This has been a long week for the Emporia State defense.
After allowing Nebraska-Omaha to score on seven straight possessions last Saturday, the defense has been itching to get back on the field.
“I totally wish we could play today,” ESU cornerback Travis Lee said.
That was Tuesday.
The Hornets’ struggles in Omaha were a bit perplexing considering their performance against Western State and Augustana. After two games, they hadn’t given up a rushing touchdown, they were the top-ranked scoring defense in the league and sixth in the nation, and they led the league in passing defense.
Then Nebraska-Omaha scored 41 points, had 30 first downs, ran for 210 yards and passed for 239.
Defensive coordinator Ken Gordon estimated that the Hornets missed five or six tackles in each of the first two games. Against Nebraska-Omaha, the Hornets missed 53 tackles.
“We had a lot of guys in the spot to make tackle and just didn’t tackle well for some reason,” Gordon said. “We were stomping our feet, not wrapping up. You play a good football team like that, you got to tackle. When you’ve got guys in position and they don’t make the plays, there’s only one thing you can do: change personnel a little bit.”
So that’s what Gordon has done this week. Leading tackler Katrel Larkins is moving from outside linebacker to inside linebacker. Freshman Derek Lohman is moving from safety to outside linebacker, a move that Larkins made successfully last season. Blake Ringwall, who has missed the first two games after having offseason knee surgery, will make his season debut at outside linebacker.
“I think it’s good,” coach Garin Higgins said. “I think players understand that the way we do things here at Emporia State is that you’re going to be held accountable for your play, and if guys aren’t getting the job done, we’re going to make changes.”
Ringwall would probably have made his way into the lineup even with a strong performance from the linebackers last week. Ringwall was an All-MIAA honorable mention last season after leading the Hornets with 11 tackles per game.
“He’s a playmaker,” Gordon said. “He’s going to be a little rusty because he’s been out a little bit... I don’t expect him to come out there and save the world and make every tackle, but he will help us out.”
As for the missed tackling, the Hornets have spent plenty of time this week practicing the fundamentals. Gordon is known as one of the more demanding and intimidating coaches on the staff, but he said his players owned up to their mistakes after the game and were beating up on themselves.
“They got to us, but at the same time it was about getting back on track,” Lee said. “It was more motivation. They weren’t really trying to tear us down.”
After a long week of tackling drills, the Hornets are ready to prove last week was a fluke.
“I’m anxious to get out there,” Lee said, “and not really redeem ourselves but get back on track.”