Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Football practice report: day No. 8
08/13/2010 | 12:00:00 | Football
Aug. 13, 2010
By Jason Clay
www.SIUSalukis.com
R. Wilson no longer an understudy on O-Line - Article by Tom Weber
CARBONDALE, Ill. - A day after its first fall scrimmage, the Southern Illinois football team returned to the field for a pair of practices on Friday.
Following a tough scrimmage on Thursday, the offense rebounded well and stole the show to the delight of head coach Dale Lennon.
"It bothered (the offense) that they didn't perform better on Thursday," Lennon said. "That's what you want to see. It bothered them so they came out, they were focused, they got better today and they worked on the things that they needed to work on.
"It's kind of the process you have in pre-fall. It is kind of a day-by-day progression and hopefully we took a step forward today."
SIU's receivers took control of the afternoon practice by making highlight catch after highlight catch.
Senior Joe Allaria started in early on with a leaping grab in between two defenders on a throw from Chris Dieker. A few plays later Paul McIntosh found Kyle Harruff open on a post route up the midde.
The best grabs of the day went to Sammy Biggs and Jeff Evans. Biggs made a diving catch on a 40-yard bomb and Evans put in some acrobatics on his leaping grab over a defender in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown.
"I like the plays that we made," Lennon said. "We were catching the football and we were making plays, which was good to see."
Lennon also said that his team has moved forward very fast through the first week of camp.
"We got the majority of the offensive and defense playbooks in now," he said. "Really, the second week isn't going to be so much installation, it's going to be a lot of review and a lot of refining."
Notable
After a relatively cool morning practice, the heat index at the start of the afternoon session registered at 109. The Salukis came out in just helmets and jerseys in the afternoon and only practiced for about an hour and a half...Despite the offensive highlights, the defense did make its share of plays. Freshman cornerback Terrell Wilson's interception in the red zone drill fired up the unit...Both Dieker and McIntosh looked very sharp passing the ball, as the two combined to complete their first 10 passes of the afternoon session...Freshman punter Austin Pucylowski has shown to have a big leg and gets good hangtime on his kicks. Junior linebacker Blair Lane can also put a boot to it...The Salukis will practice once on Saturday morning in Saluki Stadium before taking Sunday off.
