Southern Illinois head coach Nick Hill’s weekly press conference

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CARBONDALE, Ill. — Here are excerpts from Saluki football head coach Nick Hill‘s weekly press conference held Monday afternoon at Saluki Stadium. Southern Illinois hosts SEMO on Saturday at 6 p.m. Tickets are available on-line or by calling 877-SALUKIS.

Thoughts on the home opener versus SEMO.
We’re excited to get in front of our home fans. We need it to be a full house and to be loud, and I think our fans have a lot of things to be excited about. It’s a big game for both programs. I think there’s a lot to build off from Ole Miss. Yesterday, we had a great day of corrections, of getting better from watching the film, getting out on the field for a short time and letting our guys get their bodies back, some good teaching moments on both sides of the ball. Our approach the entire season is daily improvement. 

The schools are 45 minutes apart, so any time you have that, it’s a natural rivalry. It’s a great game that we should play every single year. It’s good for both fan bases and the school pride of playing each other. We don’t treat them any different — same as last week — you asked if we treat an SEC game different. If you get caught up thinking of different things as a player or a coach throughout the week, then you’re not thinking of the right things. Nothing really changes in our preparation.

Thoughts on second half of Ole Miss game.
I thought on offense we could have kept scoring, there were some opportunities there. I thought our guys went on some consistent drives there in the third quarter and penalties got in the way a couple times and then lack of execution. I could have done a better job calling some better plays. The score wasn’t really what it could’ve been. They’re a good team. They had six catches that were contested balls that we guarded them and challenged them, and that’s what I asked our guys to do — make them earn it. 

On how the defense utilizes the safeties.
Our safeties are down in the run fits all game long, a lot of times they are at linebacker depth, especially the strong safety. We primarily start out of a two-high shell and they’re in the run fits a lot of times. Depending on what the offense is doing, they end up becoming linebackers and they’re usually the free hitter on players. 

On 5-foot-8, 168-pound RB D.J. Davis, who has had back-to-back 100-yard games.
He’s proven that he’s an elite-level back. Sometimes, just because of his size, he gets put into a scat back (category). You saw him breaking tackles in between the tackles where SEC linebackers had him squared up and he gets yards after contact. He’s a heckuva football player. Coach (Pat) Poore came into my office yesterday and said, ‘that kid is one of the best football players I’ve been around.’ Some of the pass-pro pickups that he had Saturday, he’s just an unselfish and outstanding football player. He models the way effort-wise and is just a competitor.

On SEMO quarterback and Northern Illinois transfer Daniel Santacaterian.
He’s a good player. There’s no secret I have a ton of respect for Coach “Tuke” (Tom Matukewicz), he’s a good friend of mine, and I know they were excited to get him in the offseason. He’s talked about what a good leader he is and he’s kind of taken over the team. You can tell he’s a tough kid. He took a pretty good shot in the first game and had to be taken off on a stretcher, and then he comes back and has the game he had last week against Dayton, just says a lot about his character and his toughness. 

On the difference between playing an SEC team versus an FCS opponent.
I think it’s overblown. SEMO will create problems that Ole Miss didn’t. Up front, they have three big guys and do a good job of making you earn it when you’re running the football. What I continue to say every year is that the depth shows sometimes in those (FBS) games, when they’re rolling out more players, but the speed of the game from this level to the next level doesn’t really change much. Each team is going to create different problems. Things that Ole Miss was giving us, SEMO won’t give us. 

On the play of the offensive line at Ole Miss.
Our offensive line did a really good job against some really good players. Our tight ends are a part of that. (Jacob) Varble and Jaylon Graham have done an outstanding job bringing some physicality. Varble has taken the next step in his game each and every year. There were some plays on Saturday that he looks like an SEC tight end, physically getting after some people, moving them, taking them down the line of scrimmage, running power. He’s just continued to get better and better, and that helps us in our run game, too. Bryce Wagner had to play 30 plays in an SEC environment, and you didn’t really hear, ‘hey, we have a tackle (out), we have to adjust the gameplan’ when Ben Bailey had to come out with a stinger. I think they’re finding their groove and getting some confidence.  Big Z (ZeVeyon Furcron), there were some times he wore some people out on Saturday, and that was exciting to see. It was only his second game playing offensive line and he’ll continue to grow and get better with the consistency. 

On the five local players from the Black Diamond Conference.
I’m proud of that, that they’re here and on the team. They all bring something different and are a big part of our team. We love recruiting guys locally. All of those guys were here in our camps and got to know them. We’ll keep recruiting locally and we’re proud to have all five of those guys.

On Chester native and starting defensive end Jordan Berner.
He’s had a tremendous progression. Off the field, he’s done an exceptional job. He got a 4.0 (GPA) in the spring, his second semester since he’s been here with a 4.0. Knowing that he’s just a sophomore on the field can get you excited. He’s such a big, physical kid and his best days are still ahead of him. Everybody in southern Illinois should be proud of Jordan Berner.