Demons emphasize creating turnovers

NATCHITOCHES ­ After enduring a turnover drought last year, Northwestern Stateıs Purple Swarm defense is gearing up to turn the tables this season ­ which makes for mixed emotions for head coach Scott Stoker in preseason practice. ³The good news is we did a good job of forcing turnovers today,² said Stoker after Sunday afternoonıs two-hour workout in shorts and shoulder pads. ³The bad news is we turned it over too much. ³No matter what, somebodyıs going to be doing poorly every day in that case,² he said. ³Considering how few turnovers we came up with last season, we have to make a big jump in the number we force this year." Last year, the Purple Swarm came up with only 17 turnovers in a 5-5 season. The 1.7 average was the lowest for Northwestern since team statistics are on file dating back to 1960. Stoker expects the defense to look more like the nationally-ranked Top 10 units in 2002, 2003 and 2004, even while facing the most challenging schedule in school history. One reason for his optimism is the Purple Swarmıs much-improved depth. ³Weıve got some prime time players (Preseason All-Americans Tory Collins and Ed Queen, preseason All-Southland Conference pick Charlie Brooks) up front on the defensive line, and weıve got some young guys who have redshirted and are now ready to contribute,² said Stoker. ³Albert Smith, Josh Daniels, Neal Walker could have good seasons and great careers for us.² The Demons were erratic in the passing game in Sundayıs 11-on-11 work, he said. ³Weıve got to pitch and catch more consistently than weıve done,² he said. ³Sometimes itıs a case of not throwing the ball well, and sometimes weıre not doing a good job catching it. Sometimes weıre throwing it to the wrong spot and sometimes we are not running the right route. Weıre three practices in, so itıs early, and I expect to see progress throughout this week before our first scrimmage Saturday.² Sundayıs special teams concentration came on kickoff coverage and returns. Stoker said kickers Robert Weeks and Lee Scott are battling to handle the kickoff duty while a bevy of players are in contention for return assignments, including senior Greg Skidmore, who led the SLC with a 24.6 average last year. The Demons resume practice in Turpin Stadium Monday morning at 8:15, beginning a weeklong series of morning sessions culminating with a Saturday morning scrimmage. They don full gear for the first time this preseason on Tuesday morning.