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 The Redbirds scrimmaged for over an hour on the turf, and the rain
did not seem to affect the players much. The offense got out to a
quick start before the defense settled down and controlled the
remainder of the scrimmage until short-yardage situations at the
end. ISU head coach Brock Spack was pleased with what he saw and how
his team responded to the wet conditions on the field.
"When we started the scrimmage, the offense did really well," Spack
said. "The offense converted two first downs on two big runs with
their back to the end zone. I told the defense I was disappointed in
the way they started out in the scrimmage, but I thought they came
back and played better to their credit.
"The weather could have been part of the issue, but that is the
reason we come out here and play in this. You can't control the weather, but can
control your performance. They are going through some growing pains on offense,
and the defense is usually ahead this time of year, but it is nothing alarming
at this point. The mistakes that were made out here on both sides of the ball
are correctable, so that gives us some positives."
The day began with the offense on its own 2-yard line with the
task of picking a first down and a little breathing room. On the
first play from scrimmage, running back Darrelynn Dunn raced past
the defense for a 47-yard gain, and Cameron Hunt followed that up
with a 34-yard gain on first down for the second-team unit. Dunn was
the team's leading rusher with 52 yards on four carries, and Hunt
finished the day with 38 yards on seven carries. Nick Bellamy scored
the only touchdown of the day on the ground for the Redbirds, as he
finished with 33 yards in seven attempts.
From there, the defense rebounded and posted some solid efforts.
Redshirt freshman linebacker Pat Meehan led all tacklers with six
and added 1.5 tackles for loss. Fellow linebacker Brandon Westphal
was right behind with five stops and a half tackle for loss, and Nate Palmer led
all players with a pair of sacks and three TFLs to go along with his
five stops. Colton Underwood also added two TFLs and a sack on the
day, and Evan Frierson added a sack and two TFLs to round out a solid
effort.
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The Redbird quarterbacks fought the rainy conditions and managed
to put some points on the scoreboard. Matt Brown led the way,
going 10 for 21 with 119 yards with an interception. Cameron
Meredith was 5 for 9 for 41 yards and threw the only touchdown
pass of the day, a 2-yard strike to Milton Colbert. Brown and
Meredith each were intercepted, with Mike Banks and Dontae McCoy
each recording the picks late in the scrimmage.
Tyrone Walker led all receivers with five catches for 70 yards,
and Donovan Harden hauled in three passes for 43 yards to lead
the way for the receivers. Transfer Chick Chatham also had a
solid day with a pair of grabs for 28 yards, and converted tight
end Brian Athey recorded a 13-yard catch for his only reception
of the day.
Placekicker Nick Aussieker was also busy, as he went 3 for 4 on
field goal attempts to score the only other points of the day.
His first attempt from 38 yards was blocked by Underwood, but he
later connected twice from 20 yards out and once from 31 yards.
The Redbirds will take the rest of the weekend off and return to
the field Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., for practice No. 10 of spring
camp.
[Text from
news release received from Michael Williams, Illinois State
University]
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