Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Saluki Football camp notebook -- Day Four
08/12/2015 | 12:00:00 | Football
By John Lock
SIUSalukis.com
1. Day four of fall camp is in the books, and it's time to put on full pads. After today's practice, head coach Dale Lennon emphasized to the team the importance of the next few days. Tomorrow, the team puts on full pads for the first time. Friday is the first two-a-day. And Saturday is the first scrimmage. After four practices, the fun is just getting started.
2. Aaron Stanton has looked very impressive at running back. He has lost some weight from spring ball at the urging of the coaches. What he lacks in stature (his 5-5 height contributed to his early "Larry Warner, Jr." nickname), he makes up for in vision, explosive quickness and balance. Just watch the first 30 seconds of this highlight clip, and he'll show you all three in one run.
3. The defense worked on nickel nearly the entire day. Today, the extra safety was on the field in lieu of a defensive lineman, so the defense only had two down linemen and four linebackers.
4. In one-on-one drills, it looks like Adam Brandt is SIU's best bet to generate a pass rush by beating his man straight up. The 3-4 defense can cause havoc through the sheer variety of system blitzes that can come on any one play; but if the front line can get pressure on its own, those five defensive backs in the nickel will have opportunities to make some plays on balls in the air.
5. Iowa transfer Reid Sealby, whom we highlighted earlier as a newcomer to watch on the offensive line, got a chance to short snap a couple field goal attempts today. Sealby snapped at Iowa before coming to SIU, so it's not brand new to him. Coach Lennon has a knack with snappers. Even Mike Reis can't remember the last time SIU had a bad long snap.
6. Nearly every drill has a competition aspect to it. For example, one drill today pitted a wide receiver one-on-one with a defensive back. Connor Iwema, who has a chance to be one of SIU's top targets this year, made sure he stayed lined up against top cover corner Ryan Neal. Great to see both sides challenging themselves against the best guy on the other side for every rep.
7. Speaking of the receivers, there's actually quite a bit of depth there, even though the position lost its top three pass catchers. Josh Sullivan, Israel Lamprakes, Kyle Newquist, Connor Iwema, Billy Reed and Adam Fuehne have all played a lot of snaps for the Salukis. Add in redshirt freshmen Jimmy Jones and Darrell James, whom Coach Lennon said he expects to contribute, and that's eight pass catchers to feel good about before even factoring in the backfield or any other newcomers that might come in and surprise someone.
8. Defense probably has held a slim edge on the offense at this point when they've gone head-to-head. The defense has won the "loose change" turnover battle, which encompasses the entire practice, and the D also won the "one play" that ended practice, a fourth-and-goal from inside the 10. We'll get a real sense of where those units are at when things go live in Saturday's scrimmage.
9. SID Tom Weber wrote an excellent feature story on nose tackle Raysean Golden. When he's not clogging up the middle for the Saluki defense, he's giving back to the community. He's helped with the Souper Bowl for Hunger and is active in the Boys and Girls Club. Another worthwhile read: Todd Hefferman's story on Golden's unlikely friendship with his practice nemesis, center Garrett Clark.
