Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Post-Scrimmage Quotes
08/19/2010 | 12:00:00 | Football
Aug. 19, 2010
By Tyler Wooten
SIUSalukis.com
Head Coach Dale Lennon
Q: "What kind of step did the offense take today?"
"It looked like a different offense out there today. They came out with something to prove and we saw progress so that was very encouraging. I like the fact that we did the little things right--we didn't have illegal procedures, the exchanges were all good, we were catching the football--those little things can make the difference and today they did. Defensively was obviously disappointing--you want to see a little more fire out of the defensive side. Then again, that is the give-and-take that you want to see within your team where one day the offense had the upper hand and the next day it's the defense. Now we just have to work on the consistency factor, which will be the goal this final week."
Q: "I think they settled for a field goal once, but they were able to finish the other two drives and score touchdowns. . ."
"And that is a true measure for your offense. You might be able to move the ball, but if you're settling for field goal attempts, that is not the objective. If you're able to finish the drives, get the touchdowns, that is the thing we were hoping to see on the offensive side. Naturally, defensively we wanted to see the stop there."
Q: "I'm assuming you wanted to see a little bit more from Shariff (Harris), (Steve) Strother, and Richard White over Lucien (Walker) today--what did you like about them?"
"Right, we wanted to feature them today. We have a number of tailbacks that are very capable so it's tough to get them enough carries in a scrimmage to see what they can do. So this scrimmage we wanted to emphasize those backs, and I was happy with what I saw. Shariff really ran the ball well, made some plays and got some yardage on his own. Same thing with Strother, we know he can make people miss. With Richard, we just wanted to see his confidence and see him play the game like he's capable of doing. All three had a decent day as far as taking care of the ball."
Q: "You lined up Lucien as a receiver there a few times--is that something we are going to see more of?"
"That goes for all of our backs. We can throw to them out of the backfield or even if we're lining them up out on the perimeter that will be part of the package. That will be a constant possibility."
Q: "Do you think the offense can match the physicalness of the defense?"
"That's the thing I like about our offensive line, we're really developing into a physical offensive line--especially when you have two preseason All-Americans in the mix that helps. but I really like the fact that our new guys have stepped in and picked up their level of play this past week. They're just more confident in what they're doing, and now they're letting their physical abilities take over."
Q: "Was the offense improving today a motivation for them?"
"I think the offense had a little more motivation today. But at the same time, everything about offense is timing and execution. I think what you saw was one more week of preparation and them getting more comfortable with everything we're asking them to do so when they go out there and line up and start running plays they're not thinking about all of the little details, they're thinking about the main objective."
Q: "Are you happy where they're at?"
"I'm happy for where they're at now--there's definitely room for improvement. We say after every scrimmage it's never as good and never as bad--the film always tells you how it actually is, and I'm sure that will be the case today, too."
Q: "Coach DeBoer talked about getting Paul (McIntosh) on the field in different ways. Would it be just a quarterback in certain packages or possibly a wide receiver?"
"When he's wearing a yellow jersey we're going to take care of him. We try to limit what he can do when he's wearing the yellow jersey, and he wants to wear the white or the maroon and go live--that's just his nature. That's what we have to decide for the next scrimmage, if we're going to do that. He's pretty valuable to us and we want to use him in a multitude of ways."
Q: "Are you closer to picking a running back by committee today?"
"We're in evaluation. We have one more week and going into the game week we'll definitely name the starter. We're fortunate we have that kind of depth in the backfield. The thing I like about our running backs is that their attitudes are right where they need to be. They compliment each other well, egos have been kept in check, and they just want to help the team anyway they can. I couldn't ask anything more from them as a coach."
Offensive Coordinator Kalen DeBoer
Q: "Do you think the offense took a step forward today from last week?"
"It was a big week for us after last week's scrimmage. We were really disappointed in our execution and our ability in certain situations to overcome what the situation was. We worked hard this week and our guys brought the right attitude. We put together eight really good practices. I felt like if we had some consistency at all in the scrimmage today it was gonna be chalked up as a good week. Our guys brought a great attitude, we had consistent improvement each and every day."
Q: "You finished two of the three drives with touchdowns. . ."
"We really stressed a couple of things--finish strong and finish drives. I felt like even this spring in our scrimmage situations we weren't quite as good as I would like us to be."
Q: "Is there any one thing you thought the offense really improved in?"
"Our running game. We continue to emphasize in these scrimmages running the football. Any down and distance where we had that opportunity we wanted to see those running backs in a live situation. This is their time to kind of show us what they have. The offensive line did a good job working together--we never really had any miscues where guys came in untouched, and it let the running backs have some room to show us what they have."
Q: About being physical...
"We want our whole offense to be physical, and that comes down to the receivers as well. The thing we want to develop now in these next couple weeks is the 'Killer Instinct' and that's what I've been preaching to the guys. We've been refining and making adjustments based on our personnel, and even adjusting the scheme to fit. With different people you can't run the same offense, so we're figuring a few of those things out, and the guys are adapting. We really refined a lot of situational things this week, and now next week we need to develop that killer instinct going into our opener."
Q: "What is your motto behind this 'killer instinct?'"
"We want to go out there with an attitude and get it done. Confidence and momentum is such a big thing and you see that in the two scrimmages we've had. The momentum early on in the game gets on one side of the ball or the other and it just carries through the whole scrimmage and gives you a different perspective on how things are going. We want that killer instinct to where we can get out there and we're not just going through the motions, but we're out there to achieve great things."
Q: "You always hear about defense having a 'swagger' -- to you want that with your offense?"
"It comes down to execution--if you don't have execution you don't have that swagger and the big plays. We want to be walking out there confident, not arrogant, but confident that we have what it takes to get the job done."
Q: "What did you like about the group of running backs today?"
"Shariff had some times on short yardage situations where he was just a horse. He was wrapped up and he kept fighting and plugging away and helped move the chains a couple of times."
Q: "Is it fair to say that Lucien, Shariff, and Strother have separated themselves as the top three?"
"Yeah, I think it's safe. Richard White is still coming along and gaining confidence in his knee and getting into playing shape. Those three guys have done a really nice job. We're working on the little things. If you're weak at pass protecting we have to get better at it. All three of them are working hard and the competition has been good for all of them."
Q: "Are you getting any closer to a running back by committee?"
"We need to have a rotation and we need to fit the strengths of them. Maybe one guy is involved more in the passing game, but you don't want to get too predictable either. You don't want to be in a situation where one running back comes on the field and you know what exactly what the play concept is going to be. I would like to narrow it down and start finding a guy we can hang our hat on, going into a game and knowing he can get the job done and can go more than just three or four carries in a row, he could go a whole half or a whole game if we need him to."
Q: "Do you feel the offense is getting closer to where the defense is?"
"Yeah, I do. I love the style of our defense. They come after you and being on the offensive side that's what I love to see. If we get a lead they have the killer instinct. They come after you in that attacking demeanor that pretty much puts you on your heels each play when you're out there and we're starting to overcome that as an offense in practice. If we can do that against the style of defense our defense plays we'll have success as the season goes on against other teams."
