The Illinois State football pounded out a pair of practices on Monday, working out in full pads during the morning session and shells in the evening on the Hancock Stadium turf.
Head coach Denver Johnson wanted to talk about his goal line defense after the morning session.
I thought the defense just totally dominated the offense, Johnson said. I think we had six shots at the goal line and the defense stopped five of them. Our offense didnt look as sharp as I would have liked. We hit a couple of fade routes, but we had difficulty running the ball. But, its some mid-camp blues. Well get in there and look at the film and correct some things off of it.
Redshirt freshman Kye Stewart broke off his blocker and wrapped up Derrick Chambers behind the line of scrimmage. Sophomore linebacker Cameron Siskowic also recorded a tackle for loss when he stopped Brian Thompson. In all, the defense stopped the offense on five of six plays, including three straight, in a third-and-goal situation.
Sophomore Leon Kittrell was particularly sharp as he stacked up a Redbird running back for a loss in the red zone drill and followed it up with a open field tackle on a swing pass to Ramon Barber.
Hes really good with his feet, Johnson said of Kittrell. Hes not the biggest guy in the world, but hes doing a good job with his technique, trying to get his body in the right place and be in the right position all the time. Hes made some plays for us this camp.
During the goal line drill, Laurnt Robinson got the best of Kittrell as he out jumped him in the end zone for a score. The offense also scored during the red zone workout as Yance Vaughan found Barber for a touchdown and Pierre Jackson hauled in a fingertip catch from B.J. McCaslin.
At the evening workout Kye Stewart intercepted a Vaughan pass and returned it 10 yards for a touchdown, while Kevin Brockway found Jackson on a 40-yard touchdown pass during the 7-on-7 drill.
The Redbirds return to practice, in shells, on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.
Camp Notes:
Senior Steve Statz has moved from tight end to offensive tackle and will wear No. 67.
Redshirt freshman quarterback John Braddock and walk-on Victor Arlis have each voluntarily left the team.
The Redbirds received 26 votes in The Sports Network 2004 Preseason I-AA College Football Poll.
Illinois State was also ranked No. 40 in the Football Gazette NCAA I-AA Top 40 Preseason Poll.
Prior to the evening practice session, the football team hosted the Bloomington-Normal community during Meet the Birds night at Hancock Stadium.
