For this week's installment of opponents' press conferences, we have Bill Lynch, head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers. I personally think they make a better vacuum than a football team (I have a Hoosier Wind Tunnel which sees basement duty), but the Big Ten being what it is, our boys in blue take to the field against these guys Saturday, so here we go with Other People's Pressers!

(P.S. a friend of mine sold Kirby vacs in college for a week, but got sick of it when he kept getting lost on his way to prospective buyers' homes - oh, if only we had GPS back in the mid-late 90's.)

http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/092710aac.html

On Michigan's Offense:

• "Denard Robinson is scary good. Then the way the other two kids came in and played it shows the depth that they have. "
• Credit to RR and how the team has really bought into his offensive philosophy with the success UM is having.  Says we have a great scheme with the right players, execute well, good depth (esp. at QB), and are well-coached.
• On Denard, every team (on film) has tried to do something different to stop him and none of them have succeeded.  IU has to stay within their system (on D) and try to stop M's offense.
• On whether having had Kellen Lewis helps gameplan against Denard: "One of the unique things with Denard is that in so many situations, he's the lead runner. The tailback or the other back is really the blocking back. And that is what makes it difficult because the quarterback in many cases is the unaccounted for guy. And now you have to account for him as well as everybody else... That's why it is very difficult to defend their offense."
• Have to play the gaps well in order to have a chance at defending Michigan's offense: "The biggest thing is that you have to be very gap-sound. If you get a guy out of a gap they will gash you. "
• On Michigan having outscored its opponents 56-10 in the first quarter - "They're explosive. "  Talks about being confident and matching UM's speed/intensity early.

On Michigan's Defense:

• Mentions that 3-3-stack or 3-5-stack is similar to the D employed when RR was at WVU.  Key is that LBs show a lot of movement and attack from different positions/angles.  Need to be aware of where the LBs are lining up.
• Michigan's defense will have to decide how to stop IU's offense, just as IU has to gameplan for M's offense.  In-game adjustments also important.
• UM has "good pass rushers and they have a blitzing type scheme where they can bring people from a lot of different directions."

On individual players:

• Tandon Doss: Didn't put up big numbers last week, but great job blocking downfield.  Also very versatile, able to play any position.
• Ben Chappell: Needs to keep up his level of play and execution.  Preparation is key and feels like Chappell is well-prepared.

On team execution:

• "...it is very important that we go back and work on fundamentals. So often, history tells me that when you get into creating new schemes in a week, and you play poorly because you are thinking too much instead of just playing. That's why you must trust the system, and it goes back to great fundamental play."
• Mentions that they need to block and tackle better, and spending a lot of time on this.
• On tackling, says players sometimes too focused on making the big hits rather than wrapping up - again going back to stressing fundamentals.
• On turnovers, can have a huge impact.  Sounds like he is stressing ball protection on offense, as he cites the Colts winning 26 straight games (really?) without a turnover (really really??)
• Special teams did a good job, especially on kick returns.  Did a good job fielding kicks (us too, please!)

On the gameplan against Michigan:

• On defense, gap discipline, if they don't maintain gap discipline, will get gashed by RB or QB.
• On offense, need to have good run-pass balance in order to take pressure off Chappell.  
• Can't try to change up what they do on offense as a reaction to Michigan's offense (I guess I'm assuming he thinks UM will score some points), but must stick to their playbook and execute to be successful.
• On defense, need to create turnovers, which they haven't done the last 2 weeks.  
• "We're a little different than we were a year ago. We were a sellout blitz team, where we played zero-coverage behind it, where there was no help. We were sending as many as we could and still have each receiver accounted for, so it was a little more of a high-risk blitz than we're running right now."

Other game-related notes:

• Health - says team is healthy, shouldn't be a problem there. No mention of any specific injuries.
• "It's the first conference game and they're all important. The one we have in front of us is always the most important and that will be the approach we're going to be taking. I'm sure our players expect that when they come in here this afternoon."
• Confident in this team. "This team has been an easy team to coach, in that they come to work every day."
• The level of play and intensity has to go up now that they're in conference play. His players understand that.