Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Head Coach Dale Lennon press conference transcript
10/19/2015 | 12:00:00 | Football
Tony McDaniel
SIUSalukis.com
Opening statement:
We’ve got a new week in front of us and a big challenge with Youngstown coming to town. The big challenge for us will be putting last week behind us and getting back to work on Tuesday. We’ve got some guys we need to heal up; it was a very physical game against Indiana State. There are some bumps and bruises there. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get most of the individuals back that are currently in the training room, but that’s what happens in game seven in the Missouri Valley. I’m optimistic that we will have the majority of guys back. I definitely look forward to Homecoming. That’s always an exciting time on campus. With an opponent like Youngstown coming to town, it will be a great football game.
Q: What the biggest difference you see in the Penguins this year under Bo Pelini?
“You see a lot of similarities. There’s not that much that has changed. They’re running the same offense; Shane Montgomery is still their offensive coordinator. He’s a very good coach. I think Bo Pelini has taken the Nebraska defensive concept that he had and instilled it at Youngstown, so that’s a little bit different. Athletically, they had a very talented team coming back from last year. Talent-wise, this is one of the most talented teams that we will come up against.”
Q: How have you seen Jody Webb and Martin Ruiz’s games progress?
They’re a good complement to each other. Both are high-quality backs. If you look at the stats, both are ranked in the top six in the conference as far as yardage is concerned. They had some success against us last year running the football, so that will be an area of emphasis for us. We need to continue to work on improving the run defense and not giving up the big run. That’s what has hurt us through the course of the season. We have to make sure our fits are there.
Q: Looking at SIU’s tackling, what has to get better there?
Unfortunately, at Indiana State, there were some one-on-one plays that resulted in big plays for Indiana State. We had a guy assigned to the quarterback on the quarterback’s long run, and he just didn’t make the play. In tackling, there is no tackle that is identical to another. You just have to be athletic enough and, body-position wise, make sure you’re giving yourself the best chance to execute a tackle. Same thing on the long run that we gave up. We had an individual in the gap; he just didn’t make the play. That’s what we have to be better at, making those plays and making sure we’re pursuing to the football.
Q: What are your thoughts on the targeting calls?
“After the game, the film confirmed my thinking. We’re currently waiting to see what the league will say about Chase Allen’s play; and until I hear anything, I can’t comment on it. As of right now, we’re expecting Chase to be suspended for the first half of the game. If they overrule it, we’ll be ready to get him involved. It’s a call that’s needed in football. It’s for the protection of the athletes. It puts a lot of stress on the officials making the call especially when they don’t have a review system in place. The game happens so fast, that whether or not there was a helmet-to-helmet contact, you don’t know. It’s a difficult call. The film has been submitted to the league and everything is being reviewed.”
Q: In the past, you guys have been a better road team than you have been at home. This year it’s kind of the opposite. You’ve been better at home. Is there kind of a comfort level coming back here to play for Homecoming?
“I’m not ready to categorize everything, but we just haven’t won. Those are games we’ve got to find a way to win. The thing that is nice is the confidence playing at home is there. I think it’s just the personality of the team itself factors into it. Right now, I do think the guys are very confident. They’re locked in. The routine is set. Football is a lot about routine. Hopefully that will help us prepare well this week.”
Q: What stands out about Youngstown’s defense?
“Athleticism. They run well. That’s the first thing you see is they run to the football; they’re very athletic. If they’re out of position, they can recover quickly and get into position to make a play so they have some pretty talented, athletic individuals.”
Q: The four loses are by eight points. How do you fix that?
“How you fix it is by not looking back. You’ve got to put everything you’ve got into what’s in front of you. You’ve got to make sure you have that tunnel vision that you need in coaching and playing. You’ve just got to have that belief that things are going to start bouncing your way. That’s the crazy thing about the game of football; a bounce of a football can determine the outcome of the game. The call of an official can determine the outcome of a game. Those are things you don’t have control of. What we have to focus on is everything that we do have control of—catching the kick, snapping the ball, getting the time off on the punt—all those things we have complete control of, but that’s what we’ll be working on.”
