Coach Hunter admits the secondary did not play as well as he hoped against Nebraska, but believes the unit will only get better with experience. “Against Nebraska, I don’t think we really played as well as we practiced,” the Southern Miss Coach said.
“For a lot of our players it was their first time to get a good amount of playing time. The more they get experience in game situations, the better they’ll be, and hopefully we will continue to get better.
“It gave us a chance to go back and work on some things we needed to improve on,” Coach Hunter said of the time off this past weekend.
“A lot of teams want that bye week in the middle of the season, so they can rest their players, but I think it really gave us a chance to make
some much needed improvements.”
Practice has gone well for Coach Hunter’s secondary since Nebraska, and he hopes that
positive trend can continue.
“We’ve made some progress at practice,” Coach Hunter said. “I
just hope our young men can carry what they’ve done on the practice field onto the game field.
If they do that we’ll be fine.”
As for the match-up between the Southern Miss secondary and the ECU receivers, Coach
Hunter believes it will be a tough test.
“I think it will be a good match-up. East Carolina has some good receivers,” the Southern Miss coach said. “It’ll be a tough test, and our guys need to
show up ready to challenge their receivers.”
Coach Hunter has high expectations for his unit headed into the game against ECU, but he believes they are up to the task.
“I would like to see them play with great intensity and great focus,” Coach Hunter said. “I just want them to play upbeat and positive, and be sure to read their keys, and not do things they’re not supposed to do.”
Coach Hunter brings an intense style during practice, and believes that’s the way it
should be when playing the game of football.
“Football is an intense sport, and I believe you
have to be intense to play the game,” Coach Hunter said.
“In the end, being intense comes from playing smart and playing physical.”