After coming off a bye week, Eastern looks to go on the road and get a win as they prepared to compete against Lindenwood University this Saturday at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium.
Head Coach Chris Wilkerson talked about how the team benefits from a bye week, what they do during to prepare, and his gameplan for the game against Lindenwood.
Q: How did the bye week benefit your team, both physically and mentally, in preparation for the upcoming game?
A: “It couldn’t have come at a better time for our guys. It was a chance to recover a little bit, physically, emotionally, and mentally. They had been practicing football basically since July 30. And had gone for 12 straight weeks with the four weeks of preseason and then playing eight straight games, so they were due for a rest and, you know, we had a good week of practice. We worked on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and then they had a chance to get away Thursday afternoon. Then they had no practice Friday, Saturday, or Sunday and we were back on the practice field on Monday, and they responded very well. We looked quicker. We looked fresh. The individual drills looked crisper. And it was good to see them back. And I think they understand, you know, hey, we’re refocused on trying to finish the journey, and had a great night of practice last night and looking forward to continuing that this week as we prepare for this weekend in St. Louis.”
Q: Did you use the extra time during the bye week to address specific weaknesses or make any tactical adjustments?
A: “Yes. So, there’s a lot of stuff that gets done during the bye week traditionally, so we spent a ton of time as a staff, certainly on getting greater in depth in our own self scouting and are we becoming predictable on offense or defense or special teams? Then we reteach some of the fundamental stuff. And then we did. We went back and looked at some things that we felt like we haven’t been as efficient as we need to be, and how are we teaching it and what are we asking our guys to do, and can we clean it up going forward? So certainly, there’s always an opportunity to improve and we wanted to take full advantage of every minute during the bye week to do that and prepare ourselves for these last three games.”
Q: Can you provide some insights into your game plan for the upcoming match? Are there any specific strategies or key areas you’ll be focusing on?
A: “So we’ll play a very talented Lindenwood football team down there. So, number one, going on the road is always a challenge. And number two, this is kind of become a little bit of a regional rivalry just because of the proximity of the school. We played a tough hard fought game last year here at home and lost in overtime. And you know, we get a chance to go down there and play at their place for the first time and so I’m kind of looking forward to seeing it and watching our guys compete, but you know, we still got to worry about ourselves. It’s Eastern Illinois versus Eastern Illinois and we’re still chasing that best performance as a team.”
Duane Carter can be reached at 581-2812 or at densportsdesk@gmail.com.
