Highlights From Tom Allen on 'Inside Indiana Football' Radio Show Week 5

Indiana coach Tom Allen and play-by-play broadcaster Don Fischer discussed the Hoosiers' 29-27 win over Akron, previewed Saturday's matchup against Maryland and much more on Wednesday's edition of "Inside Indiana Football."

Daniel Olinger | Sep 27, 2023

Highlights From Tom Allen on 'Inside Indiana Football' Radio Show Week 5 /

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana football coach Tom Allen joined "The Voice of the Hoosiers" Don Fischer on Wednesday night's edition of the "Inside Indiana Football" radio show, live from Chop Shop Market and Table in Bloomington.

Allen and Fischer recapped Indiana's 29-27, four-overtime win over Akron and previewed Saturday's matchup against Maryland in College Park.

Here are the highlights.

On Akron quarterback D.J. Irons

Allen: "When you watch him on film, you knew he was dangerous. But I think, even on the opening play, he threw the ball way better and more accurately than he showed on film. He was just kind of making plays left and right, as far as with his legs, and [he's] just a very difficult guy to get on the ground as well. He definitely had a really really good night, and anytime that a team has a quarterback that plays like that, it gives them a chance. It was definitely a lot of frustration ... but hats off to them for playing well. At the same time, we gotta play better without question."

On the team losing focus leading up to Akron game

Allen: "Yeah, it was unfortunate. You see it a little bit in practice the week before, and you try to address it, and we did. When you have teams that have good players — and a lot of MAC schools have guys that are good enough to play on your rosters — and I was told afterward, it's the first time in 16 years that a MAC team has not beaten a Big Ten team. We were fortunate [enough] to break [that streak]. I think we were the last team to play a MAC team this season. But it happened several times, and I think that's usually the case, when you have a situation where you think it's going to be a certain way and then it's not. Then it gets close at the end, and then you find yourself in a dogfight. But they obviously have good players and really good coaches, and you can't take anybody for granted."

On Tayven Jackson

Allen: "He didn't play his best, without question, and we didn't help him. We had three guys that dropped balls. And at first it was kind of like, you know, are you kidding me? You know, so wide open, would have been a touchdown. But that just kind of set the tone. It seemed like we never got in rhythm, which is unfortunate and frustrating. But yeah, he didn't play his best. And he learned through that. He's younger, obviously. But you want to do some things to help him, and obviously, guys gotta catch ball, we gotta convert [and] we got to make things easier for him in that regard. But definitely [it was] not the way he played previously. Hopefully we can just get that get that out of his system, and have the whole group around him and help him get a whole lot better."

Allen also praised Jackson for his maturity as a young quarterback, as Jackson took the blame after the game, and did not place it on any of his receivers or on any other players.

On the mood in the locker room after the Akron game

Allen said that, "it felt like a loss," in the Indiana locker room after the team beat Akron 29-27 in four overtimes.
Allen said he was very hard on the players in the locker room after the game at first, recognizing the reality of the situation. However, he did also commend the team for finding a way to win.

On the missed two-point attempt in the third overtime

Allen: "I know Jaylin was wide open over to the right, and obviously, Tayven didn't see him. He's not necessarily, you know, he's not expecting to be, [Jaylin] is kind of a decoy, so he didn't see him."

On the offense struggling to run the ball

Allen: "It's not what we want. We got to continue to work on it. I was expecting us to run the ball better against them. And honestly, we have to be able to do that in Big Ten play, so it continues to be a huge focus for us, without question, and no difference this weekend."

Allen also said that he thinks the biggest problem the offensive line itself it facing in the run game is their struggling to finish blocks.

On defensive adjustments made at halftime vs Akron

Allen said most of the defensive adjustments made at halftime focused on trying to better contain Irons on his scrambles and designed runs.
The Indiana coach also talked about the trouble with playing man defense in pass coverage against a quarterback like Irons, as his defenders in pass coverage won't have eyes on him when he scrambles.

On the criticism of Walt Bell as a play caller

Allen: "Bottom line is, you gotta score points. And when you don't score points ... when something doesn't work, it's easy to say you shouldn't have called that."

Allen would not get into specifics about Bell's play calling, and more just focused on the offense's overall struggles and how it needs to be better as a whole unit.
Allen mentioned that it's hard to win in the Big Ten if you end up averaging 17 points per game. He said 20-30 points each game in Big Ten play is where the team needs to be.

On the fan who asked that question about Walt Bell

It blew up on Twitter, so here it is.
A fan walked up during the show, said he was going to ask Allen a question, but instead said this:
"My section [in Memorial Stadium], is extremely unhappy with the play calling. And I'm gonna tell you coach, to a man, they love you. And my statement is, it's a business, and you understand what I'm saying, because you're the coach, and we love you. Alright, but it's a business. We wanted to make that statement clear."
I suggest watching this video posted by Mason Williams of Indiana Rivals. It's really hard to convey how confusing the moment was without watching it unfold.

Absolutely bizarre moment on Inside Indiana Football tonight.

A fan approached the microphone to make a statement about Indiana fans’ frustrations with play-calling, then told Tom Allen, “It’s a business.”

Full clip 👇 #iufb pic.twitter.com/cO30EIsJt2
— Mason Williams (@mvsonwilliams) September 27, 2023

On Maryland's offense

Allen praised Tagovailoa and said that he's one of the best quarterbacks in the entire country.
Allen also praised Maryland running back Roman Hemby. He said that Hemby is a physical player who "runs behind his pads" and does a good job making defenders miss on the first tackle attempt.

Allen: "Bottom line is with their quarterback play, they can throw the ball really well, and that kind of sets up their run game. They do a great job of setting [the run game] up schematically, and they got really big guys up front."

On Tagovailoa's mobility

Allen said that Tagovailoa presents a different challenge than Irons did in Week 4. Specifically, he referred to the Maryland quarterback as more of a scrambler, while Akron did more to set its quarterback up with designed runs.