Indiana Head Coach Kevin Wilson Postgame Quotes

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Coach Wilson Press Conference: Indiana Vs. Virginia September 10, 2011

On the energy seen in the second half:

“I thought we had energy in the first half, but we just had a few errors. Right before the first half, we let a guy bust through our coverage for a big play that got them some points. We did not block anyone on one kick return and we fumbled the kick, which was huge. We talked about coming out strong all week. I appreciate our young men because I believe they are trying to do what we ask, which was evident last week. There were some things they needed to bring out this week and I thought they brought it. We got to the point in the past where we were used to these games going south. We bowed up and got into a street fight in the end. We had a chance to win, but we did not execute or call the right plays every time.”

On the Edward Wright-Baker sack at the end of the game:

“It came down to a play call I actually made. Basically we had a five-man protection and they brought three guys from the boundary. Ed has to see and feel that we are one short on protection. We blocked it somewhat properly in that we stopped the two most dangerous guys. As it turned out, the play was a critical error. We were not trying to run a two-minute drill necessarily or play too fast. The first play of the drive was an incomplete pass and the second play we ran out of bounds. Both of those plays were run to stop the clock. Our plan was to try and pick up the first down and if we made it to midfield, we planed to either run the two-minute offense or go to overtime. The clock stopped on both plays, unfortunately, which gave them more time. In the end they did not need that time. We were simply trying to pick up the third down with a five-man protection and they made a nice adjustment on their part. They put Ed in a bad situation and he did not handle it that well, but part of the play comes down to my play call.”

On what he took away most from the game:

“We lost. We had a few errors where we could play a little better. As coaches, we decided to run a fake or take three points there. We wanted to stay aggressive and now it has been two weeks in a row where we are trying to be aggressive, but the plays have not worked yet. We will keep taking a look at it. Actually, we took the delay to try and bait Virginia into thinking we were going to kick. That was by design. We took the penalty to make it seem like we were moving back to kick to set the fake up even more. That imploded, which cost us three points. As you look at the game management, I have to continually look to see if I am putting us in good spots. We gained in the kicking game tonight. We played a great second half. For one, we started with a great bootleg pass. Virginia’s very good defensive end came off of our tight end and Ed could not quite throw with the right velocity leading to a turnover. We had two turnovers, but to me I do like the fact that our team battled back.”

On the defensive improvement from last week:

“I thought for the most part, we came through on schedule. We were better in the running game getting off blocks and not letting them get four, five or six yards consistently. We got them in some passing situations. Many of those plays were made because I felt our pass rush was better. Sometimes the quarterback did not have a lot of time to read or set on his back foot. Our guys made a few individual plays, but I think our overall group defensive effort was better across the board. We have to continue to play better because giving up 30 points is not good. We will look at the two-minute drive at the end from planning and scheming to put us in better situations. We will keep looking and growing as coaches. I have a lot of respect for our players in everything they have invested in since we have been here and the way they come back. We are just asking them right now to maintain unbelievable attitude and to keep bringing effort as we are cleaning up our side of the ball as coaches. I think as coaches we can do a lot better to help our players out.”