Illinois practiced on Tuesday from 2:30 to around 5:10. Full pads.
The Illini skipped walk-throughs today and went right to warmups, some special teams work, and 11on11. The worked on kickoff coverage / kickoff return.
Out today: Vederian Lowe, Jaylen Dunlap, Kendrick Foster, James Crawford (hamstring), Chris James, Jamal Woods, Louis Dorsey, Lere Oladipo, and Reggie Corbin.
Scheduled day off for Mike Dudek and Tony Adams. Kendrick Foster is no longer wearing a boot and he went through warmups but didn't get any live reps. Dorsey has a boot on his left foot.
They have two really good options at kicker right now. Both McCourt and McGlaughlin are striking the ball very well.
OFFENSE NOTES:
* Team stuff was mostly passing game today, with some read options and draws thrown in. This passing scheme doesn't have a lot of misdirection or clearing routes and receivers weren't getting much separation. Standouts were Malik Turner and Kendall Smith.
* Chayce Crouch is basically a running quarterback, and he was good on the read option today. He's actually become a better runner this camp and is more elusive. He looks a little lighter. Cam Thomas was also good running the ball.
* It wasn't a good day throwing the ball for any of the QB's. They tend to stare down their primary target and aren't good at scanning the field. I saw open receivers missed on quite a few plays. I counted 3 interceptions and at least 4 more balls that should have been picked off. The best two plays of the day was George to Trenard Davis for a long TD on a double move, and a strike from Cam Thomas to TE Bobby Walker in the back of the end zone.
* Cam Thomas' improvement from day 1 until now is pretty remarkable. He's going to be a good QB at Illinois.
* They worked on screens to Mike Epstein and Ra'Vaon Bonner, but they don't really have the timing down yet. And the defense cheated a bit. They know its coming and they blew the plays up more often than not. They need to work on it vs. the scout team and tell the D to play dumb. LOL.
* Larry Boyd is back and is getting 1st and 2nd team reps to get him back in shape. I'm pretty sure he will start at strong tackle. They rotated a lot of guys in on the offensive line and tried several combinations. If anyone gets hurt, they have guys who can play multiple positions. Even former TE Andrew Trainer played a lot at quick tackle.
DEFENSE NOTES
* Very good day for the secondary. Interceptions from Ahmari Hayes, Frank Sumpter, and James Knight. Many PBU's. Too many too count. Cameron Watkins is starting at CB now.
* Knight is playing nickel now. With James out and Watkins playing corner, Knight was the first nickel on the field. He's small in stature (5-9ish), but is a ball hawk. Knight had the interception and 2 PBUs that could have been interceptions. His INT was a pick-6 vs. the 2-minute offense on a throw that Crouch hurried.
* Christian Ambercombie is running with the 1's ahead of Sean Adesanya. They really like his speed off the edge. James Crawford was out so Bobby Roundtree got all the 1st team reps at the other DE. Roundtree is a stud. I wouldn't be surprised if he's starting against Ball State.
* Numerous sacks and hurries. The most active were Abercrombie, Roundtree, and Del'Shawn Phillips on blitzes. Second team DL vs second team OL is still a mismatch for the defense.
* Through 13 practices, the Illini have not tackled to the ground. I asked Lovie Smith about that and he said this is how they practice and that he's been doing it that way for a long time. No plans for live tackling before the first game.
Next practice is Wednesday at 5:30.
What are your questions?
The Illini skipped walk-throughs today and went right to warmups, some special teams work, and 11on11. The worked on kickoff coverage / kickoff return.
Out today: Vederian Lowe, Jaylen Dunlap, Kendrick Foster, James Crawford (hamstring), Chris James, Jamal Woods, Louis Dorsey, Lere Oladipo, and Reggie Corbin.
Scheduled day off for Mike Dudek and Tony Adams. Kendrick Foster is no longer wearing a boot and he went through warmups but didn't get any live reps. Dorsey has a boot on his left foot.
They have two really good options at kicker right now. Both McCourt and McGlaughlin are striking the ball very well.
OFFENSE NOTES:
* Team stuff was mostly passing game today, with some read options and draws thrown in. This passing scheme doesn't have a lot of misdirection or clearing routes and receivers weren't getting much separation. Standouts were Malik Turner and Kendall Smith.
* Chayce Crouch is basically a running quarterback, and he was good on the read option today. He's actually become a better runner this camp and is more elusive. He looks a little lighter. Cam Thomas was also good running the ball.
* It wasn't a good day throwing the ball for any of the QB's. They tend to stare down their primary target and aren't good at scanning the field. I saw open receivers missed on quite a few plays. I counted 3 interceptions and at least 4 more balls that should have been picked off. The best two plays of the day was George to Trenard Davis for a long TD on a double move, and a strike from Cam Thomas to TE Bobby Walker in the back of the end zone.
* Cam Thomas' improvement from day 1 until now is pretty remarkable. He's going to be a good QB at Illinois.
* They worked on screens to Mike Epstein and Ra'Vaon Bonner, but they don't really have the timing down yet. And the defense cheated a bit. They know its coming and they blew the plays up more often than not. They need to work on it vs. the scout team and tell the D to play dumb. LOL.
* Larry Boyd is back and is getting 1st and 2nd team reps to get him back in shape. I'm pretty sure he will start at strong tackle. They rotated a lot of guys in on the offensive line and tried several combinations. If anyone gets hurt, they have guys who can play multiple positions. Even former TE Andrew Trainer played a lot at quick tackle.
DEFENSE NOTES
* Very good day for the secondary. Interceptions from Ahmari Hayes, Frank Sumpter, and James Knight. Many PBU's. Too many too count. Cameron Watkins is starting at CB now.
* Knight is playing nickel now. With James out and Watkins playing corner, Knight was the first nickel on the field. He's small in stature (5-9ish), but is a ball hawk. Knight had the interception and 2 PBUs that could have been interceptions. His INT was a pick-6 vs. the 2-minute offense on a throw that Crouch hurried.
* Christian Ambercombie is running with the 1's ahead of Sean Adesanya. They really like his speed off the edge. James Crawford was out so Bobby Roundtree got all the 1st team reps at the other DE. Roundtree is a stud. I wouldn't be surprised if he's starting against Ball State.
* Numerous sacks and hurries. The most active were Abercrombie, Roundtree, and Del'Shawn Phillips on blitzes. Second team DL vs second team OL is still a mismatch for the defense.
* Through 13 practices, the Illini have not tackled to the ground. I asked Lovie Smith about that and he said this is how they practice and that he's been doing it that way for a long time. No plans for live tackling before the first game.
Next practice is Wednesday at 5:30.
What are your questions?
