Indiana University Athletics
Defense Shines Under Cloudy Skies
8/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
August 15, 2002
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - As the Hoosiers finished their final drill of practice this morning, dark skies and a steady rain made its way over the Bill Armstrong Stadium Football Practice Fields.
Indiana's practice itself was gloomy at some points as well. Dropped passes, missed blocks, and numerous muffed snaps, which has been a reoccurring problem for the Hoosiers in the last two days, disappointed IU head coach Gerry DiNardo.
"I think that we had a good first day of practice on Wednesday and I told the team that last night," said the first-year head coach. "I also told them that we couldn't just rest on one good practice. Today was not as good of a practice. We went longer to try to get things right. You take each practice differently, sometimes you are working on the 2002 season and on a day like today when guys are not on top of their game you are working on building a program."
The beginning of practice was once again focused on special teams, with kickoff formation being the primary segment. The Hoosiers broke into position groups next, with the running backs focusing most of their time on halfback screens off of fullback blocks.
The Hoosier defense was as intense today as it has been this fall. The Hoosiers overpowered the offense in the 9-on-7 drill, which matches the primary teams on both sides of the ball against each other.
Indiana went on to work on full-team drills, which provided many highlights from players vying for starting roles. Senior free safety A.C. Carter covered well in the secondary, tipping away passes from both senior quarterbacks Tommy Jones and Gibran Hamdan.
The offense turned in an impressive set during the drill, as Brian Lewis and Patrick Thompson were key in moving the ball up the field. Lewis, a junior running back from St. Louis, Mo., broke through the line on two different occasions and gained over 15 yards on each of his runs. After a big gain by Lewis, Jones connected with Thompson on a sideline route, which took the Patterson, N.J., native to his knees to make the impressive catch.
Hamdan then took over the snaps under center, but was almost immediately picked off by defensive end Derek Barnett. The Evansville, Ind., native showed his athletic ability by jumping in the air on a halfback screen play to bring the ball down in his possession.
Perhaps the highlight of practice was the great defensive play by junior Colin Christopher who picked up a fumbled snap by Jones and ran it 30 yards for a touchdown. The 305-pounder was almost caught on the play however, by his line coach Joe Cullen, who ran alongside the Grand Rapids, Mich., native all the way to the endzone.
Key freshman performances turned in today were from running back Chris Taylor and fullback John Pannozzo. The duo was getting many looks on the first- and second-team offenses. Freshman quarterback Graeme McFarland also had a nice connection with Taylor on a screen pass that went for about 15 yards. Allen Webb, another freshman quarterback, showed versatility out of the pocket by scrambling away from pressure and turning it up field for good yardage.
The Hoosiers return to the practice field this afternoon and will open the season against William & Mary at 4 p.m. on August 31 at Memorial Stadium.
