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UNIVERSITY OF INDIANA MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 30, 2013Kevin WilsonCOACH WILSON: All right. Appreciate you being here. We didn't really get together after the last game, so coming off the last week here again, 2‑2 after the Missouri game. Defensive Player of the Game, we gave it to Greg Heban. A couple picks, but pretty solid a lot of other areas. Cody Latimer backed it up with another solid performance as the Offensive Player of the Game. Of course he played well in the first couple weeks, didn't get touches, but was playing well. Just without the ball and on special teams he's had a good year so far for sure. But had another solid game for us. Mitch Ewald at kicker. I think it's the third time Mitch has done it. Kind been perfect. His kicks, placements on kickoffs have been nice for us as well. Our Scout Players of the Week, Billy Ivan, third time for Billy as a fourth‑year guy, working hard for us behind the scenes. Isaac Griffith, young freshman, is doing well for us, been redshirted. Kris Smith, defensively, a young freshman redshirting. And Simeon Ikudabo, one of our walk‑ons that was with us last year, back with us. So coming off of that deal, we saw that game, you guys know that one. We had open date; we'll talk about that. Thought we had a good week of work. I say that from an attitude standpoint. Kind of looked at it Sunday, put it behind us. Point in time I think our team has worked very, very hard. There's a point of maybe overworking, overgrinding, overprepping you can do. Did put a lot of time on us, as much as anything. We did look at opponents and we looked at a lot of young guys, but we did want to talk fundamentals and looking at things that we like that we're doing, things we don't like and self‑study and self‑eval of our strengths and weaknesses, what to work on. Had a lot of young guy work, so each day 15, 10, 15, 20 minutes of, hey, you scout guys, instead of running their plays, run some of our stuff, and it's always good for the young guys. Little bit of future work. We've got a three‑game run here with this open date deal. We had four open date, now a three‑game run. So we did concentrate a little bit on some of our opponents, offense, defense, but it wasn't about just game planning; a lot was really about of us, young guy development. We were able to take I think a little bit of a break physically with the guys, just some time, kind that mid‑point of academics, so to give them a chance to get away through the weekend a little bit, on Friday and Saturday. We had to be in class on Friday, but we didn't have workouts or structured practice, whatnot. Same deal on Monday. We didn't practice last Sunday, Monday. We had to work on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, not to overdo it; not to underdo it. But I do think from a mental side, academic side, that time of year, that open date did come at a nice point. And I think from a recruiting standpoint. We had a chance as coaches to get out. Coaches were all out Thursday and Friday. We had everyone out. We're limited on how we can do our recruiting, and during one week we can have our whole staff of ten out for as many days as we wanted. We took advantage of that to have a lot of guys out. We've done a lot of local work, which we were able to from their friends into some surrounding states and even hit some of our travel states, so I thought that went well. Last thing was the open date. We've got some health deals, so it gives a chance to get some guys cleaned up. I'll hit real quick on that. Peyton Eckert is still to me out. He's been gimpy with his back deal. He still has practiced some. I don't anticipate him going yet. And, again, we'll see how it goes. We will get to a point. Can be a redshirt if needs to be.  Doesn't have to be. Just because you're a redshirt doesn't even mean you get a fifth year. You have the option. We'll play that one. But I think right now, again, he keeps being iffy. Keeps trying to go. But he's got basically just a low back deal that he got in a noncontact deal that's just kind of gimped on him. Other than that, Feeney and Hoobler that's been out all year. Everyone else I would anticipate as being probable or playing. So we've got guys practicing. Do they practice enough to play, do they practice well enough to play. The rest of our corps right now I think is good to go. So thought the open date was good. And then with that we'll flip to Penn State. Noon kick coming in at 3‑1. Their lone loss, Central Florida. I don't know if you had a chance to watch Central Florida play South Carolina. It's a good football team. Matter of fact, I saw it during their game, they're one of eight teams this year to not be behind until I think in the third quarter. When they were up 10‑0 on South Carolina, they came back. So Central Florida is their loss. They lost that game 34‑31. That's a quality opponent that played very, very well against those guys. Offensively, two years Coach O'Brien's been there. That's his pedigree, his upbringing. A very strong coach, very knowledgeable coach. Puts his guys in good positions. So you look at the personnel. Their freshman quarterback is really solid, playing in a scheme where they understand how to take advantage of his strengths and not stress him out as a freshman with protections and run game balance and screen and in their play calls and whatnot. But that Hackenberg kid is a very talented young player playing in a great scheme, well coached. Nice running backs. A big back, 240‑pounder that can get behind his pads, then two change‑up backs they bring in that are averaging 7 1/2, 8 yards. Nice running game. About 195, 197 yards a game rushing. Really good receivers with Robinson, maybe the best in our league that leads the league this year, did last year, in receptions. He's a very dynamic player. Got a young freshman that they like, Lewis, No.7, as well that they're bringing on so they got some skill outside. Two really nice tight ends in 18 and 87 that did do a nice job for them in a solid line. So they piece it together, and they got a bunch of nice pieces. They got a young freshman quarterback that's very, very talented, but with a big back and the running game, nicer perimeter players, nice tight ends, solid line, pretty good package offensively, doing really, really well. Defensively, as always, some stout up front, typical Penn State. Solid strong at backer, really good up front, big D tackle, couple active ends. Got some new guys in the back end, but you don't really notice it. You wouldn't know they're new if you're watching tape. They've been solid, well coached. New coordinator this year, but he was there a year. You got Coach Vanderlinden and Coach Johnson have been there 10, 12, 15, 20 years. So a lot of continuity on defense. They didn't play by their standards like they wanted to against Central Florida. You can tell they come back and shut out Kent State playing Penn State defense 34‑0. So a good defense. A strong test for us, and we're looking forward to Saturday. Q. You said that you went back and you looked at what you liked and didn't like over the first four games. What were the things that you liked and didn't like? COACH WILSON: Well, again, so, for example, we got to keep working on our third downs. We're doing okay, but conversions, when we're stopping drives, getting off the field, continuing drives on offense, we're about 50 percent there. We've got to be a little bit better than that. That's a decent number. The games that we've shown that we've had run game and balance, same thing defensively. The games that we played a little bit better run defense, we've made the team a little bit more one dimensional; the games we've struggled, it's been our inability to run and stop the run. And then with that our opponents have been able to have kind of their way with us. We talked a lot. We played four games, and we've spotted a touchdown each game that's a nondefensive touchdown. So we're basically starting the game down seven points the way we're playing. So we talked a lot, worked a lot on not just ball security, because there haven't been fumbles. We had one of the kickoff and we had a punt block. But just taking care of the ball, center/quarterback exchange, short yardages. You saw that last night if you saw the Patriots and the Falcons game. You know, best players in the world, the game's on the line, no short yardage plays. We have a couple center/quarterback exchanges, you kind of keep working on those things. So what I think we've gotten consistently is that our kids have given us great effort. I think we have great attitude with our guys. And we're looking to make sure we put our young guys defensively in places where they know what to do and they can attack. Offensively we keep finding a way to have some balance and take care of the ball. Q. You mentioned Eckert. What exactly‑‑ what did he do basically in the first placeand what is the injury ‑‑ COACH WILSON: He just hurt his back. And it was a running thing where he just took off running to the left and just glitched his‑‑ he's got a low back. And so it's a deal that we've tried to settle down, but just with the inflammation. I believe it's called L5‑S1 sciatic nerve, if you want to get ‑‑ doctor, which is not me. But he's got a bad back. We've tried to quiet it down, we've done some things that they do with the epidurals, try to help it, but he's not been able to come back and practice at a strength level that he can do it. If he does too much work, then he really can't go the next day. So it's just getting that thing quieted down and strong. It's not a ‑‑ it doesn't appear to be a major deal, but it has not quieted down where he's able to practice like he needs to. And he's in a position where he's playing where there's a lot of strain in that area because you're playing in a bent‑knee leverage position where there's a lot of strain in your low back. It's kind of a tough deal for him. Q. Penn State remind you of anyone you've played this year? COACH WILSON: I mean, again, they'll be‑‑ Missouri was talented, but they'll be as talented. It's a young quarterback versus a veteran. Maybe not as much running quarterback as they did, but different scheme where they're going to throw it to some nice players in space and they complement it with the running game, so maybe a different style running attack, but they have similar balance on offense. And, again, they're very stout and strong defensively. So a little different than Missouri exactly, but talented like that. And, again, to me it looks like‑‑ it's year two, so you can't say it's a typical Coach O'Brien team because you've only seen a year and three games of that or four games of that. But his teams have ‑‑ his background has always been to play solid on offense, and Penn State has always been solid and strong on D. So they're a complete team. We'll need to have, again, a very solid performance. If we're one dimensional, we will struggle. If we turn the ball over minus three, we're going to struggle if we don't have the kick play. So, again, they're going to stress us to play a complete game, but that's the nature of Big Ten and it will be backed up the following week and the week and the weeks to come. Every team has different strength levels of O and D and skill guys and maturity, but we're getting into Big Ten play, so it's going to be a good team and a good challenge for us. Q. Receivers like Robinson's sort of build and frame, just those big tall guys have been a problem for your defense the last couple years. Is that maybe where that position is just going now? It feels like the value placed on a 6'3", 6'4" wide receiver with those kind of physical tools is maybe more than it was five, ten years ago. COACH WILSON: Well, and, again, I haven't necessarily stood beside him. I don't know if I would call him a big guy. Not that he's small. I think he's a solid size guy. I wouldn't consider him a 6'4" big guy. He's got great leaps and great speed and very dynamic, his ability to adjust on the ball and make plays in space and all that deal. But I think the thing you're saying, I think there's different types of players. And, for example, they've got a nice balance at running back where they've got a big back that's 240 pounds that gets behind his pads. They next two guys come in play physical, but it's a nice change of speed and small guys. So I think you've got that at receiver. I know in our recruiting efforts we don't want everyone to be big. We don't want everyone to be small. There's a little diversity that you're looking for. And really they're two tight ends are actually their big receivers. Jessie James, 17, and 87, maybe is their best catch receiver, are almost like the big Ted Bolser who's almost like a big receiver, per se, playing tight end. So that's where the real hype that you're talking about is like. And I think with Lewis, No. 7, and Robinson, 8, they got some nice size, but they got some good speed outside, which is what you like. You be careful you don't get too many big guys because you lose a little quickness. There's a balance I think that everyone's looking for in their receiving corps, and I think they got it. That's why I think they're so dynamic across the board. They've got a nice little collage of what they put out. I think we have the same kind of thing that we put out there for our guys. It's a little all they're all kind of unique and a little different in the matchups. Q. Can you talk about just trying to be consistent in run defense. Is there a trend to when you guys are struggling versus the run, is there a common theme for why you struggle? COACH WILSON: Well, my opinion, we've looked very hard just conceptually to make sure that what we're doing, our kids understand our calls, our alignments and where to go and how to play the structure of the defense right. I don't think we've played structurally sound and as clean as we need to. And I think, again, you go through and you got some young guys and you want to do some things to, quote, take advantage or sometimes maybe even disguise what you can't do. If you're not careful, you overscheme. And so to me we've had significant amount of miscommunication, misalignment, and we're not as sound as we need to be, versus we're getting totally blocked all the time. We got guys not hitting right gaps and guys trying to make plays. Hey, I want to make this tackle and I peek inside and I get hooked, or same time I'm supposed to go outside and keep the run turned in, I'm peeking inside trying to make the play. So our thing defensively, and we've put a fair amount of time and some energy into it this week, is to make sure we're getting lined up a lot cleaner and giving our guys a chance to know what they're doing and being a little bit more aggressive in what we're doing. Q. You mentioned Hackenberg a little bit earlier. After coaching Trey and Nate as they were freshmen quarterbacks playing quite a bit, where does Hackenberg kind of compare to Nate last year, to Trey two years ago, in terms of freshman playing quite a bit at quarterback? COACH WILSON: Well, it's hard to answer truly because I just watched their tape, but he is very talented, one; he's very well coached, two; and then he's playing in a package where they're going to play the game and their rhythm to get him in rhythm. So whether it be what they're doing to temper your rush, run the football, have the balance, take the shots they need to, throw the high‑percentage plays, it's a part of him being very, very good, very well coached, but putting the pieces together. And in their package and with the players they do it with, they're a very well‑rounded, very solid offensive football team. They're very good. And he does a nice job managing all that as a young man. Young players force it, and I think they've taught him how to manage and take what's there. And he's not been very greedy or unsure with the ball. He's been pretty smart with what he's done. That's a little bit of coach‑‑ as an offensive coach, you watch teams all the time and you watch defenses getting ready. Well, you like to watch certain offenses, and I've always‑‑ we visited those guys when he and Josh McDaniels were up at the Patriots, just to ‑‑ you know, you want to watch Tom Brady and you always watch those guys. So you always watch good offenses, and he's always been a part of good offenses. I remember, shoot, I want to say Coach was at Duke years ago and I went back home and went by Duke and NC State and he was over there at the time, so always respected Bill. Again, a lot of it is just a part of he's really good within a very good package and he's well coached. Q. It feels like I guess they haven't asked himhim to do too much this year at quarterback position. Is it something where maybe‑‑ can you get him into maybe spots where you can challenge him to have to make a deep throw or have to make a really critical decision like that? Feels like they've been good in their wins especially maybe keeping those more tense situations off his plate, Hackenberg. COACH WILSON: And that's a product of how they play as a team. Their defense has done well and they've kept the other team off the scoreboard. So they played the games in their terms. Can we do that? That's always a challenge of any week, getting someone where you're making guys make stressful plays. And you want to stress out a quarterback in an offensive line. You don't want to stress yours out. There's certain positions you want to attack, and it's your ability as a coach. And that's a part of their package. They do a good job of getting themselves in rhythm and playing on their terms. And that's why they're very, very successful. And then they throw it to some quality players. Now, I'm not sitting there, but to sit here and say he's not doing a lot I don't know is fair. If you sit there and look, I think there's a fair amount where he's getting them in the right place or here comes the pressure and you see him making the proper hot throws. So, hey, I've got something, I've got something working here, here comes a problem, here's my answer over here, and you see him doing that. So, again, he's a very mature‑‑ from afar when I watch, you just look at body language, he's a very mature kid that doesn't appear to get ratted. And I think there will be more and more on him as he comes, but as a young‑‑ he's not sitting there reading at the third grade level of quarterback play. He's at a very high level for a young guy. And I think open day week they'll probably advance and even put more on his plate. But it looks like adjusts plays, he adjusts protections, he knows huts in a good way. And, again, he's a quality, good young player. Very good. Q. When you talk about guys peeking in the back field or taking a look somewhere where they shouldn't, how much of that is because they're not quite sure that the guy next to them is going to be making the play so they're trying to overcompensate? COACH WILSON: A little bit‑‑ a great point, and not always right, but is right a lot. And so by, you know‑‑ the word is called "eye discipline." You put your eyes where they're supposed to, and you need to be in your gap, you need your eyes where you're supposed to. And there's things guys are doing to say, hey, if it's a run, where's my run? If it's a pass, am I relating to No. 1, 2, 3? Am I a hook‑curl player? Am I a flat player? Am I a deep player? Am I a run fit player? And, again, that's what to me we have tried to this week correct. Not mistakes we've made, but just make corrections on where we're supposed to be, playing your gap, playing the structure, and your eyes are a part of the structure because your eyes tell you to run or pass fits in the back seven that you're supposed to do. Q. You talked about balance at running back. How much has that added to them (indiscernible) the guy last year, I think Belton was hurt. What's it mean to them to have a group of tailbacks healthy‑‑ COACH WILSON: Their third back lynch is about the same as Belton guy. So, to me, I don't care who you're playing or what you're trying to do offensively, if you can get your run game going to, quote, have balance. To me it's not the 50/50 deal or the yards per carry or equal calls, you're productive in the run game and then you can protect and you're productive in the pass game. And you saw an offense a week ago with a little bit more of a quarterback run throughout and spread, but it was predicated on trying to have balance. They're very much the same kind of team. And it will be a‑‑ we will need to‑‑ you got to take care of Hackenberg. You've got maybe the premier receiver in the league, couple quality tight ends, a young kid at receiver they like, but you've got to do everything you can to play much better run defense to give us a chance this week. And we've got to find a way to run the ball. Those are going to be challenges. That's why we worked all spring preseason to evolve there. We're still evolving there. And it will be a challenge against their front to run the ball, be a challenge to stop their run, but we're going to have to have the success. And we've not only talked about it, we've worked at it, we've identified how we want to approach it, and we'll see what tries we've made here in 14 days from last time to this one. Q. How much maybe that running game needs to be persistence and being willing to just run it, take three yards, run it again, take three yards, that sort of thing, just in terms of maybe going more to the run game just as a force of habit? COACH WILSON: Again, it's want you want. And, again, you've got to stay ‑‑ but sometimes we're doing those running games, maybe those little play actions are off of it and those high‑percentage throws, and sometimes those can become a little bit of our run game, and those need to be pretty consistent. So if we're spitting the ball outside because it's a loaded box or a run‑pass combo, you've got to execute the pass part of that to keep the run game going. Because if you don't occupy the perimeter part of that run game with the way we complement with passing, they can continue to load the box and just put numbers on you. And then if that's the case, then you start dropping back. And that's what happened last week. Then all of a sudden they start teeing off on your front and your quarterback's not throwing in rhythm because the protection is breaking down, blah, blah, blah. So, yeah, it's a little bit of persistence, but it's also execution and getting this line to continue to grow a little bit, and we've got to get a lot better there. Q. (Indiscernible)? COACH WILSON: You know, he's a ‑‑ well, again, from afar, it looks like he's a tremendous competitor and he likes to play and wants the ball. Don't know that unless you got him every day, looking at him. But from afar, when you look at, that's the opinion you get. His skill set is very, very good. A basketball guy that I think understands space. I think was a very talented basketball player in high school, so I think his feel of space and leverage and how to work and how to make some acrobatic plays‑‑ even though I don't think he's maybe the biggest receiver, he does have some substance so he can make competitive plays. He's a quality complete football player receiver. There might be faster guys, there might be bigger guys, but when he puts it all together, he's one of the better receivers in the country. Q. Back on injuries. You said everybody else is probable. Does that mean Bernard is good to go? COACH WILSON: He's practiced. And, again, same time, I think Jake Reed has played pretty good too, so it's a little bit of competition deal there. And got Alex Todd back in there playing last game and all those guys kind of came out of it okay, but we're going to keep bringing some of those young D lines. So it's a little bit of some of the guys who've came in and played played well. So right now I don't think Jake Reed has played poorly. He's a very young, talented guy. I felt coming out of two‑a‑days he was as good as Bernard. So it will kind of just be based on Bernard's practice play. Again, we'll need a good week of practice. Very good challenge, good team, but looking forward to a great opportunity against a good opponent this week. Q. You talked about in order to have confidence you have to win; you have to win in order to gain confidence. Going into a game like this, Indiana has never beat Penn State, does that feel like that is something the team just has to overcome? To be able to break through, you're going to have to win a game like this? COACH WILSON: Yeah, and we talked about it because we knew that point was going to be made. To me, whether you've won in the past‑‑ this team has never beaten this team and it's this team, and so we talk about this team. The dynamics are different every year. We're not bringing all the teams back and playing one in a row and all that deal. This is the only time this team will have a chance to play this game. And so we talked a lot more about it, again, wherever we were at 2‑2, what we needed to concentrate on. I believe our young men have given us I think‑‑ I mean, my deal is I look at some seniors that I've got a lot of respect for, that as coaching as young players, we need those guys to lead us, but then we need to go out and play at a pretty high level for those guys, because their sense of urgency is great. This is our one time to play this game. This is our one chance for Penn State. Then it will be the next game, our one chance. And just because you've done the past good or bad doesn't ensure it, doesn't guarantee it. Our team is better. We do need to‑‑ we're getting ready to play different but similar to the game we just played. When you're playing in this league, you're going to play good teams. And your talent level is where it is and you've worked it to that point. You have developed it through the offseason to this point. We went out this past week coming off a loss and did not really kill our guys. We coached our guys like a winning team and the things we think they needed to do to improve to win. Because I think our guys had the attitude that we want, they're working like we want, and that we as coaches got to put them in good position. And that's how we approached this week, and that's how we're approaching this game. It's not about something we've never done; it's taking advantage of these days to go out at 12:00 and go 60 minutes against a good team and do our best and see what it does. And that's how we're approaching it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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