By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
Last year’s 5-5 season at Lane didn’t sit well with head
coach Derrick Burroughs, especially since he believes his Dragons were much
better than that.
“We left too much on the table last year,” Burroughs said
during last month’s Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Media
Day. “I’m very disappointed in a 5-5
season. I don’t think we were a 5-5 team
last year.”
The Dragons were a team that lost two games by a total of
six points and lost another to Central State after allowing a 100-yard kickoff
return and having an unusually unproductive game on the ground.
A lot of their
problems came in the passing game where Lane was the SIAC’s second-worst pass
offense in 2016. In eight games last
season, dual threat quarterback Marcus Reynolds recessed from a promising 2015
as he threw for just 674 yards (just 84 yards a game).
Reynolds said he has been working on his mechanics, as well
as sharpening the timing between him and his receivers.
“I think we have the guy at the quarterback position to do
the job,” Burroughs said. “I think he’s one of the most athletic quarterbacks
we have in this conference. We just need
to settle him down a little more, but I think we have the people to do it.”
The other half of the “Marcus and Marcus Show,” running back
Marcus Holiday, didn’t have too many issues last season. He led the SIAC in
rushing with 1126 yards rushing and rushing average with 126 yards a game. Holiday is a first team, All-SIAC preseason
pick, but he is looking for a better season this year.
“I worked on my acceleration,” Holiday said of his offseason
preparations. “I think that’s my biggest
problem. My first step is quick, but when it comes to like open field, that’s
what I’ve been working on. My open field speed, blocking, catching the ball out
of the backfield. Last year, I didn’t have a lot of receiving yards, so I’ve
been working on it.”
Stopping the pass was the Achilles heel for a Lane defense
that wasn’t that bad last season. Seven starters from a defense that ranked in
the top half of the SIAC in scoring defense and was second in pass defense
returns. But they were in the bottom half of the
conference in stopping the run last season, plus their two top tacklers from
2016 have to be replaced.
“Our intention was to go out and find some defensive
lineman,” Burroughs said of the off-season. “Hopefully, we’ve added a little
more depth to help our run defense.”
Burroughs and his team of Dragons see 2017 as a redemption
season, bettering a 2016 that they thought should have been much better.
“Still have a very sour taste in our mouths because we went
5-5 last year,” he said. “We left a lot on the table so hopefully we can go
back and get it this year.”
