Football airs it out on day two

Aug. 7, 2010

By Jason Clay
www.SIUSalukis.com

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CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois football team held a spirited second day of fall camp on Saturday, as the Salukis practiced for two hours on the grass fields.

Head coach Dale Lennon came away from practice pleased with the intensity that his team brought to the field.

"I challenged them at the beginning of practice on attitude and tempo," Lennon said. "Those are two things you can control when you're just going in helmets and shorts. I though overall we had very good attitude during practice and our tempo was very good. We're practicing at a high level and we're staying on our feet, which is important in staying healthy in a non-padded practice."

With the nature of the practice - the team wearing helmets, shirts and shorts - the Salukis got in a lot of work on the passing game. SIU worked 7-on-7 drills, one-on-ones between the wide receivers and defensive backs and also broke into a pair of team sessions.

Both sides of the ball were making plays throughout practice. Sophomore wide receiver Carl Harris made a nice grab over the middle to end the 7-on-7 drill and sophomore cornerback James McFadden picked off a tipped pass in the team session.

Senior Mike McElroy showed why he is a candidate for the Buck Buchannan Award by intercepting a pass that he returned for a touchdown and breaking up several other plays.

The Salukis will move into shoulder pads and helmets for Sunday's practice, as they progress through the NCAA's acclimatization period.

"Things we got to do better now is just assignments in learning the offense and learning the defense," Lennon said. "There were a few breakdowns here and there, which is to be expected, but those are the things that we got to make sure as we progress to the next practice, we limit those mental mistakes."