CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL: OREGON VS INDIANA

January 5, 2026

Kaelon Black

Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Indiana Hoosiers

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with questions for Kaelon.

Q. The physicality that you display, the hard running, how much of an emphasis has that been and how much pride do you take in breaking an opponent's will?

KAELON BLACK: We take a lot of pride in breaking an opponent's will. That's something we preach in practice as running backs, get our feet planted in the ground, get vertical. We can't spend too much time dancing around, going east and west. The fastest point to form a straight line is going straight. We try to get in the end zone and try to score touchdowns.

Q. You've played a series of teams, Ohio State, Alabama, Oregon, similar talent. What is something that stood out about Oregon over Ohio State and Alabama?

KAELON BLACK: Definitely their trenches. All great teams by the way. But the trenches, Oregon's D-line, they have a great D-line, a great linebacking corps.

Those guys seem to play really fast, especially in the back end as well. We definitely have our hands full this week. They seem to have gotten better since the last time we played them. Those improvements definitely show on tape.

Q. What can you say the fact of what Coach Cignetti has done with this entire program, how his leadership gets through to every one of you, how his style has proven to get you to where you are today?

KAELON BLACK: Yeah, definitely Coach Cig's leadership is one of those things that's easy to get behind. He's about his business. He's going to be serious about everything that he does football relate and even in life. He wants to see his guys improve, make those strides to become better players and better men at the end of the day.

I'm just glad that he came to IU and instilled this philosophy in this program. I feel like everyone is getting behind him. We're just going to keep getting better as we go.

Q. Your ball security has been excellent this year. Everybody practices it. Why are you guys so effective?

KAELON BLACK: Just one of those things that you have to think about every play. You can't get a play started without the ball. We have our ball security circuits multiple times a week.

That's one of those things we prioritize as an offense, just making sure even when the ball is loose a little bit, you have to chin that thing and make sure you have this whole program in your hands, the whole fan base in your hands, and you can't let 'em down.

Q. Habit-wise, how has Cig influenced you, changed you, kind of improved who you are as a man?

KAELON BLACK: Yeah, definitely. Just his philosophy as in, like, being disciplined and being smart and disciplined. Just making sure, like, you're staying on track, want to be better in everything you do, never being complacent in life, always wanting to get better in everything single phase, whether that's cooking, vacuuming, cleaning up the house, those certain things that you have that certain mindset from football that you learned from him. It just kind of translates to your everyday life.

Q. Roman just told us that you guys aren't in the business of changing minds. Where do you draw your internal motivation from on a weekly basis?

KAELON BLACK: It just comes from just wanting to be better. Just being around a great group of guys, great group of teammates, you just have that 'want to 'to be better in your life and also on the football field.

I feel like it's easy to be able to do that now when you have great coaches and great staff around you. Now that we're in this position, we have no choice but to get better and I feel like that's our mentality.

Q. A lot has been talked about the calendar and transfers. What is the hardest thing when you move from school to school, I don't mean football-wise, academically, as well? How does one learn to vacuum really well so I can pass that message on to my son?

KAELON BLACK: That's a great question. I would say the hardest thing is just like taking it all in and understanding that it's a process. Having the patience to understand that things happen for a reason. You're not going to always have the answers to make the best decisions in the moment.

Me being myself, I put my faith in God and I allow Him to shape things and see things in a different way that I haven't seen before.

Can you repeat your other question?

Q. I was messing around about your vacuuming skill.

KAELON BLACK: Man, I don't even know (laughter). I'm just doing it out there.

Q. You guys are top 15 in the country in rushing yards. Fernando got the Heisman. Third down conversion rate, number one, via the running game. Why do you feel you guys have been so effective in important situations in the run game?

KAELON BLACK: Yeah, those are one of the things that we focus on in practice, man, those certain situations, those third downs, 40-and-shorts, third-and-mediums. We have our great scheme for that.

I give all the credit to the O-line and those tight ends and receivers who block their tails off out there, our coaching staff of putting us in the right position to be able to be successful in those certain situations.

Q. I wanted to ask you about your coach. In some cases he's been almost a meme with some of his facial expressions, whether on the sidelines, hands on his hips. Is that anything you notice, your family members bring up? Anybody try to ever mimic Coach Cignetti with some of his mannerisms?

KAELON BLACK: It is one of those things I feel like everyone notices. They definitely bring it to our attention. One of those things you can't get really get away from at this point with everything being on social media.

That's just Coach Cig. He's about his business. The faces you probably see he's thinking about ways to get better or what's going on out here on this field, why aren't we doing what we're supposed to do. That's just him.

Q. I think last year you said that the running back room was the Ninja Turtles. Do you feel like they're the same? Do you feel like you're the same one? What's the camaraderie in the running back room, especially with Justice as a coach?

KAELON BLACK: I could say that we're probably the same. I feel like our camaraderie is great in our room. We always laugh and joke around together, but we also know when it is time to go, it is time to go, we are about our business.

That's one of the things I love about our room. We can flip that switch from being joking around and then when it's time to go on the field, it's time for us to lock in. We can all do that at any given point.

Q. We all live in a world with the transfer portal. When you look back over these two years, how much has it helped that so many of you came together with Coach? How much easier did that make the whole transition coming from James Madison to Indiana, having all the success you've had?

KAELON BLACK: I feel like the transition was pretty good. Actually great with us all coming. I feel like we are all blessed to have the opportunity to come with Cig here. I feel like our culture has definitely changed.

It's also changed for the better in terms of like the smart discipline, poise, fast, physical, relentless. Being able to do it on this definitely has been definitely a blessing so far.

Just seeing these things shape, shift and turn has been great to see and be a part of.

Q. You guys have been unbelievable, a 1-2 punch this year. After having already played Oregon, do you think you guys are going to have to make the adjustments or is the plan to have them make adjustments against you? Is there a friendly competition between yourself and Roman?

KAELON BLACK: Yeah, I would say we always want to make adjustments and be better than we were the last game. That game was definitely a great game. It was definitely close. I feel like as our team, as our offense, we are always going to want to make adjustments regardless of the situation.

I feel like when it comes to me and Rom, I don't want to call it like a competition. It's one of those things where we both want to help the offense improve and do anything we can to make sure that we can succeed.

Q. Last year you kind of towards the back half time of the season didn't get as many snaps. This year you stayed right there. What has been the key for you to do that? How have you improved? What went into that?

KAELON BLACK: Yeah, definitely I would just say thinking on that in the off-season, I just wanted to make sure I stayed as healthy as I could, changing my nutrition, changing my diet. Also doing as much as I could in the off-season as far as extra training goes, extra footwork drills, extra time on the field, extra time watching film.

Ultimately just a matter of the main thing is pretty much staying healthy. I'm thankful that my coaches believe in me. I feel like I'm really blessed to be able to have teammates who believe in me as well, so...

Q. My impression at the beginning of the year is that opponents thought of you as more of a passing team. As the season has worn on, the running game has gained in prominence, been more of a key factor in pulling out games. Do you think opponents now look at your running game differently, are more afraid of it?

KAELON BLACK: That's a great question.

I would say there's probably some thought in that. I feel like our whole year, we're always been more of a balanced team with the running backs that we have, with the quarterback that we have, our passing attack, running attack. I feel like we're more of a balanced team.

Also I feel like that pretty much showed in the Alabama game, as well, with the way we were able to run the ball. Great O-line play, receiver play. Fernando was out there making plays as well.

I feel like it's pretty much a total team offense thing.