Aug. 6, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
Eight practices into a scheduled 19-workout, plus one full scrimmage preseason camp, the pieces of the puzzle for the Illinois State football team are starting to come together. The Redbirds practiced for 24, five-minute periods Wednesday afternoon on the grass practice field just north of Hancock Stadium, and the focus of the practice was putting the drills and techniques together that the players had been learning during the previous seven workouts to culminate with a cohesive offensive and defensive unit.
Coming off the first session of two-a-day workouts, head coach Denver Johnson was pleased with how well his team came out during Wednesday's practice.
"I was really pleased with how well the guys practiced (Wednesday)," said Johnson. "We're a little bumped and bruised, and we have to continue to fight through that. We just need to manage that and continue to compete during every practice."
The mindset for the practice was set before the drills even began, as defensive coordinator David Ross told his pupils, "Today, you're going to be on your own. It's time for each of you to make your own decisions," referring to the defense taking what it had have learned in the previous seven practices and applying that to game situations in Wednesday's workout.
Before the Redbirds could apply their hard-earned knowledge to game situations, they first continued work on refining their skills. The ISU defensive line was in full force in period four, as it took part in the "pride drill," where two defensive linemen went head-to-head against each other to keep the other out of the end zone in a goal-line situation.
Period seven saw one of the fiercest one-on-one battles of the day, as the Redbird wide receivers went up against the cornerbacks. After the cornerbacks had gained an edge on their offensive counterparts, assistant coach Jafar Williams, who is in charge of the wide receivers, yelled out to his pupils, "Someone needs to win one!" in an attempt to fire them up to get past the cornerbacks.
The practice culminated with the Redbirds putting all of the pieces together during extensive game-situation drills, as the players competed against each other in 7-on-7 work, goal-line situations and finally, first-and-goal from the 8-yard line.
Despite not looking sharp earlier in practice against the cornerbacks, ISU's wide receiver corps looked stellar during the 7-on-7 periods, as several produced over-the-shoulder touchdown catches. Kelvin Chandler led the way with two such plays, both off passes from sophomore quarterback Preston Earl, who completed all six of his pass attempts.
Defensively, senior safety Tom Nelson had a pass breakup against projected starting quarterback Kevin Brockway, who was 7-for-9 in pass attempts. Linebacker Andrew Paschal also rose to the occasion, as he had a powerful tackle of tailback Cliffton Gordon.
In the goal-line drill, the ISU offense spotted the ball on its opponents' 21-yard line, just outside of the Red Zone. The drill saw several touchdown passes and runs, including a stellar pass by Earl to wide receiver Matt Mose, who was under coverage from cornerback Chris Garrett. Brockway added a touchdown run of his own, while tight end Cody White caught a short pass from quarterback Drew Kiel and muscled his way through the ISU defense.
Despite the Redbird offense appearing to be in sync during the drill, Johnson felt that his first-team offensive unit lacked its usual zeal.
"I was a little disappointed with the first- (team) offense during the goal-line situation (Wednesday)," said Johnson. "We didn't execute real well. The second-team offense scored during both of its opportunities, but the first-team wasn't able to find the end zone."
Illinois State will resume two-a-days Thursday when the Redbirds report back to practice at 9 a.m. at Hancock Stadium. A 7:30 p.m. practice is also slated for Thursday.
NOTABLE:
Former ISU quarterback Luke Drone attended Wednesday's practice, and during the workout, got in some passing work with the tight ends.
Following period 16, the entire team took a 15-minute break under the shade tree in the northwest corner of the grass practice field, where they were treated to a couple of "icy-pop" popsicles.
Junior transfer defensive lineman Blake Gumm left practice early with a bruised knee.
Sophomore transfer wide receiver Ben Graves did not practice due to a dislocated left thumb.
Reggie Dozier and Bert Whigham remained sidelined with ankle injuries, while Kevett Mickle (knee sprain) and Doni Phelps (groin) also did not participate in drills.
Freshman offensive lineman Cory Christianson will miss the 2008 season due to an injury to his right shoulder. He is scheduled to have surgery on the shoulder later this month.
