Emporia State coach Garin Higgins and defensive coordinator Ken Gordon decided this week that it was time to stop babying their football team, particularly the defense.
So in the midst of a six-game losing streak and with No. 5 Northwest Missouri coming to town Saturday, the coaches turned back the clock this week, back to the type of practices that are the norm during two-a-days in August.
The first-team offense went live against the first-team defense with full tackling for the first time since the preseason. The defense did several tackling drills, including “bull in the ring,” when one player gets the ball and tacklers take turns coming after him.
“I think sometimes when you’re on a losing streak, you have to be positive with them, but you don’t want to pat them on the back all the time, because it’s not all right,” Higgins said. “It’s time for us to step up, and I think we’ve done that enough, telling them you’re playing well. It’s time to step up and get some things done, challenge them a little bit.”
The message was loudest to the defense, probably because Gordon was the one delivering the tongue-lashings. For maybe the first time, Gordon was disappointed in his defense following the Hornets’ 44-14 loss at Pittsburg State.
The Gorillas racked up a school record 412 passing yards and essentially scored at will against the Hornets.
“What was so upsetting about it was we’d been playing so good the second half, and we came out the second half and guys are in position to make plays and they weren’t making plays,” Gordon said. “That’s what got me. It was the first time this year I kind of saw us get our heads down and ... gave up.”
As Gordon pointed out, he doesn’t believe it was the scheme that led to Pitt State lighting up the scoreboard. It was his players missing tackles and failing to make a play.
That’s the reason Gordon had his defense work on the basics this week and tried to toughen them up with tackling drills usually reserved for the first few days of practice.
Gordon said he worried that his players would moan about what he put them through on Tuesday when they returned to practice, in particular “bull in the ring”; however, the Hornets remained upbeat.
“I wish I would have done it every Tuesday,” Gordon said. “Kids were excited, but fortunately our kids come ready to practice. After watching film, they realized they’re close, but we’ve got to make plays. We’ve got to have some breaks go our way, which hasn’t happened, but you’ve got to keep fighting until it happens.”
Any sort of breaks will be hard to come by on Saturday against the Bearcats, a team that Gordon knows well. Gordon played linebacker at Northwest Missouri in 1995 and 1996, and he began his coaching career with the Bearcats in 1998.
Gordon was also a teammate of offensive coordinator Adam Dorrel, so there will be no surprises on Saturday. That might not matter.
“Across the board, they have no weakness,” Gordon said. “We’re going to have to play four quarters. We’re going to have to play aggressive. We’re going to have to play assignment football where guys are doing their job and we’ve got to tackle.”
Gordon said it’s impossible to stop any offense in the MIAA, which he compared to the Big 12 as far as having offenses that rack up cartoonish points and yardage.
The Hornets face the top three offenses in three of their last four games, starting with the best. The Bearcats average a league-best 43 points per game, and they’re averaging 57 in their last three games. Quarterback Blake Bolles leads the second-best passing offense in the league, and running back LaRon Council leads the league in rushing at 93.9 yards per game.
Gordon said most defenses try to confuse the Bearcats with many different looks, but that doesn’t work. Gordon is keeping things simple this week, using only a couple of coverages, fronts and blitzes.
“It’s got to be a backyard-alley brawl,” he said. “I feel like, if we do that, we’ll be all right and if we don’t give up the big plays. If they’re going to get something, make them earn it.”
The ESU defense will have to play its best game of the season to have a chance at keeping the game close, because the Bearcat defense is just as strong as its offense, leading the league in scoring defense and total defense.
Higgins said he can usually watch film and find weaknesses that his offense can exploit. He’s had no luck this week, which Gordon knows puts the pressure on the defense.
“Right now on defense, we have zero margin for error,” Gordon said. “We can’t make mistakes because our offense is struggling, and we’ve got to have their back if we want to win a football game right now.”
Whether the Hornets win or lose this week, Higgins and his staff have made the decision to continue the more taxing practices.
“I wish we would have done it earlier in the year,” Higgins said. “Injuries play an important part in this league and sometimes you worry about it too much as a coach. We always hit during the week, but we hadn’t done any live stuff for probably the past five weeks.
“We’ve got guys hurt anyway, so what’s the difference? We’re trying to push our culture and how we want our kids to be.”
oldschoolhornet (anonymous) says...
"As Gordon pointed out, he doesn’t believe it was the scheme that led to Pitt State lighting up the scoreboard. It was HIS PLAYERS missing tackles and failing to make a play"
October 19, 2009 at 8:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )