What Tom Allen Said After Indiana's 44-17 Loss At Maryland

Here's everything coach Tom Allen said in the postgame press conference following Indiana's 44-17 at Maryland.

Jack Ankony | Sep 30, 2023

What Tom Allen Said After Indiana's 44-17 Loss At Maryland /

In this story:

Indiana Hoosiers

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Indiana suffered a 44-17 loss Saturday afternoon at Maryland, moving the Hoosiers to 2-3 heading into their bye week.

Almost nothing went well for Indiana, offensively or defensively. Maryland racked up 472 yards of offense, and Indiana benched quarterback Tayven Jackson in the second half.

Here's everything Indiana coach Tom Allen said after the game.

On the offensive struggles, quarterback change...

Allen: Well, we'll obviously use this bye week to make a lot of evaluations on things, and we've got to find a way to get better, without question. So there's a lot of positions that got to be evaluated. We've got to be productive. We've got to look at guys that are making plays and others that are not in every single position. We've got to do a great job of getting our guys refreshed and ready from these last few weeks and get ready for our final push. Obviously we have to evaluate everything and find a way to score points, but we've also got to play better defense. The start of the game defensively was very poor and very frustrating. Giving up too many explosive plays.

On going for it on fourth down, the fake punt and desperation level of the team...

Allen: "Well, I think the fourth downs, where they occurred, you're just trying to find a way to stay on the field. The fake punt, obviously we needed to score touchdowns. You're not going to beat them kicking field goals. We only scored three points up to that time, so felt like what we called was there. Obviously didn't and came up short, so not a good decision. But at the same time, we need to find a way to get some momentum going for our football team, so trying to be aggressive with that. Obviously it was a very aggressive call in that situation and didn't work out. But yeah, in that game, we were down the way we were and we needed to get something going right away to give us a chance to win the game. So that was the objective there, trying to be aggressive."

On evaluating fundamental elements of offensive and defensive structures...

Allen: "Yeah, I think for tonight, I think we need to execute the calls better from what I saw. There were a lot of receivers open, a lot of opportunities to make proper reads and didn't do that. So to me, that's really what I saw today. Obviously haven't watched the film yet. But there's no question, everything is going to be evaluated, without a doubt. But at the same time, tonight's game was execution to me."

On if execution failures stem from preparation...

Allen: "I don't think so. I felt like we had a good week of preparation. Wouldn't have said the same thing a week ago after that game, but this week I thought our guys prepared well. We missed some open receivers, and we didn't make some good reads. Those are critical things that you have to have in critical situations, critical downs and times and just overall both sides feeding off each other. Obviously when the defense comes out and gives up chunk plays, several in a row, it just creates a very negative environment for both sides of the ball. So both sides have got to step up, and we've got to get a whole lot better. Because I do believe we have a chance to be better. I do believe that for sure, but we've got to do it. It doesn't matter what I say or think. We've got to use this time to really improve, and whether that's making changes at certain positions, whatever it takes to get our guys in certain position to execute those plays and do the things we need to do to win football games in this conference. Because obviously, Maryland's a good football team. I give them a lot of credit. They've got an excellent quarterback and a lot of talent, so hats off to them. And I definitely believe we played one of the top teams in the Big Ten, without question. But at the same time, we didn't play good enough."

On what is causing defensive breakdowns...

Allen: "I thought two of the first ones were more fundamental of just playing vertical routes with our eyes and two different players that made those mistakes. So obviously the film's going to really tell me more of that in terms of the trend piece and all, but they definitely put you in a lot of conflicts vertically and with the way they structure things, but at the same time, we're disappointed in the way we played those. Didn't expect that to happen. I really expected it to be a four-quarter battle in my mind going in, but at the same time it did not unfold that way. So I just got to go look at that without question. I've got to do a really hard evaluation of our defense to be able to help us not give up those explosive plays. To me, as long as you don't give up those explosive plays, it gives you a fighting chance."

On message to quarterback Tayven Jackson when he replaced him with Brendan Sorsby...

Allen: "Well, the bottom line is we just needed a spark. We were looking for something obviously. We've got two quarterbacks that have proven they can play, and we felt like Brendan has earned the right to have that opportunity. So he knows. You've got to play well if you want to continue to play your position. Everybody's in that same boat. So the bottom line is Brendan went in there and made some plays, but obviously they had some guys subbed out as well. So it's just about what we've got to do to get this team better. So he understands he's got to perform to be able to be in that position."

On how he can keep team morale high after recent struggles...

Allen: "Yeah, I think you rely on the leadership of your guys, the character of the guys in that room and be able to grab certain guys individually before we went in the locker room and then said what I said. But it's about understanding the big picture of where we're at and where we want to be and the time that we have. We have a lot of football ahead of us. That's a reality. That's true. And we've got a week here to be able to get better, and that's the focus. So the whole objective will be to improve ourselves fundamentally, get better schematically and make sure we've got the right guys in the right spots. So the bottom line is we've got a lot of character in that room, and I expect the guys to continue to battle and fight and just keep getting better."