Video: Iowa football's acting head coach Seth Wallace has successful day on the job

it's uh certainly nice to see everybody this is a little bit awkward um however um you know it's h it's good to it's good to see everybody and you know I'll start by saying um you know I'm very proud of our staff I'm very proud of our team um our players specifically like you know what they did today was um under the circumstances was really pretty cool and uh you know we're excited to get the win um first game of the season obviously first opportunity to be in kenck uh we told the guy beforehand that you know it's it's special anytime we get a chance to walk into the stadium and um they certainly took advantage of that specifically you know in the in the second half and you know in regards to the first half we had some missed opportunities we had some of what you would call you know the the Norms in in the first game and you know just some things that uh you know I think we probably could have handled better a little bit um you know however you know I think the the second half is probably a better better indicator as to what type of team we are and you know I give a lot of credit to Illinois State uh specifically to to what they do defensively and um Brock speach knows who we are um he knows kind of our DNA from his time it uh it Purdue and you know him as a head coach him as a defensive coordinator uh I wasn't surprised to see what you know what you know unfolded there in the first half and and how they uh you know how they had a pretty good game plan and then Tony Peterson and and Travis namp the the two coordinators you know are both good coaches they both veteran coaches and they've seen a lot of football so I I think a lot of the first half was um you know just the Norms in in the first game and um we've got some new guys out there in different positions and um you I think just what you saw was was an example of that but you know certainly a well- coached team out of Illinois State and we wish them the best they've uh they've got a good football team hopefully both both of their quarterbacks stay healthy and and they'll give them a chance you know the second half you know as it related to the game you know just from a a messaging standpoint the big deal was you know just clean up our execution some things that that shot Us in the foot you know there early on with some penalties and uh some things that ended up taking a little bit of momentum away from us and and anytime you take the momentum away from you you really start you know draining you know a little bit of the confidence as well and and that took place there in the first half but but the second half I think is a better indicator of you know kind of the team that we are and um you know what we're capable of and we've got a lot to clean up we certainly do but um you know I'll end before I take questions with just you know unbelievably proud I am of our team our staff uh the way our players responded in the second half and you know this isn't uh you know this isn't a normal dayto day around here obviously and um you know our players handled it with with unbelievable class uh to go in you know at halftime down a score or excuse me up a score but still in a one possession game you know the the way that they responded was um you know was really pretty special to see so with that I'd open up for questions questions start with Tom Tom ker poy report SE what it what was this whole process like for you when you found out that you were going to be in this position and what did that postgame celebration mean to you well in terms of the process you know it's um you know there's still there's still really your your primary responsibilities which still exist defensively and um and I've I'm pretty fortunate cuz I've got a group of of Veteran mature uh the whole room for that matter is um you know is is a not a well-oiled machine but you know you you can imagine what it's like to coach Jay Higgins right now and and Nick Jackson like sometimes they humble you with you know the amount of football that they they have so um you know but I I didn't want this to become a distraction to them so my dayto day up until you know really maybe going into Thursday afternoon and and Friday was you know what it has you know what it's always been to include my time with Phil and what we were trying to do defensively so you you know the the process didn't change a whole lot until you know probably Thursday afternoon but um you know the celebration afterwards um I'm just you know I'm happy for the guys like it's you know it's it it was all about them um you know and it it always has been and the players win the games and Norm told me that a long time ago you know when I G for him it's not going to be about schemes it's not going to be about strategy at the end of the day it's going to be about the players and they certainly went out there and you know they ended up you know they ended up winning the game for us in the second half so the celebration was you know a little bit IC and on the top but you know it's always fun after a game when you win oh yeah hey Seth Elliot cluff Hawkeye Beacon um I just wanted to ask about ree vandery I don't know if you saw that coming today the two touchdowns and however many catches I was just asked that uh by Gary on the radio and um no not surprised not surprised I mean that you know Rees probably for the first two weeks of Camp was you know a freshman and you know he was in a freshman role and then you know I think our offensive guys started to see some things that that he was doing that um gave them the confidence that you know let's let's put him in there and see how he swims with some of these other guys and you know so they put him in there and um there were plays that were made um plays very similar to the ones that you guys saw today you know so not surprised however it is you know it is college football at its at its highest level and you know when you introduce somebody of um of that type of youth you know you just really aren't sure what's going to you know what's going to unfold and um you know I think the story the story is even much better considering what happened in the first half you know just you know cuz we were we were still trying to get our feet on the ground you know from a from an offensive standpoint and then he goes out there and makes some of those plays you know the one where we were headed to the north side that he caught caught over the middle like you know th those were those were impactful plays so not uh not surprised at all um however you know just to do it in the college football environment you know I think that that says a lot about re Scott then John Scott do in the athletic I wanted to ask you about in the first half it seemed like it was a a missed block a missed a penalty something just kept stopping drives um on offense what was kind of your message and Tim's message at halftime and where do you think it got ironed out to where there seemed to be a real good flow on offense yeah I think uh you know it was you know what they do defensively is um I mean they're they're they're finding ways is to load the Box defensively and um you know I think I think our Tempo the one thing that that's probably reflective in the second half as our Tempo offensively picked up a little bit um you know we we talked at halftime just about the urgency and um you know I'm I'm I'm thankful we you know we had a long conversation about this as a staff the other day and I'm sure it's you know noticeable to you guys but we did defer um you know which is a little bit out of the norm um you know around here but you know we were we were fortunate to get that first drive offensively in the second half and we were fortunate to to move the ball there and I think that that you know and that that kind of led to maybe some of what existed you know in the first half that gave us some some troubles like you know it but if you do look at it what what you should see is you know a little bit more urgency and a little bit more Tempo was was reflective there and um and our guys bought into it like it was you know it was one of those deals where you know you come in at halftime and you're in a 6 nothing nothing game and and you've got the lead but it's still one possession like you know something's got to change and you know our guys our guys stuck to the plan but you know we did you know we did emphasize just trying to trying to move the ball down the field get in and out of the Huddle a little bit faster and not allow you know a defense that really feasts on you know looking at a picture and you know and dialing into ITN John setc ra that going back to Reese's second touchdown the one on the south end didn't seem like that has a high entage play usually but somehow happened and then with the turnovers kind of what do you think led to kind of some of those more opportunities than you guys had last year yeah I think you know we we've placed I'll start John with the uh with the turnovers um you know we've placed a greater emphasis defensively on on turnovers and um I'm not sure who it was I spoke with in the preseason where um I think it might have been it might have been mik um you know he had mentioned just you know in regards to our defense and you know Phil Parker's defense and you know what we've done statistically the one statistic that was pretty glaring was um you know as good as we were last year defensively we were awful when it came to takeaways um awful and so we've placed a greater emphasis on that um you know we've actually talked to other folks in college football coaching staffs that have given us some ideas and you know so we've tried to implement that stuff and and hopefully what you saw today was was an indicator of that and you know we actually had a takeaway taken away from us when Jay got called for holding um you know that could have been a momentum play but you know to to know that you know what it is that we're emphasizing you know is showing up on tape we get a chance to to talk about that with our guys tomorrow that that'll be a big deal and then you know going back to Reese's catch that he had in the South End Zone it just you know I mean some things happen you know and and you know some guys you know are just you know that's that's the way they are I mean Desmond king cooper deine you know you talk about guys that you've seen around here before that you know they they make plays and sometimes you're just sitting there wondering like how the hell that happen you know it's football and and you know those guys are yeah it's nice to see Seth Tyler tashman with the de Mo register something that uh Kirk talks a lot about is playing complimentary football could you maybe just touch on how close today was to the framework of kind of what you set out to do as a program yeah I think the you know even though the the two the two halves are noticeably different um I think what you find there is is you find examples of complimentary football in both halves and um the fact that you know that we were able to overcome you know some momentum changing penalties um some plays that were taken away from us uh and yet still stay the course you know offensively and defensively and I know offensively it was you know it was a little bit of a struggle to get things going in the first half but the fact that we were going out there defensively and trying to complement that with three and outs and giving them the opportunity and um and I'll take I'll take full credit for the fourth and two that that that we tried you know we tried going for on the on the plus side of the field like that was you know that was one of those deals where you got confidence in what you're doing defensively you know they got the ball inside somewhere between the 40 and the and the 50 and you know I just felt like hey there's here's an opportunity where if you know if we can get this which we didn't get but if we could get this then maybe that would give us what we need offensively but knowing that you know whether it be our punter whether it be our punt unit whether it be what we had in the return game even though some of those opportunities were taken away from us certainly how we were playing defensively like that was going to give us you know that opportunity at that time to try to convert this fourth and two and see if we can get this thing you know going but you it didn't happen but that's you know and then the second half is a unbelievable example of complimentary football just going out there moving the ball down the field changing field positions stopping them defensively using your return game and your punt game to you know to try to control the field position I think I think both Hales noticeably different but you know both great examples of complimentary football got four more in que start with David d.com I gota go back to ree vanders I mean I think Luke and Cade both said he's quiet but he's unfaced by everything going on this is a guy who entered