NORMAL, Ill. – Now a third of the way through spring workouts, Illinois State players are finding their bodies more sore, their muscles tired and their mental exhaustion mounting. As a former collegiate player and longtime coach, ISU head coach Brock Spack knows the feeling all too well and challenged his team to fight through it all during the six practice of the spring on Tuesday at Hancock Stadium.
With the sounds of Michael Jackson and Motown serving as the soundtrack for the day, the Redbirds went about their business as usual. However, an extra 7-on-7 session was added to the script and the Redbird quarterbacks took advantage of the extra reps. Jake Kolbe completed three of his four attempts during the session, with a pair of connections to Chase Pankey. Â Tristan Smith was also 3-for-4, with two completions landing in the hands of Spencer Schnell, and Malachi Broadnax finished things up going 2-for-4.
Individual position drills followed before the blitz period, which was dominated by the defense. After Kolbe connected with Tylor Petkovich for a first down on the first snap, a pass breakup by Ty DeForest and sack by James Graham swung the momentum squarely in the favor of the guys in white jerseys. Back-to-back sacks by Matt Swaine and Devin Taylor on a corner blitz followed, and an interception off a tipped ball by Christian Uphoff put the exclamation point on a solid effort by the defensive unit.
Uphoff added another interception during the perimeter period, before the second 7-on-7 session commenced. Schnell was busy once again with four catches during the 12-play drill and Ade Kilpatrick ended things with an interception for the defense. The team period focused exclusively on third-down situations, ranging from third-and-long to third-and-short situations. The defense added cash to their bank account on what they affectionately call the "money down" by picking up a sack from Swaine and a sack/fumble from Dalton Keene early on.
The offense settled down and eventually hit the jackpot as well, when Broadnax connected on a perfectly-synched slant to Anthony Fowler who broke a tackle and raced 65 yards for a touchdown. A pair of long completions from Kolbe to Petkovich in traffic also put some life into their teammates on the sideline, before Graham capped off a solid day with another sack late in the period.
Practice concluded with Sean Slattery booting a 55-yard field goal toward the uprights and thanks to a fortuitous bounce off the crossbar, the football bounced through the uprights for three points as the horn sounded. The Redbirds will return to Hancock Stadium Thursday for the seventh practice of the spring, with a 3 p.m. start scheduled. For live practice updates, photos and video follow the official Redbird Football Twitter account @RedbirdFB and log on to GoRedbirds.com for full coverage throughout the spring.
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