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 "The first three days of camp have been good, and we have seen a
lot of positives out here," said ISU head coach Brock Spack. "There's
still a lot of things we need to work on and we are a ways away, but
September is a long way away and we are much more advanced at this
stage than we have been in years past."
The first day of pads also brought the first team blitz session, in
which the defense blitzes the offense on every play. Defensive ends
Colton Underwood and Nate Palmer combined for an early sack on
quarterback Matt Brown, before Cameron Meredith came in and
completed three straight passes, including a long pass over the
middle to Chick Chatham. Later in the drill, Mike Zimmer picked off
his first pass of the spring and returned it for a touchdown from
his middle linebacker position.
"Offensively, it's going to take them a little time, because even
with experience coming back, it's all about finding your timing
again," Spack said. "We are also trying to put together a new
offensive line, but I think we have some talented players at that
position, and once we get it solidified we should be fine."
From there, the action moved into the 7-on-7 drill, which saw the
offense drive the field, starting at the 30-yard line. Brown led the
first-teamers on an efficient drive, with a big first-down completion
to Tyrone Walker and a couple of nice connections for first downs to
Chatham. Brown went for a big strike from the opposing 30-yard line,
but the fade route to Walker was broken up in the corner of the end
zone by Josh Burch. The drive eventually ended when a pass from
Brown skipped off Chatham's hands in the end zone and Zimmer
corralled it for his second interception of the day.
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Meredith was greeted with an interception as well, when Adam
Rebholz picked off a pass in the secondary on the first play of
the drive. Brown then came back and fought through a couple of
pass deflections by Burch and Tevin Allen, before finding his
groove and leading the team on a seven-play scoring drive that
was capped off by an acrobatic one-handed grab by Walker in the
corner of the end zone for the touchdown.
Meredith was much more efficient on his second drive, as he
completed all six of his passes, with two each to Joe Farmer and
Jonathon Miller before the drill concluded with a pass to
Chatham. The hitting then ramped up during the team drill, with
the defense commanding early with a pair of sacks by Palmer and
one from Will Davis. The offense quelled the momentum with a
strong rushing attack, led by Darrelynn Dunn, who had a pair of
carries over 20 yards before the practice ended with an
interception by Ezra Thompson off a deep pass that was tipped by
Walker.
"Defensively, it's nice to go into an offseason where you are
doing the same things and working off the same system," Spack
said. "We are able to teach the guys better because they
comprehend the system better from their experiences from a year ago. The
carry-over from last year has been very good."
The Redbirds will have the rest of the weekend off, before
returning to the field Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. for practice No. 4.
[Text from file received from
Illinois State] |
