 "I thought the offense might put up 35 points early, the way they
were throwing and running it early," said ISU head coach Brock Spack.
"To the defense's credit, they bounced back and forced some
turnovers late that resulted in points, but a championship offense
needs to have that killer mentality and be able to put teams away. I
stressed that to the team afterwards, and I think they could have
the ability to be that kind of team, but they have a long way to go
before Sept. 6."The first-team offense wasted little time to
score six points, as quarterback Blake Winkler led the team on a
four-play, 75-yard scoring drive. Winkler led things off with a
10-yard gain on a bootleg, and running back Marshaun Coprich
followed with a 14-yard run to midfield. After another short run by
Coprich that moved the offense into enemy territory, Winkler
connected with tight end Joe Farmer for a 48-yard touchdown strike
that resulted in the first touchdown of the day.
Three series later, Trevor Rea led the second-team unit on
another drive from its own 25-yard line. After a 2-yard loss on a
tackle for loss by Cody Cameron on first down, Rea regrouped and
threw it long to Anthony Warrum down the far sideline, who broke
away for a 77-yard touchdown. Sean Slattery's extra point made the
score 14-0 early in the scrimmage.
The defense tightened up and only allowed a 35-yard field goal by
Nick Aussieker and a 28-yarder by Slattery after the two quick
touchdowns. The offense found the end zone four series later, when
Rea led the team on a 10-play, 63-yard scoring drive. This time,
however, it was a steady ground attack that resulted in the
touchdown. With the ball at the defense's 42-yard line, Brian
Frapolly ripped off a 37-yard run that took the ball down to the
5-yard line. Two plays later, Jamal Towns ran the ball in nearly
untouched for the third score of the day.
A 13-yard touchdown pass from Rea to Khalil Pleas during the red
zone session eventually put a cap on the scoring for the offense.
Rea finished the day 7-for-14 with 137 yards and two scores, and
Winkler was 6-for-11 with 111 yards and the touchdown to Farmer.
Lechein Neblett led all receivers with three catches, and Warrum
finished with 83 yards on two grabs. Frapolly led all rushers with
74 yards on 16 carries, and Collin Keoshian added 49 yards on eight
carries.
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Despite the tough start, the defense bounced back late in the
scrimmage and forced three turnovers, two of which resulted in
touchdowns. The first turnover came via a Winkler pass that was
batted in the air by Mike Banks and corralled by middle linebacker
Pat Meehan. Winkler's second interception of the game was returned
15 yards for a touchdown by safety Tevin Allen, and the final
defensive score came on a sack by Patrick Dougherty, as he forced
the fumble and scooped it up for the 12-yard score.
Linebacker Alex Donnelly and defensive lineman Rodrick Moore led
all tacklers with six stops each, with Donnelly adding 1.5 tackles
for loss and a sack. Safety Dontae McCoy also had a solid day with
four tackles, including a sack on an edge blitz, and Allen added
four tackles to his pick six.
The Redbirds took the rest of the Easter weekend off before
returning to the field Tuesday afternoon to begin the final week of
spring workouts.
[Text from
news release received from
Illinois State University]
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