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Paraphrasing what Clark Lea said on Tuesday

Chris Lee

Publisher
Staff
Apr 27, 2004
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CLARK LEA

They want to build off the spirit and energy they had Saturday

Offensively they were disappointed in lack of effort

They have addressed where they can build back trust

They need all 11 playing to their identity

Injuries: Christian James (practiced today, questionable)

Savion Riley—didn’t practice, will be back this week, questionable this week

De”Rickey Wright—questionable but encouraged

Mahoney—I think he said probable

Swann—on a pitch count

BJ Anderson—practiced today, probable

Langston Patterson—questionable this week, getting better, progressed today



MISSOURI

Good football team

Good start to the season

Challenges you by being physical on LOS

Press-man on outside, which gave them a hard time last year

Offense has talented players, challenging scheme

Drink does a good job there

Burden is skilled and they get him the ball

They stay committed to the run game

Good, competitive game for them



It’s about their ability to protect the ball and play to their identity

If they do that, they can be in a tight game with a chance to win



SWANN INJURY

Nothing further, just a balance between playing through it vs. giving it a chance to rest and recover

Similar to De’Rickey last week, you have to measure it against the grind of the season

They need to play better at QB, period

The game runs through the QB

They want to be mindful he’s battling through that

If not they want the offense to run through a healthier player



DID THEY CONSIDER PULLING AJ EARLIER?

They have faith in him and believe in talent

They defer to him as to whether he can push through

There were times he favored the arm and it was becoming an issue and at those moments they consider all options

So they gave him a shot to press through

There wasn’t more out there for him to prove at that point when they went to Seals

He appreciates AJ’s toughness and fighting through it



INSTANCES OF QBs PLAYING THROUGH INJURIES AND WHAT ARE DETERMINANTS OF IT

It’s collaborative

They don’t want further damage

They look at practices to see if it’s competitive

They watch best-on-best periods in practice

They want their best 11 on the field with a chance to perform at highest level

They pulled AJ at the point he couldn’t push through pain

Before that they didn’t think it affected day-in, day-out pain



SECNDARY

They had two safeties come out in Sewell and Howse but proud of the way they played and prepared

Tyson Russell has progressed

Will be good to have BJ back

Biggest thing is to understand Missouri has talent and skill at WR

Burden makes it go, he can make contested plays

Those four guys working together making sure they have leverage

Missouri got an explosive screen to Burden last year, their perimeter leverage is critical this year to prevent that



TURNOVERS, HOW TO FIX

Four back for touchdowns

Nine in the past 3 games

3 have given possession in the 15

Some is the ball bouncing the wrong way, some are fundamental tech aspects

Saturday they saw carelessness with the football

Hawaii missed opportunities to create some too

They’re disappointed to be 2-3 but it could have been worse

Ball security hasn’t been the issue

Reverse was run into pressure

They snapped into the shield on a punt; they like Schelling but they didn’t execute

They can clear Will’s path in that spot

But Wake put their guy into their guy; they’ve addressed that in practice

“Too often we’re throwing the ball into traffic as if the defense isn’t there."

Things that influence that: pass protection (including RB/TE), how the QB sets protection, then post-snap decisions

All of that starts with coaching and what they demand

In the end it’s putting guys on the field who demonstrate down-in and down-out to do that

If they don’t turn it over the last 3 games they’re in position to win

10, 17, 21 off turnovers the last three games… that’s not gonna cut it

They’ll do everything in their power to fix



THE STRETCH AGAINST KY WHEN THEY PLAYED WELL ON DEFENSE

They got behind and all that wasn’t defense but it picked up in the middle 8, where they scored 10 points

Heading into half they felt they’d be positioned well

Forced a TO in the red zone but only got 3

Next possession starts at 48, unfortunately they threw a pick and was run back to the 10 and that put too much distance

But despite how poorly they played they were fighting back

2 of the 3 phases played well then, the offense didn’t

Thought the play was structured and spirited in those moments, there’s something there to build forward with and they saw that in practice today



THE OFFENSE’S LACK OF SPIRIT

Football’s hard and that includes being mentally tough

They have pushed internally not to get caught up in the emotions of the game when it goes poorly

“Performance always lags behind attitude.”

Some offensive players are fighting hard

But it takes 11 guys

When it’s tough you need galvanizing leadership

“Anti-fragile,” be durable and grow through adversity

They’re starting to see that on defense but they need to see it on both sides

They need to make team decisions moment by moment until it becomes automated

He believes in the offense and it’s just in a lull
 
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