you guys are doing, are you only getting them for a win?
COACH HAZELL: Yes, only time we give helmet stickers out is if we win.

Q. The emotional bounce-back between a close loss and one that was lopsided, what's the difference in those?
COACH HAZELL: That's a great question. I think like I said earlier, the kids -- the players are so resilient, and if you don't put it -- whether you won, whether you lost close, whether you lost big behind you after 24, 48 hours, you better watch out the next week, and I think you have to be able to erase your mind and press the restart button going into the next week. As a staff -- because, I mean, it wears on you at times, what could we have done differently? What could we have done better? But you better get rid of it and think about all the things you need to do to try to get the next one.

Q. Does one hurt, more disappointing than the other?
COACH HAZELL: Here is an honest statement for me, and I can't speak to the masses, but for me, when that clock strikes 00:00, and you're behind, there is no worse feeling at that point in time than that. That is so painful that -- the game's over, and there is nothing you can do about changing the outcome of the game. There is nothing worse than that.

Q. Two big offensive weapons, Jones and Yancey against Minnesota were pretty much nonexistent. I mean, I assume -- a lot of your offensive success this season has come from -- you know, those two guys have been a big part of that. Going forward is that something -- obviously that's probably in your mind to get those guys the ball as much as anybody else?
COACH HAZELL: You know, you're right, especially -- you know, we talked about being able to run the ball more. You have to be able to give the ball to D.J. and Markell more out of the backfield that's an easy solution. For the wide-outs, it's not so easy because you can't guarantee that you can put the ball in the wide-out's hand without running him on an end around. But we have to be able to target those guys without -- you're talking out of both side of your mouth because you want to run the ball more, but you also have to target probably your best receiver a little bit more.

Q. As far as Wisconsin goes, is this -- I mean, doesn't seem like the Wisconsin teams of years past. They had 50 passes against Nebraska, the defense is better maybe than it's been in a couple of years for some of those teams that were more dynamic offensively. Do they remind you of themselves or are they different?
COACH HAZELL: All I know is they took the ball against Hawaii. In their first drive ran 18 plays, 15 of them were runs, they never even thought about passing it. The only time they passed it, it was an option route maybe over the middle. It was the same Wisconsin team that I had seen in the past. They were committed to running the ball downhill.

Q. You guys had a hard time replacing Danny Anthrop last year after he went down, you know, productionwise. Obviously it's a different side of the ball, but is there anything you learned from this situation in terms of replacing Ja'Whaun?
COACH HAZELL: You know, it's such a limited crop, especially when you lose Bailey. Bailey was a productive guy for us, really, and it would have been nice to have him to be able to push him into that starting lineup, but we had to go down the depth chart a little bit to find those other guys, and they didn't hurt us last week, I thought Garrett played well for can go him to -- it was his first time being out there. They didn't hurt us but obviously it's not the same productivity as Ja'Whaun, is but you still try to look for those answers and you try to take pressure off and by playing another defensive lineman, playing a different front, so you are always looking for a solution.

Q. Do you anticipate as a coaching staff teams scheming against the lack of Ja'Whaun out there, moving forward?
COACH HAZELL: I would. I mean, that's smart coaching.

You look at where teams might be a little bit susceptible, and then you go after them. I think that's a key part of studying film and trying to analyze what's the best thing to attack teams with.

Q. How do you counteract that, prepare your guys the best you can for that?
COACH HAZELL: Like I said, you have to get other guys on the field to compensate for the productivity that Ja'Whaun had, so you have to put another safety in the box, or play another defensive lineman or maybe play two linebackers in a package, but those are ways that you have to compensate for not having your best player on the field.

Q. How difficult -- I mean, you kinda just said it, you mentioned several different things you might have to change. Obviously as a coaching staff going into the season, you don't want to have to do that. How difficult is it on a defense to do all those different things to compensate?
COACH HAZELL: Small changes, nothing major, I mean, from playing him safety at maybe 12 yards and corner coverage to playing him at 8 yards, so he's that much closer to the ball to help you tackle, closer to the line of scrimmage.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, appreciate your time.

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