Ryan Walters Indiana State Post-Game (8/31/24)

Ryan obviously first game a lot of things to like um very little probably the dis like seven different guys begin to touchdown as fast and physical as you were on defense kind of what are the takeaways from today that Propel you into a by week and then obviously a much tougher opponent down the road yeah I think today just you know I feel like we expected to this type of outcome um so nobody was was surprised by it I thought like we just did what we were supposed to do um you know we've been harping on especially you know first game everybody's pressing to make plays so just doing your job and that's what has gotten you to play efficient up to this point you know from Spring ball and fall Camp um I thought they did that offense defense special teams for the for the most part um taking care of the football was the other thing we were harping on obviously you know we put one on the ground early um but recovered from that um you know I thought the defense answered the Bell when that happened and sort of taking away the momentum um and then the third thing was just respecting the game you know we we've been harping on you know no matter who our opponent is we don't we're not worried about logos or who they are this is nameless faceless opponents um and playing our brand of football regardless of what the score is or who the opponent is and in respecting the preparation respecting the way you study and watch film respecting the way you practice and then ultimately coming out here on game day and respecting your opponent by playing as hard as you can I felt like we played uh really hard for four quarters yeah Ryan you got a comment I guess on Hudson C you know 24 25 to four touchdowns um I know I got to call Kyle and and apologize for breaking the record and just just did you think he was going to be this dialed in I mean it's obviously a good sign of things to come you hope moving forward here right yeah I think you know again I'm not surprised cuz you know he's been doing this really since uh Spring ball you know I've been talking about how how much more comfortable he is how much more confident he is um and not only the scheme and knowing what we're doing offens on offense but just as a leader and and embracing his role as the quarterback of this team um you know I've anticipated a big jump from year one to year two and it's only one game but you know I've seen that that type of jump in Spring ball and in Fall Camp um you know was was proud of the offensive line for protecting him and like you said we had you know seven different guys scor touchdowns today you know the ball was spread around spread around a lot to a lot of different receivers tight ends and running backs um so I thought all those guys did a good job of of doing their job R when you look over the guys who made an impact in this game or had moments in this game it's a lot of seconde guys sophomores freshman and not not just leading the game either is that GI with what you've been expecting from this season team either through you on Camp or just what you expecting overall from this second year group yeah it is it is what I've expected um like I like I said you know it's I know it's different for you guys cuz you haven't seen the team since uh the IU game last year right um but but we've seen the majority of the roster since January uh so the things that they're doing it's not it's not unique to them anymore um so this I think you can expect the guys that played well today to continue to play well um because they approach the they approach their craft the right way um and they play football the right way and so you hopefully this is just a a sign of things to continue to come Ryan the first game with the helmet communication today how did that go and how different is it compared to signaling in from the sideline like you wouldn't pass um it it went okay today there was a there were some technical difficulties kind of throughout with just guys be able to he not here um and then I thought uh I thought Indiana state did a good job of of huddling on offense and waiting until you know it's it's past that 15sec Mark to to break the Huddle um so you you know you still got to be able to signal and and operate the way you want to operate on offense and defense um I thought Graham did a good job of communicating with the quarterbacks pre- snap and just kind of giving them Clues on what to to be looking for um and you know we'll Contin to massage it and and improve and use it efficiently as the season goes on hey coach um with the landscape of college football now with transfers making such an immediate impact lot of transfers out there for Peru today talk about Joey too's growth when just a couple years ago he didn't think he'd be able to play again and he's making his appearance here for the for the boy makers today yeah you know really proud of Joey you talk about resiliency uh he embodies that um you know when we got here in January you could tell he hadn't played football in a long time you know he he was really down in his weight um you know he would he would get sore through workouts U but you know he's a Brazilian guy that really loves football and um you know he has put his head down went to work and hasn't complain about anything um which is why he's 300 plus pounds now and and been able to give us some some quality significant minutes um and he's got a lot of ball to left to play you still young gu so I'm happy to sell our uh coach the offense put up almost 50 points today defense held the other team to zero so which side of the ball impressed you the most well I think the the the thing I I I don't know about which side impressed me the most because it was still there were still areas of the game where it was got sloppy um you know you look at the the stat sheet and you know we had 11 penalties to there two and like that that can't happen um if we want to continue to have success on game days and you know look at the tape I thought you know some of them were judgment calls that could have went either way um and some some of them wer so some of them were just a result of bad technique and fundamentals and uh being lazy so we'll correct that yeah coach um you always want to get your in free tell us what you can looks like he got through injury free today and then sorry what was the first part just injury free you got through the game free and just also just and what your plans are for this offway you got two weeks now to prepare for Notre Dame yeah um like you said for the most part we were we got a couple guys that had you know little it's football right and so especially anytime you're going live you're going to have some some bumps and bruises um but I am happy that we have a bye uh next week you know wanting to continue to improve on to know some of our our technique and fundamentals um and learn from some of the mistakes we made today uh also to to get back healthy and and add some guys that that were out today um and so that we can really get going cuz the the season is is here for real for real now um you know the from a scheduling standpoint we'll we'll get in tomorrow and and watch the tape and put the game to bed guys will work out um and so we'll make some corrections uh tomorrow on Monday they'll have off on Tuesday um you know they'll work out we'll we'll get out there and practice probably do some some good on good just to continue to work on speed of the game um introduce some early Downs uh from Notre Dame uh Wednesday will be a a more Notre Dame Centric practice while still getting some good on good work um and then Thursday we will be a lighter day but uh all Notre Dame we'll get them Friday Saturday off and then Sunday we'll have a Tuesday tight practice um for the Notre Dame week and then off Monday and then on the game we just want to get your reaction to uh the two true freshman who started today what you saw from from both them tan and Shamar and what they were able to accomplish and having success maybe in in the debut yeah um you know like like I said earlier just about all the guys like I saw what I've been seeing you know in Fall camp we got both those guys here in June you know both of them physically don't look like freshman and they don't they don't play or practice like freshman either um and that's both from a physical and a mental standpoint you know anytime you can you can be a starter game one as a a true freshman that means like you you are fully comfortable with the game plan fully comfortable with the adjustments within the game plan um that's hard to do and especially when we didn't have them in the spring so that just is a testament to you know one how how much Affinity they they both have for learning um and two our our staff has prepared them knowing that they're in our best 11 from a a talent standpoint so getting them up to speed so that you were not hindered on what we can call on game day and you know we saw both of those guys um play really well I thought Shamar also blocked really well on the perimeter he swung some runs um and I thought teron played tough and physical you know he got beat on the angle route early um and they tried to run it again and he was all over it you just as a a testament to the type of learner he is and you know Sky's limit for both of those guys and I'm happy as heck that that they uh play for us ran leveland Smith was a late addition to this class and a guy who had been at Fullerton College big wide receiver had a big day nice about a catch blocks a punt what was it about him that you felt like we have to make room for another guy in the signing class well we we uh we have been recruiting him for a while he just he didn't graduate until later so um but you know he's 6'4 220 and and is one of the probably top five gu fastest guys in the team um and so like you know he's he's been doing that kind of stuff you know in Fall Camp um and you know any time you got a a bigger guy and you Corner pressed up and you're checking fade you know the odds are are in your favor especially when hudie was is throwing the ball the way he's throwing it so um was happy he was able to get out there also got a block punt today um it was funny cuz uh coach patrelli last night he said to the whole special team Jor like I've seen it Le I've seen it you're going to block a pun I don't know if it's tomorrow or when it's going to be but you're going to block a pun sure was sure was today so um you know coach's start calling the profit yeah Ryan can you talk just real quick about special teams your impressions overall yeah um you know I got to go back and look at that the kickoff return they had they're late you know what what was the issue but I thought I thought um you know we clean from a substitution standpoint um you know Spencer didn't have an opportunity to kick a field goal but um thought he the ball was coming off his foot and the p as well I thought um Ben free Hill did a nice job you know putting most of them through the end zone um thought uh kelin did a heck of a job as a as a the punter today and and giv us good Hang Time and and good ball locations I thought we protected protected him well um you know I think we got the best SP teams coordinator in the country and you know those guys play hard for me uh president Chang was at practice yesterday what did he have to say to the team he he he fired us up you know he was you guys know him he's he's full of energy and um a brilliant uh public speaker so he in his own way he got us he got us motivated any more questions for Coach Sam you mentioned about having to call uh Kyle Orton about the the record going down but that top five list is Five Guys who started in the NFL was that a pitch to Hudson when you're trying to get a quarterback he like hey this school produces NFL caliber quarterbacks over and over yeah it helps that he's from Austin and so is Drew Brees you know so there was some understanding of sort of the history here at that position um and you know it's our job to to try to make him part of that that uh you know that crew that um that that tradition here so you know good start the opportunity to kick a field goal never presented itself today but poath obviously handled all the PS how are you going to approach field goals if that didn't come up and and guess what's the situation yeah I mean Spencer would have handled the the um field goals and the B right now is handling the uh the kid any more questions for Coach all right thanks coach players hold on I got to shout out um Ross eight again this is this was the largest season opening crowd since 2005 um and again like they continue to blow blow me away right I don't know how many how many schools across the country coming off in 48 year playing an FCS opponent would have that type of uh crowd and so we appreciate you guys we're working on tell off for you guys and Bo awesome thank you