IU coach Bill Lynch addressed the media at his weekly press conference this afternoon. Defensive end Jammie Kirlew and middle linebacker Matt Mayberry also took questions following Lynch. Here are some highlights.
Injuries
The preliminary injury report includes two offensive starters in RB Darius Willis (ankle), OL Pete Saxon (ankle), as well as special teams contributor Jerimy Finch (hamstring). All three are listed as questionable for this week's game against Illinois. Saxon did not participate in Monday's practice, while Willis participated on a limited basis in the non-contact workout.
Thoughts on Virginia game
Lynch emphasized it was time to move on from the UVA game. However, he did address several issues from the Saturday disaster.
Flu
Lynch confirmed that several players, especially on the defense, were suffering from the flu during the past week (not the swine flu, according to Mayberry). Players that missed portions of practice last week included Nick Polk, Austin Thomas, Matt Mayberry, and Greg Middleton.
Lynch said the flu can not be used as an excuse "because it's something we'll all have to deal with this fall."
Follow the jump for more on the UVA game and thoughts on the upcoming game against Illinois.
Film review
Lynch said IU lost three key battles against Virginia.
- The turnover battle. Virginia forced two Hoosier turnovers, while the Cavaliers had zero turnovers on offense. IU is 1-2 this season when it loses the turnover battle.
- The big plays. Virginia had nine big plays and IU had one. "That's a credit to Virginia's defense because they do a good job of keeping the ball in front of them."
- Third down conversions. IU was 38 percent and Virginia was 55 percent on third down conversions. The third-down defense is a strength of the UVA defense, as it ranks in the top 10 nationally.
Lynch quotes about the film and what he observed from the UVA game:
- "Obviously from a defensive standpoint, there's some basic fundamental things. We didn't tackle well enough."
- "From an offensive standpoint, we needed to get some bigger plays...we wanted to stay out of third-and-longs."
- Adjustments from last week? "We're going to tackle better, we're going to have better fits, we're going to eliminate the big plays...offensively, we've got to get some big plays, we've got to convert on third down, we can't make excuses...We've got to play better football."
- Why they haven't tackled well in the last two weeks? "Fundamentals. You've got keep your head up, you've got to run through the tackle. You can't dive. You can't reach. You can't grab. It's all fundamentals."
- Did Lynch see anything good on film? "That was hard to find," Lynch said.
Thoughts on this week's Illinois game
Lynch said this is the second consecutive opponent with a deceptively poor record. Like Virginia, Illinois enters this week's game with only one win. Illinois' losses have come against Missouri, Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State.
As always, Lynch praised the Illini, especially the wide receiver corps and QB Juice Williams. He cited experience against them last season.
"We've got to get better ourselves," Lynch said. "That's the challenge we have this week."
Will the team use last year's 55-13 loss as motivation. "I don't think so," Lynch said. "The guys that played in that game will remember."
Redshirts
There is not a whole lot of change with the redshirt questions. Lynch and his coaching staff have yet to make decisions about QB Ed Wright-Baker and K Mitch Ewald. Linebacker Damon Sims will likely be redshirted.
Game captains
Mike Reiter, Bryan Payton, Will Patterson and Jammie Kirlew will be the game captains for the Illinois game.
