Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Football Wraps Up Productive Spring Practice
04/24/2004 | 12:00:00 | Football
April 24, 2004
CARBONDALE
By Seth Whitehead
www.SIUSalukis.com - Last August, the story of the Southern Illinois University football team's fall camp was supposed to be a pair of talented tailbacks and just how head coach Jerry Kill was going to get them both involved in the offense.
But new-and-improved defensive unit simply could not be ignored.
Word soon got out. And the Saluki "D" wound up going from worst to first in the Gateway Conference, sharing headlines with Tom Koutsos and Muhammad Abdulqaadir, who combined for more than 2,000 yards rushing.
Together, they helped SIU to a 10-2 record.
History appears to be repeating, as spring practice wrapped up Saturday with an open scrimmage at McAndrew Stadium.
A pair of talented tailbacks, highly-touted transfers Terry Jackson and Arkee Whitlock, were supposed to be the story. But a now familiar Saluki defense - which will return 10 of 11 starters - gave every indication that it may be even stronger than last year, demanding attention in the process.
Jackson and Whitlock showed flashes of brilliance - and sophomore Antoine Jackson indicated that he should not be overlooked.
But overall, the defense looked better than ever and stole the show.
"There is no question the defense is ahead of the offense." Kill said. "But they're supposed to be this of year when you only have 15 practices.
"I think we're playing better defense right now than we played at the end of the season last year. And we're deeper. I was real pleased with the defense."
"This defense is lot better than it was last year," said junior All-American safety Alexis Moreland. "You know, we lost one starter, Eric Egan. Everybody's returning with game experience."
"The defense was very, very good - and we played a lot of young players," Kill said of spring practice. "Alexis Moreland didn't play a lot this spring. We played some younger players to build depth in that defense. I'm pleased with where we're at there. I think we'll be better than we were a year ago on defense. I expect us to be better."
Of course, there are two ways at looking at this.
If you're a glass-is-half-empty type, you might be concerned about the Saluki offense. But if the glass is half full, you probably look at things the way Kill does. "Offensively, we've got a ways to go," Kill said. "But we'll get there."
"You know, right now I'm thinking, 'Damn, offensively we've struggled a little bit here and there," Kill said. "But maybe it's because we're pretty good on defense.
"We'll never know all those magical questions until we get started."
Bottom line: It's going to take time for Whitlock and Jackson to get acclimated. But betting against that duo - along with incoming transfer Brandon Jacobs - is like New York Yankee fans booing Alex Rodriguez three weeks into the baseball season. It's just stupid.
"We're one of the best in the country," said Jackson of SIU's backfield.
"Our backs today were tired (today), because we went out and hooked it up a little bit yesterday and the day before," Kill said. "But the thing about them is they're very, very good people. And they've worked very, very hard to learn what we do.
"And that's not easy to do, to come in and learn a whole new system. So I'm very proud of their production during the spring."
"You know, it's frustrating for us (on offense), because we want to be able to just move the ball up and down the field with ease," said quarterback Joel Sambursky "But at the same time, we're really grateful because we know it's really going to contribute to us winning, having a solid defense. They can stick people."
"Our defense is awesome. And I think every great coach will tell you that defense wins championships."
"Our defensive line is really good," said Jackson. " It's probably one of the best defensive lines I've played against - and that's Big 10 and everything."
"I think we're more physical on defense," Kill said. "And they can run. We've got nine defensive linemen. Andrew Franklin runs the same 40 as Mo (Abdulqaadir) does. We've got some guys that can run and hit you in the mouth on the defensive side of the ball."
Predictably, Jackson started off spring practice a little bit slow after transferring from Minnesota. But he really picked things up this week, showing how he went for 1,400-plus yards two years ago.
"It took a while for me to learn the offense and learn the system," Jackson said. "But I think after I learned the system everything started coming to me and started flowing pretty good.
"I'd probably give myself a "B," maybe," said Jackson of his overall performance. "There's a lot I could have done better, but I kinda blame that on not knowing everything and not being comfortable yet. So, now that I'm comfortable, I think everything started going good towards the end of the spring."
"T.J. had a great spring," Sambursky said. "It took him a while to kinda get implemented into the offense and try to get everything figured out. It's taking me a long time, and I'm still working at it. He's going to be there. He's going to be a great back for us.
Whitlock busted off a couple big runs Saturday and says he's feeling more comfortable as well.
"I feel towards the end I started coming along and started to shorten a lot of the mistakes I made," Whitlock said. "Me and Terry and a lot of the new guys are fitting in pretty good and are getting along with the team. We should be all right by the fall."
Overall, Kill was pleased with number of things his team was able to accomplish in spring practice.
"We evaluated a lot of players. We played a lot of kids. We got a lot of stuff in offensively and defensively," Kill said. "We had a few injuries, but not as bad as we had a year ago. Overall, I think we got done what we needed to get done."
Offensive lineman Jared Green was hurt on the fourth day of practice and missed the rest of camp. But otherwise, SIU had far better numbers and far fewer injuries than a year ago, allowing them to go full contact.
"I'm grateful a lot of people came out to watch (Saturday)," Sambursky said. "But this is just another practice for us, another scrimmage. It seems like we've been scrimmaging a lot. It's been very physical spring, but we've learned a lot."
