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00:00 >> Well, it's great to come out with a win.
00:03 I thought our guys competed hard for four quarters.
00:06 It was a touch and go in the second half, but
00:09 we found a way to toughen it up when we needed to and get a great stop.
00:13 Tremendous job by our defense and our coaches.
00:16 They have a good plan there on the goal line and
00:17 then on the minus half yard to run a naked on first and
00:21 wanna take a little chance and put it on our quarterback to get outside.
00:24 He did a good job running it first down and
00:26 then we ran and got some first downs when he needed to.
00:28 So to me, that's a sign of a pretty decent football team.
00:31 So we gotta build off that, of course, we'd love to play better in the second half.
00:34 I think we talked about a lot, the onside kick was coming,
00:40 the start of the second half.
00:41 So it was talked about a lot, honestly, the plan wasn't good enough.
00:45 So we gotta do a better job of that,
00:46 because we did recognize that that was probably coming.
00:51 So that was disappointing.
00:53 But you know what, they played hard to the end, so I'm proud of them.
00:57 As we tell our team every week, every game's gonna be like Georgia Tech.
01:02 Now every game's gonna be like Georgia Tech and Indiana.
01:04 And then from here on, that's how it's gotta be.
01:06 You gotta be able to be tough enough to hang in there and make more plays than they
01:09 do and figure out a way to score more points than they do.
01:11 And it's good to get out with a win.
01:13 >> Questions for Jeff?
01:14 >> Jeff, Jack touched on it a little bit.
01:17 You just said that the Georgia Tech game goes one way in the first half,
01:20 this one goes another way in the second half.
01:22 How beneficial is it for your team to overcome adversity this early in the season?
01:27 >> Well, it's great.
01:28 I like the makeup of our guys.
01:30 They really play hard, they work hard, they're coachable.
01:33 I think our coaches are tough enough to realize that we make a lot of mistakes too,
01:38 and we gotta fix those every week and put our players in the best position to succeed.
01:43 And we'll have to continue to make corrections from this week.
01:46 But that's a great starting point.
01:48 And if we can figure out a way to just be a little more efficient for
01:51 60 minutes and not have lapses, then maybe we can have a big win.
01:55 But until then, it'll be a back and forth affair.
01:58 And we gotta be the tougher team in order to come out with a win.
02:03 >> Jeff, on the fourth down play, a goal, they had 18 inches to get, I think.
02:06 That's what the ref said.
02:08 Were you expecting them to give it to the halfback?
02:10 Or were you thinking that they were gonna quarterback sneak it?
02:12 >> Well, when it was at the two, we had an idea that it's probably gonna be a pass or
02:18 play action or get out on the edge.
02:21 When it got to half yard, we thought either quarterback sneak first, and
02:25 then when the big back came in, then that was the second choice.
02:28 So we worked on our goal line package.
02:31 We had a lot of big bodies in there.
02:32 We stemmed at the last minute to try to get them to snap it early.
02:35 I don't know if it affected a little bit or not, but we got in there.
02:39 So because of the stem and movement, we got in there quick,
02:42 penetrated and stopped the run and really did a great job with it.
02:48 So that's not easy to do.
02:50 So that's just all out effort and some good coaching by our defensive coaches and
02:54 we had to have it to win.
02:55 >> What kind of confidence or maturity does that give TJ to make that kind of
02:59 a play, being a younger player and just being able to stand up in a big moment
03:04 like that?
03:05 >> Well, TJ is a great leader.
03:07 I was lucky enough to play with his dad, and hard nose, and tackle, and
03:11 play to the end, and never complained one bit.
03:14 His son is just like him, very productive.
03:17 He's a great leader by example.
03:19 He'll tackle and hit you.
03:20 I mean, it's remarkable how similar he is to his father.
03:25 But he's just really embraced his role.
03:28 He's a great teammate.
03:30 He wants to win and he carries a lot of self confidence.
03:34 And if you're gonna run it at him, he's gonna tackle you, he's gonna hit you.
03:38 So a great team effort there by the defense at the end.
03:41 >> Coach, it seemed like Indiana was able to get a lot of pressure in the second
03:44 half, which kind of disrupted things.
03:46 Was there something different that they were doing defensively in the second half
03:49 of the game?
03:50 >> Well, Indiana does a lot of things on defense.
03:52 And we called them in the first half on some play actions with that and
03:56 hit them on some big shots.
03:57 Second half, they got through there a little bit.
04:01 And whether we were a little more conservative or
04:05 whether at times we moved the ball through an interception when we probably
04:08 could have ran for the first down, which we should have done.
04:11 And then just had, I can't even remember,
04:15 it just didn't seem like we had the ball as much in the second half.
04:18 So a lot of things to work on and improve on.
04:21 Indiana's a good football team.
04:22 Every game I had against them at Purdue basically went down to the wire.
04:27 Even if we won by more than single digits,
04:31 it was normally at the end just finding a way to win.
04:33 But that's a balanced team.
04:34 They got a good quarterback, a really good running back, a solid defense, and
04:37 they'll win some football games.
04:39 >> Jeff, what are your thoughts on kind of these regional kind of games in college
04:42 football, and IU's reportedly gonna back out of the rest of this series?
04:47 It seems like this is what makes college football special, though,
04:50 playing games that are regional, good for fan bases, people can attend, that kind of.
04:56 >> Well, I think everybody's gotta do what's best for them.
04:58 I know from my standpoint, it's always been, we love playing in state rivalries.
05:03 We love playing regional games.
05:05 It's not only great for the players, but
05:07 it's more importantly great for the fans, they can get to the games.
05:11 They know a lot of people on the other side.
05:12 It means a lot to them.
05:13 There's some bragging rights.
05:14 And so from my opinion, I would love to play as many as we could with anybody
05:18 regionally because it makes for great competition.
05:22 You don't have to travel far and all your fans can get there.
05:25 So we'll try to proceed forward and
05:29 get some more on the schedule that all of our fans can come watch.
05:32 >> Jeff, how are you feeling?
05:33 Or I guess what's your mindset late in the game?
05:35 Cuz obviously on the side line you seem calm, but are you racing?
05:39 Are you just going nuts?
05:40 I guess what's your feeling late in the game?
05:42 >> Well, I was disappointed in the onside cuz man, we talked about it so much.
05:45 So probably it was out of control then.
05:47 >> [LAUGH] >> Defensively,
05:50 I thought we played hard.
05:52 Eventually, they're gonna make some plays.
05:54 Number 12 is just a dynamic player, the quarterback's a solid football player.
05:59 They had a double move on us at the end to get down in range,
06:03 which we played tight coverage.
06:04 So eventually, they're gonna hit one of those.
06:06 It's just we were stale on offense in the second half.
06:10 And that hurt us.
06:12 So I just think we bumped it down at the end.
06:14 Like I said, go all out and stop and run in the ball to win.
06:17 Get some first downs when you have to, to run a clock out is a good finish.
06:22 >> Jeff, you struggled in the second half to get pressure on I.H.
06:25 quarterback.
06:25 How do you address that moving forward?
06:27 >> Well, we have some packages together to get pressure.
06:33 Yes, there have been times where maybe we'd like to get more.
06:36 I think we called some single dogs,
06:41 glitches by linebackers, didn't land a whole lot.
06:45 They were able to get the ball out quick.
06:46 Probably not a whole lot of all out glitching,
06:50 which we have a plan for that every game.
06:52 You gotta be a little cautious and careful.
06:53 And sometimes when you get a big lead,
06:56 you probably pull back on that naturally more than you'd like to,
06:59 even though we're trying to still play aggressive.
07:00 So I just think that we gotta continue to work on it.
07:02 We wanna try to get more pressure inside.
07:05 Really the goal is just to keep them out of the end zone.
07:08 So I just think we gotta look at the whole thing.
07:10 >> Jeff, Jack had a couple key conversions with his legs in this one.
07:14 He even said up there he's not the one running the league kind of game.
07:17 But is he a better runner than maybe people give him credit for?
07:20 >> Well, when we recruited Jack way back at Purdue,
07:23 the thing that stood out is he was athletic.
07:25 He could run around and scramble, make some plays, and
07:27 was a pretty good passer as well.
07:29 He was under recruited, and we got him to come to us.
07:33 And he's gotta know that, and we talk about it every game,
07:36 two to five times we call pass, but you're gonna have to run the ball.
07:40 It's not open, they have good coverage, somebody falls down, you get pressure.
07:44 So that's gotta be in your mind.
07:45 And I thought overall, did a really, really good job.
07:48 But one time we threw the interception, he's trying to make a big play,
07:51 he could have ran for the first down.
07:53 So from there it was, hey, let's be smart.
07:55 We don't have to force the touchdown passes, just be efficient.
07:59 When we got that last drive, we could have ran the ball there,
08:03 but on first down we ran it naked with him.
08:05 A bootleg to get him on the edge, and he did a great job.
08:08 They had it covered, but they didn't cover him.
08:10 And then he made another good run as well, and
08:12 then we ran the ball with our running back as well and got some yards.
08:15 So that was a good job by our offense line and offense to move it at the end.
08:19 But Jack, he's gonna continue to get better.
08:23 I think he had a really good first half.
08:26 He was efficient, he was throwing the ball, he was putting on the money, and
08:29 then we just gotta continue to find ways to score points.
08:31 >> One more.
08:32 >> Three games in, how encouraged are you by this start?
08:34 >> Well, like everything, you wanna win every time you step on the field.
08:39 And while we talk about long-term goals once,
08:43 we really don't talk about anything other than it's a one-game season.
08:45 And I think we put a lot into this game, we knew it was an important game to win
08:49 this, so the start was great to see that we were jacked and ready to go.
08:54 And then the finish was good to see, the very end,
08:56 that we would buckle down when we had to.
08:57 So when conference games start now again, we gotta be ready to play.
09:02 And there's a lot of parity in every league.
09:04 There might be a few elite teams around the country, but
09:08 everyone else is almost the same.
09:09 It's just a matter of who's gonna be more efficient, who's gonna continue to get
09:13 better, who's gonna keep guys healthy, stay together, and play hard for four quarters.
09:16 So that's what we gotta do, and luckily we get to go back home and do it next week.
09:20 I do wanna say, I think, to the fan support, this venue was great today.
09:25 They were loud, they were in full force.
09:27 We could hear them, and they made a difference, so
09:29 we appreciate all of them coming out.
09:30 >> Thank you.
09:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]