from John Lock siusalukis.com

Head coach Nick Hill met with the media Monday to discuss last week’s loss vs. Northern Iowa, the upcoming game at South Dakota State, SDSU’s talented offense, and much more. Below is a partial transcript.

Watch the complete press conference here » https://youtu.be/KVD2Tc8mPW4   

OPENING STATEMENT

After watching the film yesterday, I feel like that was a game that we needed to execute in certain areas in order to win. The guys came out with the right attitude. We had the right game plan. We did a lot of great things in certain areas at certain times. A lot of players had really good games. Ultimately, we have six keys to victory. The first is always the turnover margin. Anytime you turn it over three times and they only turn it over once, it’s an uphill battle. We played a pretty clean game for the most part. We couldn’t get things going in the first half. We will have to learn from those turnovers. We will do that. I like the way our guys came in yesterday with an eagerness to learn and get better from it. Our defense continues to take steps forward. We can continue to find ways to improve and make it even tougher on teams to score. We’re improving. We did some things that we expect to be better in games like that to win.

Moving on to South Dakota State, they’re an outstanding football team. Coach Stiegelmeier does a great job. He’s always been really good to me since I got the job. I have a ton of respect for him and how he does it at South Dakota State. Obviously, they have the player of the year coming back in the conference (QB Taryn Christion). They’re talented offensively. They do a great job defensively at understanding what they do and why they do it. They’re well coached and in the right spots. They have talented players on both sides of the football. It will be a great test for us on the road. They haven’t been home in a couple weeks. It will be a great crowd. I like how our team has been the first two weeks we’ve been on the road. I like how we approached Southeast Missouri and Memphis. It will be a similar type of atmosphere, maybe not quite as many people, but a similar atmosphere as we were in at Memphis. We have to be willing to go up there, accept the challenge and play well if we want to get a win.

What did you take from the Youngstown State vs. South Dakota State game?

Youngstown completely dominated time of possession. They had the ball for more than 45 minutes. (SDSU) only had 37 plays of offense, which I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a team have that few plays in a game. The best defense against talented players like (SDSU) has is to keep them on the sideline. That’s what Youngstown’s game plan was—run the ball and be good on third down to stay on the field. They went on some drives where they just grinder it out. They ran for over 300 yards. Anytime you can run for more than 300 yards, it’s usually going to work out in your favor, in terms of wins and losses. South Dakota State got some things going in their first two drives. They’re always going to move the football. They always do a good job early in their first possession or two. Going back to their playoff games last season against North Dakota State, they lost that game but they were up 10-0 early. They scored quickly. They get off to fast starts. They left some points on the board (against YSU). They were in the red zone and couldn’t punch it in. They had a couple turnovers. Anytime you’re facing a running quarterback, you have to do your job. Stay in your lane. Know your assignment. You have to tackle well. So many times, people have him (SDSU QB Taryn Christion), but then he makes an athletic play. He’s hard to bring down. He’s a big kid and a great football player. We talk about what a great league we have and what great players we have—he was voted as the best last year. He’s a talented player.

So how do you keep the ball for 45 minutes?

Yeah, I don’t know if we will do that. We will have a good game plan going in, as far as what we want to do on offense. Like I said last week, we have to execute that. We can’t turn it over three times. We have to be efficient with everything we do. We weren’t efficient vs. Northern Iowa as far as when we had the chances, being sound in everything we do and capitalizing on things. From every position—false starts, dropped passes, missed reads here and there. When it comes down to facing great teams, those things add up and you’re not clicking on all cylinders. We have to go up there and play well. We’re on the road playing a top-10 team. We have to execute at a high level and be efficient every time you have the football.

Will the Memphis game help, in terms of style of play and caliber of athletes?

I think so. Our guys have been on the road against a good team. That will help. Each game is different and we really have to hone in on what these guys do well and try to take that away. They do a good job of giving you a few new things every week, too. They will have a new formation and a new way to get their guys the football. They have been playing together a while. You have to think of ways to get them the ball, and they do a great job of that. Their offensive staff does a good job of moving them around. You’ll see (TE Dallas) Goedert in the backfield or a wide receiver lined up as an attached tight end. You have to know where they’re at all the time. You have to communicate. You have to do a good job being lined up and giving yourself a chance at the snap and then execute post-snap.

What challenges does Dallas Goedert present?

I was hoping he would go to the NFL Draft last year so we wouldn’t have to see him this year. He’s a good player. He makes plays, even when you have him covered. Part of that is he has a really good quarterback putting the ball in tight windows. He catches the ball well. You rarely see him drop ball. He runs well, and he has a big body. He uses his body to get open. We have to be physical and make him earn everything. At times last year, we didn’t do that. We gave him some deep ones, some easy ones. It will be tough to go through a four-quarter game without them getting going. We have to weather those storms. We have to tackle well and make them earn everything. We have to do a good job on offense. Even in the game against Youngstown, (WR Jake) Wieneke had three catches in one drive and they went down and scored. He had 60 yards receiving in one drive. They will get targeted a lot. They do a good job of that. We have to play our game and execute and be ready for a four-quarter game.

Your offensive line didn’t allow a sack again. How do you asses their performances?

They continue to do a good job, and Sam Straub does a good job. There were times when we gave up pressures, and Sam got the ball out. It was another game we didn’t give up a sack, which is always an emphasis. I think they’re doing a good job, but there’s a lot of room to improve, get a good push and create a new line of scrimmage. We have to continue to challenge those guys and raise our level of expectations in play there. We have to continue to get better. It wasn’t their best game. They played OK, but we have to get better.

 

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