NORMAL, Ill. – In early August, the Illinois State football team took the field for the first time as a team since last December to begin fall workouts in preparation for the upcoming 2020 season. However, just a few practices in things came to a stop as the NCAA postponed the FCS championship to the spring of 2021 and the team was left looking for answers once again after it missed all of spring practice due to the pandemic.
After new information from the NCAA recently, the team fully returned to the Hancock Stadium turf Tuesday morning to work through the first of 15 permitted fall practices that will help prepare the Redbirds for the Spring 2021 campaign that will begin in late February.
Practice Highlights:
• Coaches and support staff donned masks, while student-athletes adhered to social distancing protocols when not in action while equipment was frequently sanitized after use … players participated in helmets only as part of the NCAA acclimation protocol.
• Practice opened with a stretch before the team broke off into position groups to run through individual drills.
• After the individual period, the focus shifted to the first of two 7-on-7 sessions … quarterback Brady Davis led the way going 4-for-5 with a pair of connections to tight end Robert Gillum, while Bryce Jefferson went 3-for-5 including a 20-plus yard completion to Jarel Miller.
• The blitz drill followed, with the offense getting off to a quick start with completions to Gillum and Kacper Rutkiewicz for solid gains … the defense then swung the momentum with a TFL by Damien Jackson and a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage by Jude Okolo … a combined TFL by Dillon Gearhart and Darrell Talley III capped off a strong series of plays for the defense, before the offense broke through on a possible touchdown pass from Jack Baltz to Nick Hesse … Jeremiah Jordan owned the end of the drill with a near interception and a sack to close things out.
• After the inside run drill that saw Pha'leak Brown break off several strong runs, the second 7-on-7 period started and this time it was Jefferson leading the way going 4-for-6 with connections to Jacob Carl and Eric Rogers … Davis was 3-for-6 with completions to Tristan Bailey and Jalen Carr … the defense came up with some solid stops, including a pair of pass breakups by Shanon Reid and one each from Charles Woods, Brandon Simon and Jacob Bellizzi.
• The team period wrapped things up and the defense was dominant, with interceptions
Up Next:
The Redbirds return to the field Thursday at 8:30 a.m. for practice No. 2 of the new 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: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
