Coach Hill Press Conference Transcript

OPENING STATEMENT

We're excited to be back. Excited for the week of preparation going into a game. I thought we had a really good bye week. It's early in the season. How you manage your schedule is the most important thing. You want to get them healthy. You want to give everyone a chance to get the rest that they need and deserve. But you also want to get better as a team and practice hard. I thought we had some really good practices and we gave them a lot of time to rest up and get fresh for this week. I thought it went really well and we're excited about starting conference play. We know what this conference is about and we're going on a tough road game to Northern Iowa and playing in the dome. We're looking forward to it.

What are your memories of playing in the UNI-Dome?

Every one that I've been involved with has come down to the last possession. There's a lot of close games, but we never won up there. It's a tough place to play, but it's a really fun place to play. I always looked forward to it. I know it's homecoming for them and it will be loud. It's a game you look forward to playing in, especially as a player. You want to play in these types of games. Coach Farley has been doing it for a long time. I played against him. They're always going to play hard and be fundamentally sound. They'll never try to do too much or try to trick you. They're just going to line up and play football and be well coached. We have to be ready for a great team. Playing up there is going to be a really good opportunity and challenge.

Where do you think you improved the most in the bye week?

I wouldn't say there was just one area that we improved. It was a week that we wanted to emphasize fundamentals a little bit. Once you get going in the season, you're so focused on the team with game planning and looks and stuff like that. With the bye week, it gives you a chance to step back and focus on the fundamentals. With the bye week, you can get a jump on the next week's opponent. Coming off three weeks in a row with games, you're going to have some injuries. So we want to get healthy and work on fundamental things.

They have a really good 1-2 punch in their running game with their quarterback and running back. What challenges does that give your run defense?

We need to do a really good job of tackling. Both of them deserve respect. There's a reason why Aaron Bailey was picked to be first-team all-conference. He deserves it. He's a big strong kid that you're going to have to tackle. We have our work cut out for us. As soon as you think he's going to run with it, he'll make you pay by throwing the football. He has a strong arm. They have their leading receiver back. I just think you have to tackle really well and get 11 hats to the ball. A lot of times one guy isn't going to do the job. They're big guys and they break a lot of tackles. You have to do a good job of playing team defense and being fundamentally sound. As soon as you're not in the right gap and you miss and assignment or adjustment, he makes you pay because he also has the speed to go 80 yards and score a touchdown. Our work is definitely cut out for us. We have to have a good week of practice and be assignment sharp and tackle to ball carrier.

Their schedule is the toughest in the FCS. When you look at film, what stands out in how they played in their losses to Eastern Washington and Montana?

They have a really, really tough schedule. Coach Farley has been doing this for a long time and he knows what he's doing with scheduling. He's tested his team. They could easily be 3-0. It's a really good football team. They beat a Big-12 school in the first game, then played two top-10 teams. We know what kind of team they are. This is our first conference game and no one game is bigger than another, but this is our first conference game and every game is important. It's going to be a really good football team that we're playing.

UNI played a lot of three receiver sets against Montana. Will they try to spread the defense out?

They're a multiple offense. They definitely try to run the football and any time you can run the quarterback, like we did last year, you're plus-one in the run game. Any time that you can get Bailey and that big of a body against a secondary player, it doesn't end up well for the defense because he can break those tackles. They're a multiple team. Like I said, he can throw the football. Against Iowa State he made consistent throws that were on time. We have to do a really great job and be prepared for a physical game.

Karter Schult has been putting up some really impressive numbers on their defensive line. Why has he been so effective getting to the quarterback?

I think he's a great football player. It's not a surprise. They've had him for years. You'll see him playing on Sundays I think. I think he just has the football player mentality. I bet if you watched one of their practices, he's the guy that's working the hardest and he's locked in. He went to my wife Alicia's high school. I knew about him several years ago. He's a heck of a football player. We've played against him before. He plays hard all the time. He's just the kind of guy that you like watching on film, too. When you appreciate good football players, he's one of those guys.

They haven't allowed a rushing touchdown yet. How important is it to be creative and make them defend a lot of different things.

I think that's what we do. If you're self-scouting us, we hang our hat on doing multiple things. We have to run the football. They have a really good defensive line and I think that's the strength of their defense and it has been for a long time. They do a really good job with those guys. They don't make it easy on you. We have to be ourselves. We have to go out there and execute when we do. If you want to be a good football team, you can't go out and turn the ball over, especially on the road. If you turn the ball over, you give them things to get excited about and it gets loud. In the dome, you can really feel the momentum switch when things start to happen for their team.

Some of your seniors were freshman the last time SIU beat UNI. How do you think they'll rely on that experience this week?

People like Chase Allen and Billy Reed were all suited up for that game. They know what the feeling is like to go in there and get a win. I think that's really important for those guys, knowing that it has been done. I think it's good that a lot of our team played up there four games ago. They know the turf. They know it's a little bit different footing. It's a field that gets rolled up all the time for all of the different events they have there, so it doesn't have a much cushion and rubber. You have to wear different shoes. All those type of things will make it more familiar. We'll get in there and go at it, but the familiarity will definitely help.

How do you assess your team's play through non-conference?

I definitely am encouraged by our team. Non-conference is basically pre-season. You want to win every single game to get ready for this conference. Ultimately, the games that we play through the next eight games will tell what kind of season and team we have. There's no need to even look ahead in the schedule because every week is a big-time game. It's exciting to play in this kind of league. I'm encouraged by what we've done in the preseason. We're 2-1 and now we have to go out and play really good football in our league.

The league has played well across the board in non-conference. Is the league better than you thought?

No. We all expected it to be like this. We all know that it's going to continue to get better too. Recruits want to play in this league. I think that there are a lot of great coaches in this league that are going to continue to grow their program and recruit really well. I don't see it going away anytime soon. It's going to be like this for a long time. People have to realize how many great teams are going to come play here. Look up and down the league and see how many NFL players are on these rosters and are making plays on Sundays. You're coming to watch a lot of really good players and teams come through here.

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Chase Allen

Billy Reed

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