The MSU-Northern football Lights are coming off of a (24-6) loss on the road at Mayville State to open the season last week. New Media Broadcasters caught up with head coach Jerome Souers and he characterized how his team performed in the defeat.
“Our guys played hard, but we didn’t play well,” Souers said. “I know that we’re capable of playing better than we did. I know that we’re more capable of being consistent.”
“When we get the rest of our offense tailored in and timed up right, I think that will be more effective,” Souers continued. “I thought defensively, we played really well.”
“But again, we have to be consistent over the full course of four quarters and we weren’t,” Souers said. “We’re learning. It’s disappointing to come back with a loss, but at the same time, it’s an early part of our season and we have a lot of football left to play.”
The NAIA added many rule changes for football this season, most notably the implementation of instant replay. Coach Souers spoke about the competitive disadvantage his team faced in the first half of the game against Mayville, but also said that it was a wakeup call to be able to utilize the resources that are given to the Lights football program.
“You’re supposed to have iPads where you’re able to watch replays of the game and it’s a part of the instant replay, which went in effect a couple of times in the game,” Souers said. “Ours wasn’t working in the first half. Apparently, (Mayville’s) were.”
“That’s a different tactic,” Souers continued. “You can see a lot more of the game and you can be a lot more accurate in your assessments of what’s happening.”
“I think that’s something we have to get better at doing is using that tool and integrating that into our game day process,” Souers said.
Later this week, Coach Souers will give a breakdown of his team’s next opponent, Rocky Mountain College, a game set for Saturday in Billings.
