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 After beginning practice with positional segments, the team
headed into the blitz drill, where the quarterbacks faced pressure in
the pocket right off the bat. Matt Brown completed passes to Lechein
Neblett and Darrelynn Dunn on his first drive but could not stay
clear of Evan Frierson, who compiled three sacks during the drill.
The defense continued to control when Cameron Meredith took the
field, forcing the offense to make three consecutive incomplete
passes, including a block by Shelby Harris that was returned for a
touchdown by Colton Underwood.
Illinois State focused heavily on the running game throughout the
first team session, beginning with two back-to-back handoffs from
Brown to Dunn and Phil Dudley. Brown finished 5 for 8 in the drill,
with a wide-open completion to James O'Shaughnessy and two handoffs
to Cameron Hunt. Meredith stepped in and completed both of his
attempts to Chad Zastrow and Dunn. Adam Pittser took his shot and
finished the session on a high note for the offense with a pass over
the top to Brian Athey for an additional 10 yards.
 The offense
regained composure heading into the 7-on-7 drill, with two
completions from Brown to Donovan Harden and a 20-yard pass to Dunn
for the first touchdown of the day. Meredith followed Brown's lead
and connected with Jordan Neukirch down the sideline, but the
defense answered with a sack by Adam Rebholz on the next play. Brown
was able to complete a pass to Neblett for another touchdown before
throwing two incomplete passes to Harden and O'Shaughnessy with a
pass breakup from Josh Burch. Pittser was the only quarterback to
maintain consistency, finishing 3 for 3 with completions to Neukirch, Corey Shandrick and Scott Kuekn to cap off the session.
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Heading into the second team session, Brown completed his first
attempt to Cameron Hunt for an additional 6 yards and used his
speed on the following play for a 15-yard gain. The defense
didn't let Brown get in rhythm as an early sack from Mike
Zimmer ended the drive. Meredith found success on the next
drive with completions to Zastrow, Shandrick and Dudley,
finishing 4 of 8 in the drill. Pittser stepped in and complied
two-consecutive handoffs to Nick Bellamy, but the day ended on a
high note for the defense with a pass breakup by Burch on a
throw intended for Hunt and a sack from Nate Palmer to complete
the practice.
The Redbirds will return to the field Friday for their final
workout of the week, with a 3:30 p.m. start.
[Text from
news release received from Lauren McLaughlin, graduate assistant,
athletics communications, Illinois State
University]
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