Illinois head coach Lovie Smith addressed the media ahead of Saturday's season finale at Northwestern (Saturday, 2:30 pm CT, BTN).
Opening statement
Our guys realize who we're playing and what we're playing for. The Land of Lincoln trophy has been up there too many years. We got back out on the practice field today, little bit different week for us on how we handle the Thanksgiving week. We're a little banged up in a few areas, and hopefully we'll get some of the player back. Of course Northwestern is getting ready to play for the championship the following week. Their team has had an outstanding year, but hopefully for us that puts us in a good position after disappointment you can finish the season up the right way beating your rival.
On key injuries having an impact
As a coach, especially when you lose, you don't want to talk about injuries, but most of you that follow our team know the amount of injuries that we have had. When you're building your program and you have that many, especially on the defensive side of the ball, it's tough. It's always next guy up, but hopefully we'll get a couple of guys back that weren't able to play last week.
On current state of the program
Talking about where we are right now, we're coming off a disappointing loss. You look at the season, we have four wins this year, so that's reality right now. We have an opportunity to finish with a good taste in our mouth. The state of the program is disappointing right now but we see brighter days ahead.
On consistency of the offensive line this season
Our offensive line has been together throughout all of training camp, every day. Once you have a group working together like that, you see the results.
On Bobby Roundtree and his development
Bobby is an excellent football player. You know what you're going to get. He's going to play hard every snap. He can rush the passer, he can play the run. Bobby Roundtree will eventually be a captain for our team, he's that type of guy. His best days are ahead of him.
On looking ahead with the defense
Big picture-wise, we have some players like Bobby Roundtree, Jake Hansen, Nate Hobbs, Tony Adams, Sydney Brown. We have some good young players in our system that will eventually be around when we have success in our defensive system. The system is improving, we'll keep working on it. Get the coaching staff right, get some more players here, and eventually we'll have more success with it.
