Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Head coach Nick Hill's weekly press conference
11/04/2019 | 3:36:00 | Football
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois head coach Nick Hill met with the media on Monday morning to preview this week's game versus Missouri State. The Salukis (5-4, 3-2) are aiming for their first four-game winning streak in a season since 2009. A 25 percent-off Flash Sale for tickets ends at 11:59 p.m. today. Enter the code WEWIN to receive the discount.
Opening statement.
Looking back at last week, we have some things we have to get better at. Like I said after the game, you're always going to enjoy a win, that's the ultimate goal, but we can play better. I think that's the focus we had yesterday when we came in and were really just critical of the film, our players had that attitude. We can tighten some things up and we're going to have to do that if we want to win this week. You guys will want to look at Missouri State's record, but when you put on their film, I think they're a good football team that's continuing to play hard. They have a lot of good football players. They're playing at a high level on defense. When you turn on the North Dakota State film and it's 14-0 in the third quarter, North Dakota State only puts up 22 points against them. Offensively, any time you play a quarterback who can run the football like Peyton (Huslig) can, it makes you work. Teams have tried to stop him from running the football. If you can get a team to be one-dimensional, that's your goal, and then you can put pressure on the quarterback.
On kicker Nico Gualdoni replacing Griffin Cerra.
Nico stepped up and had a heckuva game, he was the Player of the Week for our game, mentally being ready. That last kick was a big-time kick — 35 yards and swirling wind, not an easy kick and made it to go up two scores. We had four opportunities in the red zone, we had to kick three field goals, which, obviously, we needed.
On the lack of explosive pass plays at Indiana State.
We've just got to execute. It's coach's talk, but that's what it comes down to. The third-and-shorts, throwing and catching, we had a couple of missed opportunities in the throwing game Saturday that just comes down to the fundamental things that we have to do at a high level if we want to keep winning. A couple third downs where we weren't able to stay on the field. Even on that first little crossing route to (Avante) Cox, he bobbled it and went down and had like a 12-yard gain. Last week, that went for a 60-yard touchdown because, really, he has one man to beat going full speed and he's been known to make that guy miss. Some opportunities like that, that we didn't capitalize on. Like I told them, it's nice to be able to find a way to win when you don't play at your best, but we're going to have to play at our best if we want to keep winning.
On if he feels the team should be ranked.
I don't think it has any bearing on what we do this week. As far as being in the Top 25, if we don't win this week, we won't be in it. If you keep winning, you get recognized for that kind of stuff. Our focus is on winning this game and getting to 6-4. If we keep winning, we keep getting to play. We haven't talked any about (the Top 25).
Do you feel confident in the running game against Missouri State?
The goal every week is to commit to running the football. I've said time and time again that to win in November in this league you have to be able to run the football. Teams make it tough on you to do that. Indiana State did a good job. A lot of times, we were running into tough boxes with seven guys down there. D.J. (Davis) makes you look good sometimes. I think our backs do a good job of running through contact and making yards after contact. I think the offensive line did a good job and so did the backs.
Will you wait until next season to utilize Javon Williams Jr. more as a passer?
You always have things in the game plan you don't get to, whatever the circumstances are. Javon's a capable thrower. It's not like a Wildcat guy that you're just going to throw a pop pass to. He might have the strongest arm on our team. He can accurately throw the football down the field. Teams start to load the box, you're going to have to do some of that and give our guys a chance on the outside. We have that in our package. As teams scheme us in different ways — Indiana State did a good job of adjusting a couple times to what we did — it makes it tough if you get eight, nine guys down there, you're going to have to throw it.
What has Coach Jason Petrino done to turn around the defense and get more turnovers?
I think Coach Petrino has done an outstanding job, the entire defensive staff. Turnovers come when you're in the right position and you're playing with great technique. Win the turnover battle — every Division I coach, Division II coach is going to sit in front of their team and tell them that. Like you saw on Saturday, when Bryson (Strong) and (Jeremy) Chinn are in the right spot and you get there with a little bit of violence to you, that's what you have to do. You've seen us strip the football — Qua (Brown) a couple times — all the fundamental things you do in training camp and in practice in our bonus periods, the great teams —those fundamentals carry over to the game. I think that's what our defensive guys have bought into — just doing your job. Your eyes have to be in the right spot, your technique has to be great, don't try to do somebody else's job, trust your teammates to make that play.
On Jeremy Chinn's versatility.
We moved him around a little bit, you saw him play a little bit in the nickel. As the season goes on with injuries, with Tre (Strong) being out, we moved some guys around. Jeremy's such a smart player, you feel good going into a week and being able to put some things in and he's going to execute at a high level. We'll be able to move Jeremy around as the season continues, to try to get him around the football. Brought him on a couple pressures that didn't get home on Saturday but he was around the football a little bit more. Any time you can have "2" around the football, good things are going to happen. You could see him being that type of guy at the next level — just the versatility that he has in the secondary has everybody excited. He's such a big guy, he's 215 pounds and probably could carry a little bit more. He can cover, he can hit, he can get around the line of scrimmage. Especially in this day and age in the NFL with some spread teams coming, you can put him in the nickel, you can blitz him. The more you can do, the better. He got the block that springs Javon on the punt return — out there doing special teams. It just gets you excited about the team you have. He comes back from an injury and on his off day is in Coach Jared Petrino's office and wants back on special teams, punt, punt block. He just likes to play football.
On how QB Karé Lyles has graded out the last two games.
I met with Karé yesterday and told him to go pull up my stats or Joel's (Sambursky) stats. Nobody's going to remember how many yards you passed for at Indiana State in 2019. They're going to remember you won or could lead your team on a winning streak or to the playoffs or win a conference championship. They remember you making big plays and taking care of the football. I think that's what our team needs. There's going to be a game where he needs to pass for 300 yards and we feel like we're capable of doing that. He's graded out a high level the past two weeks as far as playing winning football, the decisions he's making. He was on target 70 percent out of his 16 throws (at Indiana State). Your number-one stat as a quarterback is winning.
Opening statement.
Looking back at last week, we have some things we have to get better at. Like I said after the game, you're always going to enjoy a win, that's the ultimate goal, but we can play better. I think that's the focus we had yesterday when we came in and were really just critical of the film, our players had that attitude. We can tighten some things up and we're going to have to do that if we want to win this week. You guys will want to look at Missouri State's record, but when you put on their film, I think they're a good football team that's continuing to play hard. They have a lot of good football players. They're playing at a high level on defense. When you turn on the North Dakota State film and it's 14-0 in the third quarter, North Dakota State only puts up 22 points against them. Offensively, any time you play a quarterback who can run the football like Peyton (Huslig) can, it makes you work. Teams have tried to stop him from running the football. If you can get a team to be one-dimensional, that's your goal, and then you can put pressure on the quarterback.
On kicker Nico Gualdoni replacing Griffin Cerra.
Nico stepped up and had a heckuva game, he was the Player of the Week for our game, mentally being ready. That last kick was a big-time kick — 35 yards and swirling wind, not an easy kick and made it to go up two scores. We had four opportunities in the red zone, we had to kick three field goals, which, obviously, we needed.
On the lack of explosive pass plays at Indiana State.
We've just got to execute. It's coach's talk, but that's what it comes down to. The third-and-shorts, throwing and catching, we had a couple of missed opportunities in the throwing game Saturday that just comes down to the fundamental things that we have to do at a high level if we want to keep winning. A couple third downs where we weren't able to stay on the field. Even on that first little crossing route to (Avante) Cox, he bobbled it and went down and had like a 12-yard gain. Last week, that went for a 60-yard touchdown because, really, he has one man to beat going full speed and he's been known to make that guy miss. Some opportunities like that, that we didn't capitalize on. Like I told them, it's nice to be able to find a way to win when you don't play at your best, but we're going to have to play at our best if we want to keep winning.
On if he feels the team should be ranked.
I don't think it has any bearing on what we do this week. As far as being in the Top 25, if we don't win this week, we won't be in it. If you keep winning, you get recognized for that kind of stuff. Our focus is on winning this game and getting to 6-4. If we keep winning, we keep getting to play. We haven't talked any about (the Top 25).
Do you feel confident in the running game against Missouri State?
The goal every week is to commit to running the football. I've said time and time again that to win in November in this league you have to be able to run the football. Teams make it tough on you to do that. Indiana State did a good job. A lot of times, we were running into tough boxes with seven guys down there. D.J. (Davis) makes you look good sometimes. I think our backs do a good job of running through contact and making yards after contact. I think the offensive line did a good job and so did the backs.
Will you wait until next season to utilize Javon Williams Jr. more as a passer?
You always have things in the game plan you don't get to, whatever the circumstances are. Javon's a capable thrower. It's not like a Wildcat guy that you're just going to throw a pop pass to. He might have the strongest arm on our team. He can accurately throw the football down the field. Teams start to load the box, you're going to have to do some of that and give our guys a chance on the outside. We have that in our package. As teams scheme us in different ways — Indiana State did a good job of adjusting a couple times to what we did — it makes it tough if you get eight, nine guys down there, you're going to have to throw it.
What has Coach Jason Petrino done to turn around the defense and get more turnovers?
I think Coach Petrino has done an outstanding job, the entire defensive staff. Turnovers come when you're in the right position and you're playing with great technique. Win the turnover battle — every Division I coach, Division II coach is going to sit in front of their team and tell them that. Like you saw on Saturday, when Bryson (Strong) and (Jeremy) Chinn are in the right spot and you get there with a little bit of violence to you, that's what you have to do. You've seen us strip the football — Qua (Brown) a couple times — all the fundamental things you do in training camp and in practice in our bonus periods, the great teams —those fundamentals carry over to the game. I think that's what our defensive guys have bought into — just doing your job. Your eyes have to be in the right spot, your technique has to be great, don't try to do somebody else's job, trust your teammates to make that play.
On Jeremy Chinn's versatility.
We moved him around a little bit, you saw him play a little bit in the nickel. As the season goes on with injuries, with Tre (Strong) being out, we moved some guys around. Jeremy's such a smart player, you feel good going into a week and being able to put some things in and he's going to execute at a high level. We'll be able to move Jeremy around as the season continues, to try to get him around the football. Brought him on a couple pressures that didn't get home on Saturday but he was around the football a little bit more. Any time you can have "2" around the football, good things are going to happen. You could see him being that type of guy at the next level — just the versatility that he has in the secondary has everybody excited. He's such a big guy, he's 215 pounds and probably could carry a little bit more. He can cover, he can hit, he can get around the line of scrimmage. Especially in this day and age in the NFL with some spread teams coming, you can put him in the nickel, you can blitz him. The more you can do, the better. He got the block that springs Javon on the punt return — out there doing special teams. It just gets you excited about the team you have. He comes back from an injury and on his off day is in Coach Jared Petrino's office and wants back on special teams, punt, punt block. He just likes to play football.
On how QB Karé Lyles has graded out the last two games.
I met with Karé yesterday and told him to go pull up my stats or Joel's (Sambursky) stats. Nobody's going to remember how many yards you passed for at Indiana State in 2019. They're going to remember you won or could lead your team on a winning streak or to the playoffs or win a conference championship. They remember you making big plays and taking care of the football. I think that's what our team needs. There's going to be a game where he needs to pass for 300 yards and we feel like we're capable of doing that. He's graded out a high level the past two weeks as far as playing winning football, the decisions he's making. He was on target 70 percent out of his 16 throws (at Indiana State). Your number-one stat as a quarterback is winning.
Players Mentioned
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