Bill Lynch Press Conference

Here is the script from this afternoon’s press conference from iuhoosiers.com

HEAD COACH Bill Lynch

Opening Statement:
“To start off, I would like to congratulate Ben Chappell on being Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. I thought he was very deserving. He played a really good football game.

“I thought overall as a team we were solid. There are things that when you break it down and look at and realize we could do better, and we need to as we go through the year. I thought Ben’s play and the play of the wide receivers was really good. From [Damarlo] Belcher to [Tandon] Doss to [Terrance] Turner to Duwyce Wilson – I thought they played very well.

“I thought in the middle part of the game our defense played well. I don’t think we started out really well and I don’t think we finished the game in the way we would like to. So that is certainly something that we need to work on.

“I thought much like the opener, we were pretty good about not turning the ball over after the second offensive play, we were good with the ball. For the most part, we didn’t have too many penalties and our kicking game was solid. Those are all things early in the year that shows itself every Saturday as you watch college football or see the replays. Those situations usually have a lot to do with the game.

“I do think this week is a challenge. Akron is a good football team, they just haven’t won. I think that sometimes when you don’t get to watch the tape and all you do is read the scores, you get a perception of exactly what a team is all about. But they’re a good, solid football team and very well coached. They’re starting over with a new staff and that’s always a tough situation. Both sides of the ball, though, I like what they’re doing.
“We have not played real well against the MAC teams recently and I think our players understand that. Two years ago, when Ball State and Central Michigan came in here and last year we had to force a fumble late in the fourth quarter against Western Michigan, so I have a lot of respect for the MAC schools. Every year they knock off a couple Big Ten teams and they have another opportunity this weekend. We have a lot of respect for them and as most of you know, so many of us are from that conference and understand the competiveness in that league.

“We have our work cut out for us and we must continue to get better. We have to continue to run the football better. I think that is something that is vital and there are times in games when you have to run the ball when they know you are going to run the ball, and that’s when you have to be good at it. It’s not just a matter of taking what the defense gives you and if they are going to play a lot of coverage then you can run the ball. There are a lot of times in games that the really good football teams can will their way to run the football. And the same way on defense. You have to be able to stop the run in real critical situations in any football game. Those are two things that we will put a lot of emphasis in throughout the week.

“On offense and defense, we still need to get better in third-down conversions. We were much better offensively but when we did get stopped, it was in running situations. Defensively, I think we were 5-of-11 but we have to be better than that as we move forward; same thing in the red zone. We can’t settle for field goals and if we do, we have to make those field goals and defensively we have to force field goals – we can’t let people score touchdowns.

“There are a lot of areas for improvement and our guys understand that in the way they go about their work, and I’m confident we’ll have that kind of week as we get ready. It’s good to be back home. I think it will be a great atmosphere at night and I think our students will really respond to that, which makes it a great environment. Having not been home since Sept. 2, it’s almost a full month, so we’re looking forward to a great crowd and I’m certainly encouraging fans to come out.”

On improving the running game:
“It’s not if we get this one thing solved we’ll be running the ball better. I like what we’re doing but we’re not looking to put in new plays or new formations, we just have to execute better. We’re close. When you break down the tape, and that’s one of the advantage we have with all the technology now and the end zone look, we see how close we really are. But close doesn’t get it done. And close gets you a 1-yard gain when you should get a 6-yard gain. So that’s where we have to continue to improve and we’ll get there. Our guys are willing to work at it and I think this week will be important for us.”

On whether his trust of Ben’s experience leads to passing more on third down:
“No question about it. We played well offensively. We fumbled the second play of the game and then after that we took a knee at the end of the half and punted because we just ran three plays to run the clock out. Other than that, we didn’t punt and we scored. We played well offensively but we have to continue to get better as we play a team on Saturday and weeks down the road. And there’s no question that we are a very good passing team and I think we knew that in the offseason. I don’t like being called a passing team or running team. I’ve always thought that you’re at your best when you have balance and you can do either one. Right now we don’t have the balance that we need in our offense.”

LARRY BLACK, JR.

On how the defense is coming along:
“Right now I feel like we’re starting to come together more. The first couple of games, those are always a little edgy but you start to adjust as games start rolling. I feel like we’re all starting to come together, and we’re all closer and we’re all starting to buy in and know our roles better. We have a lot of new faces and they’re learning each day, just like some of the older guys are. Each day they are getting better and making steps. It helps out the defense a lot with each guy continuing to get better.”

On returning to the week-by-week grind:
“That bye week was rough. Like Coach said, we had practiced and it felt like a spring practice where you couldn’t look forward to playing another opponent. Now we have Akron, Michigan and Ohio State. Now we have something to look forward to on Saturdays and that helps a lot.”

Ben Chappell

On winning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors:
“It’s a great honor. We’re going week-by-week, so I guess that means I had a good week and I will try to do it again next week.”

On the game at Akron last year:
“It kind of felt like the Western Kentucky game last week. Somebody said it to me after the game. It was our first road game last year and a similar stadium. They have a whole new staff so obviously they are going to be a different team, and it is week-by-week so we have to treat everyone like they’re the best team on our schedule.”

On Akron’s changes this year:
“I watched a little bit yesterday and they’re a lot different. Last year they were a 3-3 stack and multiple fronts. This year they seem to be more cover-4, 4-down…at least that’s what they’ve shown so far. They’re similar to Western Kentucky scheme-wise, secondary-wise, so we’ll see and obviously get into it more as the week progresses.”