Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Saluki Football camp notebook -- Day Six
08/14/2015 | 12:00:00 | Football
By John Lock
SIUSalukis.com
1. The 2015 Salukis held their first two-a-day on Friday. Both practices were relatively short (about 1 hour, 45 minutes) but productive and intense. The first scrimmage was in full pads, though there were no live plays like yesterday. The second practice was in shells (helmets and shoulder pads).
2. The defense bounced back in a big way after struggling yesterday. In Thursday's live play, the defense surrendered two long runs (to Cameron Walter and Matt McIntosh) and a long pass touchdown from Mark Iannotti. Today, all units of the offense struggled to move the ball down the field against the D. In a red zone drill, the defense won against the top two offensive units.
3. The defense bouncing back with a big day backs up what defensive coordinator David Elson told Mike Reis after yesterday's practice: "Very coachable," Elson said of his defense. "When we do something wrong, we have to fix it now. We have to fix it the next practice. And we've seen some very tangible examples of individuals and position groups--something bad happens on Tuesday; and when we turn on the film on Wednesday, it's been fixed." On cue, whatever the offense exposed in the defense on Thursday, Elson's defense seemed to have it fixed on Friday.
4. SIU doesn't have a corner with any experience coming back. Courtney Richmond and Boo Rodgers took nearly all, if not all, of the snaps at corner the last few games of last year. Sophomore Ryan Neal, who moved from safety, and redshirt freshman Jefferson Vea are taking the first-team snaps so far in camp. The youngsters will have some ups and downs, but they have both made some head-turning plays that make you think that position will turn into a great strength in the coming years.
5. DeVondre Seymour officially joined the Saluki roster today. The 6-6 tackle is listed at 310, but that might be light. He is a big, big man. Still, as with any late addition, he has a five-day acclimatization period before he can put on pads, and he still has several weeks to get in shape and learn the playbook before the coaches can really see if he can is ready to contribute immediately. He is a four-star prospect who originally committed to Georgia before coming to SIU.
6. Ethan Wirth was also a late addition to the Saluki roster back in 2012 when he transferred from Toledo. He wasn't ready to start in his first game with SIU, but he went on to start nine games in his initial season and has gone on to start 28 games in his career. We will see if Seymour can follow a similar path.
7. The Black Out Cancer game is set for September 26 against Liberty. You can bid on a personalized, game-worn jersey at SalukisBlackOutCancer.com, and all of the proceeds from the jersey sales benefit Southern Illinois Healthcare. It's a great cause that has raised nearly $132,000 for SIH in the last three years alone.
8. Tomorrow morning, the Salukis will scrimmage in Saluki Stadium, starting around 8:30. The team will run approximately 80-100 plays, head coach Dale Lennon said after today's morning practice. Lennon has been pointing to tomorrow's scrimmage all week as a big decision-making factor as the depth chart starts to really take shape for the 2015 season.
