Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/383512
GoldanDBlack express • volume 25, express 4 • 30 That would seem to have a bet- ter chance at happening as long as Etling doesn't stress out. Not overthinking was a point of emphasis last week entering the ND game, especially with how many looks the Irish have on defense, and Etling said he was able to relax and getting into a rhythm early into the game helped. In the first half, Etling complet- ed 12-of-14 passes. "When you get into that rhythm, everything starts slowing down," Etling said Tuesday. "You start seeing the blitzes, you start seeing the different coverages and the holes in the defenses. "I was pretty comfortable that entire game. I felt similar to the IU game. Once you get into a rhythm and you start getting into a zone, you can kind of feel it again, and I felt it there." Etling was nursing a stiff neck Sunday after getting a helmet- to-helmet collision Saturday, but he said he felt better after a mas- sage on Monday. He looked good in practice early in the week and seemed to be loosened up. That's good because there's still growing to do. Of Etling's 40 passes against the Irish, unofficially 31 weren't thrown past five yards in the air, which par- tially explains his only 234 yards on 27 completions. "I would much rather throw it down field," Etling said. "Our plays might not be just quick, they might be deep shots, but what they're doing is they're tak- ing them away. That's one thing I didn't do so great before is tak- ing what they're giving me. Notre Dame was trying to take away the big plays, so sometimes you have to take what they give you. That's something I did as (the IU game last year) went on. If you start tak- ing what they're giving you, then eventually you'll get those down- field shots. "That's something I wish I would have been more patient with, even in the Notre Dame game. I think I tried to force too many things down the field as it went on. When you try to do that, bad things will happen. That's something you'll continue to learn, and something I definitely learned." Family ties B.J. Knauf is the only member of his immediate family who wasn't born in Illinois. But he did live in Carbondale, Ill., for a couple years as a toddler when his family stayed with his grandfather, Bob Hailey. Hailey coached at Southern Il- linois, the same school his four chil- dren attended and two sons played football for. Knauf's parents met at SIU. "I'd say my mindset is it's just another game, but it's the game of the week, so obviously we're going in to win it. Yeah, there's family ties, but on the football field, none of that really matters," Knauf said. "The goal at the end of the day is to win." It'd seem unlikely, though, that Knauf's thoughts don't stray to his grandfather at some point Saturday. That relationship — Hailey died in 2008 — was one of the strongest in Knauf's life. He called his grandfa - ther his "hero," and he has a 6-inch portrait tattooed on his left rib. Before getting into coaching, which concluded with the SIU job but included a stint at Kansas State, Hailey played at Missouri in the 1940s. He loved football, and he loved his grandson. Knauf remembers bringing some of his game tape on a visit to Hailey at a retirement home in Kan- sas, the two watching Knauf play "little league" football. "It was a bonding experience," Knauf said. "The fact he was able to Aug. 30 western michigan '14 Record: 1-1 Series: 5-0-0 W, 43-34 Sept. 6 central michigan '14 Record: 2-1 Series: 5-1-0 L, 17-38 Sept. 13 vs. notre dame^ in indianapolis '14 Record: 3-0 Series: 26-58-2 L, 14-30 Sept. 20 southern illinois '14 Record: 3-0 Series: 0-0 Noon, BTN Sept. 27 iowa^ '14 Record: 2-1 Series: 46-35-3 Noon, BTN Oct. 4 at illinois '14 Record: 2-1 Series: 40-43-6 TBA, TBD Oct. 11 michigan state^ '14 Record: 1-1 Series: 28-33-3 TBA, TBD Oct. 18 at minnesota^ '14 Record: 2-1 Series: 32-34-3 Noon, TBD Nov. 1 at nebraska^ '14 Record: 3-0 Series: 1-1 TBA, TBD Nov. 8 wisconsin^ '14 Record: 1-1 Series: 29-44-8 TBA, TBD Nov. 22 northwestern '14 Record: 0-2 Series: 50-27-1 TBA, TBD Nov. 29 at indiana '14 Record: 1-1 Series: 72-38-6 TBA, TBD PURDUe's 2014 sCHeDUle Dec. 6 — big ten championship game Indianapolis (Lucas Oil Stadium) ^ 2013-14 Bowl participant Tom Campbell Expect Darrell Hazell to stick with sophomore QB Danny Etling for awhile: The second-year coach said he doesn't want the quarterback decision to be a "weekly thing."