Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Take Field For First Full Practice
8/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
August 10, 2002
Bloomington, Ind. - With each day seemingly bringing a new beginning in one way or another for the Indiana football team, Saturday marked the first full day of practice for the varsity players.
Special teams play was a primary focus in the beginning of practice, with the Hoosiers working on punting, punt returns and field goals. Particularly impressive in the special teams drills was the work of punter Ryan Hamre, who sent booming punt after booming punt at returners Courtney Roby, Damien Jones and Glenn Johnson.
As practice wore on and the players broke into their respective position groups, one of the areas that stood out was the offensive line, where Enoch DeMar found himself playing the center position.
DeMar has already seen game action as both a guard and tackle during his career in as a Hoosier.
"With the offensive line the way it is, we cross-train Enoch and A.C. Myler both," Head coach Gerry DiNardo said. "A.C. is usually a guard, but can play both tackles. Enoch can play center, guard and tackle. Things like this are not all that unusual for teams with a lack of depth."
Although DeMar found himself taking some reps at center, Chris Jahnke is the odds-on candidate to be the starter for Indiana's season opener against William & Mary on August 31 at Memorial Stadium.
"Chris will most likely start at center, and I'm not going to mess with him too much," DiNardo said. "He's doing fine and we have no reason to think he won't be starting at center. We are comfortable with everything that he is doing."
A welcome sight for the Hoosiers was the return of Derek Barnett, who missed all of spring practice with a shoulder injury but stepped back onto the field in pads on Saturday. Barnett, who started every game last year, caught DiNardo's attention.
"Derek looked really good out there," DiNardo said. "He can run. We saw that on tape. We are going to need him on the edge, and that was a missing piece during the spring."
