Falcon passing record not enough

Despite losing both of their first two games, UW-River Falls head football coach Matt Walker and true freshman quarterback Ryan Kusilek said that the Falcons are anxious to show what they can do heading into conference play.

In the Falcons’ first game of the season, they lost a close one to Simpson College at Ramer Field. They followed that up with a road game at nationally ranked St. Thomas that got away from the Falcons in the second half. Coach Walker said that expectations have remained the same even though the season did not start as well as he had hoped.

“Expectations are still very high,” Walker said. “We’re excited and confident about the eight remaining games. It hasn’t quite come together yet, but we’ve seen glimpses of how good we can be.”

Kusilek, a River Falls native, said that the team is in good spirits in spite of the tough beginning to the year. “We’re going to take a deep breath and move on,” Kusilek said. “We’re not ready to quit; we’re ready to make this program what it should be. We’re not going to settle for losing games.”

The starting quarterback went on to say that the score is not completely indicative of how the Falcons have played. “There have been a lot of positives in the first two games despite what the scoreboard says,” Kusilek said.

One of the problems against St. Thomas was the extraordinarily high number of pass attempts, 74, which is a UWRF school record. Walker said that number is not ideal. “It was not planned at all, the game dictated it. We started the second half with the no huddle and found success with it. That’s not what we want to be; we want to be a balanced attack,” the second-year head coach said.

Kusilek said that St. Thomas was a good test for the UWRF football team because they are similar to the level of competition that the Falcons will face in the WIAC

The Falcons have found success in some areas though, namely on defense. The UWRF defense has gotten good pressure on opposing quarterbacks with six sacks in two games. Walker also praised his linebacking corps and said that their talent contributed to a change in scheme on defense. “We’ve done a good job getting to the quarterback; we’re blessed with a group of four senior linebackers. It’s one of the reasons we’ve gone to the 3-4, we wanted to put four of them on the field,” said Walker.

Walker said that the team is ready to prove what it believes it is truly capable of. “We’re left with a bad taste in our mouth after the first two weeks. We couldn’t be hungrier to get on the field, show everybody that the fourth quarter against St. Thomas isn’t who we are,” Walker said.

Aiding the Falcons is a bye week before the conference year begins. Kusilek said that the bye week came “at a perfect time.” He added that it helps that guys can rest and recover from injuries. Kusilek said that the team is viewing the rest of the year like a whole new season. “We rested up this weekend. We’ll really come out ready, it’s the most energy we’ve had since the beginning of