NORMAL, Ill. – Saturday's annual Red-White Scrimmage is the official end to Fall 2025 training camp for the Redbirds, so Wednesday's practice was the final full-padded workout before the scrimmage. Once Saturday's scrimmage is over, school begins and the Redbirds will shift their focus to getting ready for the Oklahoma Sooners on August 30 in Norman.
Practice Highlights:
• The regular installation period for both the offense and defense kicked things, before the full team stretch period and a brief special teams circuit.
• From there, the first team session took place during the pass under pressure drill, and quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse was solid to start of the day. After misfiring on the first pass attempt, he then completed three-straight passes including a pair to Eddie Kasper that went for big gains and moved the chains. Beckham Pellant was also 3-for-4 early, with two connections to Gavin Camp. The defense was able to get home at the end of the session, as a pass breakup by Ben Cooper gave way to back-to-back sacks by Nate Kraus and Solomon Oduma.
• The blitz drill followed, with the offense seeking to beat pressure on the rush with handoffs to Victor Dawson and Mason King. A pass breakup by Tye Niekamp would get some momentum back for the defense momentarily, before freshman quarterback Chase Kwiatkowski picked up a big gain over the middle to Nick True near the end of the drill.
• During the perimeter drill, the offense tested the outside of the defense on passes from Rittenhouse to Luke Mailander and then Wenkers Wright ripped off a long run shedding contact from defenders throughout. A TFL by Niekamp would send the first-team unit out on a high note, which gave way to Pellant who completed four straight passes with a pair to Dylan Lord.
• As the action moved to the 7-on-7 period, with Rittenhouse going 3-for-4 with completions to Kasper and Daniel Sobkowicz and Pellant also going 3-for-4 with another big gain to Camp. Kwiatkowski also got into the mix, finished 4-for-4 with connections to Ian Willis and Luke Olson.
• The team period focused on a 4-minute scenario, as the offense looked to run out the clock with a lead and not give the ball back to the opponent. The first-team unit was turned away in its attempt, as they were forced to punt however the second-team unit made good as Seth Glatz ripped off a 78-yard touchdown run to seal the 'game'.
• Each unit then got a chance to score, first from the 10-yard line and then on the goal line at the 2 yard line. The first-team unit scored twice on consecutive plays, with Rittenhouse throwing touchdowns to Rylan Crawford and Kasper. The second team unit was not successful from the 10-yard line, as the defense forced and incompletion on the first attempt and Dexter Niekamp batted down a pass on the second attempt.
• The duo of Pellant and Camp were at it again at the goal line, as they connected for a touchdown as practice came to an end.
Up Next:
The Redbirds will have an off day on Thursday, before returning to the field on Friday for practice No. 13 of fall training camp. For updates, photos, and video from 2025 Redbird Football Fall Camp, follow the team's official X (@RedbirdFB), Instagram (isuredbirdfb) and TikTok (@redbirdfb) accounts and visit GoRedbirds.com.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
