I just got back from coach Lynch's press conference and will be heading out to practice later this afternoon to talk to some of the players. I thought I'd mention a few highlights.
First, offensive lineman Justin Pagan (ankle) was upgraded to questionable after missing last week's game. CB Donnell Jones (hamstring) also moved to questionable after sitting out against EKU. Another offensive lineman, Cody Faulkner, is listed as probable while still recovering from a broken foot. Lynch mentioned the conditioning level of Faulkner as a reason he might not play or see limited action. Also, K Mitch Ewald (oblique) continues to improve, and Lynch seemed to imply Ewald will be competing for starting kicker very soon, if not this week. Lynch emphasized K Nick Freeland will continue with kickoff duties and mentioned Freeland kicked well against EKU.
After Lynch finished, Matt Deal, associate director of football operations, spoke for about 15 minutes about the team's 125th anniversary celebration this weekend. He expects around 400 former players, coaches and managers to be at the Western Michigan game. The group will range from 1934 alum Harry Cherry to 2008 graduate Austin Starr. The alumni will lead the team's Walk to the stadium and will be honored at halftime.
- Lynch's points of emphasis included high praise for Western Michigan, despite their 31-7 loss to Michigan this past Saturday. He said QB Tim Hiller is "the next guy" when it comes to the MAC producing good quarterbacks (a la anyone from Ben Roethlisberger to Nate Davis).
- He also mentioned that everything the team struggled with in its first game is correctable and not just due to a lack of talent. Lynch specifically mentioned losing the turnover battle 3-1 and getting called for four illegal procedure penalties. He mentioned the running game has worked on identifying the stemming and shifting of the defense and hitting the seams correctly.
