Southern Illinois Coach Nick Hill | BYU Football Postgame Press Conference

you know tough opponent tough atmosphere what's your initial impression of what you saw tonight yeah a lot of respect for um uh the team that we went against I mean I I felt like they they played really well obviously you know disappointed that we didn't make that a four quarter game uh that that we've done here in the past uh playing up and playing an FBS opponent um but they played really well they played a clean game uh in these games that that we've won we've we've turned them over we've won the turnover margin um and we didn't force any turnovers we never really got the momentum on our side at all U for fourth quarters so I tip my hat to them I think they they got a experienced physical group up front on both sides of the ball and and they uh created some challenges for us tonight uh what do you think of the fight of your team you're down 14 nothing and and you put together a really good drive to get yourself right back in the game right before halftime yeah no there there's going to be some things that that we can uh that we can grow off of from this game I like I told our team uh in the locker room uh just you know doing this for nine years now and the the the field and knowing the guys that we have we can have a good football team and um it's just going to be about our response it's going to be about how we come come back to work and get in the building uh tomorrow night and um you know I was proud of that drive there's some things that we can grow off of obviously watching two you know some of the stuff that we can do in the quarterback run game uh there's going to be some things that we've got to clean up but again they created a lot of those issues as well speaking of DJ his first start with the Salukis what you think of his game tonight yeah no I thought thought that he played solid uh I think you know obviously he's got a um a great demeanor out there uh you can see his toughness you can see the the athleticism that he brings um and then in throwing the football I mean I I think took care of the ball make good decisions didn't put the ball uh in really In Harm's Way uh maybe one or two plays there obviously the pick Our receiver got pushed out of bounds fell down U you'd like for that to be a contested ball to to Hezekiah um so really that's really not on him that was a double move one high he's going to the right spot um there was another one over the middle that maybe we threw high and they they had an opportunity but as far as taking care of the ball being as far as just the the coach knowing the execution you know no delay of games no confusion got our our protection set um there'll be some big games for DJ WIlliams here in the future as auki you talked about explosive plays were going to be key in this game and you gave up more than you had um how do you correct that going forward yeah I think uh you know that first drive you know they went on a 14pl drive and we got them to fourth down twice uh fourth and fours uh which are not ideal fourth Downs uh we got to find a way to get off the field um and then they caught us in a coverage and had a had a a good play and on an outside leverage DB and um I felt like the quarterback played well um again he uh he put that ball out there he threw the Deep ball really well and uh they hit us on some deep deep throws honestly to um kind of break the game open there um so yeah obviously we want to be more explosive we want to have more first downs we want to score more points um and we'll have to to to win football games again I think um a lot of that had to do with with who we were playing we got uh high expectations to play play better on that side of the ball and I think with the guys that we have and the resolve that they have we will you used to a lot of players in this game a lot of guys that playing their first college football game or playing their first game with the Salis and how do you does that experience going to help now down the road yeah I mean we just got to get better I think we'll we'll dive into the film both sides of the ball and and and uh um you know see who played well and that's our job as coaches to grow from this game as well uh as far as putting guys in the right spots there'll be some things defensively and offensively that uh we need to be do a better job as coaches of putting them in positions to make those plays and so I think collectively you know we really only have one choice it's to take ownership and um you know dive into the tape grow and um go out next week and and try to get that that first win felt like today the play that really worked out for you was the QB keeper can you talk about why that was so successful and um how you thought DJ run ran the ball today yeah I obviously um I mean any coach would tell you when the quarterback can run the run the ball it creates some challenges on a defense uh just because when he's not a runner you know the the defense can be plus one you know as far as bringing whoever uh the seventh guy is in the box or the eighth guy depending on what formation and Personnel you're in when the quarterback's running um you can kind of equalize that and that's what creates problems when when quarterbacks run is just the gaps and having to you know account for him as a runner and so uh there were some things on the The Zone reads uh there were some things that we had success on his big run that was just a straight quarterback run play uh on a Zone swipe at an empty formation so um we knew that and and coming into the game uh we just needed to be better around him um to make the game closer can you touch on a little bit but those fourth down conversions felt like it was kind of a struggle for you especially those two that BYU had in the first scoring Drive can you talk kind of talk about that yeah I mean they were they were aggressive um we thought that they would be aggressive obviously we both uh you know with analytics and um you know the book that everybody talks about like the to go for it and the percentages and um when you get down there fourth and fours are kind of the coach's call you got to you know tip your cap to uh to coach for having the confidence in his team not just taking three and um and it paid off for them I me they were good on fourth down they picked up multiple fourth Downs that uh we got to find a way to get off the field okay thanks got a question one more so the BYU defense held you to below 250 yards um what made things hard against this defense yeah I mean obviously you know um for us when you know you you play up I mean they've got more scholarship players uh they've got uh you know everything that we don't have they they have you know as far as uh so you're coming out here um and and we know what we're up against obviously uh and they've got an experienced group up front you know they can put pressure on the quarterback uh they're Stout against the Run uh you know I think that they they played well defensively and so we have expectations to go out there and we've done that before in the past but the pass doesn't help you out tonight it was going to be these 60 minutes and so um we just have we we'll we'll be better on offense um going forward all thanks coach all right appreciate it