Quotes: Everything IU football’s Carter Smith, Isaiah Jones and Tyrique Tucker said ahead of season opener
- Alex Bozich
- 47s ago
IU football offensive lineman Carter Smith, linebacker Isaiah Jones and defensive lineman Tyrique Tucker addressed the media on Tuesday evening in Bloomington.
The Hoosiers begin the 2026 season on Saturday against North Texas at 12 p.m. ET at Memorial Stadium.
Here’s everything Smith, Jones and Tucker had to say on Tuesday in their press conferences:
Carter Smith
On whether the opener hits different because they’re defending national champs:
“No, I mean, for me, yeah, a little bit just for the fact that I haven’t played since the national championship game. But other than that, the main thing is the main thing and we’re keeping everything the same approach from one week at a time. And all we have to do is beat North Texas and then we’re on the next one.”
On if there’s a way to know how good a team is from camp or if you have to wait until the games start to determine that:
“To my experience, it has been that we have to wait until we see an opponent. Just because we have such a talented defense and it’s always every day it’s so hard going up against guys like that. But there are definitely flashes throughout the fall camp and spring ball where you’re able to point something out and be like, this is good.
“Something that you can pocket and something that you can use for later. So it shows flashes early on, but it’s kind of tough to tell until the first game.”
On preparing for the defensive linemen on North Texas and if there’s anything different about preparing for that many different faces on a team that wants to blitz:
“Yeah, we’ll focus on the faces. But right now I think we’re just getting acclimated because their DC is coming from Baylor. So we’re watching a lot of Baylor film right now and getting their scheme down before we get into more players.
“We’ll watch a little bit more of their players tonight or this coming week. But as far as that goes, as long as we usually stick to our rules and based on the fronts they give, it’s something that we’ve handled before. So just have to stick to our rules and stay in the playbook.”
On the excitement about getting to play against an opponent:
“Yeah, I’m so excited to hit another color other than red. It’s been a long fall camp. It’s been very competitive and nothing like iron sharpens iron. They have great dudes in that room and now it’s game time.”
On the biggest lesson learned as an offensive line during fall camp:
“You just really have to embrace the mundane. It’s a lot of the same things every day, we’re working on the same footwork, on the same schemes and we do a lot of the same drills. But sometimes it’s tough for people to stay focused because sometimes it might … mundane, it might be a little boring.
“But other than that, you just really need to embrace it and realize that this is what you really wanna do to be great. You have to hammer these drills out every day, every single moment that you’re on the field. So embracing the mundane is the biggest part of being an offensive lineman.”
On the development of Bray Lynch at center:
“Yeah, he’s been filling the gap really well. I would say that from A-Gap to A-Gap, he’s been doing a great job. He’s very vocal and he’s doing a great job staying in the playbook, understanding the scheme and he makes good calls. He’s a very confident leader out there and it’s something that we need.”
On the most difficult thing to teach a newcomer about Cignetti’s culture and approach:
“I would just say, it was a pretty hot one out there today. And a lot of people starting to feel the woes of the heat and it’s just about realizing that nobody really cares how you’re feeling out there.
“And that’s something that really needs to be ingrained into the young guys and something that needs to be ingrained into some of the transfers. Not that some of them have that issue, but it’s just really understanding that this is what our culture is and you really have to embrace it if you wanna be a part of it.”
On if he’ll take anything in pregame given it’s his last season opener at IU:
“It’s all game action, all game action.”
On if there’s anyone on the defense that gave them fits in fall camp:
“I mean, those two K-State guys, Chiddi and Tobi. Really quick, really strong guys. They’re both really tall and lean dudes. They do a great job rushing off the edge and are very disruptive when they wanna spike and ruin the gap to gap run. And obviously our D-tackles, man. I mean, having guys like Squeak and Mario and even guys like Joe Hjelle, guys rotating like that, doesn’t get much better.”
On the confidence level in Josh Hoover:
“Yeah, he’s really stepped up into his leadership role. And that’s something that Coach Tino (Sunseri) preaches too. If you’re gonna be the leader of the offense at the quarterback position, you really have to run your guys and run your offense the way that you want to.
“So he’s been very vocal. And he has shown a lot of great flashes throughout fall camp against our defense. We have a lot of deep balls that he’s made completions for. Making a lot of the right reads and RPOs and he’s doing a great job.”
On the running back room:
“Man, I love Khobie (Martin). He’s really grown a lot as a leader. He used to be, when he first got here in ’24, a young cat, seemed he definitely had a lot of potential. And he’s really lived up to it nowadays. I can’t wait to see what he does on Saturdays.
“Lee (Beebe Jr.), definitely, I mean, he was my favorite running back going into last year. And then, obviously, he got hurt. But he’s about to make a really great return for us.
“And, I mean, Turbo’s (Richard) doing a great job, too, making all the right reads and understanding our offense coming from Boston College. And he’s doing a great job.”
On a low point looking back before Cignetti, the sellout on Saturday and being a part of the change of the program:
“Double overtime, Akron, probably. I mean, that was a dark day. But tend not to focus on things like that anymore and full steam ahead.
“It makes me feel like I’ve been embedded in this culture. And I want to lead as much as I can and show by example that that’s not a place that we want to be at anymore. Yeah, it’s good to take it all in. And I love Bloomington and I love Hoosier Nation and it’s been a great ride. And I’m definitely gonna be able to take it in these last few Saturdays I have.”
Isaiah Jones
On whether the opener hits different because they’re defending national champs:
“We approach every game the same. Before we were national champs, we still attacked everything with the championship mindset. I think that’s what we’re doing for this game.”
On the most difficult thing to teach newcomers to the program about Curt Cignetti’s culture:
“Yeah, I think they kind of see us lead by example. But kind of what we try to give them a heads up on is, he’s gonna respect your time, but when you’re here, it’s his time and it’s gonna be time well spent. So you’re gonna come ready to work and you need to come with the right attitude.”
On playing against Tayven Jackson and if time spent with him in the past helps with preparation:
“Yeah, I mean, it kind of depends on what kind of offense a quarterback’s in. But Tayven’s an outstanding player, he’s athletic, he has a strong arm. So we’re preparing like we would any other quarterback, but it’s just a guy maybe we’ve gone against a few times in practice.”
On the difficulty of preparing for a team with so many new players:
“I mean, I won’t lie to you, it is different. You don’t have a game to watch from this season and that’s the landscape of college football. That’s what every team’s dealing with, is every team’s gonna have brand new players, brand new teams. They might run brand new plays that they ran last year. They had a good team last year, but that team’s all gone now. So it’s trying to find maybe some tendencies from the new coordinators they have coming in and how they’re gonna play to their players’ strengths.”
On continuing to improve as a player:
“I think as a player, I’m always trying to improve. I’m always trying to get 1 percent better. You’re never perfect and you never have a perfect game, perfect practice.
“And I think every person that wants to be successful is trying to find that 1 percent to get better. So for me, it’s a daily process of trying to find that 1 percent.”
On who has come along in the third linebacker spot:
“Yeah, so right now, we have Jeff Utzinger here rolling with us at Sam. And then you’re also able to put Kaiden Turner at Mike. So I’m not exactly sure, I don’t get paid the big bucks for all those decisions.
“So that’d be Coach (Bryant) Haines’ question, probably see this Saturday. But probably leaning one of those two ways.”
On the young guys who have impressed dating back to the spring and into fall camp:
“Linebacker-wise, Jacob Savage and Henry Ohlinger are really coming along, they’re learning the defense quickly. They’re athletic, they can run, they can move, so that’s definitely a plus for them. And then defensive line-wise, Blake Smythe is playing real well. He’s pretty twitchy up front. We kind of joke that he reminds us of James Carpenter, if anyone remembers him. Those guys are really stepping up.”
On what excites him about the season and being the green dot this season:
“Yeah, I don’t know if it’s really an excitement about being the green dot. I cherish that role and I think it’s an important role. And I’m glad to be able to have the honor of wearing that.
“But I’m just excited to get out there. It’s been a long time since we played real 60 minutes of football with my brothers out there. So I’m excited to go out there and compete and go to war with them.”
On having season tickets sold out:
“Yeah, I’m stoked. I’ve seen it when there’s been no one in the stands. So where it’s at now, that is truly something that means a lot to me, seeing where it was before.
“And I cherish those moments. I take a look before the game and kind of look around and take it all in. But it’s a blessing to play in front of those fans. Those fans cheer their hearts out. They’re loud on third down and I’m excited.”
On if there’s a game he thinks about in the past where the crowd wasn’t what he hoped:
“I just remember the four-overtime Akron game. That’s mine. Where this group of about 20 guys able to walk from end zone to end zone to watch the two-point plays, so that’s probably my reference point.”
On whether any of the new players ever ask about what the program was like before Cignetti:
“I mean now with the transfers and the young guys coming in now, this is probably the only Indiana they’ve known. I don’t know if they really paid attention to Indiana two years ago. So I don’t even know if any of them know about that whole era and the previous staff, but no, probably not. I think they only know the Curt Cignetti era now.”
On the biggest advice he gives to the younger players:
“The biggest advice that I’d give to the younger players is, every rep matters. Even if you’re not taking a walk-through rep and you’re not in, if you’re on the sideline, that rep matters.
“That could be a step ahead you’re gonna get on maybe, if you’re trying to win a starting spot or a second string spot, that’s a rep you can get that maybe that other kid’s not paying attention in the background. So take every rep, absorb as much knowledge as you can. Try to find the cheat of how you’re gonna get smarter or get an extra play that that kid might mess up cuz he missed the walk-through when the ones took the play. So for me, it was always, ‘how many reps can I absorb? How many mental plays can I have without physically being on the field?'”
On preparing for if communication goes out:
“Yeah, so if communication goes out, which we know it’s gonna go out at the 15-second mark, so we still have signalers on the sidelines. And the communication won’t go out from Coach Haines to the signalers. So if we need communication, I mean, we still look over. Even though I have a green dot, we can still look over and they’re still signaling what we need. So if anything ever happens where it goes out, we just look over and still get our play call.”
On if there’s a way to know how good a team is from camp or if you have to wait until the games start to determine that:
“Yeah, I mean, you can try to gauge how good a team’s gonna be. It always depends what kind of offense you’re going up against. I think our offenses last year and this year are really high caliber.
“Especially this year, they’re gonna run the ball. They got threats all around the field. They got a guy that can get them the ball. And so you try not to compare teams, because every team’s different. Every team has their strengths and their weaknesses. But no, you gotta get out there on the field and you gotta play a real opponent.
“And you’re going into a game plan and you’re gonna try to find those few plays where I’ve seen this play on film and I’m gonna turn this into a positive for us, not a negative. So, it takes going out there and playing another opponent, I think.”
On the confidence level in Josh Hoover:
“Yeah, he’s very comfortable in the pocket. We give him a lot of stuff to look at on defense, coverage wise and blitz wise. And he’s comfortable in the pocket and he can stay in there and make the throw.
“And he’s a good pocket passer, he can move in the pocket. He’s not getting sacked, he can extend plays. And yeah, I think I can speak for the whole defense as we’re fully confident in what he’s gonna put on display on Saturday and we’re excited.”
Tyrique Tucker
On whether the season opener hits any different coming off the national championship:
“I don’t think it hits any different. I feel like the recipe is the recipe and we have to handle everything we have to handle and do what we have to do this week and prepare the right way. And ultimately, the next opponent is our best opponent.”
On the hardest part for a veteran to teach a newcomer in the program:
“I would just say like, it’s how you carry yourself every day and the work you put in and it really speaks for itself. More so if guys are looking at you and looking to see what they need to do, they can just look right at you and it’s more so trying to be a prime example for them and show them the way that they could be able to do and achieve what they want to achieve in this program if they put the work in and handle what they have to handle and take care of everything off the field, on the field and more so just be that example.”
On what makes the two Kansas State transfers, Chiddi Obiazor and Tobi Osunsanmi, special:
“They naturally have built in chemistry already being that they came from the same school. And they both, they work so hard, man. They’re great pass rushers. It really helps us to just have those guys.”
On how they fit in when they transferred in:
“I mean, more so just they’re the guys, they’re in the locker room with us. We love them, they’re our brothers. And it’s kind of just they came over, they had a bond that was already their bond. But ultimately, we always just become friends and do stuff together and all that.”
On whether you can grasp in camp how good the team is or if you have to wait until the season to find out:
“You kind of get ideas. You can get ideas of what we have. But ultimately, though, the work always speaks for itself.
So when you play your opponent, you get to see. Finally, all restrictions are off. And kind of just to get to go full speed and ultimately go make plays and tackle.
“So I mean, you kind of get an idea of what we have and you know that we can be special, but none of that happens without the work.”
On if anything changes with the preparation with the heat this week:
“More so just running hard, playing hard, practicing in the heat, getting acclimated to the heat in these conditions. More so than just putting in the work and still film, studying and all that. It plays a part, but more so just, I guess, the heat is a factor and we have to be ready and prepared for that.”
On if there’s anything he gained knowledge wise from playing with Tayven Jackson that will help this week:
“I mean, two years is a long time. I mean, he’s a different player, I’m a different player. More so, just be prepared for wherever he’s at. And more so just try to get after him as best as possible. But again, he’s a different player. I can’t expect to see what I saw two years ago from him and he can’t expect to see the same thing from me.”
On his nickname, Squeak, and where it came from:
“My old teammate, Trent, back at JMU, he was the one who started calling me that and kind of just stuck around. And more so just everyone just kind of, just kept it going, and more so it was just one of those funny things.”
On Turbo Richard:
“Yeah, man, he run hard, he puts his head down, he runs really hard. Great balance, great ball security. He kind of does all the things that we look for in this program and he does it well and does it at an elite level. So he’s a guy for us, for sure.”
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
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