Aug. 3, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
There was a buzz under the lights at Hancock Stadium on Thursday night. Some of the excitement was probably related to the merciful break in the heat wave, but most of it was directly tied into the start of the 2006 Illinois State football season.
The Redbirds took the field in shells at 8 p.m., and worked out for 18 periods ending a long first day which began at 6 a.m.
"We've had the hottest summer since I've been here and we finally have a chance to get on the field and the temperature drops 25 degrees," said head coach Denver Johnson. "But you know what, these guys deserve it. They have been here all summer and worked hard through all the heat. Somehow I think there is either some divine intervention or justice to this that they got a break on testing day."
After breakfast, the Redbirds sat through compliance meetings and were fitted for equipment. In the afternoon, the team went through conditioning testing. Before practice the `Birds split up for meetings with their position coaches and began implementing the system.
"We had a great practice here tonight and got off to a great start," said Johnson. "You can walk around here and the hair starts to stand up on the back of your neck because I tell you what - we can run. This football team can run. We can put speed on the field and anywhere in nature speed kills."
The Redbirds spent the first 14 periods working on fundamentals before ending the practice with a four-period, 7-on-7 session. Junior quarterback Luke Drone opened the drill with back-to-back completions to pre-season all-American Laurént Robinson and Pierre Jackson. Drone finished with seven completions on 10 attempts and Robinson led all receivers with three catches.
Sophomore Kevin Brockway completed 3-of-8 pass attempts. Jared Dall, a junior from Harper Junior College, was 2-for-4 and Preston Earl, a freshman from Stevenson High School, completed one of his four pass attempts.
Dall and Earl each tossed interceptions on back-to-back plays. Kyle Siskowic picked off Dall over the middle, while Lamont Lagrone hauled in one of Earl's tipped passes.
ISU returns to the practice field on Friday night at 7:30 pm., following the annual media day festivities at Hancock Stadium.
