Clawson Presser Championship Mosh Pit Edition

Coach Clawson met with the media yesterday for the final time in the regular season, as he prepares his team for the championship game on Friday.

He did not have a lot of newsworthy stuff to say...however...

There was one good moment.  Coach Clawson is normally very mild-mannered and even tempered.  Someone asked if he had addressed rumors of his departure with the team, and he cut the person off very sharply.  He said it was disrespectful of the team and what they had accomplished this year.  I don't know who asked the question--I didn't recognize the voice--but Coach was clearly irritated at the question.

Coach also joked a little bit in response to a question about the amount of money that the conference stands to make if NIU makes a BCS game.  He said that the other 12 ADs, administrators, etc at all the other MAC schools are all rooting for NIU.  He also noted that teams in the other AQ conferences are rooting for BG...so the Falcons can open a slot up by taking the Huskies out.  He said he had expected a fruit basket from some of those teams, but alas has heard nothing.

There were a number of questions about Jordan Lynch.  He said everything you would expect--Lynch would be an all-MAC TB and an all-MAC QB if he never ran.  He said you can't simulate his skills on the scout team.  He said that the biggest key was kind of obvious, but BG needs to tackle Lynch.  He has made game-changing plays on broken tackles this season.

Coach said that NIU runs the same play out of different formations.  What that means is that they might run a specific play that forces (for example) DJ Lynch to defend a Jordan Lynch run.  If BG is defending it, then they can use a different formation and force another player to make the play. It makes them very difficult to defend.

Finally, coach was asked about how BG ended up with the best defense in the MAC and only one player on the first team.  Coach waffled a little and then said that BG has a great team defense, so you don't get buys who generate the big numbers.  Also, Oullet, Campbell and Martin were all injured, which lowered (or in Campbell's case eliminated) their MAC ranking.

He said that Coach Elko uses a "mosh pit" tackling method.