Mike Clowney Opening Statement: I think number one for us is it's good to be back home after being on the road for two weeks. You realize how much fun it is to be in your own place doing your own thing. Then, going into week two of SAC play with Lenoir-Rhyne this week, I knew they were ranked, but I didn't know exactly where they would fall. They're a good football team. They've become a steady Eddy in this conference as far as being at that top-tier, and I think they're still there right now. I think the big thing for us, though, is to continue to work on us and work on developing and growing. I think there are some things that, and you can only look at our tape from last week, there are still a lot of good things to draw from that. There are a lot of things that, to me, we should be able to get fixed, and we've got to make sure that we go out this week and put the work in and put the effort in to get a lot of things cleaned up.
Q1: It should be a fun weekend. It's always fun having old Eagles back in the nest. It's the 40th anniversary reunion of the '83 team, and of course, if you get one of the 80's teams back, they all come back. You should have a lot of guys that won national titles back on campus this weekend. What does that mean to you as a former player and now head coach having a lot of guys who invested themselves in this program over the years returning to campus?
A key thing to me that you said is that when you get one of those guys back, you get a lot of them back, and I think that's a testament to relationships that those guys built over the time period that they were here. That blood, sweat, and tears that they put in together on the field and off the field creates a bond that's pretty much an eternal bond. The way we do things here to where you learn to grow in Christ together, and you learn and develop as people, that's kind of what pushes you down the road in life. That's where I was able to talk to Mark Isom a little bit yesterday and just kind of echo that sentiment. We talked about how to get these guys involved with the current team, and I think that's another part of that that becomes exciting is when we have an opportunity to mesh these decades together. I talked to our team yesterday about the things that some of those guys do for this current team, not because they know them by name, but because they are involved in the program, and I think it's something that that speaks dividends to just kind of where things have been here over several decades. We're looking forward to having them on campus.
Q2: The thing that sticks out about LR is their defense and special teams unit that, I mean, if you take LR defense and special teams as a college football team, they outscored 20 other teams in the country. I don't know that I've seen that prolificness, especially on special teams. What makes them tick?
They've got a lot of chemistry and they're working together. I think they've done a good job of creating some things for one another. They've got a returner that's a freshman that's really a good player and making a lot good plays, but he's also benefiting from the experience of those other guys and those defensive players that are playing on special teams. That's making an impact to help get him in the end zone. Defensively, I mean, we talk about opportunities. There's several times on video where you see that there's an opportunity to test a tipped ball. Other guys run to the football, and he's able to capitalize on it because he's doing his job the right way and winds up being in the right place at the right time and being able to make a play to help his team. So, I think those are the things that you see and that production is kind of a result of them doing the old things correctly.
Q3: It feels like it's been this way for a few years now, but the quality of tailback that you face in this league week-in and week-out is just astonishing. You go from Tre Stewart to Dwayne McGee. There's very little drop off from Stewart to McGee. How are they similar, and how are they different?
I mean they are really a lot alike when you go and look at them. McGee was a dominant force in the league two years ago and basically won every award hands down, offensively. Then, Stewart comes on the scene last year and we're having those debates on who's going to be the All-Conference running back. You can almost flip a coin because they're all just talented kids with great numbers and production. McGee does a good job. He's really a good downhill runner. Stewart's probably a little bit more of a wiggle type of guy, but both of them have both of those things, and it's really kind of hard to separate them.
Q4: A guy that, feels like he's been there forever and a day, Jon Ross Maye, is the league's leader in tackles for loss. LR, defensively, leads the country in tackles for loss. What is the key to preventing Jon Ross Maye and the defense from getting some pressure in your backfield?
For us, we've got to do a better job of communicating and connecting. We've got to communicate what we're doing, and then we've got to be willing to do the things it takes to get it done like seal gaps, continue to stay on blocks, and keep our feet running. So, for us, those are the things that we've got to do. We don't want to create an opportunity for him because we didn't do something we were supposed to do. We've got to take care of the things that we're supposed to take care of, and he's going to probably at some point have some production in this game. He plays linebacker, and he's a good player, but we've got to minimize that by doing the things that we need to do.
Q5: Looking back at Limestone, it feels like the items that you have to correct are correctable. Back at last year's recap from the Limestone game, the first thing out of your mouth was you need to tackle better, and I think that was quote number one this year. Last year against LR, the team made that correction. Is it just a matter of rehashing those as a point of emphasis?
Yeah, it's something that we've got to go back and make sure this week we continue to work on wrapping and running. We don't get comfortable in the fact that we've done it before, but we continue to work to improve every single week.
Q6: Jayden Sullins and Cam Ferguson continue to be, I don't want to say surprises, because they were certainly there in camp. But, given the injuries to TJ King and Tyree Nelson and trying to get them back in the mix, those two continue to be the bellwethers in the backfield. What sticks out to you about their efforts through a quarter of the season?
Really, that consistency. I think that's the thing that really defines the two of them. They both show up, they do what they are coached to do every single day, and you don't have to worry about that.
Q7: What can you say about an offensive line that has had to shuffle a little bit due to injuries?
That's one of those things that you at some point would like to get past, but we haven't been able to. So, the thing that we continue to do is we continue to work and grow and push the development and depth. I think that's where we work to get the numbers to where we have replacements and the thing is, we're starting to rely on them right now.
Q8: I want to go back to the thoughts on the '83 team. You kind of touched on it, but just how meaningful is it for them to connect with this year's group?
I think, you would say meaningful, but in a lot of ways, it's really spiritual. I think that's the thing that Christ calls us to do is to leave for the generations behind us and learn from the ones in front of us. Football is an easy catalyst to be able to see that. Those guys will come in here, and like we talked about earlier in the year, we put all those trophies on the table in the hallway, and it's been cool not just watching our guys go look at it but having a place for those guys when they come back to see that the things that they put in the building are still there. The posters are still on the wall, and our kids walk in, and they see those pictures on the wall every day. Then, to be able to associate a name with that picture and get a part of that story firsthand. They get to see what it was like to play here and have that type of success. I think it's something that makes us unique. I think it's something that's good for everybody involved.
