InsideHilltopperSports.com - Getting things Back Together

October 28, 2009

Jason Stamm
InsideHilltopperSports.com Editor

Sign-up for InsideHilltopperSports.com Wireless Text Alerts sent right to your cell phone!

There's no getting around it.

For all the blunders and losses this season, there's one thing that will cure the ills and get things back on track. The players aren't sidestepping it either.

"I just wanna get a damn win, I'm sorry," senior center Cody Hughes said with a grin. "I wanna run across the field and give high-fives. If we get a victory, I swear, I'm shaking every single person's hand as I walk across that field. I will never take that for granted again."

It's been four days since that more than forgettable loss to that rival conference opponent just south of WKU, but the bad feeling is still there. But there's also the feeling of making it right among the Toppers.

"After Saturday, it was tough," sophomore safety Mark Santoro said. "It was one of the most disappointing losses I've ever been a part of. That one kinda sticks with you a little bit longer, but you've just gotta get back on the horse and keep fighting."

The Toppers got back a little differently this week. With the fear of heavy rains, the first practice of the week, yesterday, was moved inside to the Preston Center.

There wasn't much more the Toppers were able to do more than a thorough walk-through, but it also allowed players another day to rest without taking a pounding on the field.

"The injury report wasn't any longer today," coach David Elson said. "I don't think anything happened out here today, but we wanted to put the uppers on, just to get some run fits and get some work done that way. We won't know until Saturday, but I think they felt better out here today and we had a little more quickness."

After such a thorough loss, it's tough to pinpoint exactly where to begin in getting things back in order. But after reviewing the game and getting back on the field as normal today, there's a few areas that stick out.

"When we look back at some of the mental mistakes in that game, some of them were we didn't recognize the pre-snap look, some are decisions that you have to make on the run, read on the run things," Elson said. "They've gotta just get better at seeing things develop during the course of a play, so that's why we took out the individual and put in more group and teamwork."

Those are some of the areas that plagued WKU last year against the same opponent the Toppers will see this week, North Texas.

WKU was able to ratchet up the offense, but defensively, there were plenty of problems, leading to the points given up. Of course, the offense laid the ultimate egg, with an interception that was returned for a touchdown on the game's final play. That came after a one point loss to the Mean Green in 2007.

"The last two years have been close, so I think we're gonna be in for another close game," Santoro said. "Last year, the defense kinda let the offense down a little bit. The offense put up a whole bunch of points. We've got a little something to prove."

But after last week's debacle at MTSU, the honus is not so much on revenging the past two losses to North Texas, but making up for last week.

"It's not so much we owe them as we owe it to the rest of the guys out on this field, to do what we need to do to take care of the victory," Hughes said. "In terms of preparation, we're definitely where we need to be."

InsideHilltopperSports.com on Facebook

FEATURED PRODUCT