From The Locker Room: Monday Media Availability
IU head coach Tom Allen and offensive coordinator Mike DeBord met with the media on Monday to review last weekend's win over Georgia Southern and previewing the upcoming tilt at Penn State.
TheHoosier.com was in-attendance and has quotes plus video below.
Jordan Wells/TheHoosier.com
Q. Do you feel like you saw enough for the running game to carry over?
COACH ALLEN: "It wasn't a Big Ten opponent, so you can't say that it's equal for sure. But it's what you want to see. You go into the game, saying, hey, we need to run the football and want to establish that, and we did it.
"You know, so that's why I say -- I was encouraged and excited about the game just because -- I mean, I understand who we're playing. But at the same time, that hasn't always been the case. You go into some of those games, I've been a lot of places where I leave very frustrated because you didn't have the focus; you didn't have the execution that you want in several different areas. And I was on edge with our guys about making sure the little things were not being overlooked. We wanted to run the football well; we did, and that definitely is a positive moving forward."
Q. How would you say you're a better team now than when you played Ohio State?COACH ALLEN: "I would say that when you play Ohio State, it's week No. 1. You have a lot of things that you think are a certain way, but you're not really sure. You have certain freshmen that haven't done certain things.
"We thought Morgan was a good player and he's proven that he can be a very good running back at this level. You know, you have questions about this position, that position. You think certain things are a way that they are and now you feel different because you say, hey, you know what, I feel good about that.
"So I feel like that we're a football team now that has a much better understanding of who we are and what our strengths lie and what are things that we've got to continue to focus on. I think that gives you confidence as you move into conference play, once again, as we've had a couple non-conference game.
"So I just feel like that even you take the game, like at Virginia. I knew going in that they were a good football team. Well, when they went and played Boise State at Boise State, what was it, Friday night, and looked the way that they looked at Boise, which is a very tough place to play, we kind of confirmed, we played a good football team and beat a good football team on the road.
"So once again, you know certain things now that you didn't know before about your team, and I think you have a different level of confidence. We've gone on the road and we've played well, and we now expecting to on the road again and play well again. We have that first road trip under our belt and we are ready to go attack it again. That's where I think you get a different feel both as a staff and as a team when you're getting ready for week four."
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