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Defense has something to prove
Defensive veterans have to take next step in order to keep pace with potent offense
 SCSU Football coach Randy Hedberg watches his players stretch after practice Wednesday. Hedberg is in his fourth season as head coach and is in his 13th season as a collegiate head coach.
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The SCSU Huskies' defense would probably like to forget the way last season ended.
After the first eight games, the team was a respectable 4-4 in an extremely tough conference with all four losses coming by less than a touchdown. The defense had plenty of reasons to be optimistic- they pitched a shutout in the second game of the season against Northern State. A key fumble recovery for a score helped seal the deal against South Dakota in week three. They stood up to a do-or-die two-point conversion to win an overtime slugfest versus Augustana in week five.
Their performances in weeks six and seven showed that they can play with the big boys. In week six, they trailed Northern Colorado 38-31 with just under five minutes to play. The Huskies came up with a safety to close the gap to five points, but the offense was unable to push the winning score across.
The next week the Huskies hosted the eventual Division II national champions, North Dakota, who had played in only one closely contested North Central Conference game to that point. The offense was putting points up and the defense was in top form, holding the Sioux off the board in the second and third quarter. The Huskies had the lead going into the fourth quarter, until UND quarterback Kelby Klosterman kicked the offense into overdrive and the champs won going away, 35-28.
The defense was left hung out to dry when quarterback Keith Heckendorf went down with injuries in the last three games and struggled to stay afloat against three strong teams in Nebraska-Omaha, New Haven and North Dakota State. The defense lost its best lineman, Isaiah Harris, to graduation, leaving an already thin position reeling.
Now for the good news. Harris was the only starter lost from a defense that will return 18 letterwinners this season. By losing only one key player, the Huskies will be able to count on a more experienced defensive unit that will have better depth than any other team in the (head coach) Randy Hedberg era. Hedberg feels that his defense is better prepared to carry its share of the load in 2002.
"I think we've improved greatly. I've already seen some of that in our spring workouts back in April," Hedberg said. "I thought our defense was much more in tune with (defensive coordinator Scott) Underwood's teachings and I think it's carried over to this fall. Our defense has had an excellent preseason."
"We've got to stop the run," said junior safety Matt Nicholson. "I'm pretty sure we were dead last in defense for the whole conference last year. It all starts with stopping the run, because the North Dakotas and the NDSUs like to run the ball."
Defensive Line
The defense's biggest problem over the last two seasons has been the lack of depth, especially on the defensive line and in the linebacking corps. The Huskies are hoping a blend of senior experience and freshman vigor will result in better play along the line. Senior Jeremy Pilarski and junior Nick Peterson will rotate at the defensive tackle positions with redshirt freshmen Corey Johnsen, Dan Nordeen and Joe Brennan. Pilarski, Johnsen and Nordeen are all around the 280-290 pound range and figure to be huge in the battle to stop the opponent's running game.
SCSU is counting on its pair of senior defensive ends, Bryan Cook and Gabe Padayo, to stay injury free in 2002. Padayo played in all 11 games last season and made 18 tackles, while Cook played in only five games but still managed 12 tackles. The Huskies are also expecting good things from freshman Charlie Cosgrove, a converted linebacker who will rush the passer. Sophomore Kyle Stapleton and first-year player Matt Hammernik will also see game action on the line.
Linebackers
The Huskies are returning all of their starters and backups at this position and look to benefit the most from the new additions. Five players will fill the inside linebacker position, including seniors Mick Peterson and Mike Illies. Junior Shane Rohman, who led SCSU linebackers in tackles last season, returns and will share time with junior Eric Earle and sophomore Ron Dox.
The outside will be manned by juniors Chris Schmitz, a transfer from Waldorf college, and Reed Hentges, a converted defensive back with good speed. Earle will also see time on the outside.
"We're a couple guys deep at each position," Rohman said. "We've got eight or nine guys who can go out and play, unlike the last two years when we were down to four or five people sometimes. Just having so many returning guys is going to make a difference."
The linebackers' challenge for this season will be to get to the ball more quickly. Last season, the top two tacklers were defensive backs and Rohman's 70 tackles were only good for third on the team.
"Our defense is designed to bump it out to the safeties a lot, but not that many times," Rohman said. "I think we'll be able to get a couple more of those tackles."
Defensive Backs
The Huskies' greatest strength on defense may be their safeties. If stopping the run is the mantra this season, the safeties will not hurt that effort. Junior Matt Nicholson led the team in tackles last season with 117 and was a 2001 All-NCC second team selection. His counterpart, junior Nate Loughran, was second on the team in tackles. Both are captains this season and look to keep the position solid through next year. On the corners are junior Eric Mickelson and senior Anthony McCoo, both starters last season. Mickelson led the team with three interceptions and McCoo tallied 59 tackles. SCSU has a plethora of backups in the backfield, led by senior Kody Dribnak, junior Nick Hansgen and sophomore Ryan Treu.
Hedberg feels like the defense has worked its way into respectability through offseason training and a solid fall. The only real way to measure improvement, however, is on the field.
"If we play defense better than we did a year ago, I think we'll have a chance to win a number of games," he said. "I think we had some confidence issues early last season. We didn't know where we were, then we beat a good team in Augustana and that got us over the hump. I think we gained some confidence from that."
The players know that it's almost time to lay their cards on the table and that their efforts will likely determine if the Huskies will stay a 4-7 team, or if they will turn the corner.
"We were inexperienced the last two years, but this year there's no excuses anymore," Rohman said. "Most of us have played in enough games where we should be able to win some close ones."
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