What Coach Tom Allen Said After Indiana's 52-7 Loss At No. 2 Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Indiana football suffered a 52-7 loss Saturday at No. 2 Michigan.
The Hoosiers took an early 7-0 lead on a trick play, but the Wolverines dominated the final three quarters. Following the game, Indiana coach Tom Allen discussed the quarterback rotation and much more.
Here's everything Allen said after the loss.
On decision to play both quarterbacks, evaluation of how they played...
Allen: "Yeah, that was the plan. We met with the guys during the week and told them we were going to do exactly what we did. Told them we were going to play Tayven the first two series and play Brendan the third and fourth series and just kind of see who had the hot hand and who was playing the best. So just trying to find the best combination. We obviously made some changes in our offense in who's running it. I thought we did some good things in regards to changing tempos up and trying to do some things there offensively, but just didn't sustain them. But at the same time, we've got to find who's going to be that person. I just feel like in order for us to be where we need to be for the last half of our season, it's going to be important that we get that guy there that's going to protect the football and run the offense at the highest level possible. So obviously making some changes, and that's part of our evaluation process."
On if the rotation hurts the quarterbacks more than it helps them...
Allen: "Well I think there's no question that I don't think today either one of them protected the ball very well, and I think that there's no question that you'd like to see those sustained drives, which will be important for sure. So I think there's no question we'll make a decision on who we feel like needs to be the guy. Just trying to use this as an opportunity to see who would step up and take it. Hopefully one of them would have done that, and that was really goal for the day to be able to feel really good about who's going to take over at that spot and we gave both guys an opportunity, which we did. Didn't feel like the last couple weeks that we played that we've been good enough. Obviously we made a change in who's in charge of the offense because of that, but also we've got to be able to play better at that position. So obviously we're going to make a decision. We will not continue to rotate guys in that manner moving forward, but at the same time, I just wanted to see one of them step up and I don't feel like that happened today."
On how to fix turnovers and penalties...
Allen: "Yeah, you know the illegal hands to the face, the one you're referring to, I saw the replay. You know, not how you call that, but they did. So it turned, it was 14-7 at a critical point in the second quarter and had a chance to get the ball across midfield with that catch. That was a tough turn of events and put us behind the chains in a big, big way and didn't recover from that. Then we gave up another touchdown and went down 21-7. So just unfortunate for that to be called there. Big thing, we had a couple other penalties that were costly, jumping offsides happened on a key third down, then just had a couple other penalties that just weren't necessary. Got to continue to address those things. I think special teams-wise, disappointed in a couple chances on the one long return just two guys right there got to make a play, got to get the guy on the ground. Had a bad first punt. James [Evans] responded from that and punted the ball well the rest of the day. So against a good team like this – we had enough time, got off to a really good start, but then in that second quarter window we let some things slip away as we just mentioned. So we can't let a team like this have any mistakes. You turn the ball over four times, it's hard to beat good teams, it's hard to beat any team when you turn the bal over four times. We didn't get any takeaways ourselves. We had three sacks early, and we had two sacks I felt like we missed and had the quarterback out of the pocket. That's really disappointing on some key third downs and didn't play good enough defense to get off the field. We did some good things to get us in that situation. So just disappointing. You can't play a team like this of this caliber and have those kind of mistakes, especially you've got to secure the football. You can't turn it over."
On how to prevent mistakes from compounding like they did in second quarter...
Allen: "Yeah, that's where I think the key is defensively third downs, to me. We had several third downs where we kind of got them where we wanted to be in regards to third and seven-plus, but didn't get off the field, whether it was didn't contain the quarterback on the one, or just our corner fell down on the one coverage, which we should have just – I thought we had a chance to get off the field on that one too. But just got to stack plays together, all three phases working together, which we were not able to do that. It's a good football team we played today, there's not question about it. Been here many years and played these guys every year and they're as good as they've been. So really impressed with them as a football team. So a team like that, playing as well as they're playing right now, you can't give them anything and we obviously did in terms of turning the ball over and to me we just got to put our guys in better positions. There was obviously rain, but they had to play in it too, so we have to protect – we had a couple fumbles that we can't have at the quarterback position. Then just throwing the football and making sure we do a good job of protecting it, and that's partly of the call at times and some times it's being able to execute the calls and doing a great job of catching the football and getting up field."
On the offensive and defensive lines having success early on, then why that changed later...
Allen: "Well I just think you get situations as the game progresses, and if you noticed, I felt like that they do wear you down. I think that's one of their strengths as a team. If you watch them play even this whole entire season, that's kind of what they do to people. So that's why it was so critical that we did not give them a chance to pull away in that second quarter and into the third quarter. If we got some key stops there it would have been huge. We had a bust there in the secondary to be able to let that fourth touchdown that they scored, you know, was frustrating because I felt like we had a chance there on that fourth down to get a stop. Obviously we would have given our offense the ball pretty deep, but at least you get the ball back. So just they physically wear you down, mentally wear you down, without question, because of their size up front on both sides of the ball, and it takes its toll as the game wears on. That's why you've got to stay ahead, put yourself in a position to keep the energy high, keeps the guys fighting and battling because it gets physically and mentally difficult against a team like that. So they have the physical talent to be able to kind of put a lot of pressure on you for 60 minutes, and that's where they kind of get you in the end."
On what went into the QB rotation in the second half...
Allen: "We talk it through, and so obviously we were even going to play Tayven in the second half a little more, then he had a little situation with his throwing hand and that was a big reason why we didn't with that. But things should be fine with that. But at the same time, we just wanted to be able to find a guy that's going to be able to move us down the field, and I think the turnovers, one of those picks, kind of caused us to reevaluate that as well. Obviously, we've got two young guys and got to figure this out. We've got to help them be successful, and obviously a very, very tough defense to go against in a lot of ways. There's a reason why they've given up so few points this season. They've got a lot of talent at all three levels, so very, very challenging group to be able to move the ball against."
On if Dexter Williams II was active today and how close he is to returning...
Allen: "He was active as far as he was an emergency for us to play. It's the first time he's dressed. He's always warmed up and then did not dress for the games, so he's getting closer. That will be hopefully in the next week or two we can get a chance to get him back on the field."
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- JACK'S TAKE: Indiana rotated quarterbacks Tayven Jackson and Brendan Sorsby during Saturday’s 52-7 loss at Michigan, but neither made a convincing case to earn the starting job. Dexter Williams II is close to returning from injury, adding another layer to the decision. Indiana needs to stop the rotation and pick one. CLICK HERE
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