Clawson Presser Report

Coach Clawson has his presser yesterday.  As usual, there was not a huge amount of news.  He was happy with Murray State, Akron is better than you think, he isn't taking them lightly, they are better than last season, etc.

Here are a few interesting nuggets.

First, he noted that in his view Akron is better than they were last year and they could easily have beaten BG last season.  Which is true, I was there.

What BG did to win the game was just run over an undersized Akron defense and control the clock and the ball in the second half.  It was (my words) a turning point for the season.

This year, Akron has brought in some transfers, mostly from AQ schools.  They have 3 on the o-line and 3 on the d-line.  This has given them instant size and experience and made them a better team, Coach says.

Now, I made a big deal about the fact that Murray State had transfers, someone commented that they transferred because they couldn't play, and, in fact, they pretty much couldn't.  Whether that is the case for Akron will be another question.

Jack Carle asked Coach (among other things) what he thought his team could still do better.  You might have your own ideas, but here is what he said.

Not getting a 4-man pass rush.
Not disrupting passes, getting INT.
No getting explosive scoring plays.

Which I think is true, and, depending on the health of the d-line, could continue to be a problem.  If you get pressure with 4 and then still have 7 in coverage, then it is very hard to pass against you.

He talked a lot about explosive plays, which he has his entire time at BG.  The Falcons are moving the ball better, and as much as he looooooves long drives, he wouldn't mind one that last a minute either.

Finally, he was asked about Tyler Tate, who missed an XP Saturday.  Coach said that he looks good in practice and he isn't very worried about it.  (My note, only one of the FGs he missed at Indiana was a bad miss).

I'm not either.  Tate seems to make good contact.  You can't make them all.

Anyway, that was the gist of the presser.  The rest of it was whether he likes to play at home, whether he likes it early or late, etc.