Sept. 13, 2005
Normal, Ill. -
Head coach Denver Johnson held his weekly football press conference Tuesday at noon in the Kaufman Football Building. Coach Johnson addressed questions about their home-opener win on Saturday against Drake and previewed this week's game against Eastern Illinois. Here are the quotes from the conference:
Head coach Denver Johnson opening statement on the EIU Panthers:
"They're big and have a lot of returnees on both sides of the ball. Coming off a tough game at BYU, they are looking to come out and play well in their home opener on Saturday and get after us. This will give us a good test to see where we are at as a football team."
On the tough challenge of playing EIU:
"We go from being a heavy underdog at Iowa State, to being the favorite at home against Drake and now we have to go and play in one of the oldest rivalries in college football. We've won the last two games against Eastern, but I'm not so sure we deserved to win those games. The Panthers are a tough team and are especially good when playing at home. It's going to be a good challenge and hopefully we can step up to the challenge."
On the continuing improvement of sophomore quarterback Luke Drone:
"What has impressed me most about Luke is that he's a guy that really hasn't been in a football game in two years since he graduated from high school, and in neither one of the first two games have we ever got to the point that he struggled so bad that we thought about pulling him. That's amazing for a first year starter to show that kind of poise."
On why Drone has been successful:
"Luke is dedicated in his preparation and coach (Justin) Fuente has done a great job bringing Luke and the other young quarterbacks along. I think Luke shows signs of developing into a very good quarterback."
On the team relying on Drone:
"Luke is one of those guys that the team respects. They see his work habits and how much time he puts in watching film. They have come to appreciate that's the difference in what makes someone rise above and be better. Even when the offense struggles a little, no one is frustrated and no one panics and they know we'll get it going. That's indicative of how much confidence they have in Luke."
On the stable of running backs:
"We said coming into the season that we hoped we had a three-headed snake in the backfield. We hoped we had three backs that could all be productive for us. The guy that really impressed me last week was Rafael Rice. Rafael did a great job just running the play and executing plays. He's a load to bring down when he's running over corners and safeties. Pierre Rembert looks like he has the chance to be explosive if he can protect the ball more. And B.T. (Brian Thompson) had a solid game once again."
On why the running game has been successful:
"Any of our backs will have great production if we are performing up front. I think it's more a function of how we're doing up front as to which running back we will use."
On the improved defense this year:
"I've said all along that we were going to be better on defense across the board. It's not just one guy on the marquee, but all 11 guys contributing, with several having five, six or seven tackles each. That means that we are getting a lot of guys to the ball and are making tackles that in the past might have been missed at the point of attack that Boomer (Grigsby) had to clean up for us. But we are going to have to continue to get better if we are going to compete in conference play."
On adding Kansas State as the I-A opponent in 2006:
"We had some previous contact with Kansas State before Sheahon (Zenger) came on board, but I'm sure Sheahon helped close the deal with a possibility of another game on down the road. But its and opportunity to play another very good and what will probably be a nationally ranked I-A team in their home venue. Our kids have come to look forward to those games and playing in those venues and for the last several years we have represented ourselves well in those games. To have the opportunity to play that kind of nationally recognized program gives us and our players great exposure and that is greatly appreciated."
