Rutgers Head Coach Chris Ash
COACH ASH: Obviously disappointed in the outcome of the football game. Thought we had a chance there as we got into the second half. Just didn't make the plays we needed to. Winning is really, really hard, and we've got to pay attention to the details and be able to go out and coach better and help our players execute better.

We've got to be better in special situations and we've got to be better on special teams. Those things right now are hurting us. Hurt us in this football game. Really proud of our players' efforts. They strained. They worked extremely hard in a bye week. They practiced extremely hard this week.

I feel for them, because they are laying it all on the line. I've got to do a better job of coaching them in certain areas. We've got to do a better job of coaching them in all three phases and we've got to do a better job of executing some calls, also, when we are out there on the field.

But love our guys. These guys show up every single day. They show up with a great attitude, great effort. They are playing with a lot of energy. They are trying to stay focused. It's been a tough stretch but they are staying focused and we've just got to be able to go out and make it happen on Saturdays better.

You look at the football game, I thought defensively, it was a major emphasis to stop the run. It was one of our better rushing defensive days. After they came off of rushing for 414 yards or whatever it was last week, that was obviously a major emphasis. It's been a weakness of ours, and we got a lot better in that area. In the pass game, you see that they threw for a lot of yards and they beat us in a lot of one-on-ones, and we are right there and that's what we do. We play an aggressive, tight coverage, and you know, it's about being able to win your one-on-one battles and we were not able to do that consistently today, and obviously the yardage doesn't look good.

Offensively, biggest thing that jumps out is third down. Talk about special situations: We are one of 16 on third down, and the defense was out there a lot and we've got to be able to get some first downs, and that means you've got to be move the six on third down. We did not do that today, and there were a lot of reasons for it; a lot of issues with protections and stuff like that.

And I'll give my credit to Indiana's defense. They played extremely hard, also. They played an outstanding game; to be able to get the turnovers that we were able to get defensively and just not be able to capitalize on all of them was unfortunate, and a lot of that goes to Indiana's defense, gave great effort. We just struggled to get some things going, especially in the second half.

So with that, I'll go ahead and open up for questions.

Q. Obviously it's not all the same game but there's been four where I think you guys were right there, four winnable games; does that compound the frustration that it seems like it's something each week?
COACH ASH: Yeah, I mean, it's frustrating because again, I like our preparation. I like our kids' attitude and their effort. We've just got to get better in a lot of areas, and until we do that, we won't be good enough to win games.

You know, right now, we're not, unfortunately. Does that mean we won't here really soon? No, it doesn't. A lot of people think we're a long ways off. We're not. You look at the Big Ten -- take out the Ohio State, Michigan game, but you look at Iowa, you look at Illinois, you look at Minnesota, you look at Indiana. That's four games that we were really competitive in. Three of those teams will be going to Bowl games probably and we're right there with them.

We're for whatever reason, just not good enough to make plays needed to win games, and that's my job. I've got to get that done.

Q. Were you able to do everything you wanted with Gio or was the hamstring still a limitation this week?
COACH ASH: He was limited still but that's not an excuse. You know, Gio went out there and played his heart out. We just didn't make the play that is we needed to on third down to move the six offensively. Running game struggled a little bit today.

I thought we would run the ball a little bit better than we did, and we struggled with that. It's a combination of just some things up front and some things Indiana was pressuring a lot and we missed some things and didn't block the run game the way we needed to.

We struggled a little in that area but there's nothing that I would like to say Gio could have done this or done that that would have changed the game.

Q. You mentioned the running game. If I'm not mistaken, I think Robert Martin played on special teams?
COACH ASH: He did.

Q. But not in the running game, is that --
COACH ASH: He hasn't in the last couple weeks, he has not taken many reps at running back in practice. You know, we were hoping that he would be healthier. He did play on special teams. Did not at running back but that gets back to reps and practice. He just has not been healthy enough to do that.

Our injured players are in green jerseys and he's been in a green jersey for a few weeks. We've got to get him back healthy. I was hoping that he would be able to do more today but that was not the case but he was able to go and do some things on special teams but the reps have not been there offensively.

Q. Overall performance for Gio?
COACH ASH: Could have played better. I thought he did a decent job on some things. Statistically, it looks like we passed the ball okay, 258 yards. A lot of those were at the end and not necessarily earlier in the second half when we needed plays to be made. And it's not just Gio; he was pressured a lot today. We've got to protect him a lot better.

Q. I know you emphasized it so much, the turnovers, you win the takeaways, four to one, five to one, something like that, when you win, you --
COACH ASH: You like your chances to be a lot better. We did get a lot of takeaways today on defense. We got some interceptions. We got some fumbles. We had a costly one there at the end that we didn't get. They fumbled the ball. We work a lot on fumble recovery. We didn't recover the ball. When we fall on the ball and recover it, and we didn't -- that would have taken a touchdown off the board. They got another play and scored on the very next play.

Again, that's what I'm talking about, the little things that we have to do consistently to try to win football games. They gave us the ball on the ground and we didn't recover it, and it's unfortunate. We had a lot of bodies around it.

Q. How important is it for you to win one of these last three games, in the process of showing that you can win?
COACH ASH: What's important to me is that we go out and play a complete game, and we have yet to do that. If we go out and play a complete game in all three phases, the scoreboard will take care of itself.

That's what I'm focused on is how do we get that done. I'm really disappointed in our special teams again. We missed a field goal, we had a punt block. You can't do those things. We have to be able to play a complete game and that's what we're striving to do.

That's my mission right now is to find out how we get that done, and I'm not focused on the W's. I'm focused on getting our team to play a complete game the way that I think we're capable of playing and if we do that, then we'll win a football game.



Rutgers Defensive Coordinator Jay Niemann On the play of the defense: "It was hot and cold. There were a lot of good things that happened and some not so good. Our challenge is correcting problems, accentuate the things that are good, build on the positives at this point. We need go back and look at the film and see where those things are.

"In the passing game, there were a lot of deep balls, deep shots that were 50-50 balls that we didn't make enough plays on that had a lot to do with the yardage output. I think, and I haven't been able to study the statistics a whole lot, but just a quick peek here. 147 yards rushing, but I think 65 or 70 of those yards came on the very first touchdown. The number is higher than you'd like it to be, but if you look at averages without that play, it's a pretty good play when it comes to rush defense."

On the play of his safeties: "I thought we played and tackled better. Some of the things that went on in the passing game were also tied into the fact of when 12 was in the backfield and a threat to run the football. That pulls one of your safeties down a little bit and in pass coverage, it opens up some things over the top. It becomes a matter of choosing what you're trying to stop and realizing what the weaknesses are that go with that. But I thought we settled down and played better after the first quarter."

On removing Cioffi: "I'm not 100 percent sure to be honest with you whether there was an injury involved there or if Coach Busch felt Kiy might serve a little better at that point in time. That's probably not the answer you're looking for but it's the truth, I'm not 100 percent sure on that."

On the game-winning touchdown by Indiana: "It was Kemoko's guy. The five technique had the back, he was on the same side and the blitz we've been working in practice, we hadn't had any problems with it before, but for some reason the back got around him and we didn't see it in time and obviously threw the touchdown over his head."

On the turnover the play before: "It's very frustrating. We coach these guys when to scoop a ball and when not to and obviously the time not to is when you're in heavy traffic with a lot of people around. Because if you don't get it, it winds up on the ground it becomes a situation where the other team can get it and that's exactly what happened."



Rutgers Offensive Coordinator Drew Mehringer Opening Statement: "When you look at it from the offensive side of the ball, getting ourselves into a third and manageable, being able to effectively run the ball and ID'ing on early down and distances all of the movement Indiana brought affected us and got us in third and long situations. When we got to third down situations, we didn't do a good job of handling pressure. When we did handle pressure, there were a few in there where we had chances to complete balls and convert on third down and we didn't.

"For us, obviously the telling story, especially in that third quarter, was being on third down and not being able to flip the field was the story of ours. It's an execution standpoint and a communication standpoint. Some of them we've talked about from time to time. Obviously it has to improve."

On the play of Rescigno: "Gio did some alright things. To be honest with you, Gio played pretty well, especially coming into his second game. He made some good, tough throws out there to the sideline. By no means of the imagination did he play perfect. There were a few times there where he needs to get coached up on the sideline in between drives. But not bad."

On the play on third down: "When you talk about staying on schedule, when you get into a third and manageable situation, obviously drive and distance becomes a whole lot easier. It becomes easier to convert. When you're not moving the ball on first and second down and get into some of those backed up situations where getting two first downs is critical, that's when your third down is going to be huge. They blitzed a lot, twisted blitzers and stuff, so credit to Indiana. They did a good job of finding ways to get home. We have to communicate, play better technique up front and when we get our opportunities, we have to throw and catch the ball. And I thought for us that was the difference in the game."

On if they changed anything after they went ahead 24-13: We didn't change anything. If it's not broke, don't fix it. So we kept rolling. We were playing the game the way we thought we should and Indiana didn't do anything that they hadn't shown on tape. So for us, just going out there and communicating and executing, we had in the first few drives we had some good things. We stayed with exactly what we wanted to do when it came to our game plan. But again, if you don't execute, it doesn't matter."

Rutgers Wide Receiver Andre Patton
On his first quarter touchdown: "I think it was a good route. It was a good play we had in our game plan and we knew it was coming. We knew how they were going to play it and it just happened to work out that way."

On the toughness of Rescigno: "He's tough. With the QB, that's the person who drives the whole offense. So you want someone who can take a hit here and there because he also has the feet to be able to run the ball. He's bound to get hit."

On how beneficial it is to have a quarterback who can run: "It helps us a lot because we have enough time to run our routes at the right depth and the right speed."

On looking back on the loss: "It's a little frustrating, but every week we come in with the same attitude. That's the most important. I don't think you'll see any other team with a 2-7 record that will come out every week and go as hard as we do."

Rutgers Quarterback Giovanni Rescigno
On the first touchdown of the game: "I just had my eyes downfield and I saw Dre get open. Right as I threw it I had the guy right in my face, so I didn't really see him until the last second. It was a great play by Dre. He ran a great route and it was a nice touchdown early in the game to get the momentum going our way."

On the offense's play on third down: "We just have to do better on third down. If we do better on third down, it puts us in a better position to win the game, keeps the drive going. So we could do better on third down moving forward and communicating protection wise. Communication is a big thing, so keep getting better."

On looking back on the loss: "We have to take advantage of when the defense, speaking of defense, they played an amazing game and did a lot of good things for us. We have to capitalize that and be better with that. If we did that a few times I think things would be different."

Rutgers Defensive Back Saquan Hampton
On his interception: "I just remember seeing three bennet to the vertical and I saw the quarterback's eyes, so I just broke on the route."

On playing alongside Kiy Hester: "We all rotate in and out of practice with each other, so we're comfortable with one another in there at the same time. Whoever's in there, we're comfortable."

On settling in on defense: "I think we settled in good. There were still some plays we left out there that we could have made, but I think we all settled in and played a tough game."

Rutgers Defensive Lineman Darnell Davis
On the momentum shift after his touchdown: "Absolutely. When the defense scores and we have to go play defense again, it's just the motivation that makes us ready to go. You get that extra boost and energy to make plays and do your job."

On the loss: "It's frustrating, but that's not the only thing. We have to clean up all the small details and we'll come out with the win soon, very soon. It's just little details that we have to clean up."

On his scoop and score: "JPO caused the fumble, so props to him. I ran a stunt and saw the ball on the ground. So I picked the ball right up. My mentality was to score and do not get caught. I could change the whole momentum of the game and we did, we just have to come out with the win."

Indiana Head Coach Kevin Wilson
On getting the plays they needed: "The sky kicks didn't hurt us. It would have been nice to take advantage of them. The defense did a great job. The field goal team was not very good going into the wind. We bogged down a couple times, but we played trying to get it back. Defense got it back. We kept it at a close enough game. The one drive where we hit the swing route to Devine (Redding) was huge to break it open a little. We didn't run it very well. We didn't block very well. We thought their strength was their line of scrimmage. Their D-line did very well against ours. I think both D-line's seemed to play well. I think their D-line did better compared to ours in the running game. I think our D-line did a good job. We did run it 44 times. We were off schedule and didn't run well which meant we had to play uphill making it harder for us. The turn overs were bad. We had four. You are lucky to win on the road with that. With the kicking errors we had in the PAT and field goal team, we are very fortunate to win. The kids played hard. The defense was awesome with the three and outs and stops. Our defense played really well. I was proud of those guys."

On winning despite turnovers: "There were some one-on-one plays. Ricky Jones recovering the fumble may be the biggest one-on-one play of that day. I don't know how he got it because it was their ball, I thought. He just outfought a guy because of his will to win. Which is sometimes what you need, a spirit and a will to win. I think today we didn't play smart all the time. We didn't play horrible. There was some good football. There was also some negative football. I think our will to win especially defensively and couple of those kids making those one-on-one plays. I think that was the difference."

On the kicking game: "Protection broke down. We have an issue with the holder and kicker. The confidence issue. We started the game with our other kicker and he didn't kick well, although he's done well in practice. Those guys are good but they are a little psycho right now. Down the stretch we are going to need to kick well in the three weeks coming. This time of year with weather, wind and the opponents you're playing, we are going to need to kick it better. They have the talent to. Those guys can do it. Sometimes those mental demons and psychologic barriers are more cumbersome then the physical barriers. We have to get those guys cleaned up. The kicker can't hide. He either makes it or doesn't. Everyone knows. If the hold or protection is off a little bit it affects him. Both of those kickers are good. Griffin (Oakes) has been awesome and he made some great kicks down the stretch and we are going to need him to kick well moving forward. We just have to fight through it."

On Dan Feeney playing at Right Tackle: "He is in our best five. Delroy (Baker) is going to play. We can get DaVondre Love playing as well. (Jacob) Bailey is a good player. Even if Dan was injured, when your back up is a five year veteran with many starts it's hard not having him in your best five. We want to play Delroy. We do think Jacob Bailey is good, maybe not playing the whole game. We have a lot of confidence in those guys."

On the defense putting the offense in a good position: "They (Rutgers) go early and have the one big play and then Zander (Diamont) fumbles and they scoop and score. Then we fumble on a kick off. That is three touchdowns on a 20-yard drive. Rutgers came in early running the ball very well. I think our ability to stop the run and making them throw more than they would have wanted too, it made it a little easier. We ran a lot. I think our defensive line did good defeating blocks. They came in as a decent running team and I think our ability to keep them one dimensional helped us. We were able to make some great one-on-one plays and we did run it enough that they couldn't tee off on the quarterback and that helped."

On the seniors at halftime: "They didn't say a whole lot at halftime. They were talking to themselves on the sideline as a group. They say a lot to our team during the week with how they approach practice and how they are living and doing their business. When we do our captains work on Thursdays we talk about the mental side of the game and getting yourself right. Dan Feeney and Mitchell Paige and Rickey (Jones) stand in front of our team. Rickey's challenge every week is someone play harder than me. He looks at Feeney and says I'm going to outplay you today. Those guys having that senior fun, of not walking down memory lane but enjoying every second playing as hard as you can. I love those guys. They've played great for us."

On Camion Patrick's touchdown: "He can make plays. I think psychologically, like our kicker, I think he wants to be a little father then he is coming off the injury. We've seen that early in practice prior to the injury. Post injury it's been a little up and down. It has been inconsistent. There is a little frustration, he wants to be playing more. Sometimes his practice habits are okay, not as a great as they can be. He's still on the climb. He's not back yet."

Indiana Wide Receiver Camion Patrick
If he feels like he's fully recovered from the injury: "I feel like I'm back but there's always stuff to work on. Just some minor stuff here and there but I feel like I'm back."

On how he manages to stay engaged and what has helped him come back so fast: "Just being around my brothers every single day. They picked me up when I was down so being around them really helped me get back."

On being called the best player on the team and if he feels pressured: "No, not really. I just go out there with my teammates and compete as a team. I try to contribute, do what I can do, and just go out there and work together. I don't see myself as the best player, but I do see us as the best team."

Indiana Wide Receiver Mitchell Paige
On the adjustments they had to make in the second half: "We honestly didn't make that many adjustments. We were trusting our plan, played a lot of man-to-man coverage and made some plays on the outside. They did a good job loading the box and played some great defensive schemes. They played tough on defense but we just trusted our plan and made some competitive plays."

Indiana Linebacker Marcus Oliver
On his confidence once he got on a roll: "Once we get settled in we're as good as anybody. We all know that we have confidence in one another and we came out and trusted one another and just played team defense."

On what their defense coach said to them after their first fumble: "We're competitors on defense and he hates when people score. Even though they got the ball there, it was our responsibility to not let them in the endzone."

On their plan to contain Rutgers' running game: "After last week there were a lot of things that we did that needed to be fixed. We just prepare for a lot. We do what we do best and play the best defense that we can."

On if the team is developing a sense of resiliency: "I think a lot of the older guys who played last year and before have that maturity now. They know that when something is going bad that it's not always going to be bad and that when something is going good that it's not always going to be good. Just keep going out there and play the next play."

On Dawson Fletcher: "It was Dawson's best week as far as practice. He's a guy that can be really good, he's really athletic. Just him building up his confidence and hopefully by the end of the year he's playing more."

Indiana Wide Receiver Ricky Jones
On the fumble in which he got the ball: "I saw the ball pop up and just jumped on it. A million things go through your mind when you see the ball on the ground and I knew I had to make that play. I'm at the bottom of the pile and everyone is yelling 'I got it!' and I know that I'm the one that has it. It's a good feeling."

On how they managed to stay even keeled during their struggles in the second quarter: "That stuff that we work on in-season. Never get too high, never get too low. Just make big time plays. The game wasn't going our way and we knew that we had to win the game and stay confident regardless of what was going on in the game."

On if they had to make any adjustments against the Rutgers offense: "That's all coach [Associate Head Coach] Allen. I'm so happy to have him on our team. He's changed the culture of our defense and me being here five years I've seen our defenses struggle. I'm so happy and proud to have coach Allen doing his thing on the side."

On Camion's touchdown: "Man, you guys have no idea. The type of talent Camion has is an incredible talent. The dude could jump out the roof, he has the strongest hands. He's an unbelievable player, one of the best I've ever seen. To see him back on the field and make a play like that makes me really proud and happy for him."

Indiana Defensive Lineman Robert McCray III
On adjustments during the second half: "We really didn't make any adjustments. It was a matter of buying into the defensive calls and executing everything how we're supposed to. Just staying disciplined and things like that."

On resiliency of the defense: "I feel like we just have to believe in each other and the coaches. Coach Allen brings a lot of energy to the team. Just buy into and trust each other that we're all going to do our job. We never get down on anything we just move past it because we know that we're stronger than that and that we're better than that and we want to get better."

On how they managed to pressure Rutgers' QB: "I wouldn't say there was anything we did different. We just tried to trick the offensive line but it really was us just going hard and 100% every play. We had to trust our secondary and they had to trust us. The quarterback tried to use his feet and we were there to get him."