Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Kill Previews Eastern Illinois
10/15/2001 | 12:00:00 | Football
Oct. 15, 2001
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Excerpts from Coach Kill's Weekly Press Conference
Eastern preview "We've got Eastern this week, Alabama next week and Auburn the next. That's what it seems like right now. It doesn't get any easier, we are just going to play all of the good ones right in a row. Of course, they are ranked 10th in the country, so I don't need to say a whole lot about them. They are a pretty good football team. I would say offensively they are very similar to Murray State with a very good quarterback, even though he didn't throw any on Saturday (in a rain storm), he can throw the football. Defensively they are big, very similar to Northern Iowa, very physical and they can run. They are solid in the kicking game, and they are a typical Bob Spoo coached team. He has been there a long time and is very sound. They don't make mistakes, don't beat themselves, and that is why they are one of the top teams in the country."
"We will have our work cut out for us, just like we did a week ago, but if we continue to improve and play like we did against Northern Iowa and work hard, I feel we will have a chance to be in the ball game. I really believe that. Our goal is to get better each week and I don't think there is any doubt that we are doing that right now."
On his team's improved pass coverage: "I think we have improved and, to be honest, we haven't faced receivers as good as we did at Northern Iowa. As coach (Tracy) Claeys said, now we can look at film, and we are still far from being a great defense, but we can look at the film, and identify what we are doing right now, and a couple weeks ago we couldn't do that. We played without our best safety in Pendergrass."
Offensive play: "Offensively I felt we played pretty well on Saturday. We only had one turnover and missed a field goal, but we played well enough offensively and defensively. But if you were there, you know that we got out butts kicked in the kicking game. Offensively, we took what they gave us. Physically, when we get down inside the 15 or 20, we can't just hand the ball off and get four or five yards like a lot of teams because we just don't have the strength to do it. It seems like every time we are about to break out, we do something like get a penalty or something stupid. Right now, we are getting about 370 yards a game, and we should be getting 21-24 points. We are stubbing our toe. We aren't there yet, but I have to give Northern Iowa credit. We haven't been in the weight room here, and it is going to take us some time to physically catch up.''
Kicking game: "We just got beat in the kicking game. We got beat on a punt return. I have coached 18-plus years and I have never had a punt returned (for a TD) against me. I can tell you I am not very happy about that, I'm not used to that. They physically kicked our butts in the kicking game. They just ran over our front line and back line and made a play. They are just physically better than us. I takes great pride in special teams, and our coaches do. (Our players) will find out today how important it is.''
On rotating Kobe and Williams at QB: "We will do whatever it takes to win. I think we used some of Madei's strengths. People say we should move him, but the kid doesn't want to do it. He has been playing quarterback his whole life. If he was a sophomore, we would make him. I think we will continue to use him in some situations. Kevin is playing with every ounce of effort he has got, but he is not a 4.6-4.7 athlete. The kids did a real good job of handling it (playing two quarterbacks). If we can have success with it, we will continue to do it."
Overall: "We improved a lot from the week before. If we would have played that well against Illinois State, it wouldn't have been a very close game. We just have to keep going and be persistant....just keep working.
On Koutsos approaching the SIU career rushing record: "He isn't the biggest in the conference, isn't the fastest in the conference and isn't the strongest in the conference, but he is a player. He is a throwback from the old school, and that what makes him so good. He is an intense competitor and he has taken advantage of the opportunities he has gotten.''
