Tom Bruins (47) and Quincy Hudson are the leaders of the Pioneer defense. Photo by Andy McNeill

Posted Sept. 25, 2009

UW-Platteville finished its non-conference season with a 2-1 record, beating Buena Vista 15-10 and Dubuque 28-20 before falling 31-12 at Augustana (Ill.). Coach Mike Emendorfer talks with SID Paul Erickson about the non-conference schedule and the team's Oct. 3 game at second-ranked UW-Whitewater.

What are your overall impressions of the Pioneers after the non-conference season?

"We're happy that we're 2-1 but also somewhat disappointed that we're not 3-0, but we faced a very good team in Augustana. As I told the team, sometimes a kick in the mouth is the best medicine. If we respond in the right way after a tough loss at Augustana, we can learn from our mistakes. If we would have gone 3-0 and played poorly while doing it, I don't know if we would be as prepared as we need to be to go against the number two ranked team in the nation in Whitewater. I look at is a positive that after a setback, we were re-energized and able to focus on the details. Fortunately we had a bye week so we were able to correct some mistakes. We had a great practice yesterday (Thursday) and saw a lot of positives."

What exactly did you do during your bye week?

"The bye week we used to get better at what we do. We had a couple of scrimmages, and one we went in full uniform. We put a lot of pressure on the players to make it game-like situations. We made some good plays in all three phases but we also made some mistakes and we were able to show them on film what they need to improve upon before Whitewater."

You have a lot of players in game-like situations for the first time. What is the typical learning curve for a player to become comfortable with the bullets flying?

"It's especially important that we played at Augustana. They're very good team who is traditionally one of the top teams in their conference (CCIW). They're very physical, and it allows us to be better prepared for conference play. Nick Anderson, Brandon Hertrampf, even a Tom Bruins, who hasn't really played much before his senior year, have all received game-like experiences now for three weeks. There's something to be said for being in games; you can't truly simulate them in practicee what you feel during games. We have grown up, and it will be exciting to see how we respond. Hopefully with the bye week, we've been able to eliminate some of the nagging injuries we've had. We're giving them a couple of days off this weekend, and hopefully we come back fully healthy."

What have you seen of UW-Whitewater that impresses you so far?

"Whitewater is just a solid team across the board. Normally when you watch a team, you find a weak link here or there that you try and capitalize on, but Whitewater has a tremendous amount of talent, and they are also very well coached. They believe in what they are doing. They're not very fancy in their schemes, but they are very solid in executing them. For us, we don't want to put the belief or the pressure on that we have to play a perfect game. We have to play with emotion and play Pioneer Football. If we can get the game into the fourth quarter, the pressure will be on Whitewater, not us. We have to get it into that fourth quarter."