What Tom Allen Said After Indiana Football's Sizable Loss to Ohio State
Columbus, OHIO — On Saturday afternoon, Indiana football dropped its seventh straight game, losing to No. 2 Ohio State 56-14 in Columbus.
Read Hoosier coach Tom Allen's full press conference transcript, or just watch the attached video of the full interview.
On Indiana's frustration and issues in the game...
ALLEN: "Obviously with all the playmakers they have, just the run, pass...they put you in, it was a concern going in, but tried to be able to load the box, take away the run. They have some talented running backs and obviously receivers if you isolate those guys, try to double cover a couple guys but you can't do more than that with two of them.
I was disappointed in the explosive plays we gave up, especially the run game, more so the pass game. It's hard. They got guys matched up against you and just not enough hats to the ball, not enough guys making plays and finishing plays at the point of attack, didn't think we'd fit the run obviously not even close to what's acceptable, so really disappointed in that regard, but really talented football team.
We just have to have guys step up, and I just don't think we did, and the execution, even though we had a pretty simple plan to try to get our guys to the football, surround it and get guys on the ground, so just poor performance for sure."
On if the plan was always to play Dexter Williams...
ALLEN: "Yeah, the plan was to definitely play Dex earlier and see how things went with him and how he was doing, and I felt like he was doing a lot of good things and so felt like we needed to keep him in the game.
It was going to be dependent on how Dexter responded and how it would play itself out the rest of the game, so I thought Dex was moving the football, obviously took us down and got us into the end zone and gave us a chance to make some plays with his legs, extend the ball in the pass game, run the ball in the run game and then making some throws, obviously missed on some throws as well, but I think he got some really good experience today."
On if Indiana needs a quarterback who can run and pass...
ALLEN: "Well I think any time you have a guy that can do that, obviously it takes pressure off your offensive line in both the pass game and the run game, it affects the hats they have in the box in the run game and how they fit those runs.
Any time you have a guy that has the ability to do both, it can help you without question as long as they can throw the ball with a high enough accuracy to allow you to throw the ball well, so that's a thing obviously Dexter has shown flashes of that.
He needs to be more consistent in those areas, but I've said many times before when you have a guy that can extend the play with his legs, it does put more stress on the defense without question."
On Bradley Jennings Jr.'s status and Carter Smith going in for Parker Hanna...
ALLEN: "I don't know Bradley's status. It was a lower leg injury. We'll find out more about that when we get out of here.
I thought Carter was expected to play, practiced him this week. He was with the scouts last week, you know been one of the scouts pretty much the whole season, so just felt like he was making lots of progress and wanted to see what he could do, so we brought him up this past week and gave him lots of reps with our ones and twos and felt comfortable putting him in there.
Obviously that's a tall task for a true freshman that hasn't played at all and hasn't spent much time with those guys but spent the whole week there, and when you do that, you evaluate how they do throughout those practices, and if you feel good enough to put them out there you do, and I thought, haven't seen the film obviously, but thought he did some good things.
It's a tough position to play, especially against a defensive line that Ohio State has, so really excited about Carter's potential, his upside, and we're just trying to find a way to maximize our roster and get our young guys some really strong development here in the season and get them prepared for their future."
On Indiana's run game and tackling...
ALLEN: "To me getting whipped up front I thought was something, we knew they had a big physical offensive line, but you got to win your gaps, got to win with technique, and I didn't think we did a very good job of that and our d-line has to play better.
Our linebackers got to fit better, and they got to finish tackles better, and to me it's the front seven is what I put it on more than anything and obviously haven't watched anything , but just from seeing it in person, just too many creases, too many seams, too many loose fits, so getting a little thin at linebacker without question, but guys got to step up."
On Williams...
ALLEN: "It helps you without question, but he is awfully young, so I think just going through as we put together a game plan this week, trying to maximize that while he was in there, tried not to put too much on him, so I just think there's a balance with all that.
I think any time you have to force them to have to count for him, he's just an extra guy in the box. It's a plus one mindset offense, so they got to either trigger a safety or do something schematically to adjust for him, so definitely gives you an advantage, and we want to keep on expanding that without question, so like I said I liked what I saw from him.
It gives us a chance to do more things with him and how that continues to grow but once again you got to find guys on your roster that can help you move the football on offense, get first downs and eventually score points."
On getting freshmen out on the field...
ALLEN: "The one benefit is based within the rules. You got four games, so fully aware of that, don't want to burn a whole guy's season and have them play five games, but we have guys that have those games left, so the experience is invaluable without question.
I think that's a big part of it, being able to get guys more experience, more guys developed and improving, and it just helps their motivation as well, so any time you can play young guys and give them that great experience late in the season is a plus."
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- INDIANA PREPARES FOR CJ STROUD: Indiana football has its most challenging matchup of the season, specifically as a defense, on Saturday against Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud and a dynamic Buckeyes offense. Chad Wilt, Brandon Shelby and Jaylin Williams commented on their approach to the game. CLICK HERE
