Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1182928
22 n o r t h w e s t e r n f o o t b a l l • D I G I T A L P R O G R A M • N O R T H W E S T E R N v s . P U R D U E He did not like some of the reactions he saw when his team went down just 7-0 in that Iowa loss. Was it the same when it went down to the Hoosiers? "We got down three scores (at halftime) and I'm not sure there were a whole lot of people that had a heck of a lot of faith that we were going to score a touchdown," he admitted. "That's got to get fixed. I'm not sugar coating it. You guys've watched the same games I've watched. So until we're able to do that and take care of the football, it's going to be really hard for our team to have confidence." So now, for him as a leader, is it Xs and Os or is he a shrink tending to emotions and attitudes? "Number one, from 14 years ago (when he took over) until today, I've never had a better shrink card. We could be 7-1 right now and it would be the same thing. There's a lot of stuff going on in our guys lives that 14 years ago weren't going on in their lives. That's a fact. There's a lot of noise that you've got to help guys through as they learn and mature to become college men. That's irregardless of record. Xs and Os, I'm very involved every week, I'm very involved on Saturday. I do believe in letting your coordinators call plays, I do believe in letting your coaches coach. I always have been. I'm not going to stray from that in the middle of the season just because things aren't going well. You cant be a Jekyll and Hyde. You're going to lose your way, you're going to lose your values if you start doing that. I don't believe in doing that. You've just got to work really hard to keep the guys in that one week, 1-and-0 mentality. One week, 1-and-O mentality. That's what I've continued to stress because you can flip a season over with one play, one game. "That game got flipped on Saturday by one play. Their corner did a great job. We got a 25-yard run (actually 22 on a Smith run). Great plan, great execution, we put the ball on the ground (which led to an Indiana field goal). Can't do that. Put ourselves in a 10-0 hole. We haven't scored a touchdown since Kennedy was president. Paul Kennedy (the director of athletic communications) that is. I mean, this is not rocket science. You guys've watched us play all year, right.? It's not hard. We're just making it really hard. We've just got to get some things fixed now, finish and then there'll be a lot of things that get improved and corrected in the offseason, and we will be back. I promise you that. I hope people are enjoying their time now. Because we will be back."