Post-Game Quotes

From iuhoosiers.com

Indiana Head Coach Bill Lynch

Opening Statement:
“It was a good win for our football team. I say that and I wish it didn’t get quite as crazy at the end, but we knew going into this game that this was a good football team that we were playing. Their quarterback is good and they’ve got some skill guys on offense. They’ve got a big offensive line. Defensively, they’ve got some very good defensive backs and they play a lot of man coverage. We knew that you’re not going to move the ball up and down the field with them, but eventually you’re going to get some big hits and that’s what happened. Eventually we had some big plays, but it was a struggle.

“I thought there were parts of our kicking game that were very good. Mitch Ewald, I thought, was outstanding. He had three big field goals, some extra points, and in all honesty, saved some touchdowns on the kickoff returns by making the guy redirect. We’ve got to get the coverage straightened out and we will. All in all, after two tough losses it’s really a joy to get back to the winning side and we’ve got a bunch of happy guys in that locker room. We’ve got a tough stretch starting Saturday, but we’re going to build off a win as we get ready for Illinois.”

On the offensive production:
“I think Trea Burgess played well. It was too bad for him that he had the fumbles at the end, but all in all I thought he played very well. We had some guys get dinged up that couldn’t play so he had to go.

“Ben Chappell’s a pretty good quarterback and that helps. Through the course of the game, with all the man coverage, he zeroed in and hit some big ones. I thought that was important. The offensive line hung in there. We had some new guys playing in there. Damisch hasn’t been around much and then (Josh) Hager went down on the first or second play of the game. (Damisch) had to run out and play tackle and he’s been a guard all year. So I think that’s a real credit to that kid. I thought overall it was a pretty good performance on offense.”

On the importance of getting the win:
“Getting wins in college football is hard. There are good players out there and there are good coaches. There are a lot of things that happen during a football game and sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way. After two tough losses, I thought they practiced hard and I thought they were focused. We didn’t play great throughout the game, but I thought they played hard and they were really into it. It’s a good win for us moving forward.”

On the slow start on offense:
“That really wasn’t all that surprising because of how they play defense with the tight man coverage. When the defense does that, it’s hard to get in a real rhythm like when they’re playing zone and you can kind of pick them apart and move it down the field. We didn’t panic or lose our poise because we felt like eventually we could get something and we did. Duwyce (Wilson) got some, Damarlo (Belcher) got some, Tandon (Doss) got some, and (Max) Dedmond caught that little wheel route down in the corner of the end zone. That was important. I wish we would have finished it off better in the fourth quarter, but when it’s said and done it’s still a win.”

On the play of Duwyce Wilson:
“He’s getting better and better, and he’s playing with some pretty good wide receivers too. Terrance Turner was another one that had a great catch over the top of somebody. Duwyce has steadily improved and he’s going to be a real key for us.”

Mitchell Evans
On the defense adjusting to Arkansas State’s offensive style:
“We knew it was a matter of time before our offense got going and I think our defense came together and proved it. We can step up when we need to and we are not just an offensive team. We were put into some pretty tough situations and I like the way we responded to it.”

On how Arkansas State’s style differed from Big Ten style:
“For the most part, it was plays that we have all seen. A lot of it was their offensive formation and our offense runs that too so we see it every day. They are a pretty good team. Their quarterback (Ryan Alpin) can scramble and he can throw. They had some pretty good wideouts and running backs. They had some good players that were definitely a threat.”

Damarlo Belcher
On his performance:
“Earlier in the game we ran a lot of drive routes and quick plays. They started to sit on it later in the game so we figured we would surprise them with a double move. That worked and we got the touchdown out of it.”

On the offense’s slow start:
“They started to man us up a lot so our goal was to go deep. As a receiver, you like a challenge. They started to add pressure and that’s where a lot of our big plays came from.”

On making a play despite good coverage from Arkansas State:
“We worked on that all week in practice. We know they have good corners and they were very fast. We figured if we beat them off of the line they wouldn’t be able to catch up and we could make big plays.”

On a close victory:
“For me, a win is a win. It doesn’t matter if it’s by two points, five points, six points, it doesn’t matter.”

On the offensive playing well despite major injuries:
“That’s a tough one. We lost Darius [Willis] and a few other players to injuries. But that is the beauty of our offense. We have more depth this year and our second string players that stepped in to make big plays.”

Tyler Replogle
On working with a short field at the end of drives:
“Sometimes you are going to be in tough situations as a defense. What’s important is that we go out there and play.”

On the defense playing well this game:
“As a defense, we like to go out there and play regardless of the field position. It felt good to play well.”

On holding Arkansas State’s offense below their average yardage:
“I haven’t watched the film yet, but I feel like a lot of guys were taking better angles. I don’t believe we had very many missed assignments. I feel like the guys were where they needed to be and that obviously helped us out a lot.”

Ben Chappell
On Arkansas State’s aggressive play:
“That’s what we saw on film and that’s how they came out and played. They challenged us and it took us a little longer than we would have liked to get adjusted to it, but we did get a couple good shots towards the end of the second quarter.”

On taking some physical hits:
“That’s part of playing football. I thought our line did well holding up their section and playing their man and bringing some different stunts. They did well overall and that helps a lot.”

On a high scoring second half:
“We have to win any way we can. That’s what we have to do and that’s what we were able to do, so that is positive.”

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Arkansas State Head Coach Steve Roberts
Opening comments:
“We came up close, but close doesn’t cut it. We had some good opportunities to win the game today in three phases. We did some really good things in all three phases, but we didn’t make enough plays to win the football game. We had opportunities to make stops, but we didn’t get it done. It was a close game, and I have to give Indiana a ton of credit. They played to their strengths, which is their quarterback and wide receivers. They had great coverage at times. Great players make great plays, and they did, so you have to take your hat off to them.”
On the difference in the second half:
“They made great plays. They made great plays in the first half, but we were able to make some stops. They came up close to the red zone, but we didn’t make those same stops in the second half. They had over 200 yards in the first half – it’s not like we were (stopping) them.”

On the turnovers
“Turnovers and big plays that they made were the difference. You can count 50 plays in that game that would have changed the outcome. But the turnovers hurt. We forced some turnovers too and were able to make some points off the turnovers. But again, the turnovers were big. The big plays that we gave up, the big plays that they were able to make, the several opportunities we had the opportunity to put points on the board were big. There’s not a single thing you can point to and say `that cost us the game.'”

On quarterback Ryan Aplin and the receivers:
“(Ryan) played very well for the majority of the game. We just didn’t take care of the football early in the game trying to force some things. I’m proud of our team. We played really hard against a Big Ten opponent and gave ourselves a chance to win. But it comes down to several plays that, if we had made that play, we had a chance to win.”