Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Coach Lennon football press conference transcript
09/01/2014 | 12:00:00 | Football
By Rico Cruz
SIUSalukis.com
Opening statement...
"It is definitely an exciting week coming up. Everything magnifies as far as the way we look at things. We get the chance to play Eastern Illinois, who is a very good football team. They are a ranked team that has done well on the national scene. This will be a big first test to see where we are at as a football team. I know that the players and coaching staff are excited about it. We are looking forward to going to Charleston and see what type of team we have."
On how last year's game influences the team for this week...
"If you look at the last two years, you could argue that the game that has kept us out of the playoffs is this game. Especially last year with the two-overtime loss. I was looking at the stats from last year; the fans are in for a treat because last year we were at 197 plays ran by both teams with only one turnover in that game. You have a two-overtime game, so it was a battle back-and-forth that could have gone either direction. They made the play at the end to win it, and that's how the game works. Naturally, you remember that, but they are too good of a team for us to just to rely on motivation to make this happen. We have to be very sound with our offensive and defensive schemes. They are a different team from last year. There are still some similarities. They have also brought the philosophies from the schools that the new coaches have come from. It is a little bit of a different team from last year."
On learning anything about Eastern Illinois from their first game...
"Anytime that you get to watch a game, you know exactly what they are doing. It sheds a lot of light on what to anticipate. Naturally, every team changes things from week-to-week, so there is always that element. Against Minnesota, I think the score was deceiving. Offensively, they moved the ball up and down the field and were fairly successful against them. They have that high offensive potential. Defensively, I know they gave Minnesota a lot of difficulty just with their schemes, stunts, and with bringing a lot of pressure. They are a very physical team. This going to be one of those classic battles that will probably go own to the end again."
On capitalizing on EIU's turnovers...
"That is an area that they will be correcting. A couple of those turnovers were extremely costly. One was on their own five yard-line and one going in where they are about to score on the four yard-line. That is 14 points that they did not take advantage of or they gave up. Those are costly, especially in the first game. I think they made a lot of first-game-type mistakes, especially with the new staff. That takes a little bit of time to gel. You see the most improvements from game one to game two. I expect that from us, and I expect that from them."
On EIU's offensive play calling ...
"They still run a lot of plays. If you look at the stats from the Minnesota game, they ran more than 80 plays, so they do have an up-tempo approach to the game. They are not quite as rapid fire as what we saw last year, but that does not mean that they cannot go to it. I think they have those capabilities, where they can kick it into high gear or they can get back into a more line-up-and-call-the-play mentality. I know they have that in their arsenal also."
On EIU's two-quarterback system...
"I would expect that they would probably do that again. The two quarterbacks are a little different in nature. (Jalen) Whitlow is an athlete and will be a handful to defend. We have to be aware of where he is at because he is a potential run threat. (Andrew) Manley he is a good thrower. He can get the ball downfield and make all of the tough throws that you are looking for. They have a good one-two combination and we have to be ready for both."
On his defense's speed defending the run ...
"We need to be aware of it, and I guarantee that it will be part of our game plan. We need to keep a quarterback like that in check. I do not know if you can shut him down. You watch the games from the past weekend with athletic quarterbacks, they made a difference. If the pass is not there, they can get 15-20 yards on a scramble. It is just the nature of the game. You just cannot let that be demoralizing to you defensively because that is just an element to their game."
On what has changed defensively EIU...
"Well you only have the one game to evaluate, plus they were going against Minnesota who was going to run the football. They allowed them to do some things. Eastern overloaded the box extremely. Those are things that we cannot allow them to do. That is something offensively we are going to need to be able to adjust as the game progresses to what they are doing too see if they are going to continue to be as aggressive as they were or will they back up and play a little more base. That will be the chess game going on."
On how dynamic SIU's running game is...
"I do not know if we were tested to the highest degree this past week. This is the big test for us to see where our run game is, where our protection is, and where our passing game is. It is the something for our defensive schemes. That is still part of us, finding our identity. We feel good about the potential that we have and the capabilities we have. We think that we have the schemes that allow us to be successful. Now it is just the matter of the execution phase and going out and doing it."
On his first big test as defensive coordinator...
"Any time that you take on that responsibility, you always add the pressure of getting your players game ready. There is definitely more attention to detail that is going into it. Having a couple of extra days have been helpful to putting the package together. Right now we feel pretty good in our game plan prep. Now, it is what the players feel comfortable in. Due to the nature of the team we are playing, they will give us a lot of different looks. Anytime that you have a lot of different variations coming at you, you have to keep your plans somewhat simple. That is always the challenge, to have some complicity with your simple approach. We are just trying to get the right feel."
