Last week, the RedHawk DBs had to face Ohio State’s Braxton Miller. Today, it’s Kory Faulkner of Southern Illinois. Whoever. It seems like everybody’s got a very good quarterback.
“We respect this team as much as we respected Ohio State,” Miami defensive backs coach Ron Carpenter said of SIU, which will be at Yager Stadium this afternoon. “The last time I checked, we lost last week. So we’re not taking anybody for granted. We need to protect our home field and get a ‘W’ on the board.”
Faulkner is a 6-foot-4, 215-pound redshirt junior from Bloomsdale, Mo. He completed 31-of-58 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-28 loss to Eastern Illinois last week. He received a slight concussion, but is expected to start today.
That was a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA) contest. The RedHawks are in the Football Bowl Subdivision (Div. I-A). The Salukis are 3-24 against FBS teams since becoming FCS members in 1982.
Carpenter said none of that should matter to his secondary.
“What I can tell you is that they throw it around a lot, and they’re successful at it,” Carpenter said. “The quarterback has a good feel for his receivers. They’ve got some really fast, scat-type guys. And they mix it up a lot. Ohio State just kind of stayed spread. These guys do a little bit of everything.”
Ohio State’s Miller and Kenny Guiton combined to hit 19-of-33 throws for 244 yards and two touchdowns last week. One of those TDs was an acrobatic catch that was practically unstoppable.
“We had three big pass plays,” Carpenter said. “One was a great catch. Another one was kind of a missed assignment. One came on a scramble play. The mistakes I saw were correctable mistakes. I was disappointed in the loss, but I was not disappointed in the play of the secondary.”
The starting secondary includes free safety D.J. Brown, strong safety Justin Bowers/Brison Burris (they’re splitting time), and cornerbacks Dayonne Nunley and Chrishawn Dupuy.
Dupuy, a sophomore from New Orleans, credited OSU for its performance last Saturday.
“They were just the better team that day,” he said. “They have some good talent over there at Ohio State.”
And what about Southern Illinois?
“I’m sure they will test us,” Dupuy said. “Looking back at the Ohio State film, they saw that we gave up some balls. But we’ll be ready. The significance of playing at home is huge. We need to take advantage of that.”
Carpenter likes the secondary’s development. He said Brown, a four-year starter from Lakota West High School, and Nunley are the leaders.
“They’re taking what we’re teaching in the classroom and transferring it to the field,” Carpenter said. “We have a great relationship. We have open communication. Instead of a dictatorship, it’s more of a collaboration.”
Pat Hinkel was a three-year player at strong safety before switching to outside linebacker in the spring. The subsequent moves gave Dupuy a chance to become a starter.
“I really appreciate the coaches trusting me to go out and get the job done,” Dupuy said.
Carpenter said the key for the long-term success of the defensive backfield is adding depth. Marshall Taylor, Trey Payne, Dante Taylor, Jarrell Jones and Orne Bey are the next wave behind the starters.
“We’ve got some guys who are close,” Carpenter said. “We want to be completely two-deep at every position.”
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