Saluki defense anxious to get bad taste out of its mouth, Pronschinske says

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Saluki defense recorded a season-high in missed tackles last week versus North Dakota, and defensive coordinator Lee Pronschinske said the unit is anxious to get that bad taste out of its mouth. He said the defense has reached its “boiling point” and hopes to see it explode this week versus Northern Iowa.

Southern’s defense has been hit hard with key injuries the last three weeks, losing linebackers Andrew Behm and Chris Presto, plus safety Cejai Parson. Injuries aren’t excuses, they’re opportunities, Pronschinske explained.

SIU’s defense will be stronger down the road, he believes, thanks to on-the-job-training the younger players are receiving. Players such as middle linebacker Ben Fiegel, who has 31 tackles in the last three games, are gaining valuable experience from the heavy workload.

Coordinator's Corner with Lee Pronschinske

SD: Let’s start with a debrief on North Dakota, and obviously, some things didn't go well in that game. What did you see?

LP: We didn't play well defensively. We didn't do a great job of playing complementary football across the board. You also have to credit North Dakota for coming out and executing things. They capitalized on some crucial situations, some 4th-down conversions, some 4th-down stops, and scoring points in the red zone, and then they took care of the ball. I think that's a good football team, and obviously, I hope we have the opportunity to go play those guys again.

I don't think Saturday was a direct reflection of where we're at as a team and as a unit, but that's the reality of playing in this league. It shows that you have to play at an extremely high level every Saturday, and I think it's an opportunity for our guys to show what we're truly made of and respond.

SD: Statistically, you came into the game with only 29 missed tackles against the run this season, but you added 16 on Saturday. That had to be disappointing for a defense that prides itself on tackling.

LP: I had us personally for 19 missed tackles, and 12 of those led to 204 yards. Throughout the season you’re putting together a resume, and that's now on our resume. You can't make excuses, you can't hide from it. To be the unit we want to be, we have to tackle at a high level. We’ve shown in other weeks and other situations that we have a very capable tackling group. Our focus in practice this week is to emphasize physicality and tackling at the point of attack.

SD: You don't make excuses when you have key guys out like Andrew Behm and Chris Presto, but then losing safety Cejai Parson on the first series, how much did that affect your game plan?

LP: It's our job as coaches to be prepared for the unexpected, to talk through situational personnel groupings. Losing Cejai was a little bit of a perfect storm for us, though, being down Presto. We had bumped Vinny (Pierre Jr.) into his spot down in the box, and we felt good about having Cejai and Jagger (Williams) at the safeties, and then you lose Cejai right away.

But it doesn't change our ability to execute in situational football and tackling. The depth of this unit will continue to play. We have guys that are hungry and desire to be in those roles. When the opportunity is there, we have to answer the bell. No one's going to feel sorry for us. It's not going to gain you extra points on the scoreboard. I tell our defense all the time, we live in reality, so we have to embrace it and get better.

SD: So many young guys getting reps right now has the potential to help you down the road when the injured players return, doesn’t it?

LP: I think you hit that right on the head. Young guys like Ben Fiegel, Grant Thompson, Johnny Schmidt, Charlie Whelpley, David Obadein, Stephen Green, Cam Cason — those guys are playing bigger roles than maybe we thought they were going to at the beginning of the year. It's a long season, so we have to make sure that these are either really good reps or they’re reps we learn from. As we get toward the end of the season and hopefully a playoff run, that depth is gonna be a strength for us.

SD: You're facing a UNI team that nearly beat South Dakota last week. How important is it to get off to a good start against the Panthers?

LP: They have a talented offense and I think the record's a little misleading. They opened up with probably three of the top teams in the conference with South Dakota State, North Dakota and South Dakota. They're going to be excited about this opportunity to come to Carbondale. For us, I think it's almost craving the opportunity to get back out there to get that taste out of our mouth.

SD: In addition to Homecoming, it’s Hall of Fame weekend, with a couple of all-time football greats going in. Talk about the excitement of them coming back.

LP: It's pretty amazing that Jeremy Chinn is taking time out of his NFL bye week to come back. I think it shows you how much this place means to Jeremy. I still remember being at NDSU in 2020, turning on the tape of Southern Illinois, and I'm like, who the heck is this creature? Everyone's like, dude, that's Jeremy Chinn.

We also have Fabray Collins, the school’s all-time leading tackler, going into the Hall. I understand he’s a guy from the '83 Championship team and I hope I get a chance to meet him.

SD: Let’s end it with the Big Question for this week. Point blank — can your defense get back that confidence and swagger it had during the first half of the season?

LP: Yeah, there's no doubt in my mind. It doesn't matter names or faces that will be out there this weekend for us defensively,

this is the opportunity you want, to play in front of a Homecoming crowd, get our team, get our unit back on track. There's a lot of guys who are extremely hungry to go do it. I think this group is at the boiling point where it's just a matter of time to explode some defensively. We're due for a couple takeaways. We're due for some big third-down stops and some timely momentum-changing plays.