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 Playing through humidity not normally associated with spring
weather in central Illinois, the Redbirds took their first day of
full contact very seriously, and big collisions were happening on
both sides of the football. That fact was not lost on head coach
Brock Spack, who liked the intensity and physicality shown by his
team.
"On the first day of full contact, we judge the practice with our
ears as well as our eyes," Spack said. "There were some good hits
being delivered on both sides, and that is what we like to hear. We
want our players to play fast and physical, and for the most part, I
was pleased with that effort today. Today's practice was a bit
longer, we hit a lot and the humidity was tough, and that made for some tired
players at the end, but they fought through it and will do it again on
Thursday."
The focus early on was on the punt protection and punt coverage
teams. Different sets took turns protecting Redbird punters Patrick
Wright and Mike Wood, as they kicked to Donovan Harden, Lechein
Neblett and Phil Dudley. The coverage teams also worked on getting
off their blocks and forcing the receiver to make fair catches,
which they did effectively on several occasions.
The blitz drill was next, and quarterback Matt Brown struck
immediately with a 30-yard connection to Harden down the far
sideline. From there, the defense took over as Colton Underwood
recorded a pair of sacks and the duo of Dontae McCoy and Will Davis
combined for another sack later on. The offense finished strong with
a 20-yard catch over the middle by Jordan Neukirch from Cameron
Meredith.
Then it was time for "The Bird Drill." The exercise pitted three
blockers and a running back against three down lineman and a
linebacker, with the offensive side getting four downs to score a
touchdown from 10 yards out. Transfer back Jonathon Miller got the
offense on the board early with a strong run up the middle for the
touchdown. The hitting only picked up from there, as the first-team
linebackers stopped the offense on four straight attempts,
with Mike Zimmer causing a five-yard loss at one point, much to the
delight of several former Redbird players watching from the stands.
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After a spirited Bird Drill, the team went back to its normal
7-on-7 session, with Brown and Neblett hooking up for a touchdown
early on. Meredith also found Dudley for a would-be touchdown,
before Josh Burch broke up two straight attempts from his
cornerback position. Fellow corner Mike Banks added a breakup a
few plays later, before Burch added another and Corey Shandrick
capped off the drill with an acrobatic catch while lying on his
back, after Ben Ericksen failed to come down with an
interception.
The hits kept coming in the team session as well, which featured
strong runs by Miller and Darrelynn Dunn and sacks from Shelby
Harris and Nate Palmer. The offensive highlight came when Brown
found Harden for a well-orchestrated screen pass that gained
30-plus yards. The defensive highlight came on an interception
by Bradon Prate, who stepped in front of an attempted screen
pass from Meredith and nearly returned it for a touchdown.
ISU will return to the field Thursday for its fifth workout of
spring camp, with the start scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
[Text from
file received from
Michael Williams, Illinois State University]
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