Joe Davis kicked off his first season as head coach with the Western Illinois Leathernecks this past Saturday when his team was defeated 54-15 at Northern Illinois. This week they will face their second straight FBS opponent as they head to Bloomington to take on the Hoosiers in a Friday night matchup. Davis met with the media today and here is what he had to say specifically about game planning for the upcoming matchup with Indiana.
Q: What stood out to you/initial thoughts on Indiana?
“This is an excellent football team that has done a great job of adding value through the transfer portal. Certainly, the head coach bringing a good number of players with him from an extremely successful group of 5 program has been a big positive for them thus far.
I’ve known Coach Cignetti for a long time, coached against him in Division II, coached against him in the CAA, and now here in our early season matchup. He’s a detail coach, he’s built winners everywhere he’s been.
The guys they’ve added certainly stand out on film, especially on the defensive side of the ball – the players he’s brought from James Madison, they look like Big Ten guys. They’re big, they’re strong, they’re fast. On the offensive side of the ball having a veteran quarterback that was a First Team All-MAC kid at Ohio is going to pay big dividends for them throughout the year.
We’ve got our hands full on Saturday and certainly are well aware of the challenges that Indiana presents.”
Q: How much film from JMU are you watching, realizing how much of the staff is new at IU?
“A good amount. Really, regardless of opponent, we’re going to turn over every single rock that we can to try and find an advantage. That’s not necessarily specific to Indiana, I think that’s everyone that we watch when there’s a coaching change or for early season games. You always dig back through old video as you’re looking to present a plan to your football team.
Coach Cignetti brought both his coordinators from JMU, so there’s obviously a lot of carry over schematically with what they’re doing. And you can see that, even in their first game against FIU. The players, the coaches, they’re all pretty well versed on that system and I think it has probably helped them acclimate with a new head football coach a little bit quicker.”
Q: How do you plan to defend Rourke, who showed good escape-ability out of sacks in the first week?
“Making that quarterback hold on to that football, regardless of player, is going to be a positive for your defense, it just is. A veteran quarterback that you allow to get the ball out in rhythm or one-hitch throws, they have the potential to be very deadly. They know where to go with the football, there’s fluidity and rhythm in their delivery, and that certainly helps them become a lot more accurate. Forcing him to hold onto the football – we do have a couple disruptive edge rushers here that we weren’t able to get loose on Saturday. Northern Illinois played the game on the perimeter, a lot of balls outside of the box, not a lot of drop back pass or in-pocket type game planning for our opponent this past Saturday. So, if we can keep Rourke in the pocket and make him hold onto that football will be a big priority for us and will certainly help us as we try to get pressure on him.”