NORMAL, Ill. – When the Redbird football team took the field Tuesday morning, it marked the start of the final week of Fall Camp 2020 which officially comes to an end on Saturday with the team's third and final intrasquad scrimmage this month. All the hard work over the past five weeks has been in preparation for a unique spring slate for the Redbirds, which begins on Feb. 20 with a trip to face nationally-ranked UNI in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Practice Highlights:
•   The initial 7-on-7 period was a quick one and true freshman Jackson Waring finished 3-for-3, with completions to Tanner Taula and TreShawn Watson during the period.
•   During the blitz drill, the offense worked quickly with positive gain runs by Nigel White and Pha'leak Brown, before an interception by Peyton Jones gave the defense its first turnover of the day … a TFL by Darrell Talley III and a sack by D'Marco Cross kept the momentum going for the defense, before White found some space for a 15-yard gain to beat the pressure … a 12- yard completion from Bryce Jefferson to Jacob Carl on the final play of the session ended things well for the offense.
•   The second 7-on-7 drill saw each of the quarterbacks completing passes with top efficiency … Brady Davis went 4-for-5 with a pair of completions to Taylor Grimes including one that went for a 40-plus yard gain … Jefferson was also 4-for-5 including two connections with Carl … redshirt freshman Jack Baltz also got his chance, going 3-for-4 with completions to Brett Spaulding, Javon Charles and Seth Juhl.
•   As the action moved to the team period, things were split with each unit getting to drive the field once and then getting a couple chances each in goalline situations … The first-team offense started things off with an efficient 8-play 58-yard drive highlight by several strong runs by White and capped off by a one-yard TD dive from the 1-yard line by fullback Timothy McCloyn II … the second team unit started strong with a 20-yard completion from Jefferson to Tristan Bailey, but the drive stalled just after a TFL and then a sack by Blake Fehrmann … the third-team unit never got things goings, as a sack by Dalton Tevis and a TFL by Luke McCall put them behind the sticks early.
•   In the goalline period, the first-team unit was held to a field goal on its first try, but later scored a rushing touchdown when White found the endzone to cap off a strong day … Brown also scored during the period and a touchdown pass from Britton Morris to Melvin Pettis wrapped up the day's action.
Up Next:Â
The Redbirds return to the field Thursday at 8:30 a.m. for practice No. 14 of the fall session. For updates, photos, and video from 2020 Redbird Football Fall Camp, follow the team's official Twitter (@RedbirdFB) and Instagram (isuredbirdfb) accounts and log onto GoRedbirds.com.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
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