Here's What Tom Allen Said in Final Media Session Prior to Home Opener vs. Idaho

After a tough loss to open the season, Indiana looks to bounce back at home against Idaho when it plays in Memorial Stadium with fans for the first time since 2019.

Dylan Wallace | Sep 9, 2021

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana coach Tom Allen met with the media for the final time ahead of Saturday's home-opener against Idaho, and he had a lot to say on Thursday.

The Hoosiers are coming off a tough loss at Iowa last week to kick off its 2021 campaign. Meanwhile for Idaho, the Vandals won their first game of the season, beating Simon Fraser, a Division II team from Canada, 68-0.

"They do quite a bit on offense, and they score a lot of points, get a lot of yards and their skill guys are really talented," Allen said on Idaho. "They've got some really good receivers who just catch the football, and they've got some really big lineman and a huge fullback.

"Just conceptually, they have a great understanding of offensive play and how to score points and how to put you in conflict defensively. They do a good job with that."

Here's the best of what Allen had to say on Thursday.

– On injury updates

TOM ALLEN: "Devon Matthews will be out this week, but he is doing well. Expect a full recovery from him. And then Jaylin Williams is doubtful at this point. We'll have to see the next couple of days if he'll be able to go or not from an injury during the game on Saturday against Iowa.

Other than that, feel good about our guys. We get a couple of guys back on offense."

– On the potential of playing freshman QB Donaven McCulley

ALLEN: "I would say we're consistent in that mindset that we talked about before. Really didn't expect to use him in week one, but definitely moving forward as he continues to have more and more opportunities to get reps and get himself ready. So, yeah, that's something that we plan to use him moving forward in the future."

– On having tackle Luke Haggard back

ALLEN: "Yeah, he's back, so that's good. He's had a really good week, and he'll be a part of those five (offensive lineman), so you guys will see that on kickoff on gameday. Bottom line is we're just trying to get our best five guys on the field. He's healthy and back now, and we got other guys that are going to be competing to play and will play in the game on Saturday."

– On David Ellis and how crisp practice was this week

ALLEN: "To answer your first question, David Ellis is expected to go, and he's had a good week of practice.

To your second question, it was crisp, it was sharp, I think it was good and I think it got better every day during the week. But it wasn't that we practiced poorly last week, either. But that preparation didn't show up on gameday, which is all that really matters. So, the key for us now to transfer what we're doing in practice and have it show up on Saturday. So, that's what I expect, and we've had a good week of doing that."

– On who the next man up is with Jaylin Williams out

ALLEN: "Chris Keys is that guy. It's been good to see him elevate himself this week. I think he's one of those guys that we've always felt has the most length of anybody in that room. Runs as good as anybody in that room, but I think it's just him taking that next step. So, that's my challenge to him is to be able to elevate himself. It's a great opportunity for him to be able to play and get a lot of snaps on game day, and that's what's gonna happen.

I expect him to do that. Even these next couple days, how he prepares, how he learns to be a Saturday guy, somebody we count on. Larry Tracy is another guy that's gonna have to play, and I expect him to play and do a great job playing tough, playing with technique and executing. So, those are the two guys, but Chris Keys will be the next man up."

– On the belief the players still have on this season

ALLEN: "When you face adversity like we have so early in the season, so early in the game, it tells a lot about what team you have, and definitely there's no doubt that we'll be judged on how we respond and how we play on Saturday as a response to that challenge. That's why the one word for this week is 'fortitude,' which is the mental strength to be able to push through and to be able to fight and have grit and toughness and just to have raw guts to you when you get knocked down and when adversity strikes.

That's what we're dealing with. When that happens, you want to rely on your leadership, you want to rely on the strength of your team, which I've said all along is our leadership of our guys and their belief in themselves, in each other and who we are. You obviously don't want one game to be able to sidetrack you from that point, so I don't believe it has or it will, but at the same time, we have to prove on gameday that we got that type of resilience to us, we have that type of grit to us that's gonna be able to withstand through the course of the season, the ebbs and flows of a game and the ebbs and flows of a season itself.

So, that's what great teams are able to do, and that's what I expect this team to do."

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