Monday Notebook: Salukis turn "critical eye" at things they can do better
CARBONDALE, Ill. — During his Monday morning presser, Southern Illinois head coach Nick Hill listed a handful of things his team could’ve done better during its 40-point win over Murray State.
“We watched the tape with a critical eye, and there’s a lot we need to get cleaned up,” he said. “Everybody has to put their feelings aside and take ownership of it, coaches included.”
Hill pointed a finger at himself for the offense’s struggles in the red zone. The Salukis (3-2, 1-0) were stopped four times inside the 20 and had to settle for four Weston Schofield field goals.
“I don’t think I did a great job during practice emphasizing what I wanted to see (in the red zone),” Hill explained. “That’s a coaching error, a preparation error.”
For the the second-straight week, the defense gave up a touchdown on the opening drive, though it shut the Racers out the rest of the way.
“(Murray State) had a good opening script,” Hill acknowledged. “There were some things we had to adjust to on the fly that they hadn’t shown this season, like the wildcat. We did a good job of making those adjustments, but we can’t allow the opponent to get some early momentum.”
The Salukis (3-2, 1-0) moved up three spots to No. 21 in the Stats Perform rankings and host No. 8 Youngstown State on Saturday. The Penguins (3-2, 1-1) are led by reigning Payton Award winner Beau Brungard. The quarterback leads the FCS in points-responsible-for with 122.
“It starts with 12,” said Hill, referencing Brungard. “He has complete command of their offense. In this league and around college football, each week is a season of its own. We’ve been competing against Beau for a long time. We have to be at our best. You want to be in position to play these type of games.”
Also on Monday, Schofield was named the MVFC special teams player-of-the-week.
Here’s a detailed look at all three phases of Southern’s performance from Saturday, plus our weekly StrongDawgs MVFC Power Rankings.
