On Thursday, Salukis looking to show that they’re a physical, detailed football team
CARBONDALE, Ill. — No. 16-ranked Southern Illinois made its final preparations on Tuesday morning for the trip to West Florida, and the words that keep coming up in meetings and practices are “physicality” and “attention to detail.”
Physicality is football shorthand for the ability to run the football and stop the run.
On paper, Southern has the potential to have a dominant rushing attack. The Salukis ranked No. 10 in the nation in rushing yards last year and have many of the same pieces back, including quarterback DJ Williams, and running backs Ed Robinson, Chandler Chapman and Lem Wash, plus three starters back on the offensive line.
Likewise, SIU’s defense has the capability to be tough against the run, with three of its best tacklers returning in linebackers Andrew Behm and Chris Presto, and safety Vinny Pierre Jr.
“I think you sit here before the season and it's all speculation,” head coach Nick Hill said. “We have to go out there and do it.”
The groundwork was laid during the off-season, going back to spring ball, OTAs, individual workouts and now a month of training camp.
“We need to be a physical team, and it's got to start Thursday night as far as the physicality with which we play,” Hill said. “That’s the message that's been preached every day, and I’m excited to go watch them put that out there.”
One of the most punishing backs on the team is Wash, a 5-foot-10, 223-pound wrecking ball, who delivers licks whether he’s carrying the football, catching passes or clearing room for someone else.
“Ever since not making the playoffs last year, we've been eager to get on the field again,” Wash said. “The main thing for us is to stay calm, fall back on our training, and at the end of the day, just play physical.”
When healthy, Behm is one of the top tacklers in the FCS. He made 16 stops at Purdue last season, which was the most by a Saluki player dating back to 2002.
“I’m just excited to be able to go hit somebody,” Behm said. “I’m ready to go to war with my brothers.”
For safety reasons, the NCAA limits how often players can tackle in practice. Hill said it will be interesting to see how many missed tackles occur throughout college football in Week 1.
“We're doing tackling drills every day and technique things, but there's nothing like tackling a real person and getting them on the ground,” he said. “We have to be fundamentally sound, play with relentless effort and get all 11 hats to the ball.”
Southern believes that precise technique combined with physicality are two key ingredients of a winning recipe.
“It’s the small things that win games,” Hill said. “We have to believe in the details, the relentlessness that wins football games, the toughness, responding to adversity. If we buy into that messaging, we'll have a good football team.
Hill often reminds the team that, in football, adversity is not a matter of if, but when it will come.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how we respond to the tough situations we're put in throughout the season,” he said. “There will be times in Week 1 where we have to adjust and adapt.”
Comments