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| Kyle Hudson caught two touchdown passes last Saturday against Indiana. |
Transcript of Wednesday's chat with sophomore wide receiver Kyle Hudson.
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| Moderator: Good afrternoon, everyone. Kyle is here and ready to answer your questions. So here we go... |
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| Ron, Rockford, IL: How hard is it to balance baseball and football? Do you do any football work in spring or baseball in the fall? Do you see yourself playing both all four years? |
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Kyle Hudson: It's not so bad, because we have all of these counselors to help us. At first, it was really hard to balance both sports along with the academics, but with all of the assistance I have received, it has gotten a little easier. We'll see how things go--it's too early to know how things are going to go for the next 2-3 years. |
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| Dan (Chicago): In the off-season you changed positions. How was the trasition for you? Did anyone really give you guidance or did you just pick it up as you went? Also do you like this new position better than where you played last year? |
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Kyle Hudson: Thanks for the question, Dan.
It wasn't much of a transition. The biggest change is that at the "Z" position, where I am now, I line up most of the time off the ball--in the backfield, actually. It creates more space for me to work when the opponent is in "press" coverage. I run more deep routes than before. The coaches always give us plenty of teaching, so we know what we have to do. It probably works out better for the team with me at this position. |
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| Arkansas Dave: Hey Hud
It has obviously been a tough couple of years for you guys. What keeps you motivated each week? Here's hoping you can 'take one to the house' on Saturday! |
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Kyle Hudson: Hey Uncle Dave!
We have a great bunch of guys here on the team, and great coaches as well. We all want to get better, and we are definitely showing improvement. We're all competitors, and we know if we keep working hard, more wins will come. |
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| Tulsa Oklahoma: Where did you get those WR skills?
I am proud of you, keep doing what you do. FINISH!!!
Coach Gilkey
Tulsa Union Redskins |
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Kyle Hudson: How's it going, Coach?
Obviously you taught be everything I know, when I was at Mattoon HS. The game is a little faster here, but I'm still using some of the things I learned from you. Great to hear from you--good luck. |
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| Joaquin Vargas, South Bend, IN: Kyle, (my son and I marveled at your catches while we visited for homecoming) my question is, if you could choose, what teams outside of the Big Ten would you like to face up against in nuetral setting or a 1 & 1 (home/away) during the regular season to help move the program into a national spotlight. My personal choices are Oklahoma, Notre Dame,(I live in South Bend, but I am Illini to the core) Tennesse and Pittsburgh? Any thoughts? Thanks and continued success on and off the field |
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Kyle Hudson: First of all, thanks for the compliment. I like going out to the West Coast---the environment out there is great. We have a lot of great teams in the Midwest, and we play of them, of course, in the Big Ten. But it's also fun playing teams like Cal, USC, UCLA, etc. |
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| jelly from Bloomington,IL: so far who is the best defensive back you faced?
P.S tell harrison to keep playin hard |
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Kyle Hudson: Thanks for your question. When we played at Cal last year, their entire defensive backfield was really good. It would be hard to pick out one of them, but as a group, they were about as good as I've seen. |
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| Pat Basu (Palo Alto, CA): Hey Kyle,
This is Dr. Basu from Chicago - Illinois alum 2000. You have stepped it up with big catches lately! How does this year's passing offense compare with last year? Lets rebound big vs Ohio. |
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Kyle Hudson: I think the receivers are starting to get more comfortble with the offense. This is our second year with the system, and the quarterbacks are doing a great job with the offense, too. So, there's no question, we're getting better and better. |
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| Mike Harrison (Bloomington): Hey 21 what up? I played against you back in High School. What's it like playing on the same team with other Big 12 Conf. graduates on Saturdays as opposed to playing against them on Friday nights? P.S. Tell Justin I'm better than him. |
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Kyle Hudson: Hey, Mike.
It's a good experience--it's definitely good for the Big 12 to have so many players competing at a high level in college--in the Big Ten Conference. Every so often I see guys we play against that I saw in high school. As for Justin, I whipped him at Camp Rantoul, so I could probably whip you, too.
Seriously, thanks for the question, and good luck the rest of this season. |
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| Tyler Whitworth (Mattoon): I play WR for Mattoon's 8th Grade JFL. What drills or fundementals do you recommend kids my age work on to preparte for high school football and possibly beyond? |
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Kyle Hudson: How's it going, Tyler?
Most of the receivers have been coming in every morning to the training room, and we have the trainers throwing tennis balls to us, straight, off the walls, etc., to help us with our hand-eye coordination. We catch with our left hand, then our right hand. It's a good drill, and I think it has helped us.
You're just about ready for high school, and the coaches will have you running and lifting quite a bit. You should definitely take full advantage of that kind of training. That's the best thing you can do to get better. |
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| Walter(Mt.Olive): Kyle
Congratulations on your receptions in the Indiana game. They were exciting moments in the game. Are you and Juice getting more comfortable in the quarterback/receiver combination regarding pass routes and confidence?
P.S. Does your mother still feel the hairline is too low? |
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Kyle Hudson: Hey, Walter...
Thanks for your compliments. There are some adjustments that we have to make to the different quarterbacks. Both Juice and Tim get plenty of reps in practice, so we catch a lot of passes from each of them. Their passes are a little different, but we're able to adjust. Juice is getting more experience, so the timing in our passing game is improving week by week. |
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| Darryl Mattoon: Does all that extra hair this year make you faster? Keep up the hard work son! |
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Kyle Hudson: Hey, Dad...does your boss know your on the internet at work?
Since we wear helmets and since we have those skull caps, there's no problem with the drag on my hair. With the helmet on, I'm pretty aerodynamic. |
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| Moderator: Thanks, everyone, for your questions. Be sure to watch CoachRonZook.com again next Wednesday when we'll have a chat with another Fighting Illini player. |
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