Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Dale Lennon Football press conference transcript
10/03/2011 | 12:00:00 | Football
Oct. 3, 2011
By Logan Lee
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Saluki football coach Dale Lennon held his weekly press conference on Monday. Southern Illinois is ranked No. 17 in the FCS Coaches poll and No. 20 in the Sports Network media poll this week.
Injury Update
Offensively, Paul McIntosh is out with a shoulder separation. It did pop back in, but it was separated during the game. It's the same shoulder that he hurt in 2009 against William and Mary, so as far as his estimated time being out, we aren't sure, but it could be as long as four weeks. It is something that we will monitor from week to week. It is his non-throwing arm, so that part of it is positive, but at the same time there is some healing time that needs to happen for him to return.
Terence Isaiah did not make the trip to Western Illinois. He's having some back issues that flared up on Thursday. George Danilkowicz took most of the reps at the left guard spot and the rest of the offensive line stayed in tact.
Offensively we came through the game pretty healthy, a few bumps and bruises that we may be dealing with early in the week, but we're expecting to have everyone ready to go. Defensively it's a similar situation. We came through pretty healthy, a few bumps and bruises but right now we're expecting everyone that played on Saturday to be available again for North Dakota State.
On North Dakota State They're a pretty good football team. You look at what they've done so far -- they are 4-0. They've had three home games and one game on the road, a very impressive win at the University of Minnesota. This past week they beat Illinois State for their homecoming, 20-10. I think that there is one word that describes them best -- efficient. If you look at the numbers of what they do offensively, they're just very thorough. It's nothing fancy, they come right at you. They take good care of the ball, they've only had two turnovers in the four games that they've played, and those were two fumbles that they lost. That haven't thrown an interception. I think what's probably the most impressive stat that you look at is their redzone scores. They've been in the redzone 12 times and they've scored 11 times. Then you look at the 11 scores and they have all been touchdowns, so they're a very well-rounded team. They wait for you to make a mistake, and then when you do make a mistake, they are very capable of making you pay for it. That's the personality of North Dakota State.
When you look at their personnel, they have two main running backs that they've been using primarily up to this point. D.J. McNorton and Sam Ojuri are both very good and are both capable of being the main go-to back. They have good speed, ability for the big play is there. They are an "I" oriented team as far as running down hill at you. It's very much a power game. Their offensively line is big and they can definitely move people around, which all definitely starts with their running back corps.
They also have a good corps of receivers led by Warren Halloway, who is the main go-to guy. He also has big-play potential, leads the receiving corps with 21 catches. Ryan Smith, who is their return specialist, is next with nine receptions. Off of the play action that they have with the run game, they're very calculated with their passing game. They'll take what you give them and they're patient with it.
At quarterback Brock Jensen earned the starting spot last year toward the end of the season and has continued to improve and solidify his spot as the starter from spring ball to pre-fall. If you look at his numbers, the word "efficient" is there. His efficiency rating is extremely high, he has a 73 percent completion rate, has not thrown an interception yet, and he's also capable of running. They don't run him much but when they do he is capable of getting big yards for them.
Their defense is also extremely solid straight through from the defensive line to linebackers and to their secondary. They're only giving up a little bit under 11 points per game. I think their most impressive stat is their turnover margin. They are plus six on the season which tells you that they're very opportunistic as far as taking advantage of mistakes that you make as an offense. In fact, this past week against Illinois State in the second half, ISU three times had the ball inside the 10 yard line and came away with no points. Two of the drives ended with interceptions and the third drive ended on downs so they have very good redzone defense. If you look at their redzone success, they've given up six scores out of 10 but if you look down further, they've only given up three touchdowns when the opponents have been in the redzone, so they are very disciplined as a football team. They're in position to make plays and when they get the opportunity for a play, they make it.
Q: You mentioned how efficient they are in the redzone. What will be the key to disrupting that?
A: We have to take a play out of their playbook. We have to be in position, we have to make sure that we're executing our defensive package, and when we have the opportunity to make a play, we have to make it. If we're assignment sharp then we will give ourselves a chance, but we have to be assignment sharp.
Q: Will you be more conservative when playing a team like this and especially too with Kory (Faulkner) making his first start?
A: You have to take what they give you. If you have to be patient then you have to be patient. You have to take your shots every now and then just to make sure things are loosened up, but we're going to do what we think we do best and hopefully do it a little better.
Q: Were the low snaps from your center to Faulkner because he's a new guy or was it his height or what was the problem?
A: No, that's our center. It was a lot of the blocking combinations that Bryan Boemer was focusing on. They (WIU) did a lot of different fronts defensively, so there's a lot of communication and a lot of the times our center is making the calls and making the adjustments where the blocking schemes will go. Bryan needs to better job of that and it was something that was uncharacteristic.
Q: Were they double-teaming (Kayon) Swanson? I noticed that he only had about three tackles.
A: A big part of it was that they didn't do much with the run game. They did enough of it to keep you honest, but they really focused on the passing game and their numbers were more pass-oriented. If you look at some of our numbers, we did have five sacks on the day and we were able to get some tackles for losses when they did run the football, but their scheme was to keep us out of the backfield with their passing game.
Q: How important will this week of practice be to Kory's (Faulker) development?
A: I don't think it's necessarily development, he just has to feel prepared. Any time you compete you just want to make sure you know what you can anticipate. The better that Kory is prepared to anticipate what he's going to see, the better chance of success. I like Kory's demeanor. He came in against Western Illinois and took over like this is something that he had done before many times. We did have success moving the football with him, in fact, we felt pretty comfortable in calling the passing plays. Kory might even be a better passer than what Paul is, so we may be able to open a few other things up with Kory as our quarterback.
Q: When he took the hit and came back in, what did it do for the confidence of the team?
A: Even for myself it showed me something about Kory. I went out there to assess the situation, and he was in a lot of pain, so I didn't think he'd be coming back for a while. The very next play he's yelling for me saying "Coach, I'm ready to go" so that was a good sign. We put him back in and carried the ball, he had a nice run and didn't back down.
Q: Why have you guys been so good against the run early on?
A: Our defense is geared to stop the run. That's a big part of our philosophy. A lot of our zone blitzes are difficult against run-blocking schemes. Now sometimes you open yourself up if they hit the right play at the right time you're vulnerable to that, but at the same time, we just feel that we have a good front seven that can stand in there with a lot of run teams.
Q: Is there a part of this NDSU team that you feel is a weaker area?
A: They're balanced and efficient. I know a lot of their players, they're just very solid all the way across. They don't try to overwhelm you, they just try to out-execute you.They don't make many mistakes, which will force you to play not a perfect game but you have to be assignment sharp or otherwise they'll make you play. Last year, that's what it came down to, we made some mistakes and gave up a blocked punt which was a big thing for them leading to a touchdown. We had some turnovers and they just didn't give us a chance to win the game at Fargo. So to beat them, you just have to come out and out-play them.
Q: In the past four games you haven't started as sharply as you would like as a team. How do you as coaches correct that?
A: It's disappointing. You're thinking you're on track, you're getting things ready and then it just comes down to focus. If we have to stop a practice and restart it then we're going to do that. I think last week and even the week before, there were times where we have to throw the records out, but unfortunately the players are still hearing about it and sometimes you think you underestimate a team and you just don't have quite the same intensity. We have to be a mature enough football team where we don't underestimate anybody. I don't think we're going to have that problem this week, but I do think we need to mature as a team and that's a big area of concern.
Q: How concerned are you for another possible slow start this weekend?
A: You take what you get. I'm concerned about playing well at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end. You just have to get your guys ready to go from the get-go and hopefully play that solid game.
Q: The big plays that you have given up defensively, how much of that is you and how much of it is the opposing offense?
A: We need to be sharper. Defensively, the way we look at it, we were in position to make plays and didn't make it. Even with schemes and a couple things that happened on Saturday, we had coached our players and told them what we were expecting, but when it came time to do it that first drive, we just didn't do it. Sometimes it's just the excitement of the game being a little bit too much where you just don't have the focus, and sometimes it takes a while to get adjusted. We don't have that luxury, we have to be ready to go on play one and we have to be able to execute or else we're going to find ourselves in a hole.
Q: With the success that Illinois State did have against NDSU last week, what did you feel like were some of the things that they did well?
A: They like a lot of the receivers and they had some success moving the ball up the field. They still had a good running game but it's just finishing the drives. They started off well in the second half, they were right there and had their opportunities, but they just couldn't make it happen when the time came. They threw two interceptions and one was returned all the way for a NDSU touchdown so that just shows you the nature of the NDSU football team.
Q: Is there any thought to giving Chris Adams a shot as the kicker or are you still behind Jackson (MacLachlan)?
A: Chris is available for our longer field goals but Jackson is our kicker. He's pretty good inside the 20. I know he missed one and that is unacceptable, and he knows that that's his job, and he has to make those field goals. He's definitely capable for when we're inside the 20 to make every field goal.
Q: Do you feel like North Dakota State has transitioned well into the MVFC?
A: They're a good program. They know what it takes to be successful. They have two of my former coaches on their staff, they have the former defensive coordinator from Northern Iowa on their staff so they have prepared themselves well to be competitive in the Missouri Valley.
Q: One of your players said something in the press conference about being able to see the holes in your defense. Is there something you can adjust there?
A: That's the nature of the zone-blitz. Anytime you do that it's a three-under, three-deep concept. When you think about terms of just three players underneath -- in basketball terms its like a matchup zone -- sometimes you have to be in position to get to your matchup. It's something we're aware of defensively and that's where you want to get your pressure. It's the give and take of who's going to get the upper hand. That's the nature of the zone blitz.
Q: This is a pretty fearless team coming after playing on the road at Minnesota. Do they just look at coming here as just another game?
A: They had some playoff success last year, which I think has really helped them develop as a football team and they're just extremely confident. They're playing well and they should be confident. They're one of the top teams in the country right now and they've earned that.
Q: Is there any idea as to what the fastest Paul could be back?
A: Even if I had a "DR" in front of my name I couldn't tell you that.
