What Indiana’s head coach, defensive coordinator said about Penn State ahead of Saturday’s matchup
Indiana defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said he didn’t meant to “discredit” Penn State’s other receiving targets — but there are two threats his secondary is focusing on this week.
Wideout KJ Hamler and tight end Pat Freiermuth.
“KJ Hamler, his explosiveness, the way they use him in one-on-one matchups — I think that’s something we have to be aware of at all times with what we’re doing defensively,” Wommack said Monday during Indiana’s weekly press conference with head coach Tom Allen and the coordinators.
“At the same time, I think their tight end Patrick Freiermuth ... is a very talented tight end in one-on-ones. He’s dynamic; he’s one of the best tight ends in our league. I think he’s an NFL tight end that creates one-on-one matchups.”
Hamler and Freiermuth have been staples of the Nittany Lions’ passing offense all season, and that was especially evident Saturday. In the 31-26 loss to Minnesota, Freiermuth was constantly targeted on key downs — converting four third downs and a fourth down — and finished with seven catches for a career-high 101 receiving yards. Hamler ended up with 119 receiving yards on seven receptions.
So far this year, the two have combined for 44 percent of the Nittany Lions’ completions, 48 percent of their 2,356 passing yards and 15 of 22 touchdowns.
Head coach Tom Allen, who has a defensive background, also spoke highly of the Nittany Lions’ speedy threat.
“Hamler is as quick as you’re going to see,” Allen said. “He makes a lot of people look silly in space. You don’t want to put one guy — you better have more guys there than just one, or else it’s going to be a long day.”
Statistically, this will be the most prolific passing offense the Hoosiers have faced all year. Of IU’s eight FBS opponents, four were ranked No. 100 or worse in passing offense — and none were ranked within the top 50. (Ohio State is No. 56.)
Penn State, on the other hand, is ranked No. 40 by averaging more than 260 passing yards per game.
“We’ve got some talented DBs as well, but they’re going to be tested for sure — probably more than they have been in a while,” Allen said.
Here’s everything else Allen and Wommack had to say about Penn State during their weekly press conferences Monday. (Offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer also addressed Indiana reporters but almost exclusively stuck to discussing just his offense.)
HC Tom Allen
(Opening statement on his initial impressions on Penn State)
Great opportunity for the Hoosiers this week as we head to Penn State to take on a very, very good football team. Coach (James) Franklin has done a tremendous job there building the roster, building the level of play that they are at right now, their level of expectation they have. Fully aware of the series, where we’re at with them, how challenging it has been to play Penn State over the years, especially at their place. We’ll have a very big challenge/opportunity for our football team.
Got off to a good start this week. Fully aware of the talent they have on their roster. Done a tremendous job of recruiting. Every year we play them, they get better and better. No different this year. Very, very athletic on both sides of the football. Really best line of scrimmage play I’ve seen out of them on both sides since I’ve been here, best speed as a group. Very, very talented football team that we’re going to be facing this weekend.
(On whether he’s talked to his team about the last game at Penn State, when Indiana fell behind 28-0 in the first quarter, and his thoughts on QB Sean Clifford)
To your first question, no. I’ve tried to forget about that quarter. But at the same time you talk about starting fast. We did a lot of extra work today on special teams. That was a rough, rough start. Probably not going to bring that up to our guys, except if they watch this press conference right now.
Other than that, I feel like the Clifford kid is just a really, really tough competitor. That’s where he’s so much like (Trace) McSorley, who was such a tough kid, competitor, always found ways. Can beat you with his legs, arm. He’s a very, very talented guy. (Clifford’s) a little different. Everybody has their own skill sets they have as players. He has a very, very talented cast around him in both the running back room and tight ends, receivers.
I think the thing that stands out to me is their offensive line is just better than they’ve had. Every game getting better and better. That’s a tribute to their coaching staff, how they coach them, recruit.
He’s a really good football player. Probably didn’t play his best game of his season last week, but those things happen. I’m sure he’ll bounce back.
Any time a guy can run it like that, he’s a tough kid that takes a lot of hits but never seems to get dinged up, which we all know in this day and age can be hard to keep your quarterback healthy if you’re going to run him a little bit. Does a good job throwing the football on the perimeter, down the field. They do a lot of things to put you in a lot of conflicts schematically. They do a great job with that.
It’s a talented offense, no question about it. They create a lot of issues for you. You better tackle well in space. You better be disciplined, better handle their size and mass in the core, which is a big improvement for them over the last few years. That’s why they’re playing really good football.
He stepped right in there and really hasn’t missed a whole beat there, what they’re trying to accomplish as an offense.
(On the challenge Penn State’s receivers provide Indiana’s secondary)
Quite a few. Speed is what everybody wants. The game is played in so much space now. Both laterally they stretch you out, vertically, trying to create those one-on-ones, try to win those, make guys miss. You’re trying to get as many guys, hats, to the ball as you can. When the quarterback is a runner, too, that makes it more difficult to defend. He is (a runner), obviously.
Yeah, I mean, it’s tough. It’s a tough system that you have to defend. I mean, (KJ) Hamler is as quick as you’re going to see. He makes a lot of people look silly in space. You don’t want to put one guy — you better have more guys there than just one or else it’s going to be a long day.
But then you do too much on one guy, they got others around him to hurt you for that. A lot of challenges. We just got to do a great job of being very disciplined, trying to do some really good things schematically to give ourselves a chance to be successful with those talented receivers.
We’ve got some talented DBs as well, but they’re going to be tested for sure, probably more so than they have been in a while. It’s going to take a team effort, all three phases playing together, complementary football, winning football, being able to be at our very, very best. That’s what it’s going to take.
DC Kane Wommack
(Opening statement on his first impressions of Penn State’s offense)
Obviously we’re going against a very talented football team that executes at a very high level. Obviously, I’m sure they were disappointed in their loss the other day; two very good teams. I thought Minnesota did some great things, played very hard against them, executed well and ultimately Penn State came up a little bit short. But they’re both really good football teams, and that’s probably how that game was going to go — a toss-up right there until the end.
I think Penn State does a really nice job of utilizing their personnel in the right way. I think they’ve got dynamic players on the outside. Certainly KJ Hamler, his explosiveness, the way they use him in one-on-one matchups — I think that’s something we have to be aware of at all times with what we’re doing defensively. At the same time, I think their tight end Patrick Freiermuth — I’m probably jacking that name up — but he is a very talented tight end in one-on-ones. Did I jack it up? [Told it’s pronounced Fryer-mewth.] Close enough. Nailed it; way to go. I think he’s dynamic; he’s one of the best tight ends in our league. I think he’s an NFL tight end that creates one-on-one matchups. He can body people up, and they do a nice job of finding ways to get him the ball. They certainly know he’s a feature player, and they use him as such.
And you look at their backfield — I don’t know if they have any one player that necessarily is their guy. But they just have a good stable of backs — Noah Cain and Journey Brown and Devyn Ford — all those guys are good players who hit the hole well. I think Journey Brown has that second gear where he can create that explosive play, as he did early in the Minnesota game. I thought he did a nice job of bouncing it outside and going.
And you look at it, Sean Clifford, he has more carries than any of them. He’s got 77 attempts right now, and certainly some of those are scrambles and what not. But he has moved the ball effectively, particularly in key situations, they find ways to get the ball in his hand. Kind of that one-plus offensive mentality and getting him the stutter-read or zone-read or whatever it may be. And he’s effective with the ball in his hands, so we have be be aware of that.
(On his comfort level with putting one of his CBs on an island with Hamler)
I think you go with a few different plans, right? You have your contingency plans, you have what you do against him and then what you have to answer against him. I think we’ll do a good job of mixing it up. I don’t think we can give any one look from a coverage standpoint because I do think Sean Clifford does a good enough job of being decisive in some of his coverages and reads and things, and he can rope it out there. He’s got a good arm, all that kind of stuff. So we have to do a good job of mixing coverages, also being aware of where 1 (Hamler) and 87 (Freiermuth) are. And not to discredit some of the receivers, but I think it’s always our job to take away their greatest threats.
(On the confidence of his defense and whether it’s up to the task against PSU)
I think we’re certainly capable of going in there. We’ve seen some big environments on the road. To go get a Nebraska win when, in the first half, everything was quote-unquote going wrong. So for our guys to be able to settle in in that environment and turn it back around and play as well as they played at the end, and those critical stops, I think the experience of that is phenomenal for us.
This is a very good team. They have talent. They have talent in different positions so you can’t just say, “We’re going to take KJ Hamler away” because they have other guys they can get the ball to. I think this will be a phenomenal challenge for our football team, and time will tell if we’re able to step up to that challenge. But I’m excited to go play.
