NORMAL, Ill. – Despite dark skies and the threat of rain, the Illinois State football team took to the turf to get some reps in to mark the final practice in full pads before the Spring Showcase Saturday at Hancock Stadium.
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The script was flipped due to the approaching weather. Instead of following the normal routine, the Redbirds went right into the blitz drill and the offense took over early. Jake Kolbe started things off by going long on the opening play, but ended up falling short of a 25-yard completion to Anthony Warrum deep down field. Kolbe redeemed himself on the next two plays completing a pair of passes to George Moreira and Christian Gibbs. To the end the drill, the defense stepped up to force three-consecutive sacks, two by Josh Sromovsky and the other by Brannon Barry and Donavin O'Day on quarterback Koty Thelen.
From there, the team broke into 9-on-7 and one-on-one, before transitioning into team. Kolbe and Thelen took turns at quarterback as the team mainly worked on converting third-and-long situations. Kolbe went 4-for-8 and Thelen went 2-for-3, while the running backs tore up the turf with several carries. Kolbe connected with Warrum on the opening play for a 24-yard touchdown, followed by a rush by Hasan Muhammad-Rogers up the middle to pick up an early first down. Later in the drill, Moreira ran the ball down the sideline to gain 30 yards on the carry, but the drill concluded with another sack by Barry.
The Redbirds then went live and worked in the red zone to move the ball toward the end zone. Kolbe and Warrum connected for the second time of the afternoon on the opening drive to score a 24-yard touchdown. On the next two drives, the defense took over forcing two-straight 3-and-outs, with Mitchell Brees and Willie Edwards each coming away with a tackle for loss and James Graham reaching Kolbe for the sack. Nick Kielbasa responded with three-straight carries to pick up the first down for the Redbird offense and the final drive ended with Zach Breen booting it 31 yards through the uprights for the field goal.
The rain held off long enough for the Redbirds to do a little 7-on-7 work, where DraShane Glass led things off with a pass breakup, followed by an interception by Alec Kocour, and another pass breakup by Glass. The offense then took charge when Kolbe spotted Anthony Fowler in the end zone to complete the touchdown pass. It was not long before the defense swung the momentum again, forcing four-straight pass breakups to force the offense to come up with a new strategy.
ISU will return to the field Friday at 3:30 p.m. for a brief helmets-only walkthrough to prepare for the Spring Showcase at Hancock Stadium. For live practice updates, photos and video follow the official Redbird Football Twitter account @RedbirdFB and log onto GoRedbirds.com for full coverage.
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