The IU football program saw its historic season come to a close on Friday night with a 27-17 loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff.
Indiana finishes the season 11-2.
Below is everything IU football offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and defensive coordinator Bryant Haines said following the loss.
Mike Shanahan; Offensive Coordinator
Q: Kurtis Rourke, his struggles through first three-quarters of the game, what do you attribute to that, them getting pressure, him not feeling comfortable in the pocket? What did you see from Kurtis tonight?
MIKE SHANAHAN: I thought we actually did a pretty good job of protection for most of the game. They made it really challenging on you to get completions and get him in rhythm.
I think we had a drop early on on an RPO. And credit to Notre Dame’s defensive backs. That’s a really good unit, one of the better units we faced all year long. And we weren’t able to win some of those 50/50 contested catches that we knew we were going to have to win a good amount of those in this game to have success.
Again, credit to Notre Dame. They challenged us and they got the better of us on those kind of throws.
Q: I know that everyone — you respected Notre Dame’s defensive line, but tonight they just looked quicker as opposed to out-manning the offensive line and causing those problems they were causing for Kurtis.
MIKE SHANAHAN: That’s a good unit. They’re just a really good defense. They did some movement stuff up front. They were blitzing one or two backers a lot throughout the game as well.
And I thought we cracked some runs. It made it hard whenever we got behind schedule. And we were trying to run the ball at times on third down to get us in a fourth-and-manageable or obviously we felt like those runs could convert as well.
It was a combination of some of the movement and the blitzing that they had in their plan. And I thought we were a little bit inconsistent in picking that it up at times. But I know our guys up front battled. They made it hard on us, they really did.
Q: Not asking you to second-guess necessarily, but you guys have been so good at getting Kurtis in that rhythm that you talk about, especially with the RPOs, letting him make those decisions and just get a good feel of the game. As a play caller, what’s the difficulty in maybe the balance in a game like this where you see your quarterback’s not in rhythm between persisting with what’s gotten him all season versus trying to change something up, trying to throw something different at them, maybe seeing if that maybe breaks his funk.
MIKE SHANAHAN: All year long, we tried to have that good balance of RPOs but run at runs where he might be reading somebody or we’re using a receiver in motion to block, the extra hat in the box and create misfits.
Along with RPOs, along with the quick game, along with us trying to throw the ball down the field and create explosive plays in that way, that was our plan in this game as well.
I thought Kurtis made some good decisions. The D line batted one or two of his passes away where he had guys open, and that’s sort of the give and takes at times that you have.
But I felt like Kurtis was seeing it well out there on the field. I thought he was making the right decision. There may have been one or two throughout the game, especially early on. But once he got settled in, I didn’t think his decision-making was the issue at all.
Again, they did a good job switching up their coverages. Just when we thought we had something, then they would change it up. And that was that cat-and-mouse game that we were playing?
Q: You guys got the interception and the pass to Elijah early on and got down in the red zone. Went pretty quick on the next play and he threw the pick. Looked like there was double coverage there. Did you mean to go that quick? And what did you see and what happened on the interception?
MIKE SHANAHAN: Part of our plan was to change up the tempos. And that’s something that we do every game. And you just want to keep the defense on their heels. If I remember correctly, I think they subbed — they were in their third down defense, and we were trying to catch them in a substitution after a big play.
Kurtis, I think, the first read was there. He worked through the progression. And he has made that throw a thousand times, a little bit off the target. And No. 0, he’s been making great plays all year long for those guys. And he made another great catch.
That was the one thing about that first half. We had the ball, I think, in the red zone twice. Came away with three points. And against a good team like this you’ve got to capitalize on those things.
Q: You mentioned red zone, but you guys were at the 50 or in Notre Dame territory four drives in that first half. What did they do to prevent you from getting into scoring zones or making the most of those opportunities?
MIKE SHANAHAN: I think it refers back to the question earlier. The D line created some penetration. We were trying to establish the run which we were doing a good job of. We had some runs come out early in the first half. And whenever we went back to it, maybe it was a one-yard gain or they were in the backfield for a TFL. Kind of got off schedule there, and weren’t able to overcome whenever we got behind the chains.
Again, credit to their defense and their plan. Yeah, that was tough whenever we couldn’t capitalize on good field position.
Q: Big picture, with everything this team accomplished this season, how should this team be remembered?
MIKE SHANAHAN: I hope they’re remembered for the way they played all year long and not just this one game. But I know that these guys have really battled and I think you saw that there in the fourth quarter. There was no give-up.
And just really proud of the way they came in and approached their work all year long. It was a really fun group to coach. Everybody bought in.
But I guess the record and the history books kind of speak for themselves. And hopefully they’re a team that’s remembered for a long time.
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Bryant Haines; Defensive Coordinator
Q: Bryant, it seemed like there were a lot of moments when the pressure almost gets there and either Leonard slips away, gets the ball out, a tough catch somewhere. Did you feel like it was kind of one where a lot of the plays that you’ve been making that have set teams really far behind the chains this season were kind of just maybe an inch a little too far away at times tonight?
BRYANT HAINES: Yeah, that’s exactly how I felt. I thought the guys competed, played hard.
All credit to Notre Dame. That’s a good football team. I thought that quarterback played really well. I thought he would make a few errors here and there. But he didn’t seem to. He seemed composed. And, like you said, we weren’t able to rattle him. We didn’t get home — we came close to getting home.
Especially against a good athlete, getting close to getting home just wasn’t enough. He wasn’t affected and stood in the pocket, delivered the throws he needed to throw and took what we gave him. He was very composed and had a great game.
Q: Along that same theme, I mean, I think it was 5 of 7 in third down in the first half. How demoralizing is that? And how tough is it to come back from the demoralizing effect when Leonard is able to make plays with his legs and keep third down drives alive?
BRYANT HAINES: That’s the most frustrating thing that you can do have to a defense is they keep the drive going. They did a good job staying on schedule. Some of the third downs were third-and-three and third-and-four. Those are a little tougher to win than your third-and-11 and third-and-12s. They stayed in rhythm and kept us on the field. We got a little bit tired and just didn’t make the plays we had to make.
But yeah, credit goes to them. That’s a really good football team. I was probably maybe a hair more conservative than, looking back, wish I would have been. Maybe I should have brought that one extra guy. Maybe that would have been the difference.
Q: When you’re looking at a team like Notre Dame or even back to that loss against Ohio State, what’s the biggest difference in your eyes between teams like that and a team like your Indiana team right now?
BRYANT HAINES: The thing I notice is the margin for error is just so small. They get the ball on the minus-2-yard line. I put in a simple kind of gapped-out call. I was thinking of being even more aggressive. I was talking to Aiden Fisher; you want to go attack them, maybe we can get two points here?
No, let’s put in a nice conservative call. You misfit it a little bit and the thing rips you for 98 yards and six points. That’s how small the margin for error is against elite teams. I felt that way against Ohio State. I felt that way again tonight.
Q: Did you get a chance to talk to James Carpenter after the game? He’s called for the penalty, obviously not on purpose, mistake. It’s his last game. You’ve been with him forever. What do you tell him? And how tough in that moment just to see it happen to a guy who’s worked so hard for you?
BRYANT HAINES: I’m sure he’s down on himself. I got a chance to give him a quick hug. But I’m sure there’s a lot of emotional guys in the locker room and guys I’ve been with a long time and love.
Do I fault him for making that mistake? No. That guy is going to play as hard as he can possibly play every single snap on the field. How can you hate that? Do I wish he had pulled off? Sure, but I love him for who he is and how hard he plays.
Q: How do you manage the emotions of a year where you re-energize a town, completely change a mindset and then ultimately end like this?
BRYANT HAINES: I think you just try to build off of it. I think what we have here is a foundation. I think that — I told some of the guys that are hurting in that locker room, like, we built something here. This is a building block. This is a foundation that’s laid. And now the standards are up.
I’m just proud. I’m proud of the unit. And I’m bummed about tonight, they’re bummed about tonight. We could have done a lot of things better. But it doesn’t take away from what we’ve accomplished. It’s the first step to many.
Q: The season on the whole you had a lot of really good performances, holding Nebraska to, I think, one score, shut out Purdue, number of other things. Why do you think you guys played at the level you did this year? And is this a level that you can tell future recruits, this is how you do it at Indiana?
BRYANT HAINES: To your last question, that’s 100 percent what I’m going to tell recruits. I’m going to say this is Indiana football, Indiana defense. Do you want to be a part of this? We stop the run. We harass quarterbacks.
Tonight doesn’t change that. Yeah, that’s what I’m going to tell recruits. Just thankful for the season along the way — the ups and the downs, and just a good season overall.
I’m bummed about the night, again. But credit to Notre Dame. They did the things they needed to do. We just couldn’t make the plays we had to.
Q: What would you remember most about this team, this group of players? And what should, I guess, fans remember most about this team?
BRYANT HAINES: That’s a good one. There’s a lot of good memories there. I think I’ll look back and just remember how much they’ve changed things. And, again, this is coming from a guy that was here before. I was in those locker rooms. I was at Indiana. I know what it meant to be an Indiana football player in 2012. It’s a different era now, and these guys changed it forever.
Q: You said you were a little bit more conservative than you wanted to be. Did you go into the game wanting to be aggressive, and then it sort of changed based on how the game was going? Or how would you explain that?
BRYANT HAINES: I mean, that’s exactly it. In my mind I saw a chance of being aggressive. But, again, a lot of it for me is the flow of the game. Whether it be like how was the offense doing? What’s the field position? I wanted to be aggressive against Ohio State. Maybe they get the ball on the 30-yard line. That changes things. There’s some situational football in there.
But I guess, all said and done, looking back at it, especially on third down, I had intentions of being a little more aggressive. But that 35 seconds goes fast. You’ve got to come up with a call, put it all together. And hindsight is 20/20.
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