Ken Sparks Press Conference 

Ken Sparks Press Conference

Pre- Wingate

10-20-15

Sparks: Wingate sure has shocked the whole nation with getting a big road win against Lenoir-Rhyne and the fact that they have only lost one game all year, they are getting some attention now. I think they have moved up to 18^th in the country. They are up there in those rankings and are fired up. Rightly so, too, because they are leading the nation in total defense and scoring defense and are leading the nation in several other categories. They are a good football team. One of the youth problems that they ran into last year, and that we are running into this year, they are older and are playing a lot better. It's going to be a real challenging ballgame for us.

Q1: They are the only defense in the country that allows fewer than 10 points a game. What makes them tick defensively?

Sparks: They have done a good job tackling people and lining up and attacking the line of scrimmage. They have caused a lot of turnovers and their offense has stayed on the field. When your offense stays on the field and eats up clock and your defense is causing turnovers, that's a pretty good formula. I saw the Lenoir-Rhyne game and I think both of them only had six possessions. So there was only 12 possessions the whole ball game. When you turn the other team over two or three times, then that means they only had about three or four possessions when they had a chance to score. That's pretty good football there when you hold the other teams to few opportunities and then having half of them you take it away from them. A great scheme and a great deal of what they are doing right now.

Q2: It really feels like, at least offensively, they have switched up their schemes. When you think about Wingate, you often think of an aerial assault, but this year they have Pittman pounding out yards on the ground in being the nation's fifth-leading rusher. What do they do to give him the football and make him successful?

Sparks: They have a big offensive line that averages about 6-5, 320 pounds. They have a big running back that weighs 230 pounds and they are letting him go up in there behind those big guys and seeing if anyone can slow him down. He has some quickness about him and then the quarterback pulls it down and runs it. He is their second-leading rusher and has made a lot of big plays for them. They are doing a little bit of zone read with the quarterback keeping it some. Mainly what they are doing is just lining up and running power and making people play fundamental football. With so many people throwing it now a days, there aren't many people that actually line up and play fundamental running football. It's a changeup and they are doing a great job with it. They are throwing pretty effectively, too, so you have a double-hedged sword. It'd not like Lenoir-Rhyne that is one dimensional. They have a great running game, but are two-dimensional and can beat you either way.  

Q3: You brought up a power-running game. Can you compare what they do offensively with anybody else you have played this season?

Sparks: They're somewhat like Newberry, except they have probably been more efficient with it—at least the way Newberry has played the last couple of games. Wingate has improved and kept getting better as every game has gone along. They are the example of improving every week.

Q4: You have a chance to win your 200^th South Atlantic Conference game on Saturday against Wingate. I know that those types of things don't mean a whole lot to you, but what do those people who have surrounded themselves around you mean to you?

Sparks: Well, it means everything. It's all about people and it's all about relationships. From the very beginning, we have had five or six coaches that stayed together for a number of years—over 25, almost 30 for the whole group—and that's an amazing statistic in itself. I bet you can't find another program in the country that has had that happen. Just like homecoming on Saturday, we had so many guys here. We had one guy who had an NFL career that was here. Jay Floyd, who has superintended some schools in Georgia, was here. We had so many alums who were here. Fact is, I couldn't hardly get through the gate because of a bunch of ex-players that wanted to talk. What a joy that is to see them and talk to them. They are the ones that deserve that credit. Like I have said many times before, and I know everyone is getting tired of me saying this, but I haven't played one football game. I played a few back in 1902, but that was when he had a record that wasn't worth talking about. I'm just really grateful for the investment that so many people have made in this program. I don't know about 200 conference wins or anything like that. All I know is that we have lost two this year.

Q5: Is there anything you can take from the game film from last week in terms of how Wingate schematically went against L-R's offensive attack?

Sparks: Well, L-R did a lot of things to hurt themselves. The biggest thing is what L-R did against themselves and the second thing is how Wingate just held on to the ball. They had unbelievable possession time and they limited the number of time Lenoir-Rhyne got the football while having no turnovers. So that's a pretty good combination.

Q6: In terms of your passing game last week, it looked like you ran a little more else than you had in weeks past by not relying on the hitch and the quick outs. Is that something you are going to try to do a little more of and to try and get more in the seams against some of these defenses?    

Sparks: Let me tell you about the passing game. You have to protect the thrower. You got to have people running good patterns so that the thrower can throw it to them and finally, you have to have a thrower that's throwing good. We have not done that all the time and we didn't do it Saturday at times. We missed some open receivers a couple of times. The receivers dropped a couple. He [Thomas] was having to throw off his back foot a couple of times because people were in his face. He [Thomas] probably scrambled once or twice when he didn't have to, but he wasn't sure we was going to block the linebacker that was coming. So, it's all amounts of confidence and faith and it's a matter of everyone doing their job. It takes 11 people a play to do their job.   

Q7: On the defensive side of the ball, it seems like a different guy each week comes away with a game changing play. Justin Long this week. You have had Jerry, Xavier, and Sha'Heem and a load of players come up in big situations this year. What's that say about your defense that so many different guys have been involved in game changing plays?  

Sparks: Well it all just means they need to do it together one game. Two big things that happened was the sack by Lane Bloom. Lane made an unbelievable play for us and when he made that play the offense came out on the field and went down to score and got the lead. Then we had that little freshman, Jayson Cook, who had that sack at the end to end the game. So, that was two big plays. For Justin Long to be doing what he's doing is quite an amazing feat, it really is. To block two field goals and I think that since we were getting so much pressure on the kicker, that might have been a factor on him missing the extra point when he saw people in his face. Halleluiah, great break through for us.

Q8: De'Andre Thomas finally had kind of that break out game of his senior season last week with 168 plus yards on the ground. What does he need to do to continue to read the option more?

Sparks: We have to put him into the position to where he can read the option by not having people getting into position that they shouldn't be in by us not making the blocks we are supposed to make. Again, it's a team deal for him to have a clear picture of what he is reading. With the exception of about four-missed reads, it was a lot better. That's what we have to have. If we are putting it into the quarterback's hands, and he has to be making the decisions on who is getting the ball at what point of attack, then he has to get it done for us. It was great to see him have a good ballgame and to see him smiling big after the game. We really enjoyed celebrating together after the game. All of us. It was a fun time after that ballgame.

Q9: How good is a game like that, a close-tight game, that's decided in the fourth quarter?

Sparks: Well, I don't know. Ask me after this next ballgame. It should be a great stimulus. It should raise our level real fast. We will find out soon.

Q10: Eric Mapoles, for Wingate, in now the reigning South Atlantic Conference defensive player of the week. What sticks out to you about him at linebacker?

Sparks: He has played a lot of plays and he makes a lot of plays. He is a quality athlete and does a lot of things great. 

-CN-