Lynn Meredith's Pre-Season Preview
Teamkong.net

Well…it’s here again….another exciting football season.

This season, I’ll be doing a weekly column on Team Kong and really appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Gorilla’s upcoming games. 

Tom Van Hoy, Eddie Lomshek and myself feel honored to be part of the Gorilla program and don’t take our responsibilities lightly.  It’s a lot of fun being part of a winner…as we remind ourselves sometimes…. we could be doing the broadcasts for the Rolla Miners!!

The 2003 edition of the PSU Gorillas is an interesting one.  It has all the makings of a great season and as with any football season, the Gorillas will need to overcome some obstacles that have yet to show themselves.

  What do the Gorillas need to do to have that “special” year?

  1) Try to stay healthy, but prepare for injuries!

Many football coaches at any level think they don’t have enough quality players to compete with injuries… but I don’t always believe that.  Injuries are a part of football and good programs prepare for them.

Good programs continue to look for ways to get their back-ups enough practice and playing time to prepare them for the time they may have to start.  The Gorillas do that… as you’ll see, many players see the field throughout the game and that’s why there is not a huge “drop-off” when back-ups get in the game.

  2) The Gorillas need an exceptional year out of QB Neil Philpot.

Now in his Junior season, Neil has to elevate the Gorilla offense to the next level. He’ll need to do that by improving his passing game.  Specifically, he will need to have a much higher completion percentage than last season, but also to hit receivers in their stride so they can gain yards after the catch. If Neil continues to improve in this area, the Gorilla offense will be very prolific!

  3) The Offensive Line and Receiving corps need to take pressure off the Running Game.

Both of these units should be very good and will be strengths for the Gorillas.  They will be very important in taking the pressure off the Running Backs that will be thin in numbers and experience.  Consistent Line play and quality catches in the passing game will go a long way in helping young running backs to add dimension to the offense.

  4) The Defensive Line has to be dominant.

As we all know, Defenses are only as good as their linemen. They create all the confusion against opponent offenses and, depending on their play, make the Linebackers and Defensive Backs look good or bad.  The D-Line has to be dominant against the run, while pressuring the pass without relying on the blitz every down. This year’s group of Gorillas are strong and should be able to dominate often.

  5) Linebackers have to have a great year.

Last year, I felt the Linebacking group was not as effective as they could have been. Any great defense has LB’s that fly to the ball in the fastest, shortest way possible. When the D-Line holds up the offensive line, it creates open lanes for backers to stop running backs.

Speed and aggression to the ball are crucial and this group will need to be better this year in those areas.  The tough thing for LB’s is that they are also important against the pass in dropping to the right areas to create confusion for the opponent’s QB.  This was also weakness in last year’s group. Tight Ends and short receivers were open all too often in the short zones.

Linebackers have the TOUGH responsibility of stopping the run, but retreating correctly to their zones when they read pass… it’s not easy, but we have to improve to have the dominant defense we could have.

The Gorillas will be very good this year and have a chance to make a run to the playoffs once again.  There are many strengths going in… the offensive and defensive lines… receivers…. lots of talent on both sides of the ball. And if the Linebackers and Quarterback positions have exceptional years, the Gorillas could go a long, long way!!!

Lynn Meredith begins his 14^th year as Color Analyst for KKOW radio and Gorilla football. A former college and high school football coach, Lynn coached defense at Kansas State, Panhandle State and Pittsburg State Universities. He was also a Head Coach at Washington and Topeka Highland Park high schools.  As a radio broadcaster, Lynn has worked with play-by-play announcer Tom Van Hoy since 1990.  Over the last 14 years they have broadcasted over 350 football games on KKOW radio. 

Lynn lives in Pittsburg with his wife Jan, and children Kelly 19, Eric 16, and Rachel 14.