Indiana University Athletics
Practice Report: April 2
4/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Bloomington, Ind. - After six spring practice sessions, Indiana held its first controlled scrimmage of the Coach Terry Hoeppner Era on April 2 at Memorial Stadium. The IU defense set the tempo early, but the Hoosiers took Saturday's word of the day - compete - to heart as the offense showed its big play capability towards the end of the session.
Hoeppner and his staff will make sure that the Hoosiers keep Saturday's scrimmage in perspective.
"It was a good performance on both sides of the ball. It was the first time this spring that we put the players on the field without a coach in their ear giving them cues," Hoeppner said. "The defense outperformed the offense to a degree, but the offense made some good plays. We will definitely learn a lot from watching this tape."
The No. 1 offense played the No. 1 defense for the first two series, followed by the No. 2 offense vs. the No. 2 defense. Redshirt freshman linebacker Greg Weeks turned in the first big play of the scrimmage when he picked off a Graeme McFarland pass that was intended for wide receiver Marcus Thigpen.
Four series later, sophomore fullback Josiah Sears put the offense on the board when he went 27 yards off left tackle for a touchdown. This was the first of two touchdowns on the day for Sears. Kicker Drew Robbins proceeded to tack on the extra point.
Sears (17 carries for 83 yards) and redshirt sophomore Kenni Burns (16 carries for 96 yards) were the two top rushers in the scrimmage. Sears is establishing himself as a punishing inside runner. On second-and-16 from his own 44-yard line, Sears was stopped by all-league linebacker Kyle Killion for a two-yard loss. However, Sears bounced back with a 26-yard gain on the ensuing play.
After primarily playing special teams last season. Sears is excited about the Hoosiers' spread offense.
"I thought we did a decent job today, but obviously, we still have some kinks to work out," Sears said. "There was no lack of effort. We just need to keep executing and have more repetitions so that everything is like old hat."
Thigpen also showed his knack for the big play, as his 32-yard reception from classmate Mike Vlahogeorge highlighted a seven-play, 65-yard drive capped by Sears' two-yard touchdown run. On the ensuing series, McFarland connected with Thigpen on a 39-yard aerial that set up Chris Taylor's six-yard touchdown run, followed by a 40-yard touchdown from McFarland to Thigpen on the next series.
The Hoosiers will work out April 5, 6 and 7 before hosting the Pancakes and Pigskins Scrimmage on April 9 at Memorial Stadium. Adults ($5 each) and kids 12-and-under ($3 each) can enjoy a pancakes and sausage breakfast from 8-10 a.m. prior to another intrasquad scrimmage. Spring drills conclude with the annual Cream-Crimson game on April 15 at 7 p.m.
While Hoeppner was encouraged by his team's performance Saturday, he knows that there is still plenty of work to do.
"We need to block better upfront, and the quarterbacks and receivers need to get on the same page better. We had some drops today, and we don't want that," Hoeppner said. "We've got a long way to go, but we're headed in the right direction."
